Judges 10:1

Judges 10:1 says, And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.  After Abimelech, Tola of the tribe of Issachar became the judge of Israel.  Unlike Abimelech, Tola had not promoted himself to be king of Israel, but was instead evidently called by God to be their judge.  Verse two adds, And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.  We aren't told much about what happened during Tola's reign, but the nation of Israel was evidently at peace, and Tola reigned twenty-three years.  Verse three states, And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.  After Tola died, Jair of the half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side of the Jordan, who was also a Gileadite, became the judge of Israel, and he judged for twenty-two years.  Verse four adds, And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.  Jair had thirty sons who rode on donkeys throughout Israel to help him in judging Israel.  He did not attempt to do everything himself or for his glory.  We as followers of Christ cannot do everything that needs to be done in God's kingdom today, nor should we believe that we can.  We need to acknowledge that we need the help of our fellow Christians in doing God's work, and we should not be doing it for our glory.  Verse five continues, And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.  After judging Israel for twenty-two years, Jair died.  That was forty-five years of peace that Israel had under these two judges.  We might think that the people of Israel would be devoted to following God by that time, but as we will see, they weren't. Sometimes, when things are going peacefully in life,we can tend to forget about God Who brings us that peace.  Verse six declares, And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.  After these two judges died, the people of Israel who were called to be God's people, began to do evil in His sight and to worship many false gods.  If we do not put our faith in God today, we can easily be led to follow many false gods and to do evil in God's sight, even though it may not be evil in the view of the world.  Verse seven adds, And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. God's anger was hot against the actions of the people of Israel, and He allowed them to be defeated by the Philistines and the Amorites.  If we turn away from following God today, we can easily be defeated by those who are in power around us.  Verse eight continues, And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.  For eighteen years, the two and a half tribes on the other side of the Jordan were vexed and oppressed by the Amorites, though it was where Jair had come from.  Just because some people devoted to God come from where we live doesn't mean that everyone in our area is devoted to God.  Verse nine concludes, Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.  The Amorites weren't content in just conquering the two and a half tribes, but crossed over the Jordan to fight with much of the rest of Israel as well.  If the forces of evil are successful in defeating a group of Christians today, we should not be surprised if they expand the war to fight against other Christians.