For some reason, this did not publish when it should have, so I will do it out of order today.
Judges 13:9 says, And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.  God heard Manoah's plea, and the angel came again while the woman sat in the field, but Manoah was not with her.  I don't believe that this was just bad timing on God's part, but that it was a part of His plan.  Verse ten states, And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.  Manoah's wife hurried to him and told him the man, the angel, who had appeared to her before had returned.  She didn't keep this fact to herself, but ran to share it.  We must likewise be quick to share the good news of the gospel with those we meet, starting with family, those closest to us.  Verse eleven declares, And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.  Manoah rose and went to the angel and asked him if he was the one who had been speaking to his wife, and the angel said he was.  Manoah had asked God to send the angel back, and He did.  God hears the prayers of His people, and even though we may not always get the answer we want in the way that we want it, He will always answer.  Verse twelve adds, And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?  Manoah asked the angel for instruction on how to raise the child.  This should be our question to God today as parents.  We should want to know how God wants us to raise our children, and then do our best to fulfill his instructions.  Verse thirteen says,  And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.  Verse fourteen adds, She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.  The angel repeated to Manoah what he had told his wife.  She was not to eat anything that came from a vine, drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean.  Pregnant women today are told not to drink alcohol, and although we do not have unclean food as they did in the Old Testament, they are still told to watch what they eat.  Verse fifteen states, And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.  Manoah wanted to keep the angel with them and prepare a meal for him.  We may want to keep those with us today who bring us good news from God, but we must realize that it may not be in accordance with God's plan.  Verse sixteen declares, And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.  The angel told Manoah that even if he stayed, he could not eat with him, and that if he offered a burnt offering that he was to offer it to God.  Then we are told that Manoah did not know that it was an angel that he was talking to.  If we were to be visited by an angel today, we need to acknowledge that he is just a messenger from God, and should never attempt to worship him.  Verse seventeen asks, And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?  Manoah wanted to know the angels name so that when the the child was born they could honor him.  Verse eighteen declares, And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?  The angel asked Manoah why he wanted to know his name and said it was a secret.  The angel was not there for his own glory, but for the glory of God.  At times, we may need to just be content with the fact that God has blessed us without knowing all the details of how He did it.  Verse nineteen states, So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.  Manoah offered a sacrifice to God, and that is what we should do when we are blessed in life today as followers of Christ.  Verse twenty adds, For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.  The angel ascended to heaven in the flame of the altar and Manoah and his wife fell on their faces in worship to God, and not to the angel.  Even without seeing angels ascending, we should worship God just as sincerely today as Manoah and his wife did then.  Verse twenty-one declares, But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.  When the angel did not appear again, Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.  Verse twenty-two says, And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.  Manoah was worried that his wife and he would die because they had seen God, but they really hadn't.  They had simply seen one of God's messengers.  We will never see God in person in this lifetime, but we must never fear that we are going to die if we encounter an angel, or messenger from God.  Verse twenty-three declares,  But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.  Manoah's wife told him that if God had wanted to kill them, He would have simply done so.  God would not have given them the good news of a child that was to be born and accepted their sacrifices if His objective had been to kill them.  God does not play games with people, but calls everyone to Himself for their salvation.  Verse twenty-four add, And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.  God's promise to Manoah's wife came true, and she had a son that she named Samson.  We can be certain that all God's promises are going to come true today.  Verse twenty-five concludes, And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.  The Spirit of the LORD began to move on Samson at times.  We as followers of Christ today are blessed that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times to guide us if we only allow Him to.

Judges 15:9 says, Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.  The Philistines came and camped at Lehi.  Verse ten states, And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.  The men of Judah asked the Philistines why they were coming against them, and they said to bind Samson.  They evidently sent a lot of men to capture just one man.  Of course, one man impowered by God can defeat a lot of people who are only impowered by the world.  Verse eleven says, Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. Three thousand men of Judah went up to Samson and asked him if he didn't know that the Philistines ruled over them, and then they asked him what he had done.  They weren't there to support him, but were there because they were afraid of the Philistines.  As followers of Christ, we can never act out of fear of the world, especially when interacting with other believers.  Samson said he had only done to them what they did to him.  Verse twelve adds, And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.  These three thousand men said that they had come to bind Samson for the Philistines, and Samson told them to swear that they wouldn't harm him themselves.  We should never help the world in its war against Christians, if we are really followers of Christ ourselves.  Verse thirteen states, And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.  Samson allowed them to bind him.  Verse fourteen declares, And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.  When Samson got to where the Philistines were and they started shouting at him, the Spirit of the LORD came on him and he broke the ropes as if they were nothing.  When God's Spirit moves us, nothing can bind us spiritually.  Verse fifteen adds,  And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.  Samson took the jawbone of an ass, not a likely weapon, and killed a thousand Philistines.  When acting under the power of God, we do not have to have the most sophisticated weapons, since God is the One Who gives the victory.  Verse sixteen declares, And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.  It would seem that Samson was bragging on himself instead of giving credit to God, which we can never afford to do.  Verse seventeen adds, And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.  After his speech, Samson threw the jawbone away and renamed the place Ramathlehi.  Verse eighteen states, And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?   Samson was thirsty, and at the same time gave God credit for the victory and then questioned if God was now going to allow him to die of thirst.  We can too often forget what God has done for us and question what He is going to do for us in our current situation.  Verse nineteen proclaims, But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.  God provided Samson water from the jawbone of the ass, and Samson's spirit revived.  God provides Christians with living water today to continually revive our spirit if we only rely on Him to do so.  Verse twenty concludes, And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.  Samson judged the people of Israel for twenty years.

Judges 15:1 says, But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.  After a period of time, Samson decided to visit his wife, but his father-in-law wouldn't let him go in.  Samson had brought with him a kid. a young goat.  Samson had been wronged, but he had cooled off and brought a gift, though it may have been but a token, but he was rejected.  All we can do if we have been wronged as followers of Christ, is to cool off if we are angry and do our best to restore broken relationships.  Verse two states, And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.  Samson's father-in-law said he thought that Samson hated his wife, so he gave her to another man.  He then offered her younger sister to Samson instead. It was really not a good time to be a female.  Of course, the attitude of the father-in-law would imply that he believed any woman was pretty much the same as the other and that there could be no real feelings involved.  Verse three declares, And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.  Samson said that even though he was wrong in being angry that the displeasure that he was about to bring to the Philistines was because of their doing a greater wrong to him.  Though as Christians we are not to be in the getting even business, there comes a point where we must take a stand, even if it makes those around us angry.  Verse four says, And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.  Samson caught three hundred foxes and tied them by twos tail to tail, and tied a fire brand between their tails.  Verse five adds, And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.  Samson then turned the foxes loose in the cornfields of the Philistines, and burned the cornfields and the vineyards up.  Now, I know that many people today would say that Samson was abusing the foxes, but I don't believe this is the point.  Verse six states, Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.  The Philistines asked who had done this, and were told Samson, and then were told why he had done it.  The Philistines did not go against Samson, but burned his wife and father-in-law to death.  Though they may have been somewhat responsible for Samson doing hat he did, the Philistines should have gone after the one who had burned their crops.  If someone has wronged us today, that does not allow us to seek to punish those who may have had a role in their actions.  Verse seven says, And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.  Samson said that he would avenge what they had done, and then he would cease.  He was not looking for anything greater than to avenge his wife's death.  Though she may have betrayed him, though not necessarily by her choice, he still felt a responsibility toward her evidently.  Verse eight declares, And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.  Samson killed many of the Philistines, and then he went to live in the top of the rock Etam.  Samson then waited to see what the Philistines would do.  He did not seek to do more than he felt was necessary to avenge the death of his wife.  We are not called on to be avengers in the world today as followers of Christ, but we still must stand up to the evil in the world.

Judges 14:11 says, And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.  Samson had a group of men with him before his wedding.  We today might call them groom's men.  Verse twelve states, And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:  Samson proposed sharing a riddle to them, and if they could answer it they would be rewarded with thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments, which would be one of each per person.  Matthew Henry says that doing such a thing for entertainment was common in that day.  It might be like a bachelor party today, where many times much worse things are evidently often done.  Verse thirteen adds, But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.  The riddle was now proposed as a wager, and if the men couldn't solve it, they would owe Samson the same thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments.  Still, Samson was wagering more, since he would have to come up with the entire thirty sheets and garments, and they would each only have to come up with one of each.  They accepted the wager.  Verse fourteen says, And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.  Samson shared the riddle, and after three days the men could not solve it.  For people of the world, salvation is like a riddle, unsolvable by their own abilities.  It is only as faith in God enables us to understand it that the gospel becomes clear.  Until a person puts their faith in God, the gospel will remain like an unsolvable riddle, but the loss if one does not come to understand the gospel is much worse then any earthly possession.  The cost is everlasting separation from God.  Verse fifteen declares, And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?  After a week of not being able to solve the riddle, the men came to Samson's wife and told her to get the answer to the riddle or they would burn her father's and her house, because they didn't intend to lose the bet.  People today may threaten us if they cannot find the answer to salvation and feel that we are somehow costing them something by knowing the answer.  Verse sixteen states, And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?  Samson's wife accused him of not loving her because he hadn't shared the answer to the riddle with her.  He said he hadn't even shared it with his parents, and asked why he should share it with her.  She played the you don't love me card, but still he should have at this time put his wife ahead of his parents.  When we are married, our spouse should become the most important person in our life, but our spouse should never attempt to manipulate us by claiming we don't love him or her when .he or she doesn't get what they want.  Verse seventeen adds, And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.  Samson's wife cried for seven days, then he told her the answer to the riddle, and she told the men the answer.  She should have been loyal to and have put her faith in her husband instead of giving in to fear of the men of her nation.  Likewise, we should put our faith in God instead of giving into threats from the people of the world.  Verse eighteen declares, And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.  The men came to Samson with the answer to the riddle, and he told them that if they had not gotten the answer to the riddle from his wife they would not have solved it.  Verse nineteen adds, And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.  We are told that the Spirit of the LORD came upon Samson and he went to Ashkelon and killed thirty men and took their garments and sheets and gave them to the thirty men who had claimed to solve the riddle.  Verse twenty adds, But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.  Samson's wife  was given to one of his companions.  She had put the others ahead of him.  While Samson was gone, his wife was given to another man.  I am not sure how much of this God was directly responsible for and how much was Samson just acting on his own, but I do know that as followers of Christ we must  always make sure that we are following His guidance.

Judges 14:1 says, And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.  After Samson was grown, he went to Timnath and saw a woman who was the daughter of a Philistine.  This does not seem to be what one who was to be the deliverer of Israel and one whoso was set aside to be a Nazarite before he was even born would do.  Samson would have seemed to be following worldly temptations instead of Godly guidance, and too often today those who are God's people can be led astray by the temptations of the world.  Still we cannot know how God may be working in the lives of other believers.  Verse two states, And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.  Samson did not seek God's guidance, but sought his earthly fathers help in making the woman his wife.  Our first step in anything, especially after we are grown, if we are a follower of Christ should be to seek God's guidance in everything we do.  Verse three says, Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.  Samson's parents asked him if there wasn't a woman among the Israelites who would make him a good wife, and he said that he only wanted the woman of the Philistines, who were an ungodly people.  We should never allow the things of this world that may look appealing to us to lead us away from God.  Verse four declares, But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.  Now, though we are not told that God had led Samson to this decision, we are told that God was working through it.  Samson was making himself a part of the Philistines by marriage.  Matthew Henry says that the sin was not so much as marrying outside the Jewish faith, but being led to worship false gods by that marriage, and Samson was not tempted to do that.  Matthew Henry also says that the Philistines had not defeated Israel by a great military conquest, but clandestine excursions into Israel.  Verse five declares, Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.  On their way to Timnath with his mother and father, a young lion attacked Samson.  Verse six adds, And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.  We are told that the Spirit of the LORD came on Samson mightily, and he killed the lion with his hands as easily as he would have killed a young goat.  He did not tell his parents what the had done.  Samson was not bragging on himself, possibly because he recognized that God was behind his success.  Verse seven says, And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.  Then, Samson went and talked to the woman, and she pleased him well.  There may be things in this word that please us well, but that does not mean that they are always what are best for us.  In this case, we are told that God was behind Samson's actions, and we must make sure that He is always behind ours.  Verse eight states, And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.  Some time later, Samson returned to take the woman as his wife, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and it was full of honey bees and honey.  Evidently at least some time had passed since he killed the lion.  Verse nine adds, And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.  Samson took some of the honey and ate it and gave some to his parents, but the did not tell them where it came from.  Verse eleven states, So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.  Samson's father then went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast for them, which was what the young men of that day did.  Samson still really had not done very much to distinguish himself as a great man of God, except kill a lion under the power of the Spirit of God, and he had told no one about that.  We may not always see the way that God is working in the lives of our fellow Christians, but that does not mean that  He isn't working in their lives.

Judges 13:1 says, And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.  The cycle repeats once more.  After a period of peace, the people of God do evil in His sight.  It mat be that periods of peace and prosperity are more dangerous to us spiritually than periods of war and suffering.  In times when things are really bad, we tend to look to God for help, but when life is going along smoothly, it seems that we sometimes forget our need for Him to guide us.  Once more, God allowed them to be defeated, this time by the Philistines.  Verse two states, And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.  We are told of a certain man named Manoah whose wife was barren.  Manoah was of the tribe of Dan, who was born to one of the handmaidens of Jacob.  Still, Jacob had said that Dan would judge his people.  The descendants of Dan, and the children of the other handmaidens were just as much a part of the children of Israel as were those born to Jacob's wives.  Verse three adds, And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.  An angel of God appeared to Manoah's wife and told her that even though she had been barren that she was going to bear a son.  This had to be exciting news to her.  Verse four continues, Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:  The angel then gave Manoah's wife some prenatal care instructions we might say.  She was to drink no wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing.  This had not only to do with physical health, but it also had to do with spiritual health.  If we are follower of Christ, we are to do our best to keep things that are spiritually unclean from coming into our lives, and I also believe that we are to do our best to maintain a physically healthy lifestyle.  Verse five concludes, For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.  The angel also told the woman that after her son was born that his hair was never to be cut, because he was to be a Nazarite unto God and that he would begin to deliver his people from the Philistines.  This was all promised by God even before the child was born.  God has a plan for our lives even before we are born, whether we ever look to Him to show us what that purpose is or not.   Of course, in order to fulfill that purpose, we must first accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse six declares,Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:  Manoah's wife came to him and told him that she had met a man of God who looked like an angel of God, very terrible.  We don't normally think of angels appearing terrible, but I believe that his appearance was such as to strike awe into the woman, and in that sense it was terrible to her.  She also said that the angel did not tell her his name.  If an angel were to appear to someone today, his name would not be important, but his message would.  Verse seven adds, But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.  Manoah's wife told him what the angel had told her.  She was to bear a son, and he would be raised as a Nazarite from birth.  It would be nice if we knew from birth what we were to do in life, but we don't get that clear calling from birth.  Verse eight declares, Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.  Manoah asked God to send the angel again to teach them how to raise the child.  Even if we know what God wants us to do, we must rely on Him to teach us and empower us to do it to the best of our ability.  We do not really need an angel to come to us and teach us though since as believers in Christ we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us to guide and empower us.

Judges 12:1 says, And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.  The people of Ephraim were angry with Jephthah because he hadn't asked them to go with him to fight, and threatened to burn his house down.  They had the same quarrel with Gideon earlier, all brought about by hurt pride.  It is too bad that God's people often allow pride to cause them to have disputes with each other.  Verse two states, And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.  Jephthah then tells them that he did invite them to join him, but they didn't send even one man to help.  Sometimes, the people who become upset by the success of others, even the success of fellow believers, are those who refused to help to start with.  Verse three adds,  And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?  Jephthah states that when they didn't help, that he took on the battle without them, and that God delivered him.  If they had a problem with his victory, it wasn't with Jephthah but with God.  The same is  true today.  As followers of Christ, our success is due to God and He should be given the credit, then no else should be upset by our success.  Verse four declares, Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.  The men of Gilead fought with the men of Ephraim.  It is a sad situation when those who are called God's people fight among themselves.  The people of Ephraim evidently saw the people of Gilead as being less worthy than they themselves were.  We cannot afford to look at fellow Christians the same way and fight amongst ourselves.  Jephthah and his forces, by God's power, had already defeated the real enemy, and the people of Ephraim should have been celebrating with them instead of fighting against them.  Verse five states, And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;  When the men of Ephraim had been defeated, Jephthah cut off their way to escape back across the Jordan.  Matthew Henry says that maybe this was excessive, but that Jephthah evidently felt it was necessary in order to preserve the peace.  Verse six adds, Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.  If they denied being from Ephraim, they were asked to pronounce a particular word which they couldn't do, probably because of differences in dialect among the tribes.  Forty-two thousand men of Ephraim were killed, all because they were angry with Jephthah because they said he didn't call on them to fight with him against the Ammonites.  Jealousy can lead to great destruction if we allow it to rule us.  Verse seven concludes, And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.  Jephthah ruled Israel for six years, and then he died.  No matter how successful people are in God's kingdom today, they will ultimately die if Christ does not return first.  Verse eight says, And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.  We are told that the next ruler was Ibzan,  Verse nine adds, And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.  Ibzan had sixty children, thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he arranged marriages for.  He judged, or ruled, Israel for seven years, though he had evidently lived a long life.  Verse ten states, Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.  Verse eleven adds,  And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.  After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulon became the ruler of Israel.  Not all the judges, or rulers, were from the same tribe.  Verse twelve says, And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.  We are told even less about Elon than we were about Ibzan, but he ruled Israel for ten years, then he died.  Verse thirteen states, And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. Then verse fourteen adds, And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.  Abdon was of the tribe of Ephraim, and he had forty sons and thirty nephews that we are told rode on seventy donkeys, either as judges under him or as men of distinction.  Verse fifteen concludes, And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.  Like the others, Abdon died.  We are not told much about Israel during this time, and Matthew Henry points out that we are told nothing about the high priest.  He says that the priesthood was looking forward to the eternal priesthood of Christ.  We do know that the priesthood today is not an office, but a relationship with Christ.  Through our faith in Christ, we are all a part of the royal priesthood.