Today’s passage is Judges 1:1-10., When the Israelites ask the Lord who will go to fight the Canaanites after the death of Joshua, he says Judah. They asked the Simeonites to go with them. The Lord gives them a big victory. They captured Adoni-Bezek and cut off his thumbs and big toes. They captured Jerusalem and burned it. They advanced against the Canaanites elsewhere.
Why cut off his thumbs and big toes? Why burn Jerusalem?
Thumbs are important. With them we can grasp and hold things.
We need them to use tools, hold a pen, type on a cell phone, and give the ok sign.
We need thumbs to hold hands, eat food and do up buttons and zippers. They are indispensable.
Without our big toes, it’s impossible to walk, run and jump normally. Without thumbs and big toes, we are severely handicapped.
Why did the Israelites cut off the thumbs and toes of Adoni-Bezek instead of killing him?
What was the point?
The seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes he had cut off were not Israelites.
God’s orders were to attack and kill Canaanites. Instead of doing that, they’re already behaving like Canaanites, following their wanton cruelty.
What are the thumbs and big toes of others that I cut off?
How do I maim and hobble others?
I do it when I’m cruel to others, when I take what is theirs, when I take credit for something I didn’t do, when I demand service instead of giving it.
When I was 13, I started learning judo.
I had a friend who was learning with me. We progressed at the same pace.
Actually, he was a little better than I.
One day the sensei had a prize he was going to give to the boy who could answer the most questions about judo, the Japanese words and history as well as describing certain techniques.
My friend and I were evenly matched.
When the sensei asked a final question, a loud noise outside distracted him and he turned his head.
When his head was turned I pushed my friend down so that the sensei only saw my hand raised to answer the question.
I won the prize because I cut off my friend’s thumbs and big toes.
That memory of my selfish, uncaring, greedy nature lives in me.
It is the person I do not want to be.
Sometimes when I want to cut off people’s thumbs and big toes, God reminds me of that incident.
There is no health in me and I can only act lovingly when God intervenes directly, using my past to stop me reliving it in the present.
Lord, strengthen the memories of my sinfulness so that I can walk your path of humility and serve others as you have served me.
