Read Judges 1, Jeremiah 47, and Romans 9.
This devotional is about Judges 1.
When I was a kid, the youth pastor at my church told the story of Adoni-Bezek which is recorded here in Judges 1:4-7. I wasn’t old enough to be in the teen group yet, so I’m not sure what the setting was exactly for this talk about this passage. Maybe he gave the challenge in AWANA or children’s church or something. I just don’t remember the setting at all.
But I do remember two things he said:
- First he said that Adoni-Bezek cut off the thumbs and big toes of other kings he had defeated. We see that stated in verse 7.
- Second, my youth pastor said that Adoni-Bezek kept those thumbs and toes in a little gold box. I think that’s why I remember his talk. It is cruel to cut off the thumbs and big toes of one’s enemy but it would be gruesome to keep them as if they were a memento.
The Bible does not say that Adoni-Bezek kept the thumbs and big toes. Let me repeat that, because I don’t want to perpetuate something that is false: Adoni-Bezek did not keep the thumbs and big toes he removed from defeated kings.
What he DID do was worse. Verse 7 says, “Then Adoni-Bezek said, ‘Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table.'” Notice that last part. The kings he defeated were treated like dogs–worse than dogs, really. The implication is that these defeated kings were kept locked up somewhere and deprived of food. When Adoni-Bezek ate, he let them loose but not to beg at the table or next to it. They had to crawl around under the table and fight each other for food. What a cruel way to treat anyone! The thumb-ectomies and big-toe amputations were bad, but one might justify them by saying that they made it impossible for those kings to hold a weapon or run away.
So, here we have an ancient king that Judah defeated as part of their conquest of the land. He was tough to defeat, too; seventy other kings had tried and failed according to verse 7. He was notoriously cruel to his enemies, but when Judah defeated him, God’s people felt it was just to subject him to the same treatment he gave to others. In verse 7c, Adoni-Bezek said, “Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” What Judah did to him is called “retributive justice.” It means exacting justice in exactly the same way as you committed injustice.
Karma is an idea from eastern religions that the universe will do to you what you have done to others. The Bible does not teach karma; it does teach that God is just and sometimes his justice means getting exactly in this life what you give to others, whether good or bad. God commanded Israel to defeat the nations living in the Promised Land because those nations were sinful and cruel. These few verses were included in Judges 1 to show us one example of how the inhabitants of Israel’s land deserved the punishment they were getting from Israel.
But that was on a national scale in Old Testament times. There will come a day when Israel’s king–Jesus–will return and give justice to everyone. Second Thessalonians 1:6-8 says, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
The lesson of Adoni-Bezek in this age is two-fold:
- God is just and he will punish you for your sins unless you become a Christian. Because Jesus died on the cross for sins, those who come to him in faith will escape God’s punishment for our sins because Christ took our punishment for us. Come to Jesus now to escape the punishment you deserve when he comes again.
- If you’re a Christian, don’t seek payback for those who sin against you. Instead, love your enemies as Jesus said because God loved us–his enemies. Romans 12:17-21 says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Have you been mistreated? Do you have an enemy that you’d like to payback trouble for the trouble he’s brought you? Leave that to Jesus; until then, be like Jesus has been to you–show love and kindness to everyone, including your enemies.