Jesus Paid the Price

I’ve been reading the last 3 chapters of Judges and honestly there isn’t a whole lot to like in these stories! It is a tough couple of chapters full of what life looks like when man goes their own way and does “𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒕”, takes matters into their own hands, and there is very little of God in the story.

An interesting verse stood out to me, and I really wondered why it was even referenced, it’s Judges 20:16; “𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕-𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔.” Left-handed men? Remarkable that there were so many left-handed men who were select troops. If you are left-handed, this is something to celebrate, as left-handed people have been given a bad rap for so many years. In many countries, well into the 21st century, children were forced to write with their right hand, sometimes having their left hands tied behind their backs!

There is a story about an island of men who used sling shots, in the Balearic Islands, today Majorca and Menorca. You could hire these elite troops who would fight on the front lines shattering the shields and helmets of the enemy. When the boys were young their fathers would put their bread for the day on the top of a tree or stick and the little boy would have to sling stones at it if he wanted to eat that day! A sure-fire way of making a great shooter. These incredible select troops could shoot a 1-pound stone at 100 miles an hour!

Now the bible says that these left-handed men were so good at what they did that they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss! Incredible.

Interestingly the word for miss in the Hebrew is ‘chata’ meaning, to miss the way, to fail; to err, to swerve from truth, to go wrong, to sin. Miss is the common word for sin. When we miss the mark, don’t hit the standard that God has set for righteousness we sin. And God’s Word tells us in Romans 3; “𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔.”

We all miss the mark, if we were young boys living on that island, none of us would eat! BUT, we are all justified and redeemed by His grace. Because of the blood of our precious Savior, we are all freely forgiven, raised up, and delivered. Today I am thankful that Jesus paid the price for my sin, for my terrible aim, for my inability to hit the mark, because of Jesus’ grace I am free, it is as though I have never sinned.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲, 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱!