Thumbs and Toes and a Fortunate Sinner

Synopsis     Judges 1:7-18     5/31/2018

Adonibezek was a king captured by the warriors from Judah. He maimed his adversaries by amputating their thumbs and big toes. So, in accordance with the law, the Judahites did the same to him.

The tribes of Judah and Simeon joined forces and won multiple victories against the Canaanites.

Thumbs and Toes

Adonibezek was a ruthless and cruel man who maimed his adversaries and then humiliated them by making them scavenging beggars. Presumably the idea was to instill fear in the hearts of any other potential adversaries.

It’s interesting that he recognized a certain justice in being maimed by the Judahites, acknowledging that his punishment was both just and from God.

I am a Fortunate Sinner

OK it’s true – I’ve never actually cut off anyone’s thumbs or toes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a sinner. The law has shown me that the power of my selfishness is enough to prevent me from entering into the possibility of my life.

I am a sinner.

I have lied. I have cheated. I have stolen. I have done every imaginable sin – and even if I haven’t actually transgressed in my actions, there is no sin common to man that I have not, at least, wanted to commit.

The awareness that I deserve justice is like a strange gift.

I deserve to lose my eyes for all the eyes that I have injured. I deserve to lose my teeth for all the teeth I have smashed. I deserve to lose my thumbs for all the thumbs I have broken. I deserve to lose my life for all the lives I have wrecked or destroyed. The guilt I feel because of my sins overwhelms me with shame.

And this knowledge, unpleasant as it may be, opens up the possibility of salvation. My iniquity drives me to cry out for mercy from the one great judge who has the real power to forgive.

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” Mark 2:10