Daily Bible Devotion - JUDGES 10-11
The Book of JUDGES
06. October 2026
Devotion by Reverend Joseph Antwi
Theme: Impacting generations with Kingdom VALUES
Sub-theme: New Direction Scripture Reading: JUDGES 10-11
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, church, and Shalom!
Today we continue our journey through the Book of Judges with Judges chapters 10 and 11.
Please make time for the Word. Take about 15–20 minutes to read Judges 10 and 11 directly from your Bible, and another 20 minutes to slowly go through this devotion. Do not rush it. Allow the Word of God to speak to you, correct you and direct you.
WHEN THE SAME CYCLE KEEPS REPEATING
Judges 10 begins with two judges, Tola and Jair. After them, Israel again turned away from God.
Judges 10:6 says:
“Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.”
— Judges 10:6 NKJV
Notice the word “again.”
This was becoming a pattern. God would deliver them, they would experience peace, and then they would return to their old ways.
This is one of the greatest dangers in our spiritual lives: experiencing God’s deliverance without allowing God’s deliverance to change our direction.
God does not only want to rescue us from trouble; He wants to lead us into a different way of living.
New direction means that we do not keep returning to the same place spiritually, emotionally and morally. We must learn from what God has already brought us through.
GOD WILL NOT BE REPLACED
Israel had reached a point where they had surrounded themselves with other gods. They had forsaken the Lord who had repeatedly delivered them.
God said to them:
“Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
— Judges 10:14 NKJV
This is a sobering statement.
God was exposing the emptiness of the things they had chosen instead of Him. The gods they trusted could not save them.
There are moments when God allows us to recognize the limitations of the things we have placed our confidence in. Money cannot replace God. People cannot replace God. Relationships cannot replace God. Position cannot replace God. Success cannot replace God.
Anything we put in God’s place will eventually prove unable to carry the weight of our lives.
But Israel eventually responded differently. They confessed:
“We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals.”
— Judges 10:10 NKJV
Then they put away the foreign gods and served the Lord.
That is where new direction begins: repentance.
Repentance is more than feeling sorry about what we have done. It is turning away from what is taking us away from God and turning our hearts back to Him.
Sometimes the new direction we are asking God for begins with God asking us to leave something behind.
GOD CAN STILL USE A REJECTED PERSON
Judges 11 introduces us to Jephthah.
Jephthah was described as a “mighty man of valor,” but he had a difficult background. His brothers rejected him because he was the son of another woman and drove him away from his father’s house.
Judges 11:2 says:
“And Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s children grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, ‘You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.’”
— Judges 11:2 NKJV
Jephthah was rejected by his own family.
But notice something powerful: the rejection of people did not cancel God’s ability to use him.
Jephthah eventually gathered people around him and became a leader. Then, when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went looking for him.
The same people who had once rejected him eventually needed the leadership they had rejected.
This teaches us something important: do not allow your past to become your identity.
People may have rejected you. Someone may have underestimated you. You may have made mistakes. You may have come from a difficult background. But your history does not have to determine your future.
Your new direction begins when you allow God to define you rather than allowing rejection to define you.
KNOW YOUR HISTORY BEFORE YOU FIGHT YOUR BATTLE
One thing that stands out in Judges 11 is Jephthah’s understanding of Israel’s history.
Before fighting the Ammonites, Jephthah carefully explained why Israel had a legitimate claim to the land. He knew what God had done for Israel and understood the history behind the conflict.
This is important for anyone entering a new season: know what you are carrying before you start fighting.
You cannot build a strong future if you do not understand the lessons of your past.
Know God’s Word. Know your history. Know what God has already done. Know the victories and the mistakes of previous generations.
A new direction does not mean forgetting the past. It means learning from the past so that you do not repeat its mistakes.
BE CAREFUL WITH VOWS MADE UNDER PRESSURE
One of the most difficult passages in Judges 11 is Jephthah’s vow.
Before going to battle, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord:
“If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me… shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
— Judges 11:30–31 NKJV
After God gave Jephthah victory, his daughter came out to meet him.
This is a deeply difficult and tragic part of the story. We should also remember the seriousness with which vows were treated in the Old Testament. Scripture says:
“When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed.”
— Ecclesiastes 5:4 NKJV
So, why would God allow Jephthah to make such a vow and then face such a painful situation?
God did not ask Jephthah to make that vow. Jephthah made an extremely costly promise because, under the pressure of wanting victory, he tried to secure the outcome through a vow.
This is a warning for us. Sometimes desperation can make us make very serious promises to God: “Lord, if You do this for me, I will do this for You.” But God did not need Jephthah’s vow to give him victory. He needed Jephthah to trust Him.
The tragedy is that Jephthah appears to have taken his vow seriously and felt bound by what he had promised. We are reminded that words spoken before God are not casual words. Do not make expensive promises in moments of desperation that you would never make in moments of wisdom.
We thank God for the New Testament and the teaching of Jesus, who said:
“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”
— Matthew 5:37 NKJV
Our relationship with God is not based on bargaining with Him. We do not need to negotiate with God for His intervention. We can come to Him in prayer, petition and faith, trusting His wisdom and His will.
New direction requires wisdom. Not every decision needs to be made in an emotional moment. When we are under pressure, we need prayer, Scripture, wise counsel and patience.
Do not let pressure make promises that wisdom would never make.
GOD CAN USE YOU, BUT CHARACTER STILL MATTERS
Jephthah was a mighty man of valor, and God used him to bring deliverance to Israel. But his story also shows us that being gifted and being mature are not exactly the same thing.
A person can be courageous and still need wisdom.
A person can be anointed and still need character.
A person can be used by God and still make decisions that cause unnecessary pain.
That is why new direction is not simply about receiving a new opportunity. It is about becoming the kind of person who can handle the opportunity well.
We should not only pray, “Lord, open the door.”
We should also pray, “Lord, prepare me for what is behind the door.”
NEW DIRECTION
Judges 10 and 11 show us several things about new direction.
Israel needed to break the cycle of returning to the same sins. Jephthah needed to move beyond the rejection of his past. Israel needed a leader who understood its history. And Jephthah needed wisdom to handle pressure and responsibility.
New direction requires repentance, identity, wisdom and obedience.
You cannot move into a new season while continually returning to the same old patterns.
You cannot allow rejection to tell you who you are.
You cannot enter a new assignment without learning from what came before.
And you cannot allow pressure to make decisions that wisdom would reject.
Paul says:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
Our new direction begins with Christ.
As we continue this journey, let us ask ourselves:
What cycle must I break?
What identity must I surrender?
What lesson must I learn from my past?
What decision must I stop making emotionally?
And what is God preparing me to carry in this new season?
May the Lord give us grace to turn from old patterns, wisdom to make godly decisions, healing from rejection, and courage to step into everything He has prepared for us.
May our new direction not simply change our destination, but change our character along the way.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
As we continue, may our depth, understanding and obedience to the Word increase with every chapter.
Let us continue growing in the Word and impacting generations with kingdom values.
God bless you. Shalom.
Rev Joseph Antwi
Author: Rev. Joseph Antwi
Rev. Joseph Antwi is the District Pastor of the Basel City Churches District. He is passionate about teaching God’s Word, raising young disciples, and empowering believers to live purposefully and impact their generation through Christ.
Out now!
Rev. Joseph Antwi has released his first book called; "How to know if he or she is the right one" in which he dives into seven biblical keys to a succesfull relationship.
@revjosephantwi
+41 79 663 63 24
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I love our Daily Devotions. ❤️
Judges 10 & 11 taught me a lot today.
Chapter 10: The Israelites knew exactly why they were in that situation. They knew that their sin had led them away from God and ultimately resulted in their oppression. And that is precisely what is important to our gracious God: that we recognize our sin, confess it to Him, and return to Him.
Repentance is more than feeling sorry about what we have done. It is turning away from what is taking us away from God and turning our hearts back to Him. - Rev. Joseph
Chapter 11: Pressure should never lead us to make decisions whose consequences we have to bear later.
No matter…