Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / September 15, 2026 - Judges 10 & Proverbs 15:1-4

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September 15, 2026 - Judges 10 & Proverbs 15:1-4 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bob Rudding Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Josiah Smith, lead pastor of Compass South Valley.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Tuesday, September 15th, 2026.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Judges ten.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: After Abimelech there arose to save Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shemir in the hill country of Ephraim, and he judged Israel twenty-three years.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then he died and was buried at Shemir.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: After him arose Jair, the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty two years, and he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havath Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Jair died and was buried in Caman.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Astaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines, and they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said to the people of Israel, Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Monites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore I will save you no more.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let them save you in the time of your distress.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the people of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to you.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Only please deliver us this day.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: So they put away the foreign gods from among them and serve the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead, and the people of Israel came together and they encamped at Mizbah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 15, one through four.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools pour out folly.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, the theme, as we've already said in the book of Judges, is the downward spiral.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you see that here we have a few judges listed off after the whole fiasco with Abimelech and Judges 9.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: After Abimelech, we see Tola, who rises as a judge.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: He judges judges Israel 23 years, and he died, and it was buried.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And after him was Jair, who judged Israel 22 years, and he had 30 sons.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And after Jair died and was buried in Khamon, the people of Israel, of course, it says in verse 6, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Astaroth.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you just to sit with how many different false gods they worship, from how many different surrounding nations that remember that they did not drive out in Judges chapter one.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: That was the command that they were given by Joshua.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: That was the command ultimately that they were given by God to drive out the nations, not to mix with them, not to marry with them, but they did not listen, they did not obey.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And listen to this: it says they served the Baals and the Asheroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we have over five nations here listed.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: These nations that were supposed to be driven out, these nations that they were not supposed to mix and marry with.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And what are they doing?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: They are doing just that.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: They are adopting their pagan practices, they are worshiping their false gods.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result, it says in verse 7 the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And they were oppressed for 18 years.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: For 18 years, it says they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So their disobedience, their covenant unfaithfulness, their refusal to learn their lessons.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can think back to Joshua.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Remember when they they thought that uh the tribes that were on the east side of the Jordan, they they constructed this altar that was supposed to be a memorial.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the people on the west side of the Jordan heard of it, and they came marching and storming across the Jordan because they were saying, Have we not have enough?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have we not had enough?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Have we not learned anything from the sin of Achan?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Have we not learned anything from uh just whoring after uh the the different gods that we have seen, the Baals?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Have we not learned anything?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And here we are in Judges chapter 10, years and years and years later, and they have still not learned.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so, of course, we see their further disobedience and their oppression as a result, but ultimately, God in his mercy and in his kindness, he relents.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, it says in verse 15, the people of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: So they acknowledge their sin.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, do to us whatever seems good to you.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Only please deliver us this day.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, verse 16, they put away the foreign gods from among them and serve the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: So this cycle, this ping-ponging back and forth continues in the book of Judges, and sin continues to plague the nation of Israel, God's covenant people, and it continues to be their Achilles heel that is making them stumble again and again.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here as we start a new chapter in the book of Proverbs, we're rounding about halfway through the book of Proverbs.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's 31 chapters, and we are now starting chapter 15.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we're about halfway through the book, or getting there at least.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And here in verse one, it says, A soft answer turns away wrath.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to notice three times actually in these four verses, words are mentioned.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So in verse one, a soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Verse two, the tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools pour out folly.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And verse four, a gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, all three of those verses, they speak to words and how we utilize them in different ways, but ultimately they all signify the reality of using our words in a way that honors the Lord, using our words in a way that, as it says in verse 4, is a tree of life where we are speaking things that are true and encouraging and life-giving.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's what a gentle tongue does, but perverseness in our tongue breaks the spirit.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: A harsh word stirs up anger, the mouths of fools pour out folly.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, so often in the book of Proverbs, wisdom, again, of course, as we even talked about yesterday, is not just something internally, it makes its way out.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: It works from the inside out, it affects everything that we do.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: The fear of the Lord should bridle our tongues.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're seeing here in Proverbs 15.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So whether it's a soft answer, whether it's speaking and commending knowledge, verse two, or a gentle tongue, being a tree of life, verse four, all of those things, again, are reminiscent of someone who is seeking to grow in the fear of the Lord.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: So today is as good a day of any as any day for us to really evaluate how we are using our words.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And with these three verses, are we the kind of person that has a soft answer that turns away wrath?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Are we the kind of person that has harsh words that stir up anger?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Are we the kind of person that has a tongue that commends knowledge, verse two?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we the mouth of a fool that pour out folly?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Verse four, do we have a gentle tongue that is a tree of life, or do we have perverseness in our tongue that breaks the spirit?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just a good thing for us to prayerfully evaluate.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you help me to see how it is that I'm using my words and better align my words and my speech and my mouth with what is most pleasing to you?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: That should be a prayer for all of us today as we continue to read so many different proverbs about the seriousness of words and how we ought to use them to build up, to encourage, to speak truth and to honor the Lord ultimately, rather than tear down and stir up anger.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one verse here that I want to point out, verse three, says, The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And this is such an encouraging verse.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that goes unnoticed by God.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing outside of his knowing, watchful gaze.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that surprises God, there's nothing that takes him off guard.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see here in Proverbs 15:3.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: The eyes of the Lord are in every place.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: No one and nothing can hide.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: God keeps watch on the evil and the good.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And because we know God to be a good and glorious God, his watchful eye on evil and good should be a profoundly encouraging reality to our hearts.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: God knows all, he sees all.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, even as you think about that in the context of your individual life, the nitty-gritty circumstances that you find yourself in, the Lord is watching.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord is keeping watch.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's not just that he sees, but there's a sense of vigilance.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's a sense of there's an active watching going on, there's a monitoring, there's a making sure that things are as they ought to be, in the sense of God's providential workings in the world.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, nothing and no one can stay the hand of God.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's such a great encouragement for us today to know that the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bob Rooting Podcast.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.