Civil War & Chaos

Judges 19-21, “Civil War & Chaos”
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Introduction:
Entire book of Judges has chronicled the gradual descent away from God for the nation of Israel…it’s the antithesis of the 1st 5 books of Moses. Genesis = the beginnings & promise of a nation (Abraham). Exodus = the birth of the nation. Leviticus = establishing the priesthood. Numbers = learning to trust God in His discipline – maturing as a nation. Deuteronomy = reviewing of the law; the national covenant with God. Even Joshua continued on in this line, with the nation applying everything that God had told them to do. But in Judges, the people turned their eyes away from God & put it on themselves…

Last week, we saw how the nation (exemplified through Micah, the Levite, and the tribe of Dan) had completely apostasized from God & invented their own man-made (and man-centered) religion. This week, we see the results of that in the culture. What happens when a nation abandons God? Every man does what is right in his own eyes – and people suffer.

Even here, we’ll see the mercies of God. Just stay tuned…

Judges 19 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. 4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.

A. What’s the Levite doing with a concubine?! It was certainly culturally acceptable, but never recommended by God for His people…especially those who were serving Him as Levites! Concubines were treated as wives, but left out of any inheritance. Not exactly the most loving way a man could treat a woman.

B. Apparently she sinned in adultery & went home to her family. The Levites seems to have forgiven her went to go collect her & hit it off with her father. This was the last thing the Levite did well.
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5 Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.” 6 So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. 8 Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate. 9 And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get home.” 10 However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him.

A. Seems like they had a drinking party for 5 days… Finally, the Levite decided to leave…
B. This put him into a dangerous position, as he was travelling late at night. (Not wise! Ok to be prudent!)
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11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.” 12 But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.” 13 So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

A. As it turns out, this may be ironic. They may have been safer in Jebus than in Gibeah. The intent was good (if a bit snobbish). They should have been safer among the people of God than the people of the world… Not the case here.
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15 They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night. 16 Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” 18 So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the LORD. But there is no one who will take me into his house, 19 although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.”

A. The Levite was well off; he just needed a place to stay. The old man was the only person in town that showed him hospitality (which should have been a bad sign!)…
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21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. 22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!” 23 But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!”

A. How far Benjamin had fallen! Sound familiar? Just like Sodom (Gen 19)…

B. The old man protected the Levite, but at the expense of the women. Pathetic. Mercy ought to start with the household of God, especially your own family! If a man does not provide for his own house, he’s worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8)… The old man who thought he was merciful was worse than the Gentiles the Jews so readily despised…
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25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. 26 Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light. 27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place. 29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!”

A. This is probably the saddest & worst history in all of the book of Judges (a book filled with sad histories). The men take the Levites concubine & rape her all night long. The Levite is so unconcerned with her that he goes to sleep while she’s been tortured. When he wakes up in the morning, he doesn’t even attend to her wounds, but just dismembers her into 12 pieces. We don’t even know if she was already dead at the time – many scholars assume she was, but the Scripture is silent on the matter. Whether she was or not, this Levite is surely one of the most callous individuals captured in the Bible.
__a. The Levite was a servant of God! His inheritance was the Lord. If ANYONE should have shown compassion upon the concubine, it should been a Levite…not to mention she was his OWN concubine.
__b. When a man or woman of God does not demonstrate the love of God, there is a BIG problem. John 13:34-35 (34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [] By his actions, there was absolutely no way to be able to tell this man was a Levite of God. Our actions ought to tell a different story about us…
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Judges 20 (NKJV)
1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

A. In response, the nation actually gathers together to seek the Lord… Did they really? They certainly do consult the Lord, but only in regards asking God to bless their efforts, rather than truly seeking His will. They’re going to get humbled a bit before they do that.
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3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) [MAP] Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. 6 So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. 7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!” 8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; 9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

A. The Levite recounts the story… Flagrantly attempts to justify himself in the process…

B. Israel’s response is to go to war against Benjamin. Technically, they are limiting their battle to Gibeah (which is appropriate), but all of Benjamin gets involved. Legally, this response is on shaky ground. For the sexual crimes, the individuals were supposed to be punished (as vs. 12-13 shows they tried to do), but destroying an entire city was reserved for when a city fell into idolatry (Deut 13). It’s obvious Gibeah had abandoned God, but it’s possible Israel was going beyond what the Word of God commanded in the matter.
__a. We can get into a lot of trouble when we do the same! For example, when addressing sin, we’re given a very specific method in Matt 18… But many times, people tend to go beyond what Matt 18 dictates, or they rush through the process altogether (or whatever) & instead of seeking repentance & restoration, Christians end up seeking retribution from one another… We ought simply stick with the Word!
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12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. 14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. 16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss. 17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

A. The pride that Benjamin displays is pathetic. They refused to turn over those who committed the crime (which would be an admission that they couldn’t deal with it themselves), and knowing that they were facing civil war, they were willing to do it, putting their trust in their skilled warriors…

B. Benjamin has fallen. Is God still merciful to them? Absolutely – even knowing what’s about to take place, keep in mind Israel’s 1st king (Saul) was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin. …
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18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first!”

A. God definitely does allow Israel to go to battle; but we’re going to see a change in Israel’s attitude through the process…
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19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. 22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. 23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”

A. Benjamin wins round 1; sorrowful Israel seeks God again & God again sends them to battle…
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24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD ( the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

A. Benjamin wins round 2; Israel is even more sorrowful & seeks God again, this time fasting & giving burnt offerings & peace offerings. Only after being defeated twice do they seem to understand the gravity of the situation & are submitting themselves to God. Were they sorrowful before? Yes – but not sorry enough to repent for their own actions in allowing this to situation to arise in Israel in the 1st place. This time, they demonstrate a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, and they get a very different answer: God tells them to go to battle one more time & this time, He’d give the victory to Israel.

B. It’s really easy to point the finger at someone else…especially if they’ve done something that is so obviously wrong. But just because they may have sinned doesn’t mean that we have not. We can want to be right so bad that we end up being wrong in our attitude & actions; and those are things that need to be repented of just as much as the sin against us. Matthew 7:3-5 (3) And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (4) Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? (5) Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. []
__a. That’s not to say that the actions of the other person don’t need to be dealt with; but we are always to start with our own heart before the Lord.
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[MAP] 29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. 31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. 34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.

A. Benjamin’s defeat… Details of the battle are found in vss. 36-46.

36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, 39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. 46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.

A. All totaled, 25K men died in the battle that God ordained. All for the crime of a handful of perverted men in Gibeah. (Sin always affects more people than just ourselves!) This is where the judgment should have stopped; Israel kept going.
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47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

A. Here’s where things go wrong again. God commanded them to go to battle against Benjamin; not to ravage their towns & cities & destroy all the women & children. In the end, all that’s left of Benjamin are 600 men who fled.

B. Vengeance belongs to the Lord; not us! To nearly destroy the entire tribe was not the wrath of God; it was the unrighteous anger of Israel. Remember Deut 13 restricted them to destroying a single city if the city had fallen into apostasy; they had no instruction from the Lord that the Bible speaks of to set fire to all the cities in Benjamin. Like Simeon & Levi’s vengeance over their sister Dinah (Gen 34), their wrath was unstable & went too far.
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Judges 21 (NKJV)
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” 2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, 3 and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” 4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”

A. Among everything else, Benjamin had only 600 men left, and no women. Israel had swore they wouldn’t give any of their sisters or daughters in marriage to Benjamin. That’s a sure-fire recipe to kill off the tribe.

B. So what do they do? They blame God for their rashness & overreaction! “Why God? Why did YOU allow this?” Point of fact: DID God allow this to happen in His sovereignty? Yes. Was it God’s fault? Absolutely not. We are completely responsible for our own actions & our own sin. Never can we truthfully say, “The Devil made me do it” much less, “GOD made me do it.” We may be tempted by the Devil, but the Devil never makes us sin. We’re perfectly capable of that on our own. Why God allows sin is a different question altogether – but He does allow it. We simply cannot blame Him for it.

C. They made peace offerings & burnt offerings but did not wait upon the Lord for an answer. See vs. 8…
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8 And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. 9 For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” 12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

A. How to solve this dilemma? Easy. Just kill off all the males of a city that had not come to battle, kidnap their virgin women & deliver them to Benjamin. Granted, the city was under a curse for not coming up to fight, but all that is happening here is sin being compounded with more sin.
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13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. 14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them. 15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

A. Even this plan wasn’t enough. They were still 200 women short.
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16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. 18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” 19 Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. 22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ” 23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. 24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.

A. Their last solution? Simply to give Benjamin permission to kidnap women at will. That way, they can get out of their rash oath by saying, “We didn’t actually give them to Benjamin, so we didn’t break our vow.” Instead of simply repenting from their rash vow, they compounded a problem that began with rape with allowing more rape to take place… Carnal ‘solutions’ to a carnal problem. It never works!
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25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

A. This sums it up well. When rape, dismemberment, murder, war, and kidnapping are “right”, you can be sure that it was something that was “right” in the eyes of man & not God…

Conclusion:
“But what about the mercies of God? Where were they? Surely this ends the book in utter chaos & there’s no hope & no mercy or grace shown by God. God’s abandoned them!” Wrong. True, Israel is indeed in chaos at this point in history, but we still see the mercies of God here. Where? When you flip the page from Judges 21 to Ruth 1. Not a soul in history would have blamed God for utterly destroying Israel at this point – they had abandoned His covenant & broken every law they had sworn to uphold. God was perfectly within His rights to destroy them all & start completely over from scratch.

But He didn’t. He allowed them to face the consequences of their sin. He allowed them to be conquered by the very people they had been commissioned to expel. He even allowed them to devolve from a unified nation into civil war. But the fact that they could wake up the next morning demonstrated the mercy of God! He continued to give them opportunity to repent – He continued to work through the fulfillment of His promise to bring the Messiah (through David) – He continued to be known as the Holy One of Israel.

This is where we miss out sometimes. We fall into the trap of thinking that “God’s only blessing me when I’m experiencing happiness & roses.” Wrong. Sometimes He’s blessing us through discipline. Sometime He’s blessing us through strength. Sometimes He’s blessing us just by not killing us that day for our umpteenth sin against Him. Every single morning God gives to an unregenerate soul is another opportunity He gives them to repent and trust Christ. Every single morning God gives to a Christian (even one who is suffering) is another opportunity for that person to praise God in spite of their circumstances and give Him glory.

Praise God that He has forgiven us through Jesus Christ! To every person who has repented from sin & trusted Jesus as the Son of God for salvation, God has granted it. Our innumerable sins committed against our infinite God have been eternally forgiven! Amen! Yet sometimes there are still consequences to experience here. That’s to be expected. But praise God that He’s right here in the midst of it with us! He’ll never leave us nor forsake us. His hand of mercy is just as strong in our temporary consequences as they are in His eternal forgiveness.

Religion for Hire

Judges 17-18, “Religion for Hire”
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Introduction:
At this point in the book of Judges, we’ve looked at all the judges/deliverers that God put into the book. Some believe the remaining chapters are more of an epilogue – perhaps hearkening back to an earlier time right after Joshua. Others believe this is just continuing the downward spiral of Israel after Samson. If you thought things could get too much worse for Israel (who went for longer & longer periods of time in captivity before ever crying out to God in repentance), you’d be wrong. By the time the book ends, Israel is in complete chaos & shattered after civil war.

How do they get there? 1st they have to abandon God – which is exactly what the story of Micah shows. From the Levite – to the soldiers of Dan – to Micah himself, there are no “good guys” in this history…merely people who immersed themselves in selfishness & idolatry. So with that cheery intro, let’s dig in!

Judges 17 (NKJV)
1 Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
A. Definitely not the prophet who’s book comes much later in the OT. Translation = “Who is like Yahweh?” …definitely ironic considering what Micah is about to do in idolatry.
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2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!”

A. How much was 1100 shekels of silver? According to today’s prices ($13.86 per oz), about $5500…a lot of money for the economy. In vs. 10, we find 10 shekels (in addition to room & board) is an adequate annual salary. This would have been a small fortune for his family.

B. Apparently, he stole the money from his mother & now is giving it back…Scripture doesn’t tell us any of the circumstances surrounding it. His mother not only forgives him, but blesses him. This sounds good until we realize she had originally put him under a curse for stealing it. This isn’t Godly blessing from a mother; this is a woman basically attempting to work witchcraft on her thieving son. She only calls upon the Lord as window-dressing.
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3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.” 4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.

A. How does Micah’s mother give thanks to God for the return of her money? By making 2 graven images for idols. Direct violation of the 2nd Commandment! Exodus 20:4-6 (4) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. []

B. Was her intent good? Perhaps…but you know what they say about ‘good intentions.’ Just because someone has good intentions in worshipping the Lord doesn’t mean they are actually worshipping the Lord God…hence the reason for worldwide missions & evangelism! Paul recognized the same thing with the Athenians in that they worshipped the “Unknown God” & Paul was constrained to proclaim Him to them (Acts 17:23). [] In the mother’s case, she said she had dedicated the money to the LORD God (Yahweh!), but obviously worshipped God in a false way. Not only that, but she said she “wholly dedicated” the money to the Lord; yet only a small portion of it went to the idol. So not only did she break the 2nd Commandment, she broke the 9th as well (false witness).
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5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

A. Not only does Micah build an idolatrous shrine, he sets up an unbiblical priest. God had given the priesthood to the Levites, and any outsider who approached the work was to be put to death (Num 3:9-10). Keep in mind that everything about the priesthood, tabernacle, & sacrifices ultimately points to Jesus & His work. To assume that an outsider can come & be a priest is to assume that people are allowed to approach God outside of Christ Jesus… Impossible! (John 14:6)
__a. (Unger) “What a pointed illustration this is of ritualistic, humanly concocted worship that ignores the Word of God. A man-made god, a man-made worship, and a man-made priest have often characterized ritualistic Christendom, as well as lawless cults.”

B. ‘Does any of this really matter? After all, at least he & his mom are trying to worship God. We can’t judge their heart.’ It’s not a matter of judging their heart; it’s plain enough to judge their actions. And their actions are striking in their opposition to the revealed word of God… … And yes, it absolutely does matter! What good is it worshipping a god with all your heart & soul if it’s the wrong god?! Someone’s individual sincerity may be nice, but it doesn’t make their belief system right. They can be sincerely wrong. …
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6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

A. This is going to be a theme in the last several chapters… Here, we see the religious decay; Ch 19-21 will be civic decay. The time is ripe for a king, and God is going to provide one – ultimately through the line of David…

B. In many ways, this is held up to be an ideal situation in our culture today. “You do what’s right for you, and I’ll do what’s right for me.” Big problem with that…what happens when what’s right for me interferes with what’s right for you? Worse yet – what happens when what’s right for you interferes with what’s right for God? … What happened in Israel was not an enlightened form of postmodern relativism; it was anarchy! GOD was supposed to be their king, but they definitely did not recognize Him as such (as demonstrated by Micah’s idolatry)…
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7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. 8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

A. Already we have a problem with the Levite. The Levites were not given land of their own as an inheritance (their inheritance was to serve the Lord), but they were given 48 cities (Josh 21), and Bethlehem was not one of them… [MAP] This man was a wanderer, not attending to the things of the Lord, as was his calling…

B. So what? So he’s leaving himself open for sin. Anytime we neglect doing what God calls us to do, we’re leaving the door wide open for temptation to come rolling through & run us down…quite often, then we ask wondering, “What happened?!” Falling into temptation rarely catches us truly by surprise; it begins with a lot of tiny steps away from the Lord Jesus.
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9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.” 10 Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.

A. Instead of serving the Lord how he was supposed to, the Levite prostitutes his services for 10 shekels of silver (presumably from the returned money), a change of clothing, and room & board. For the wandering Levite, this must have looked pretty good. He can hang out, be well fed, and minister to someone. Big problem here: he’d be ministering idolatry!! He doesn’t seem to think twice about going with Micah, much less go before the Lord in prayer or seek out the Scriptures. Bad decision!
__a. Gives an indication of a big underlying problem: There’s no fear of the Lord in his eyes! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10), and the Levite’s actions show himself to be a fool. If he truly feared the Lord, he wouldn’t have
__b. The Levite’s one concern (which will be verified in Ch 19): How will this benefit me?
__c. Beware of self-centered or man-centered faith…it’s a false faith!

B. Is the Levite the only one at fault here? Of course not. Micah had no business offering him a position as a personal priest, and certainly didn’t have the authority to consecrate him as such…
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13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

A. Completely false assumption… Saul thought the same thing when he attempted to justify his sin with false piety: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (22) So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” []

B. Ultimately Micah is trying to justify his actions through works-righteousness…trying to curry & earn favor with the Lord by the things he did & people he surrounded himself with…
__a. The favor of God is never earned through works; only by the grace of Jesus!
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Judges 18 (NKJV)
1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them.

A. What’s going on with Dan? They definitely had an inheritance in the land assigned to them (Josh 19:40-48) – but they were not yet able to occupy it for whatever reason (Judges 1…) … It seems that they were not satisfied with their own inheritance, so they went off looking for easier land to conquer.

B. Are we satisfied with what God has given us? Or is the grass greener on the other side?
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2 So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

A. [MAP] Much further north than where their original inheritance was…
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3 While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” 4 He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

A. How did they recognize his voice if they were of Dan & the Levite had previously lived in Bethlehem? It’s certainly possible they knew the Levite personally (he seems to have wandered from city to city); possibly they just recognized his accent as being foreign to the area.
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5 So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way.”

A. Is there any indication that the Lord actually gave this word to the Levite? No. The so-called priest was in sin just by being there – there’s no indication he ever consulted the Lord in prayer – he seems to answer just off the top of his head. Men who claim to represent God have no business saying something that God has not shown them… How do we know? Through the written word of God!

B. Things were bad in Israel! (Guzik), “This shows what a spiritually confused time this was in Israel. Danites on a sinful mission met with a sinful Levite, and wanted to know from a righteous God if their mission would be successful. Then the sinful Levite sent the sinning men on their way with God’s blessing.”
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7 So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone.

A. Their journey was indeed prosperous. Lucky guess? He had a 50/50 chance…
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8 Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?” 9 So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

A. IOW, “What are you waiting on? Let’s go!”
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11 And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. 12 Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) 13 And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
A. [Reference map again…]
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14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” 15 So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

A. Once they got there, the 5 spies remembered Micah’s idols & figured Dan would gain favorably by taking the ‘gods’ with them into battle. Pretty ironic considering that if the idols could really help them, the soldiers wouldn’t have been able to steal them from Micah to begin with…the idols would have stopped them.

B. Underscores two things: (1) Idols are fake. False gods have no power to help because they are false. (2) Man’s desire to worship idols is centered around his selfishness. God may have made us in His image, but typically people want to worship a god in their own image…they want something of their making. … Why? Just like the Devil attempting to throw God off His throne, that’s what people want to do in their own lives. We don’t want God to be in control; we want to be in control. So what do we do? Make up an image of God in our own mind & claim to worship it.
__a. So what to do? Throw out the false idols & worship the true God! The God who created the heavens & earth – the God who gave you life & breath – the God who came incarnate as a Man, died on the cross for your sins, and rose again to new life! Humble yourself – die to yourself, and surrender your life to Christ Jesus as Lord & Savior…
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18 When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

A. Reasonable question, considering the Danites were stealing the idols from Micah’s house… At the same time, it’s hard not to wonder if the Levite was truly concerned about the theft (for breaking the commandments of God) or if he was just worried about his employment.
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19 And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” 20 So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people. 21 Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.

A. This was the exact same thing Micah had said to the Levite earlier; only now it was for a much more prestigious position… He was prostituting his calling from God – selling it out to the highest bidder. How different than what Jesus does for us! John 10:11-15 (11) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. (12) But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. (13) The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. (14) I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. (15) As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. []

B. Not only did the Levite sell out for a greater opportunity to sin, his “heart was glad” about it! [] Don’t be deceived by good “feelings” in making decisions… The heart is deceitful above all things (Jer 17:9) – your heart can easily lead you astray. Base your decisions upon the solid word of God!
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22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?” 24 So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”

A. Good point from Micah. Basically says, “You stole all my stuff – of course I’m chasing you down!” …

B. BUT. Micah is chasing after his SIN. He wants to continue in his sin. Instead of thanking God for His loving chastisement in allowing it to be stolen from him, he’s chasing after the guys in order to continue his idolatrous worship…
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25 And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!” 26 Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

A. Micah couldn’t win the battle, so he went home…

B. Micah’s story ends here in the Bible…but I have to think this was the best thing that ever happened to him. God made it impossible for Micah to worship his idol; the only two options left for Micah were to either (1) ignore God altogether…which doesn’t seem likely considering his desire to worship (starting with his son & following with the Levite), or (2) seek God in spirit and truth…
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27 So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

A. Conquest of Laish… Those ‘mighty’ warriors of Dan were able to conquer a peaceful people who were “quiet and secure.” The land was certainly given to the people of Israel by God, but the author here doesn’t give any glory to the Danites. The original land given to them was possessed by Philistines who could actually fight – Dan left the challenge & went to go pick on folks they knew they could beat.
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30 Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

A. Finally get the name of the Levite: Jonathan… Alternate possibility for “Manasseh” is “Moses” – which would fit well with Gershom, who was indeed Moses’ son. Also keeps Jonathon in the correct tribe – unless “Manasseh” was an otherwise unknown person & not the son of Joseph…
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31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

A. Micah’s idols had a lasting impact…it seems that the city conquered by Dan retained it’s affinity for idolatrous worship. By the time of King Jeroboam, he had 2 golden calves made for worship – he put one in Bethel & the other in Dan (2 Kings 12:29). Who knows how many untold people and generations were stumbled because of one man’s idolatry? No wonder God states that the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon the children of the 3rd & 4th generation (Exo 34:7). That’s not ‘meanness’; it’s just a fact! Our children tomorrow are affected by the way we walk with God today…

Conclusion:
Have you ever found yourself chasing after idols? (Or whatever besetting sin you may have…) Where on one hand you tell yourself you want to worship God alone, but on the other, you have something you simply don’t want to give up for Jesus. Know this: there is no substitute for Jesus Christ!

People will try to substitute all sorts of things for Jesus Christ – but it doesn’t matter how fancy our idol is or how much money we may have spent on it. It doesn’t even matter how many other people want it for themselves… There is no substitute for Jesus. Grace and forgiveness of sin comes ONLY from Him. Relationship with God Almighty comes ONLY through Him. New & eternal life comes ONLY through Him. He is the way, the truth, the life, and there is no substitute!

So Christian, don’t settle for anything less. If some preacher comes on TV proclaiming anything but the gospel of Jesus Christ & the word of God, don’t listen to him…he’s just selling himself out for 10 shekels and a shirt. If some otherwise well-meaning person calling themselves ‘Christian’ starts holding up ideas and gimmicks that are completely opposed to the Bible, don’t believe them for a minute. They may be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. Don’t settle for anything less than your Savior – the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

He’s a Judge?!

Judges 13-14, “He’s a Judge?!”
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Introduction:
Ever come across somebody that you’re absolutely amazed that they do what they do? 5’ basketball player – deaf musician (like Beethoven), etc… We seem to see something similar in Samson. Normally when we think of judges, we think of people who were certainly flawed like us, but overall they walk with the Lord & show great faith (like Gideon & Deborah). That’s certainly NOT the case with Samson! Samson was far more scoundrel than saint – but God in His wisdom & grace chose to use him. And unlike other judges whom God raised up as adults, God gave His call to Samson before he was even born…

We left off with Jepththah – another flawed judge in the rashness of his unnecessary vow. Three “minor” judges followed him, and Israel gets caught up in the cycle of sin & apostasy yet again…

Judges 13 (NKJV)
1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

A. It’s always striking to me that so much time elapses with Israel stuck in sin & submission to their enemies before things change & God gives them a deliverer. Happened again – this time for 40 years! The longest they had previously been sold into the hands of their enemies was 20 years under Jabin & Sisera of Canaan until God raised up Deborah (Judges 4:3). You’d think that after a certain amount of time, the Israelites would have looked up & realized what was going on around them…

B. How bad are they blinded by their own sin? They don’t cry out to the Lord in repentance this time! They’re so in love with the world & their sin that they didn’t even realize that God had so much more for them as His own special people.
__a. How far we go to justify our own sin! “It’s not so bad…it’s not like I’m doing _____” Or “Who’s it going to hurt, anyway? I’m only hurting myself.” Or “I can always ask for forgiveness later…whenever later is.” Or “It makes me feel good; and that can’t be too wrong, can it?” When you start hearing these things come out of your mouth, be careful! At that point, you love your sin more than God & you’ve forgotten what God has in store for you as His child & the grace that He’s already showered down upon you through Jesus!

C. God (in His grace) raises up a deliverer anyway. … Not unlike our salvation in Christ. Jesus died for us when we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8) – we were dead in our trespasses (Eph 2:1) – we were at enmity with God (Rom 8:7). Like Israel, we had no natural desire to repent… Yet God in His great grace sent Jesus to die on our behalf & call us to Himself for salvation…
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2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

A. Sound familiar? Hannah…Elizabeth…Mary… With the exception of Mary, the other ladies were considered barren – and Mary’s pregnancy certainly started a lot of rumors & gossip! To them, their problems (understandably) seemed to be tragedy. But God turns tragedy in the lives of those who love Him to His glory… Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. []

B. What’s the vow of a Nazirite? Numbers 6 has the complete details…basically they were to abstain from eating or drinking anything made from grapes, & let their hair grow uncut, refrain from touching any dead body…all in demonstration of their dedication to the Lord. If any part of this vow was broken, Numb 6 gives the details how to deal with it (which we have zero indication that Samson actually followed). One major difference from a typical Nazirite & Samson – usually the Nazirite vow was temporary. God was calling Samson to this all his life…
__a. We may not use Nazirite vows today, but we are still dedicated to the Lord. For how long? For the rest of our lives! … In gratefulness to Jesus Christ…

C. The idea was that the Nazirite was a dedication to God. Does this really fit the description on Samson? Not really… But God still used him. WHY?! Because of God’s grace & God’s glory!
__a. God was going to glorify himself through the actions of this very flawed judge. Not by raising up an army, but by God using this single man to personally destroy thousands of the enemies of God.
__b. God in His grace not only used Samson – but held him up as an example of faith! [Heb 11:32-34] Why? Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains – and it seems that Samson (despite his flaws) had a “little” faith.
__c. Good news: If God can glorify Himself through Samson, then by the grace of God, He can also glorify Himself through us because of Jesus Christ. We have nothing offer God in the 1st place, with the exception of our flaws. But He receives them & gives us the righteousness of Christ in their stead.
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6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ” 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”

A. It’s interesting that she recognized the Angel as being like the Angel of the Lord, but didn’t recognize Him as the Angel of the Lord. Scripture doesn’t tell us why – but it may be because Israel had fallen so far away from the Lord that they couldn’t tell the difference.

B. Tells her husband everything the Angel said (except the razor…) Manoah’s response to the news? He prayed. [] Amen! Got a question? Pray! Want to learn what God wants you to do? Pray…
__a. Does that mean we need to wait for a vision from God? Of course not; though that wouldn’t be out of the question for God to provide. But God has already revealed His word & His will to us in the Scriptures. When you pray, prayerfully read through the Bible! The Holy Spirit is our teacher (John 14:26); ask Him to teach you all things…
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9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” [God answered the prayer…]

11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” 13 So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”

A. Interesting that the Angel doesn’t tell Manoah any more than what He originally told his wife… Only adds one thing: his wife can’t eat grapes/grape product either during her pregnancy.
__a. Aside: This indicates that the baby growing inside her womb was a real person; not a “blob of tissue.” God’s instructions were for Samson to take the Nazirite vow; that wouldn’t apply to some blob that wasn’t human…

B. What the Angel of the Lord doesn’t answer Manoah is regarding what line of work Samson would have. God obviously knew it (re: omniscience); but He wasn’t willing to reveal it to Manoah.
__a. Some things God wants to remain unknown until the time to be revealed. (Including the date of the rapture/resurrection!) And that’s ok! God is God; we’re not…
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15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.” 16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)

A. Demonstration of hospitality…

B. Was the Angel refusing worship? No (as we’ll see in a minute); He was affirming that all worship goes to God.
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17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?” 18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”

A. Manoah’s idea was to name the child after the Angel of the Lord. Thought he’d be looking at something like “Michael” or “Gabriel”…he doesn’t quite know what he’s asking for, considering who he’s asking. If it sounds familiar, it’s because Jacob asked the same question when wrestling with God (Gen 32:29) & he received a similar response.

B. His name IS wonderful! Isaiah 9:6-7 (6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. [] Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus in His millennial & eternal glory as Jesus reigns as the King of Kings. Yet it’s not that Jesus only becomes wonderful after His 2nd Coming; Jesus has always been wonderful! Hb = “incomprehensible; beyond our understanding.”
__i. It’s incomprehensible to us that Jesus would die for someone like me & you. It’s incomprehensible that the perfect Son of God would become sin for us. It’s incomprehensible that the eternal Word would humble Himself in His incarnation – to the point of going to the Cross. Yet though everything about Jesus boggles the mind, it is truly wonderful!
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19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

A. Why did they fall to the ground? They recognized it was the Lord & the proper response when you come before God is worship & the right fear of God. Isaiah proclaimed his own woe when standing in God’s throne room (Isa 6:5) – Peter asked Jesus to get out of his fishing boat when Jesus called him as a disciple (Luke 5:8).
__a. Praise God that we can come boldly before the throne of grace to find grace in our time of need! But let us never forget that as we come before our Abba Father in prayer, we’re coming before the Almighty God, Creator of the Universe! He is worthy of worship, if for no other reason than purely because He is God…
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21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”

A. Manoah’s wife is wise…if God wanted them dead, it would have happened minutes ago, and she wouldn’t be carrying a baby by the command of the Lord.

B. But Manaoh still had good theology. Without the hand of God’s mercy & grace, they should have died. No one can see the face of God & live (Exo 33:20); but as they stood before the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ & offered a sacrifice, He looked over their sin in atonement & grace & in loving relationship with them.
__a. Praise God for the Lord Jesus! Without His intervention & sacrifice through His atoning blood, we would surely die. Outside of Christ, there is no hope at the judgment…

24 So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

A. “Samson” likely = “little servant/little sun” Pretty ironic considering how physically strong Samson was.

B. Most likely, there’s a time lapse between vs 24-25. Considering Samson’s type of service, he may have been a young man when he began to deliver Israel, but he would still have been an adult. And that’s when the “Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him.”
__a. To do the work of God, you must be empowered by the Spirit of God…
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Judges 14 (NKJV)
1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” 4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

A. Were his parents right to object? Yes! He should have looked to Israel for a wife. But God had other things in mind… Was this then a sin of Samson? It seems to be. Not only was he seeking a wife from among the Philistines, but he dishonored his parents (5th Commandment) in the meantime.

B. Can God use our sinful actions for His glory? Yes – absolutely. [Joseph vs. his brothers] Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. [] Does that give us license to sin? … Absolutely not. We still experience the temporary consequences from our sin – we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8). Eternally, Jesus has taken that punishment upon Himself.
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5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

A. I’m not sure what’s more astounding here: that Samson through miraculous strength tore apart the lion, or that the author of Judges thinks that tearing apart goats with one’s bare hands is an ‘everyday’ occasion!

B. What gave Samson the strength to do it? “The Spirit of the Lord.” NOT his hair – not his Nazirite vow – not any work of man. His vow was simply a sign of his dedication to the Lord; it was the Lord who empowered Samson to do the work…

C. Why didn’t Samson tell his parents? He wasn’t supposed to be there in the 1st place. A man under a Nazirite vow had no business being around grapes in a vineyard.
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7 Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9 He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

A. Found the woman he wants to marry… Keep the honey in mind for later…

B. Keep in mind that Nazirites were not supposed to touch dead bodies. By getting the honey out of the lion’s carcass, he was in violation of his Nazirite vow…

C. Would bees really set up a hive in the lion carcass naturally? Yes – keep in mind that at least some time elapsed between killing the lion & Samson’s return to marry the woman. It’s not like they had an animal control department cleaning up the highways of roadkill. When the corpse rotted, it would have provided a good home for the bees. Even so – there’s little doubt God miraculously directed it, considering how much Samson used the situation.
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10 So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. 11 And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. 13 But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

A. Samson’s situation keeps getting worse & worse. At his wedding party to this Philistine woman, he doesn’t even have groomsmen to bring along with him – so the Philistines round up 30 guys to be his attendants. In addition, he’s at a “feast”, or “drinking party”…no doubt he was consuming wine. This is yet one more way Samson breaks his Nazirite vow.

B. Samson’s not exactly turning out to be the kind of man we’d expect God to use. He’s cocky, searching for wives among the Philistines, a trickster, a gambler, and a drinker. Yet God still uses him! All of this so far is a set-up for Samson’s 1st big exploit. God uses Samson’s sinful, carnal nature as a tool to exact God’s vengeance upon the Philistines.
__a. Does that give an excuse for us? “Oh God will make it all work out in the end. I’ll go ahead and indulge my sin now.” No – that’s hypocrisy! It goes against everything Jesus died for! Romans 6:1-4 (1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (2) Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (3) Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (4) Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [] God forbid that we abuse the grace of God in order to engage in our sin!
__b. Keep in mind that we don’t walk in newness of life & holiness out of some sort of legalistic obligation to Jesus. That’s the law; not grace. But we strive to grow in holiness out of love for our Savior! We’re no longer the same person we were before Jesus saved us – for a Christian to live that way would be like a person going to a carnival with a corpse tied to his back. We’ve died to those sins through Jesus Christ! We’re raised in newness of life & we are now new creations in Him. So walk in that newness of life in grace!
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14 So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.
A. Good riddle! …
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15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?” 16 Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.” And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”

A. Would Samson’s wife pressed upon him if she had not been threatened? We don’t know. Did Samson’s wife have a choice in the matter? Without question. She could have told Samson – undoubtedly he would have protected her.

B. How did she get Samson to tell her the answer to the riddle? Through sheer manipulation. Even granting that she was under duress, she approached Samson in a deceitful, sinful way… Is manipulation effective? Many times yes; but it’s always wrong. [VFL] Jesus showed us agape love when He saved us (and every day since!); we ought to act in agape love towards one another as well…and manipulation isn’t loving. It’s self-serving…
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17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have solved my riddle!”

A. He finally told her & she told the Philistines. This is going to set a pattern with his relationships with women. He puts himself into a compromising situation, and then eventually gives into their demands. Two major problems here (among others):
__a. Samson had a lack of self-control: This is part of the fruit of the Spirit – but even though the Spirit came upon Samson, he was not filled in NT terms. For certain, he wasn’t growing in the Spirit.
__b. Samson had a lack of the fear of God: Especially evident when we think of his relationship with Delilah…but here as well. God had given him a gift, but Samson seems much more interested in his pride than in the glory of God.

B. “plowed with my heifer” – not an accusation of adultery, but an acknowledgment that the only possible way the 30 Philistines could have learned the answer to his riddle was from his wife.
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19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father’s house. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

A. Samson paid the debt of the wager; but not the way the Philistines expected…

B. In the end, he abandoned his wife & she was given to another…this comes into play in Ch 15 when Samson returns for her. In fairness to her father, since Samson left on the 7th day of the feast, he left before the marriage was consummated. The father probably figured Samson would never come back for her & so he gave her to another man.

Conclusion:
There’s almost more to learn about what NOT to do, than what TO do from Samson’s life. He was a scoundrel; but he was God’s scoundrel. And that’s what makes all the difference. Despite his flaws, God had a use for Samson – to carry out his wrath upon the Philistines, which Samson got started with in Ch 14 & will finish in Ch 16.

This is not an apologetic for “greasy grace”… … But it is a wonderful example of the grace of God. … We aren’t perfect (far from it!), but God takes us, imperfections & all, and uses us for His glory. He invites us as imperfect witnesses to be His witnesses in the Great Commission. He invites us to come before Him in prayer – He brings us into His very family – and grants us an inheritance we’ve neither earned nor deserved. Everything we have in Christ is due to the grace of God. How do we know for sure? Because we’re all Samsons. We may not have sinned in the same way he did – it may not be as obvious in our own lives as his – but without a doubt, we’ve all taken our relationship with God for granted, and despite all that, He still calls us His own people & children.

It’s because of this that we ought to strive to walk rightly before God! He’s forgiven us of so much & will continue to do so till the day we die. May we love our God more than our flesh & seek to let our flesh stay dead as we walk in life with Christ Jesus.

From Fleece to Faith

Judges 6-7, “From Fleece to Faith”
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Introduction:
Judges has a tendency to be an aggravating book – Israel keeps falling over & over & over again. And their sin gets worse & worse. But at the same time, it’s a grace-filled book. So many times with Israel’s failings, God is right there & ready to deliver upon their repentance & turning back to Him. We’ve seen it with Othniel (Caleb’s son-in-law) – with Ehud (vs. Eglon) – with Shamgar (ox goad) & with Deborah & Barak (vs. Sisera). Now we’ll see it with Gideon…

Judges 6 (NKJV)
1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. 3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

A. The cycle of apostasy & sin again…

B. Are there consequences to sin? Yes! In Israel’s case, 7 years worth of consequences…

C. Keep in mind this wasn’t just an inconvenient time for Israel; this was impoverishment to them…
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7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites, 8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 Also I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

A. “And it came to pass…” This seems to me a very sad assessment. Exactly how much time needed to pass in their servitude to the Midianites before they came to their senses & cried out to God? …

B. God reminded them of His past provision…

C. God reminds them of their present position… (I am the Lord your God…)

D. God reminds them of their disobedience…
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11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

A. Seems to be a bit of humor here. There’s Gideon, threshing wheat in secret trying to hide & afraid of the Midianites – and the Angel of the Lord comes up & calls him a warrior…

B. Not just humor; it’s the truth! Only Gideon doesn’t know it yet.
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13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” 14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

A. Gideon doesn’t seem to recognize the Angel of the Lord as God at first… Questions God about His miraculous power (even though God had just affirmed it to the people)…

B. God commissions Gideon to battle. “Go in this might of yours” – not so much a statement that God wouldn’t be involved (Gideon’s victory is due solely to God), but a proclamation that Gideon wouldn’t be going in worldly strength to the battle. He wouldn’t have to go to training school – nor raise a massive army – nor anything that showed itself strong. All Gideon needed to do was to be available to however God wanted to use him…

C. Gideon even acknowledges how weak he is – if a victory comes, it must be by the hand of the Lord God.
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17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.” 19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. 20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

A. How would you like that for a confirmation? Bring an offering & no matches…fire leaps up from the rock & consumes it on the spot…
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22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

A. This is almost always the result when people realize they have spoken with God. Isaiah cringed for his life… Peter asked Jesus to leave the boat… When we understand God’s holiness in comparison with our own sinfulness, there’s nothing else we can do except cry out for mercy…

B. Does God show His mercy? Yes! The Lord is peace… Jesus is our peace with God…
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25 Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

A. Before Gideon can go fight the battle, he’s got to purify his house from sin…

B. Even in this, he didn’t have much courage. … But note, he still did the right thing.
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28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

A. Amazing! Even after crying out to the Lord for help, the people are still wanting to cling to their false pagan altar… To the point of wanting to kill Gideon over it…

B. Joash’s response is classic: “Would you plead for Baal?” Would you really present the case to continue sinning against the Lord? Yet that’s exactly what some in the church attempt to do. People try to justify sins based on cultural changes – simply because it’s “politically correct” & thus we see ‘Christian’ arguments for homosexuality, justification for abortion, & more… Why would we plead for these things?

C. Through it all, Gideon gets a new name: Jerubbaal. Literally, “Let Baal plead”…probably not the 1st name that a servant of the Lord was looking to be named with, but it works. [Like Elijah – 1 Kings 18] Let Baal plead for himself; we’re going to follow the Lord!
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33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

A. Gideon assembles the army…most of Northern Israel comes to fight. All except Ephraim – keep that in mind for Ch 8. It seems that Gideon didn’t send a messenger to them, or at least none is listed.
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36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

A. Throwing out a fleece…

B. Was this wisdom on the part of Gideon? Or a lack of faith? There’s nothing wrong with confirming the word of the Lord through Scripture, Godly counsel, etc. But when the word is confirmed, it’s confirmed. We don’t need to question God beyond that! Be careful about basing your walk with God around various “fleeces.” Why?
__i. We shouldn’t be tempting the Lord.
__ii. God’s word should be enough! God had already told Gideon what to do. He’d already sent the Holy Spirit upon Gideon. What more did Gideon need to actually walk in obedience? Too many times, our fleeces aren’t used to truly determine God’s will for our lives; their excuses as to why we won’t follow God’s will already revealed for us.

C. So how should we determine the will of God in any given situation? Do we need to ask for “signs” and miracles? No. We just need to follow His leading. Going to look at several verses:
__a. Seek 1st the Kingdom of God. God will provide everything else. Matthew 6:33-34 (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. []
__b. Prayerfully search the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (16) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. []
__c. Ask for wisdom – God promises that He’ll provide it to those who ask in faith. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. []
__d. Seek godly counsel… Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established. []
__e. Commit your way to the Lord. Ask that God would make His desires your desires… Proverbs 3:5-6 (5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. []
__f. After all that’s done, walk in faith! All of these steps are obviously bathed in prayer, but they go beyond “only” prayer to action. (Tozer) “Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.” Gideon was hesitant to walk in obedience…it was only the grace of God that God patiently took away every excuse that Gideon had.
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Judges 7 (NKJV)
1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

A. God is about to whittle the army down. Why? Wouldn’t it be better to go into battle with massive numbers & mighty warriors? Sure – if you want to use man’s methods to fight, that’s the only way to go. But Gideon wasn’t using man’s methods; this was God’s battle. And God didn’t want Israel to forget it…

B. Be careful not to take credit for that which God has done in your life…
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3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. 4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” 8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

A. Narrowed the army 2 ways… (1) Anyone who wants to go home, can go home… 22,000 people didn’t have to be told twice… (2) God’s determination of how they drank water. Either God chose the 300 who lapped like dogs because they were militarily ready for action (ready to run) – or because they were the least worthy out of the rest of the army. Based on 1 Cor 1:27 (God has chosen the foolish things), I’m inclined to favor the latter.

B. Gideon is left with 300 men. 300!? Gideon was facing an army of thousands. 300 men by the world’s standards wasn’t bravado; it was suicide! Yet God was the One fighting for them…300 was still 300 more than necessary. But enough for Israel to get the point.
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9 It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. 13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” 14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” 15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

A. Don’t you love this little act of grace from God? God has already appeared incarnate to Gideon through Jesus as the Angel of the Lord – He’s already consumed the sacrifice Gideon brought to Him – He’s already answered 2 fleeces that Gideon threw out – He’s given Gideon His word on multiple occasions… But in case Gideon is still a bit nervous about going out, God says, “Go listen in on the camp & see what the Midianites have to say.”

B. God understands our fear. God understands our lack of faith. 4 times in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus points out the lack of faith on the part of the Jews & the disciples…He’s not surprised by it; it’s just a statement of fact. We do have very little faith…but God understands that & in His grace, meets us there. We have a wide-open invitation to go boldly before the throne of grace in our time of need – if we lack faith, we can ask for it. Faith can even be a spiritual gift (1 Cor 12:9). If you lack faith in trusting God; don’t be fearful & run further away from God; simply confess it to Him & ask for His help…
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16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!’ ” 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!” 21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

A. So what’s the battle plan? Go sneak into the camp with swords & plant traps? Roll boulders down upon the camp? No. Nothing militarily. Every man was armed with a trumpet (shofar) and a torch covered up under a pitcher. When the trumpet blows, the others are supposed to blow their trumpets & break open the torches to shine down on the Midianites… Basically the plan is to scare them to death… And it works.
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22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

A. IOW, there was so much confusion that the Midianites started killing themselves! They took of running & the 300 men of Israel pursued them. This is exactly what God had told them would happen if they trusted in Him:
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24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. 25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

A. Chased the Midianiate leaders down & killed them.

Conclusion:
Israel (once again) was overwhelmed due to their own fault… BIG problems! But God had a perfect solution.

Gideon was not a likely choice…
His army was not a likely size…
The strategy was not a likely choice…

But that’s exactly what God wanted. God put Gideon (and Israel) in a place where they’d look up after the victory and have no other option than to give God the glory for what took place! … That’s what He wants from us as well. Not that any of us want to be in such an overwhelming situation as Gideon – but we DO want to be in a relationship with God where we’re trusting Him for everything in our lives. We want to be fully reliant on God for our family – our finances – our future…where we realize that every good gift we have in life truly comes from the Father. And in all things, we give Him the glory for it…

So here’s the challenge: are you currently trusting the Lord for all these things, or are you constantly throwing out fleeces? The only thing stopping us from having a relationship with the Lord where we truly treat Him as Lord is us. Perhaps we have a lack of faith…where we’re not truly ready to trust God for His provision & His will… Or perhaps we have a lack of holiness, when we’re trying to hide certain sins in our past from His sight. We haven’t yet torn down the pagan altars to truly devote ourselves to Jesus.

Whatever it is – eventually we all come to a point where we have to make up our mind to either walk by faith, or don’t walk at all. Let’s walk by faith!

Compromise & Apostasy

Judges 1-3, “Compromise & Apostasy”
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Introduction:
Ever come across a car wreck on the highway & can’t stop looking at it? The book of Judges feels that way in some regards! Some of the events recounted in the book are simply awful: apostasy, rape, dismemberment, civil war & more. If the Israelites had a poor record in worshipping the Lord when being led by Moses & Joshua, that record is flushed down the toilet in Judges. Judges is the tale of the degradation of God’s chosen people from a victorious unified nation, into a divided sinful people living in anarchy & rebellion against their Lord & King.

There are bright moments in Judges (Deborah – Gideon’s 300 men), but for the most part, Judges is a book of apostasy. Whereas Joshua demonstrated what it was like to live the victorious Spirit-filled life, we might say that Judges demonstrates the opposite: what it’s like to claim the name of Christ, but waste our days in carnal living…

Who wrote it? No one knows…possibly Samuel. Covers a period of around 300-400 years of Hebrew history (some of the reigns of the Judges overlapped a bit). Depending on whether or not we count Abimelech (Ch 9), there are either 12 or 13 Judges mentioned… There are some bright moments (even picked up in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11) – but almost all of the judges are flawed in some ways. As with Genesis & the patriarchs, the Scripture shows the judges fairly: at their best & at their worst. The lessons we learn aren’t so much from the judges themselves, as much as God’s faithfulness, in spite of our flaws & sin.

Ch 1-3 captures the beginning. It sets the stage by transitioning out from Joshua – shows how Israel neglected to continue to conquest as they were instructed – how they 1st started turning from the Lord – and the 1st judges that God raised up to deliver them. …

Judges 1 (NKJV)
1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” 2 And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” 3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

A. Starts off well… Israel is seeking the Lord…Judah & Simeon are continuing to drive out the Canaanites (natural for them to go together ) – MAP

B. What’s the result? God blesses it! This is what was supposed to have happened…
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5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

A. Kind of brutal by our standards; SOP of the day…would have prevented them from fighting in the future. … Lex Talonis (eye for eye; tooth for tooth)
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8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

A. More conquest. This time from Judah…
B. Sets up the transition to Caleb (from Judah)…
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12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. 14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

A. Almost verbatim of what was told in Joshua 15:13-19. Considering Ch 1 begins with Joshua’s death, we can assume this is flashback. Perhaps specifically done to lay the foundation for Othniel in Ch 3.
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16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.

A. More conquest…Judah does great till they get to the valley (lowland). Question: If the Lord was with Judah, why couldn’t they drive out the inhabitants of the lowland? Iron chariots are no match for the Lord! Might be an indication of a lapse of faith or a move away from depending on the Lord for victory.

B. Interestingly enough, there’s no record of a battle taking place in the lowlands & a defeat. It’s almost as if Judah saw the iron chariots & thought, “Boy, that’s tough…we can’t take that!”
__a. If our God can create the world & save sinners like you & me through the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ, then there’s nothing that would be a challenge for Him to accomplish. With God, all things are possible! (Matt 19:26) Beware of letting our lack of faith stop us from walking in His promises. God had promised He’d fight for Israel; Israel obviously wasn’t willing to trust God to do so.
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20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. 21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

A. Interesting contrast between the two. Caleb is one man, but he (with the Lord) was able to defeat 3 giants. Benjamin was a whole tribe – yet they were not able to fully defeat the Jebusites by driving them out.
__a. Again, this is another contrast in faith. Caleb had the faith to take mountains (Josh 14:12)… The whole tribe of Benjamin was content to compromise…

B. FYI – this gives us a clue as to the date of authorship of the book. The Jebusites were finally defeated by David & expelled from Jerusalem in his reign. Thus “Judges” had to have been written prior to David.
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22 And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. 27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

A. Exploits of Manasseh… They defeated Luz/Bethel with the help of a spy (reminiscent of Rahab & Jericho), but they couldn’t defeat the rest…
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28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute. 31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute. 36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

A. From a worldly perspective, this might sound like a success. Israel had many military victories & the various tribes were strong enough to make the Canaanite nations pay tribute to them…

B. From a spiritual perspective, this is an utter failure. Israel wasn’t supposed to gather tribute from the Canaanites; they were to inflict God’s judgment upon them & drive them out! [] Ultimately, they are compromising with sin & it’s going to hurt them.
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Judges 2 (NKJV)
1 Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”

A. Angel of the Lord = Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) & makes it clear that He Himself was the One who made the covenant with Israel.

B. Jesus rebukes Israel in response to their refusal to drive out the Canaanites, but rather take tribute from them. This wasn’t mere laziness; this was sin! God specifically commanded them to drive out the inhabitants of the land (Num 33:50-56), not because He needed to give Israel “busy-work”, but to protect them from the temptation of idolatry, apostasy, fornication, and numerous other sins. (God’s rules are to protect & provide for us…) By not driving out the people & not tearing down the pagan altars, Israel was setting themselves up for failure…
__a. How often do we set ourselves up for failure by leaving remnants of sin around? Old movies we shouldn’t watch, but hesitate throwing away… Keeping liquor in the house because it’s too expensive to pour down the drain… (Or whatever your old besetting sin was.) Until we get rid of these temptations, they will always be thorns in our sides & snares…

C. The consequence? God will no longer drive out the Canaanites, and Israel is going to have to deal with them on an ongoing basis. Israel had the opportunity to continue to experience the victory they had under Joshua’s leadership – but they wasted it.
__a. Sin always has consequences… Even when we go to the Lord to seek forgiveness, we may have consequences to face for the rest of our lives. Be careful what it is you’re sowing – you’re going to have to reap it one day.
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4 So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim [“weepers”]; and they sacrificed there to the LORD.

A. Israel is sorry & emotional – but there’s no evidence that this was godly sorrow. How can we say for sure? Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Cor 7:10) – but apart from the one sacrifice mentioned, there’s no evidence of any change of direction from their sin…in fact, it only gets worse.

B. Beware of substituting emotion for obedience! Passion is good (and necessary) in our worship of the Lord – but if all we have is emotional passion & no action to back it up, it’s not much good. (To obey is better than sacrifice… 1 Sam 15:22) Likewise, if we go through the motions, but have no change of heart & no true earnest desire to please God, then it’s a waste of time. (Rend your hearts & not your garments – Joel 2:13). We need both! Godly sorrow (emotion/passion) leads to repentance (action/change of direction)…
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6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land. 7 So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

A. Not chronological – remember Ch 1 had begun with the death of Joshua… This is a flashback to show how far Israel was already departing from the days of Joshua…
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10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

A. What did compromise with the Canaanites lead to? Idolatry & apostasy! …
B. Keep in mind that Israel had no reason to fall into apostasy – their forefathers had seen the work of the Lord on their behalf. Obviously they neglected to pass along the knowledge to their children.
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14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. 18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

A. Basically describes the overall cycle of apostasy & deliverance…
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20 Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

A. Reiterates the consequences mentioned earlier. Was God right to be angry? Yes! They had transgressed the covenant & God’s response was the response Israel agreed to when they affirmed the covenant.

B. Did God tempt Israel? No. (He doesn’t tempt anyone – James 1:13) But He did test them. KJV, “prove” – the idea is that God would allow Israel to endure trial in order to prove their mettle…to help strengthen them & see what they were made of.
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Judges 3 (NKJV)
1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), 3 namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4 And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

A. Lists out the nations left to test Israel…

B. We tend to think any challenge we face is from the devil. Not necessarily the case! Perhaps God is testing us to see if we’ll trust Him & rely on His power & grace. One reason we can count it all joy when we face various trials (James 1:3) is because whatever we face in the power of God is going to be used by God to grow & develop our character. Sometimes that challenge is a result of sin & the Fall – other times it may be specifically brought to us by God. Either way, it’s what He’s allowed in our lives to keep us turning towards Christ & His all-sufficient grace.
__a. Unfortunately, the Hebrews did not turn towards God; they failed the test…
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5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. 7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.

A. 1st specific instance of apostasy (Ch 2 was a general overview). Here, we see how Israel compromised with all sorts of pagan gods (generally fertility gods) & added fornication to their list of sins. As a result, God “sold them” to Mesopotamia…ie., God allowed Israel to face His discipline – and if it takes a pagan people & oppression to get through to Israel, then that’s what God is going to allow to happen.

B. Keep in mind that God’s discipline is an indication of His love for us as children. If He didn’t love us, He’d ignore us & allow us to rot in our sins. But God cares too much for us to allow that to happen. He’d rather allow us to be disciplined in order that we would seek His face & be restored in fellowship.
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9 When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

A. Judge #1, Othniel…the son-in-law of Caleb [MAP]. What qualified Othniel to be judge? Was it his military exploits? No – it was God. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him…” What do we need to fight the spiritual battles we face? The power of the Holy Spirit! …

B. Eventually Othniel dies & the cycle begins again…
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12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

A. 2nd apostasy – this time they were defeated by Moab, a nation founded in iniquity (the incestuous relationship between Lot & one of his daughters).
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15 But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

A. Judge #2, Ehud. As a left-handed man, Ehud wouldn’t have been anyone’s 1st choice for a deliverer – it was culturally considered a defect. (Not too much different today!) But what culture despised, God used – keep his left-hand in mind in his encounter with the king.
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16 Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him. 20 So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 Even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out.

A. Pretty gruesome…but although it’s somewhat offensive to our 21st century ears, battles, blood & guts were commonplace for most of history. Eglon was an oppressor of God’s people & God used Ehud to deliver His justice to Eglon & freedom to the Hebrews.

B. Note Ehud’s dagger was strapped on his right thigh (which was not usually searched) – precisely because Ehud was left-handed. [] What we perceive as weaknesses are often what God uses in our lives to glorify Himself. [Joni Erikson Tada] Think of it this way: if God didn’t use weak things, He wouldn’t ever use us! But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise & the weak things to shame the mighty (1 Cor 1:27). WE are the weak ones; we can do nothing of our own to save ourselves – it’s the work of Jesus alone. And because His work IS sufficient, the world is left amazed at what God would do.
__a. If there’s an area in your life in which you’re weak, take heart! We serve a mighty God – and we can take our weaknesses & leave them at the feet of Christ for His use & His glory.
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23 Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone out, Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably attending to his needs in the cool chamber.” 25 So they waited till they were embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor. 26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah.

A. Basically, they thought Ehud was going to the bathroom & they didn’t want to interrupt…
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27 And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and he led them. 28 Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

A. Their deliverance from Moab…
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31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.

A. Judge #3, Shamgar… This is all that’s mentioned of him, but it’s pretty impressive! We don’t know if Shamgar killed all 600 Philistines at one time, or if it was spread out over time – but either way, it’s reminiscent of Samson & the jawbone or David & Goliath. An oxgoad was an 8-10 foot sharp spear-like stick…but to take out 600 soldiers with it is definitely an act of God.

Conclusion:
Quite a tumble in Ch 1-3! They begin with continuing the conquest under the divine power of God – but they compromise with the people of the land & descend into apostasy. By Ch 3, the cycle of failure has begun & God starts raising up judges to deliver His people.

So what can we learn from all this?

A. We dare not compromise with the things of the world! They only drag us down into carnality & away from God…

B. God is faithful! Even when His people disobey, God is ready to respond to them upon their repentance. Every time the Hebrews cried out to God, God was ready with a deliverer. Today, we don’t have just any-old-deliverer, we’ve got THE Deliverer in Jesus Christ! When we get drug down by sin, we don’t have to stay there…we simply need to seek the Lord in repentance, and Jesus is ready to forgive & deliver.