Journeying Through Judges Chapter 3

Judges chapter 3

 

We start out in chapter 3 with a test from the Lord.  How many of us like tests?  I guess it depends on the test but more than likely they are not on our top list of fun things to participate in.

The Lord was not going to wipe out the pagan nations in the Promised Land for the Israelites but was going to leave them there to test the Israelites.   He was going to use it to give the Israelites warfare experience as some of the Israelites had never experienced it and God knew they were going to need it in the future.  These nations were also left to see whether or not the Israelites would obey God’s commands.

One thing I want us to get before we go any further forward is that no matter how many times the Israelites failed in their obedience to God He never turned His back on them.  Each time they were repentant He was there to receive them back into fellowship.  God does the same for us today.

One thing to note in this chapter is that Jehovah God is mentioned 15 times in 31 verses. I wonder who is in charge?

From 3:6 we see what happens when we are content to live amongst people who are not a good influence on us. Read it…..we compromise to fit in.  Relationships can get us into trouble especially if they are of the romantic nature.  Not only did the Israelites fall in love with pagan men and women but they also stretched their love and worship towards serving false gods.

So here we are introduced to our first Judge, Othniel.  God sold the Israelites into the hands of the King of Aram and were subject to him for 8 years.    It took 8 years for the Israelites to cry out to God…talk about stubborn..  They suffered for 8 years before turning to God.   Othniel, the younger brother of Caleb, was appointed to save them.  Notice he wasn’t appointed a judge to work in his own strength.  It says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.  It was the Lord who won the battle through Othniel and the King of Aram was overpowered.  The land then had peace for 40 years until Othniel died.

Sidenote:  Othniel was an ordinary man but with an extraordinary God.  Othniel could not have done what he did without the Holy Spirit.  He yielded himself to the Holy Spirit to work in and through him and see what he accomplished.  What ministries are we involved in? Do we have a role in our local church, in an organization, what about our families?  Are our churches just buildings filled with people going through a program or are they yielded to the HS.  What does Acts 1:8 say about the HS?  Let us be mindful of the HS in our lives and not to do things in our own strength.  It will wear us out and we won’t be nearly as effective.  Someone said if you took the HS out of the early church then 90% of the people would  have walked away.  Who knows if that would be true but there is only so much we can do and for how long when we do things in our own strength.

I think we know what is coming….it is another change in the cycle.

This time it might have been a different King but the scenario was the same.  The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Notice God is always in control.  He was the one that gave Eglon power over the Israelites.  They attacked the city of Jericho which in turn put Israel in bondage for another 18 years.  You would think they would have learned but we are not unlike the Israelites with having short memories.  Like every other relationship in our lives it takes investment and doesn’t happen automatically.

We definitely serve a long suffering God.  The Israelites called out to God again in their distress and he gave them a deliverer a left handed man called Ehud from the tribe of Benjamin.  He was to be their next Judge and savior.  Left handed people in ancient times were often forced to become right handers.  The fact that Ehud was named a left hander shows that he wasn’t forced to change.  The  tribe of Benjamin was known for its left handers.  We read in Judges 20:16 of 700 left handed warriors.

In verse 15 we see the Israelites sending Ehud with the tribute that was due to be paid to King Eglon.  When Ehud was checked for weapons the guards would not think of looking on his right side but on his left.  Hence the reason Ehud was able to be in the Kings presence with a weapon.

Ehud left with his men after paying the tribute and then he doubled back and asked to see the King again.  Probably because he had just seen the king and had come alone he didn’t seem to be a threat.

Ehud approached the King in an upper room and told him he had a secret message from God.  Notice the King stands to receive the message.  Ehud said no more and reached for his dagger and thrust it into the belly of the King.  The king was so fat that even the handle disappeared in with the blade and the dagger went all the way through and out the back.  It also shows the strength that Ehud had.

Then we have Ehud locking King Eglon in the upper room.  When the servants arrived they found the doors locked and presumed he was in the bathroom.  How long do you wait before going to check on someone who has been in the bathroom?.  Anyone who has suffered from dysentery or amoebas or a stomach virus knows that you spend a lot of time in the bathroom.  However, the servants got to the point where they waited an embarrassingly long time and unlocked the door.  They found King Eglon dead.

Ehud had escaped the palace and rallied the Israelites by blowing a trumpet.  He led the Israelites down into Moab where 10,000 Moabites were killed.  Notice Ehud couldn’t take Moab by himself he needed faithful people around him to carry it out.  It takes team effort to get the job done.

Notice that Ehud doesn’t take the glory for any of it but attests it to the Lord in v28.  Moab was given into the hands of Israel and there was peace for 80 years.  This was the longest period of time the Israelites enjoyed peace and freedom in their 400 year period of the Judges.

Shamgar is next.  I t doesn’t say he is Judge but he was certainly used of God.  He gets one verse.  However, his impact was significant.   God used Shamgar to deal with 600 Philistines using an oxgoad

An oxgoad was a stick that was 8 feet long -  there is a pointy bit at the end for poking the ox and the other end is like a chisel which is used for scraping dirt of the plow.  (Guzik)

ii. "In the hands of a strong, skilful man, such an instrument must be more dangerous and more fatal than any sword." (Clarke).

One of the lessons we see from Shamgar is that he made himself available to be used by God.  As one Pastor said God can use whatever is in our hands for His purposes.  He used a left handed man in a society that was predominantly right handed and he used a labourer and his tool to wipe out 600 of the enemy. 

What has God put in our hands to be used for His glory?  We will see more of unusual tools that God uses as we walk through Judges.

Warren Wiersbe paraphrases someone called EM Bounds and says “the world is looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men and women who understand the basics:  the power of the HS, wise strategy and steadfast courage”