Journeying Through Judges 7

Judges 7

So we begin this chapter with a test of Gideon’s faith.  Gideon had gathered 32,000 men to fight against the Midianites but the Lord had other ideas.  The Lord said there were too many men.  I wonder how Gideon felt at this point? He knew how many Midianites he was going to have to face and there were a lot more than 32,000.  So one way to get rid of a bunch of men is to ask who is fearful.  If you are, go home.  Notice how many men up and went home….22,000.  This left Gideon with 10,000.  The odds were not good at this point.  However, imagine going into a battle and two thirds of your men are going into it with fear.  What does that do to the moral of the group?  It doesn’t help at all.  It can instill fear in those who were not originally fearful.

However, 10,000 men were still too many and God wanted to whittle it down further.  Why did God want to do that?   Look at v2.  God didn’t want the Israelites to boast that they had conquered the Midianites in their own strength and giftedness.  God wanted the odds to be so bad in the Israelites favour that everyone would know that it was God victory and not a man victory.  Read Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”.

So God tells Gideon to take his men down to the water.    How does he separate them v5-7?  It is an interesting way of separating out the men who would fight and those who would go home.  There are different theories as to why God did it this way.  Some writers say that those who cupped the water were better soldiers because they were still alert and had their eyes on their surroundings.  Whatever the reason God wanted the number of soldiers down to 300.

What has God put in our lives that makes us rely on Him more than our own resources and abilities.  The Apostle Paul had a weakness, a thorn in the flesh, that he asked God to take away and God said no.  Remember what Paul was like before he was saved.  He was a man on a mission and yet when God got hold of his life it completely turned around.  It was Paul and God on a mission together.  What does Paul say in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10?   Paul says he delights in his weaknesses.  Is that something we claim today?  Do we delight in our weaknesses so that Christ might be better known?  It is something for us to think about.

Okay back to our story in Judges.  Notice that God affirms Gideon again.  He says in 7:7 that with the 300 men the Midianites will be given into Gideon’s hands.  There will be victory even with 300 men.  He also tells Gideon during the night to go down to the camp where the Midanites are.  God was going to encourage him before he went into battle.  Notice that God says in v10…if you are afraid to attack go with your servant, Purah.  God knew Gideon, He is a personal God and knew what Gideon needed.  Gideon goes down to the camp and hears about a dream that one man heard and his friends’ interpretation of it.  God was just confirming to Gideon over and over that this battle was going to be a win and that he didn’t have to fear.

One writer said that the barley bread represented a poor person and that God was going to use a “nobody” to destroy the Midianites.  God was building Gideon’s faith.  How big is our faith?  Are we willing to step out and be used of God or do we want to stay where it is safe?  I am sure all of us have put our foot out there in faith at different times in our lives and have seen God work and these are amazing experiences.  What step of faith is God asking you to trust Him for in this season of life?  Does your faith life need a boost?  What are you fearful of?  What fears take up room in your head and cause you to doubt and worry?  We laugh at Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress but maybe we are hiding in our own “winepresses” when God wants us out threshing wheat on the hilltop of faith.

What does Gideon do when he hears the dream?  (v15).  He worshiped God.  As a sidenote do we take time to thank God when He confirms things to us and give Him the glory?  After worshipping God Gideon returned to the camp and rallied the troops like a mighty warrior.  He was living out the name that had been given to him by the Angel of the Lord.  Gideon took charge, told his soldiers his plan and then they executed it.

Can you imagine if you were one of the Midianites?  It is the middle of the night, you are in the deepest part of your sleep and you are suddenly brought out of that state to 300 hundred trumpets going off, bright lights and shouting.  It would be extremely disorientating and confusing.  They would have no idea how many men were surrounding them but it probably sounded like more than 300 at that time of night.  Notice what the men shouted “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon”.  One Pastor (David Guzik) said that the Midianites may not have known who the Lord was but they knew there was a man from the Lord called Gideon.  This would send the men into a panic.  What happens when we panic?  There is utter chaos and we don’t think straight.  In v22 it says that the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn upon one another with their swords.  Gideon and his men didn’t even have to do anything at the beginning as the Midianites were fighting amongst themselves.

When we fight amongst ourselves and do each other harm by the things we say or do the enemy just needs to sit back and watch.  We are doing his job for him.  Are you dealing with a conflict situation right now?  How is it going?  Are we involving God in the resolution of the conflict or are we just tearing each other apart?  Just think of a church that goes through a split.  We all know the damage that can be done in these situations.  Some people turn their backs on God in situations like this….if this is what God’s people do to each other they want no further part of it.

In v22 we see the Midianites fleeing for their lives.  Notice in v23 that other tribes were called in to pursue the Midianites and that included Asher.  Back in chapter 5:17 Asher remained on the coast and didn’t come to help fight against King Jabin and Sisera.  However, here we see no reluctance and Asher joined the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh.  Gideon was on a role at this point.  He was instructing the tribes to take the waters of Jordan ahead of the Midianites and the tribe of Ephraim also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb (raven) and Zeeb (Wolf) and decapitated them.  Notice where Zeeb was killed?  At a winepress.  The battle began for Gideon at winepress when his self esteem and faith were almost non-existent and yet the battle ended in victory at a winepress, not only in Gideon and His men taking care of the Midianites but also victory for Gideons faith life.  God has a way of turning things around.

None of us would choose to go into a battle with a fraction of the resources needed to win but when we have God on our side it is already a majority.  One Pastor said (Warren Wiersbe) “When leaders depend on their education, skill, and experience rather than on God, then God abandons them and looks for a Gideon”.  God looks for those who are available to be used by Him.  We don’t need to have it altogether before we make ourselves available.  God will make us ready like he did with Gideon.

Application - Judges 6

Please read Judges Chapter 6

Discussion Questions

1.       Gideon expressed 4 doubts in chapter 6.  What are they and how did God respond to them?

 

2.       Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress.  What does that tell us about Gideon?  What do you make of the name that the Angel of the Lord gave to Gideon in v13?

 

3.       Gideon used fleeces to determine God’s will.  Was this this a positive or negative means for discernment?  Should we use this method today? Why or why not?

 One Step Further

1.       What do we learn from Gideon in the area of faith and trust?

2.       Which one of the 4 doubts that Gideon had can you relate to?  Have you talked to God about it?  What is He saying to you?

Journeying through Judges 6

Judges 6

After 40 years of peace under Deborah and Barak we see a change in the cycle.  Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.  This time it was at the hands of the Midianites.  The Israelites had fought against the Midianites in the past and had conquered them but here we see that they had grown in strength and the Israelites found themselves on the other side….the side of defeat.

The Israelites were living in constant fear under the Midianites so much so that they have moved to the mountain areas for protection whereby they lived in caves and shelters.  Imagine this…..  You are an agricultural society.  You work hard to prepare the ground for planting, you plant and take care of what you have planted and enjoy watching the crops grow.  Just when you think great we are going to have enough food to see us through till the following year your sworn enemies swarm in like locusts on camels destroying all your hard work. Your food for the coming year, your livestock are the land are completely destroyed.  This happened for 7 long years.  Can you imagine that time and time again?  I am amazed that it took them 7 years before they cried out to the Lord.

How did the Lord respond?  He sent a prophet (v8) who gave them a brief history lesson reminding them of what God had done for them and also where they were disobedient.  Sometimes we need a history lesson.  We complain to God regarding our circumstances but yet maybe God is trying to get our attention for some reason.  The Israelites were blaming the Midianites for their predicament however they were just the tool that God was going to use to get their attention.  Their disobedience was the heart of the issue.  How long do we wait to cry out to the Lord?

In verse 11 the Angel of the Lord came and sat under at tree that belonged to Gideon’s dad, Joash.  This angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate Jesus.    The Angel of the Lord finds Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress.  This is not an ideal location for threshing wheat.  In order to separate the grain from the chaff you need some wind.  There is not much wind in a winepress.  You want to be up on a hill somewhere threshing wheat.  It shows the fear that Gideon and his family were facing with the Midianites.  They were struggling to make ends meet.

Notice the words out of the Angel of the Lord when he meets Gideon “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior”  In looking at the conversation following I don’t think Gideon is feeling like a mighty warrior or inclined to be one at this point.  This makes me wonder if Jesus came and appeared to each of us whilst we were going about our day what would He say to us?  There is huge potential in each one of us when God is working in and through our lives.  Some of it is being realized but I wonder if there is more.  Something to think about.

Okay let us look at the conversation in verse 13.  Gideon tells the Angel of the Lord that God has abandoned them and God is not doing any signs and wonders anymore and that they have been left to fend of the Midianites by themselves.  But who left who?  It was the Israelites that had disobeyed God and God hadn’t left them at all.  Our disobedience affects our relationship with God and often distorts what we think about God and how we view Him.

The Lord continues the conversation and says to Gideon go in the strength you have and save Israel from Midian.  Notice what Gideon thinks of himself and his clan.  He feels pretty small at this point, his self-esteem is not existent.  He replies by saying “how can I save Israel?”  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in his family.

However, the Lord answers Him by saying “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midanites together”  That is the key here.  Gideon could not do it by himself.  It wasn’t possible but it was possible with God.

Have you said something similar to God recently regarding something He is asking you to do.  But I can’t because I am only……..you fill in the gap.   As one Pastor put it Gideon doesn’t need more self confidence but more God confidence.  Maybe that is true for us some of us today.  What should your reply be when God speaks and asks you to do something that seems completely out of your league?

Let us move on.... so Gideon had this visit from the Pre-incarnate Christ and was told that the Lord would go with him.  You would think that would be enough right?  However, Gideon wanted confirmation and Lord granted him that.  Gideon prepared meat, bread and broth and brought it to the Angel of the Lord.  The Angel of the Lord touched it with the tip of his staff  and fired flared from the rock and consumed it all.  At this point Gideon realized he had been in the presence of the Angel of the Lord.  This special sign was the confirmation that he needed along with the words that were said. 

I just want to caution us at this point.  It is okay to ask God for confirmation on something we have been questioning but we shouldn’t rely on miraculous signs alone as there are deceptive ones also.  However, in the case of Gideon he had a whole experience with the Angel of the Lord and all of it together confirmed that this was from the Lord.   Remember God will never do something that is contrary to His Word as that would make Him out to be a liar.

So Gideon realizes he has just had face to face time with the Angel of the Lord and he is obviously frightened because the Lord says to him “Peace, do not be afraid.  You are not going to die”.  Gideon experienced a lot of fear not only from the Midanites and the time he was living in but now with the Angel of the Lord.  He needed peace and the Lord gave it to Him.  He experienced Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace and he built an altar to remind him. 

Some of us need to be reminded that the Lord is peace today.  What disturbs us from having peace?.   We need to talk to the one that can give us peace.

Gideon had quite an exciting day and it wasn’t over.  He didn’t have time to process what had just happened to him before the Lord had a challenge for him.  Read 6:25-26.  What was Gideon’s response in 6:27.

Gideon’s family worshipped Baal and Asherah.  God needed Gideon to destroy the false gods in his life and in his family’s life.  Notice Gideon is not showing his mighty warrior nature here just yet as he only has courage to do it at night and not in the daytime.  However, he is still being obedient and doing what the Lord says even if he might lack a bit of courage. 

Well if you wanted to get your name on a wanted poster this was the way to do it.  It says the men of the town did a careful investigation, they were intent of finding out who had destroyed their altar and put up a new altar.  The town mob were after Gideon.  They appeared at Joash’s place demanding that he hand over Gideon to be killed.  Destroying their gods that dealt with weather and fertility was a big deal in this town.  However, Joash made a reasonable argument at this point.  If Baal is truly a god then he can defend himself.  The men were put in a difficult position here.  If they took matters into their own hands then it would mean that they didn’t really believe that Baal could defend himself.  So they made the choice to let Baal deal with Gideon.

In v33ff we see the Midianites and the Amalekites joining forces together with people from the East and they all camped in the valley of Jezreel.  Notice who comes upon Gideon…..the Spirit of the Lord.  Gideon blows a trumpet to call the tribes to arms and to fight in the valley of Jezreel.  The response is pretty amazing as 32,000 men showed up.  However, as we will read in chapter 7 he faced an overwhelming opposition. Read 7:12

At the end of chapter 6 we see this interesting encounter between Gideon and God.   He “put out a fleece” to God.  Look at what Gideon says to God before he does that.  “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised….”  Why did Gideon need to test God when he already knew that God had promised him victory and had given him a sign back in 6:19-21.  God in His graciousness goes along with this with Gideon, but I believe, from verse 39 that Gideon wasn’t 100% comfortable in doing it.  He is asking God not to be angry with him.  If you know you are asking God for something that is right then you don’t need to fear God’s wrath.  Gideon didn’t have that confidence.  He was asking for a fleece out of unbelief and immaturity of faith.    Nowhere else in the Bible that I know of do we see this being practiced as a general way of finding out God’s will.  Who are we to tell God what He should and should not do when He has already spoken to us through His word. 

As one writer put it we have an advantage over Gideon.  We have two tools that Gideon lacked.  First of all we have the complete Word of God.  What does 2 Timothy 3:16-17 say?  We do not need experiential proof such as signs, voices or miracles although there are times He does show himself in that way.  However, we do need to take him at His Word and not rely only on the miraculous.

God has also given us the Holy Spirit which is God Himself.  He resides in us to guide, direct and be our counsellor.  We have a greater advantage over the OT believers.  Sometimes we need reminded of that.

Application - Judges 4 and 5

Please read Judges Chapter 4-5

Discussion Questions

1.       What do we learn about Deborah and Barak as people?  What kind of characters did they have?

2.       What is significant about God using two women to help His people?

3.       Read Judges 5:12-18.  How did the tribes respond to the call to the battle?  Why?

4.       Why do you think Deborah and Barak put a song together in Judges 5?

One Step Further

 

1.       What do you learn about leadership or service when it comes to Deborah and Barak?

 

 

2.       Is there something you need to change in your life in order to be more usable for God’s service?

 

 

 

 

*Some questions taken from “Be Available” by Warren Wiersbe

 

 

Journeying through Judges 4 and 5

Judges 4 and 5

 I am taking chapters 4 and 5 together because they tell the same story just using different methods.  However, we gain some insight when we read the two chapters together.

The story sets out with the Israelites again doing evil in the sight of the Lord and God using one of their enemies, this time Jabin, King of Canaan.  God used the Israelites enemies to get their attention.  I wonder if God does the same in our own life today at times.

Sisera was the Commander of  the army and he had quite the army, 900 chariots in total and had cruelly suppressed the Israelites for 20 years.     We get a glimpse of what life was like for the people in 5:6-7. The roads were abandoned and village life ceased.  It wasn’t safe to be outside.  Imagine what that does for community life and for the fear factor.  We talked about fear at the ladies retreat.  It can be debilitating and imagine the fear the Israelites were under for 20 years with King Jabin at the helm and Sisera doing the nasty work.

An unlikely person came forward and stood in the gap for Israel, a woman.  A prophetess and Judge called Deborah.  She had a place of prominence and helped to settle disputes amongst the people.  I am figuring she had a lot of wisdom to offer the children of Israel.  Notice in 5:7 that she calls herself a mother in Israel.  It was not just a job to her.  She cared for the people of Israel like a mother does her children.  Their wellbeing was important to her.

Sidenote:  Deborah’s name means bee.   When you look at the characteristics of a bee she was well named.  Bees are hard workers, no nonsense creatures and they have a goal insight.   They are focused to achieve that goal and they will protect themselves and others if the need arises. 

Deborah called for Barak who was going to be the one to defeat King Jabin’s army.  This was a big ask.  First of all Israel wouldn’t have that many weapons to fight with.   Any weapons they would have had would have been taken from them by their enemies.  Read 5:8.  If you are going to go in and overthrow a country you want them to be defenseless so they can’t fight back.  Sisera had 900 iron chariots and they were going to face each other on a plain.  Who has the advantage on a plain….Sisera where his iron chariots could be put to full use.  How were the Israelites going to be any match for this oppressor.

Another sidenote ……Satan loves to come against us and rob us of what we have in God.  When we feel defenseless we succumb to the enemies attacks.  Remember to go into battle knowing who is on your side and also what resources are available to you.

Okay back to Judges….Barak takes on the job but he asks for Deborah to go with him.  Some would see this as a weakness on his part that he wasn’t fully obedient but we see later on that its Barak that rallies the troops from his own tribe of Naphtali and the neighbouring tribe of Zebulun.  10,000 men and they followed him.  Are you going to follow a leader who doesn’t lead.  Here were 10,000 men willing to lay down their lives under Barak’s leadership.  That has to count for something.

Also the fact that Deborah agreed to accompany Barak on this mission would suggest that it wasn’t out of the will of God.  However, there was a condition attached and that being that the honour would go to a woman rather than to a man.   This didn’t seem to phase Barak as he went anyway and fulfilled his part in it all.

The Kenites were distant relatives of the Jews through Moses  but were now friends with crazy tyrants like King Jabin and Sisera.  However, despite this “friendship” God used it for a victory over the oppressors as we will see.

So how did Barak and his troops defeat Sisera and the iron chariots.  One source I read was that this all happened in the dry season of around July to September.  There would be no way that Sisera would want to lose his chariots in the mud so he must have been confident that he would win this battle against the Israelites.  However,  what He didn’t know was that God was in charge of the weather and if He wants to send a freak storm in the dry season then He can.  Notice that the battle was strategically planned be near the Kishon River.  The banks of this river overflowed (5:21)which turned the plains to mud.  The iron chariots were of no use. 

Deborah boosts Barak’s confidence by telling him he will win the battle because of God’s involvement.  We are always more confident going into a war if we know we are going to win.  God was ahead of them already working things out.  Not only did God send a freak storm which would have made them also think that their own gods were going against them as they worshipped the god of Weather but he also confused their minds threw them into a panic. (15) and they fled on foot.  All Sisera’s troops died that day.

Now we have this interesting story of Sisera and Jael.  Sisera escaped also on foot and fled to the tent of Jael.  Sisera thought he had reached a safe haven with Jael as the Kenites were friendly towards King Jabin.  He went into her tent to seek refuge which is already taking a risk.  Only the husband would be allowed in our tent not some other man.  The fact that he was able to sleep when a whole army was after him already shows that he thought he had made it.  Sisera told Jael to lie if anyone came and asked her where he was.  According to one writer this could show that she knew the Israelites had won the battle and he was on the run for his life.  If we were reading this story for the first time we might think that Deborah was going to be the women to put an end to Sisera’s life (4:9) but it was to be Jael.  He died in a quite a dramatic way by having a tent peg hammered through his head.  In this culture it was the women who put up the tents so she would have been very handy with a hammer and used it to good use in this situation.

One writer made the comment (Wiersbe) that it was embarrassing enough for a captain of an army to be seeing fleeing the battle but to be killed by fleeing was humiliating and to be killed by a woman was the most disgraceful thing of all.

Now some of you might have an issue with Jael and her methods.  However, we need to think about the time that she lives in.  The Israelites had been under terrible bondage because of Jabin and Sisera.  It is noted that if King Jabin and Sisera had won the battle then hundreds of Jewish girls would have been captured and raped by their oppressors. (5:30)  As one commentator put it “There was a war on, and this courageous woman finally stopped being neutral and took her stand with the people of God.”

Let us end with Romans 15:4

Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.

Application - Judges Chapter 3

Journeying through Judges

Please read Judges Chapter 3

Discussion Questions

1.       Charles Spurgeon said that “ God never allows His people to sin successfully.  Their sin will either destroy them or it will invite the chastening hand of God”  How do you see this playing out in Judges 3?

 

 

2.          What did God teach the Israelites through their enemies?

 

3.       What do you learn from the Judges in chapter 3?

 

4.       What resources did the Judges have that enabled them to defeat their enemies?

One Step Further

All of us battle enemies at some point in our life. What resources are available to us to defeat those enemies?

 

The nation of Israel conformed to the nations around them.  In what way do we do the same with the world around us?  What things do we bring into our everyday life that has no business being there?  Do we invite the chastening hand of God into our lives?  Share your thoughts.

 

"Bible study is not complete until we ask ourselves, “What does this mean for my life and how can I practically apply it?”

John MacArthur

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”