The Lord Raised Up A Deliverer (Judges 3:7-15)

Wayne Galloway
08/04/13 - N/A

Series: Studies in the Book of Judges

Introduction:

1.  The recurring theme throughout the Bible is that when people cry to the Lord the Lord is compassionate to deliver them.

a.  When Melchizadek came out to meet Abraham after the defeat of Chedorlaomer and his allies Melchizadek said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand” (Gen. 14:17ff).

b.  After Moses led Israel out of Egypt, Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians” (Ex. 18:10).

2.  God is the deliverer of those who cry to Him.  The Book of Judges focuses particularly on this fact (reading of Judges 3:7-15). 3.  In the account that we have just read the Lord raised up Othniel and Ehud as deliverers. 4.  God has raised up many deliverers, but none so great as the one He has raised up for our deliverance.

a.  In Romans 11:26-27 Paul quoted from Isaiah (59:20) and spoke of “The Deliverer who would come from Zion.”  This Deliverer takes away sin.

b.  In 1 Thess. 1:10 Paul spoke of the Thessalonians who had turned to God from idols “to wait for God’s Son from heaven, that is Jesus, who,” he said, “rescues (delivers) us from the wrath to come.”

5.  Just as God delivered ancient Israel during the days of the Judges, He has sent a deliverer among us, but just as Israel cried to the Lord, so must we repent and cry to the Lord.

Discussion:

I.  Back in Judges 3:9-11, the Lord raised up Othniel as deliverer.

A.  Othniel is the first judge.

1.  He is from the tribe of Judah, which God said should be the leading tribe in Israel against the Canaanites.

2.  Othniel has been identified as the model judge, exemplifying the desirable qualities expected in a worthy judge.  He stands in stark contrast to one like Samson, who seemed so heavily involved with the Philistines, twice marrying into their idolatry.

B.  The episode about Othniel is very brief and serves as a bridge into the more detailed account of Judge Ehud.

C.  Three things I would call to your attention in the account.

1.  The sons of Israel cried to the Lord.

a.  I do not take this to mean that they merely grieved their circumstance, nor that they merely prayed to God.  I would suggest that genuine repentance is evidenced here.

b.  God is not to be mocked with mere human sorrow for difficulty experienced in an attempt to bargain some kind of deliverance.

c.  Nothing short of genuine repentance results in deliverance from sin.  Cf. the poverty of spirit and the mourning for sin of Matt. 5:3-4.  Open confession and genuineness is the crying that leads to God’s deliverance.  Cf. Psa. 51.

2.  Othniel was raised up by God.

a.  God was in control of their oppression (3:8).  Cf. 3:12.

b.  God was in control of their deliverance (3:9).

3.  The Spirit of the Lord came upon him (3:10).

a.  We may think of some miraculous activity by God and indeed God does sometimes act through miraculous intervention to deliver His people.

b.  But such is not always the case.  The Spirit of God acts through those who give themselves to serve the Lord and His people.  Stephen was able to perform miracles, but it was the Jews inability to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke that led to His assassination (Acts 6:10).

c.  I believe his actions as judge of Israel were not limited to fighting against Cushan-rishathaim, but the wisdom that he had from God allowed him to determine right and wrong among the Israelites.  Cf. Ex. 18:13, 16; Judges 4:4; 1 Kings 3:9.

d.  This is what characterizes God’s deliverers today.  Are you knowledgeable of God’s word?  Are your senses exercised to be able to discern good and evil?  Cf. 1 Cor. 6.

D.  Resulting from Othniel’s good judgment the land had rest for 40 years.  Is this resulting from your good judgment in your marriage, in your family, in the congregation, in the community?

II.  The next generation did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Oppressed again, this time by the Moabite king Eglon, the fat, Israel cried to the Lord and He raised up Ehud to deliver them (3:15ff).

A.  Verses 15-23 tell what Ehud did.  The account presents Ehud as a decent Benjamite deliverer at the early part of Judges.  Contrast the Benjamites later in chapter 20.

B.  Interesting Ehud turned back from the idols at Gilgal.

1.  This place may have marked the border between Israel and the Moabites (3:26).

2.  His turning back from this place suggests that Ehud wanted Eglon to think he had a message from the gods at Gilgal.

3.  But idol gods do not communicate messages.

4.  Only the Lord God does and Ehud’s message was from the Lord God.

C.  It was this same God who had strengthen Eglon in the first place (3:12).

D.  Ehud’s escape was secured by the God of the wind (3:24-25).  The next time you smell something in the wind remember God’s deliverance through Ehud.

E.  The sons of Israel rallied to defeat Moab (3:26-30) and two generations were affected (v. 30).

III.  The Lord God has raised up a deliverer for us.

A.  When we think of deliverance may give little attention to the oppression associated with sin.  Instead we focus on the relief associated with the deliverance.

1.  God’s enemies were oppressed whether among Israel or among the Moabites.

2.  Sin leads to oppression and destruction.

B.  Isaiah predicted the coming of a Deliverer or Redeemer, but first he confessed sin (Isa. 59:12-15, 18-22).

C.  Paul quoted this text in Rom. 11:26-27.

1.  Our God is our deliverer.

2.  He has raised up Jesus Christ.

3.  The deliverer is for both Jews and Gentiles, but only to those who cry to the Lord.

D.  God uses you to deliver through Jesus Christ as you unfold this mystery to sinners.

Conclusion:

1.  God has raised up a deliverer. 2.  Are you crying to the Lord? 3.  Is the Spirit of God in you to deliver others?