Do Not Forget the Lord

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. This morning we are at Judges chapter 3. We're going to talk about Othniel. So let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a joy and a blessing it is to get to read your word, to study, to learn about you, to find about your ways and walk before you. God, we pray that you would please help us to know who you are and to love you well. Please give us your spirit in Jesus's name. Amen. All right, here we go. Judges chapter 3.
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. 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.
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, 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. Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to be their sons, and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot Jehovah their God and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned hot against Israel, and he sold them into the land of Qush-Rish-Thanayim, king of Mesopotamia. And the children of Israel served Qush-Rish-Thanayim. eight years when the children of israel carried out or 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. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-rish-athayim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rish-athayim, and the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Well, we'll stop there. We need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this in? C, what are we called to do in response to this? So what's this about?
Well, this picks up where we left off last time with chapter two, right? That in chapter two, verse 22, the Lord had said, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of Jehovah to walk in them as their fathers kept them or not. And now we get into chapter three. And what do we find? Once again, chapter one. Now, these are the nations the Lord had had left. Right. So, OK, so who did he leave? Well, he left the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.
And so this way, this it's just that next generation. This is only so that the generation of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it. And so the Lord's testing them and teaching them through this. But how do they fare in this test?
Well, look at verse six. And they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to be their sons or gave their daughters to their sons. And they served their gods. They turn away from the Lord. They start entering into covenant, intermarrying. When you start interacting and loving the Canaanites around you, you end up behaving like them. Instead of them taking over the land and serving their covenant king with a determination, they assimilate into these pagan nations.
And verse 7 summarizes this, right? So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. This was disastrous. This was ruinous to them and a breaking of the covenant with God. They forgot the Lord their God and they served the Baals and Asherahs. So the anger of the Lord is hot against them, right? His nose burns at them.
And so he gives them into the hand of the king of Mesopotamia. All right, okay, you want to go serve pagan kings? Or go serve pagan gods? Let the pagan kings rule over you. Well, they like their independence. They don't like being under subjugation. And so what do they do? Well, the children of Israel cried out to the Lord in verse 9. So it's interesting, right? The Lord lets them go this way. The Lord allows for a Mesopotamian king to rule over them. And what's their response? They cry out to the Lord.
And many of us, if we can imagine, we were in those types of situations. If we were the Lord, we would say, good riddance. I did all this. I did all these loving things for you, and you abandoned me. But that's not the way the Lord operates here. No, what does he do?
The Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel. who delivered them, Othniel, the son of Canaaz, Caleb's younger brother." It's the same Othniel that started off in chapter 1. Remember, we had read about Othniel there when Caleb, in 1.12, Caleb said, "'Whoever attacks Kiriath-sephir and takes it to him, I will give my daughter Aksa a wife.' And Othniel, the son of Canaaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it." That's why it had to get reintroduced in chapter one, because now the very first judge is Othniel.
And he goes, and this is one of these difficult things, right? So he's one of these shepatim. He's one of these judges. So he's the first of this class of people who's delivering Israel out of the hand of their enemies. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel. But what does that rule look like? Does that mean he becomes like Moses was, judging the hard cases? Or is judging, Shabbat here, is it this idea of ruling over them? Or is it he's their vindicator? He's the one who's getting them out of the rule of somebody else. It's a lot of theological argumentation about what exactly a judge was. But no matter what, we see that he's the one who seems to be able to lead the people out from underneath the heavy hand.
So he went out to war and the Lord delivered the king of Mesopotamia into his hand. So the land had wrath for 40 years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. That's it. So our first introduction to a judge is he rose up, the Lord gave him into the king of Mesopotamia and to his end there was peace for 40 years and he died. It seems like though, every time one of these judges is raised up, not every time, but regularly as we go through, there seems to be a period of almost returning back to the Lord also. Right, so it's this idolatry, oppression, crying out to the Lord, the Lord raises up a judge, and then there's deliverance, and there's peace for that period of time. We're going to find out next time, though, that they go right back into those sinful ways, this pattern up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down.
It's like, you know, have you ever been on one of those roller coasters before? And there's the the bunny jumps, right? I don't know what those things are called, but where you go up a little hill and down a little hill quickly in sequence. It's kind of what the Book of Judges is like. It kind of gives you a whiplash if you're not careful. So what's this section about?
Well, it's about the Lord, the people's apostasy. The Lord handing them over. Them crying out to the Lord. Him raising up Othniel and Othniel delivering them. But what's this really about? This is about their apostasy. And yet the Lord is gracious. So in my Bible, I would underline verse nine. Right, because that's where it's speaking of Othniel's victory. But I would also make sure to underline verse 7.
So the children of the Lord did evil on the side of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and Asherahs. But then verse 9. When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer of the children of Israel who delivered them. Othniel, the son of Knaz, Caleb's younger brother. I think both of those, because people sin, and yet somehow God is still gracious.
And I think that's where we're called to do. We are not called to do whatever we want in our own eyes. We should not read the book of Judges and go, oh man, we should act just like them. No, we look at the book of Judges and we go, God forgive me, how often I act just like them.
But thank you, Lord, for your patience and grace and kindness. Now teach me, give me your spirit to walk not in those ways, but to be like Othniel. Fill me with your spirit. I think that's what we're called to do, to recognize our propensity to apostasy, how easily it is for us to assimilate into this wicked world and instead to walk by the spirit and not by the flesh, looking to Christ, knowing that he has, in him, he has delivered us from being slaves to sin. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you that you are so gracious. You are like a heavenly Father that when we sin and mess up, when we've really done wrong, we know that we can come to you because you are willing and able to help us. You know our sin, you know our guilt, you know how quickly we stray. But you, Father, are good and just and wise. You are holy and compassionate.
Please, Lord, deliver us from our sins. Deliver us from ourselves. Teach us to walk in your ways. You've saved us unto good works. So please let us abide in Jesus. And let us hate sin and love you. In Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.