Day #90

Sermon - Audio
Judges 3-5 - Audio
Judges 3-5 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Welcome to the New Year!

3

1-4 = There were many still in Israel that had not been tested up till this point. God wanted His people to be tested or "to prove" themselves, as well as allow them a chance to see His hand working with them. Israel will be left to prove herself and her faithfulness to God. God could just destroy Canaan by Himself (Sodom), but He chooses to use His people.

Q. Why do you think God chooses to use His people to fight these wars?
Q. Does God still choose to use His people in His mission today?

3 = The word "lord" is not Lord or LORD. In this verse "lord" means "tyrant." ex...to "lord" over someone.

5-7 = The people did not listen to God. They intermarried with other nations, they worshiped other gods, and they did evil in the sight of the LORD.

Judges Thought (Overall) = "The downward spiral of Israel's Apostasy. The body of the book of Judges includes the stories of 12 judges raised up to deliver Israel from successive crises and to "judge" Israel. Their primary function was military in nature. Most judges failed to point people convincingly to the LORD. Indeed, in some cases the judges themselves were not exemplary (Gideon, Jephthah, Samson). The recurring pattern unfolds in a downward spiral: the first judge, Othniel, was raised up by God and empowered by God's Spirit, whereas the next-to-last major judge, Jephthah, made a foolish vow and offered his own daughter as a "sacrifice," and the last judge, Samson, was anything but a paragon of virtue." (ESVSB)

8 = The people of Israel are handed over by God to Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. They will be in bondage for 8 more years. The people would most likely have felt that they were back in Egypt.

9 = We see that the people of Israel cry out to the Lord and He raises up Othniel. It makes me wonder if they waited for 8 years to cry out to God...Had they gotten that far from Him? Had they forgotten?

10-11 = The Spirit is with Othniel and Israel advances its territory and the people are given rest (or was still). This must have been a very peaceful and enjoyable time in Israel, but....

12-14 = You'll never guess!!! The people do evil in the sight of the LORD again...and they are handed over for 18 years to Eglon, king of Moab.

15-26 = Once again the people finally cry out to the LORD for deliverance and they are given a man named Ehud. Ehud proceeds to kill Eglon in an interesting way. Most people fought with their right hand so it was unexpected that he would use the dagger in his left hand.

20 = "Ehud was not being deceptive when he declared he had “a word from God” for Eglon and then killed him. God’s messages were not always messages of well being or hope; they were, at times, messages of judgment and death. Nor were they always verbal; the Hebrew term for “word” (dabar) can mean “matter” or “thing.” (ASB)

27-30 = A change of heart happens with the people of Israel. They rally around Ehud and defeat the Moabites. Because they relied on God and trusted in His faithfulness, God gives them rest for 80 years this time. Because of one man having the courage to stand up for His people and God, the land gets rest.

31 = The next Judge was Shamgar. We don't know much about him except that he helped deliver Israel with a simple scraping tool that kept a plow clean.

4

1-3 = Guess What! They did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They are given to Jabin, king of this portion of Canaan. God must once again use another nation to call His people to repentance. They will be kept for 20 years.

4-5 = God raises up not only a judge, but a prophetess, Deborah. She would be a leader for Israel.

6-10 = Barak, a military commander, will not go into battle without Deborah being with him. This shows a lack of faith from Barak. Thus, a woman will get the glory in battle, not Barak.

13-15 = The chariots got stuck in the river Kishon (5:19-22). Sisera was defeated against all possibilities. God had sent a flood so the chariots would get stuck.

18-22 = Jael kills Sisera, thus getting the glory rather than Barak as Deborah has prophecied.

24 = It seems like the battle must have continued for a time until Jabin was defeated.

5

1 = "Deborah’s and Barak’s song of delight over the destruction of their enemies may strike one as a perversion of God’s love for all people. Such a reaction would be superficial. God had directed that the Canaanites be exterminated because of their perversion. Their slaughter was both justified, because God had sentenced them to death, and praiseworthy, because Israel had fought the battle in obedience to God’s command. Furthermore, Deborah and Barak gave credit to the Lord for the victory." (ASB)

10-11 = "All classes of society were to bear witness to the mighty acts of God, from the ruling classes (those riding on white donkeys) to the lowest classes (those who walk by the way, i.e., along the road). Watering places were public places where the entire community gathered." (ESVSB)

13-18 = The other tribes are mentioned and thanked with the song.

23 = Meroz is cursed because they did not help.

24-27 = Jael is praised for killing Sisera.

28-31 = Final Praises to God! It reminds me of Psalm 37:6, "He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."