Episode 72 - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly - Sin-Filled Nation Part 2

Is Christians living amongst unbelievers a problem, possibility, or both? These things going on around us that probably makes most of us sick, if not angry, yet this is what is going on in our midst, in the society we are a part of. This isn’t far from what the Israelites were facing. They had pagans living all around them engaging in behavior that was in direct contrast to how they were told to live by God. If we aren’t careful, we could end up assimilating to the unbelieving world around us, just like the Israelites did. Judges 3:7 says, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 

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Transcript

Episode 72 – The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

           Welcome Back! We are on week 2 of our series, Sin-Filled Nation. And while this series is about the nation of Israel during the time of the Judges, you are going to see a lot of similarities between Israel and Christians today. Crazy how this book was written over 3,400 years ago, yet is still so relevant. 

          As is the entire Bible – it’s almost as if it was divinely written! In the last episode, we posed the question if Christians living amongst non-believers is a problem, possibility or both. We agreed that it was both. So let’s see what some non-believers around us are up to. Recently, a 2005 video was leaked in which Bill Gates (although he denies its him) has a secret meeting with FBI and CIA officials discussing using a planned viral outbreak that would be followed up by vaccination program. The vaccine would actually contain a genetic modification chemical that would modify the central brain of, in his words, “religious fanatics.” 

Right now, there is a case before the US Supreme Court brought by the city of Philadelphia. Basically, the case is that Christians should not be allowed to be foster parents because they may teach children to hate people of the LGBQT community. The plaintiffs feel it is better for children to languish in state homes than to be in a home with Christian parents.

          An article in Newsweek from this past August said, and I quote, “Using the pandemic as an excuse, elected officials have threatened to permanently shut down synagogues, banned drive-in church services and forbidden singing or chanting in religious services, while decreeing that massive protests with shouting and singing are allowed.”

Gail Blair, a blind woman, has been banned from a public park because she offered a free copy of the Gospel of John to anyone who wanted one. Chris, here’s one from the school district I went through. This month, they are having a webinar entitled, “Raising sexually healthy kids. “Sex expert” Al Vernacchio,” gives parents and elementary kids practical strategies to help elementary school aged children engage with sexuality in a deliberate way. According to Vernacchio’s bio, he is not big on moralizing. He thinks that kids have to determine their own value systems.

And we will do one more. Teen Vogue published an article in February 2017 entitled, “Thoughtful gifts to give your friend post abortion.” The article begins, “So your friend is about to have an abortion? Of course, you want to be there for her, but you don’t know how.” It goes on to say that the decision to have an abortion shouldn’t be scary, and that the worst part of it isn’t the procedure (which is no big deal and completely safe as long as you are at a good clinic); the worst part is how you are treated afterwards. It lists gifts to buy her to lift her spirits and put a smile on her face:  a box of chocolates, a funny movie to make her laugh, a book of poetry, rocking panties that are designed to absorb menstruation blood (because, as the article says, there will be blood), an “angry uterus” heating pad because her uterus will feel like hot lead is going through it, and an “FU-terus” pin (the proceeds of which go to Planned Parenthood). It concludes to give your friend a hug, not because the act itself is terrible, but because sometimes the world can be. Nowhere in this article are any resources mentioned for women experiencing physical or emotional problems post abortion.[1]  

These things probably make most of us sick, if not angry, yet this is what is going on in our midst, in the society we are a part of. This isn’t far from what the Israelites were facing. They had pagans living all around them engaging in behavior that was in direct contrast to how they were told to live by God. If we aren’t careful, we could end up assimilating to the unbelieving world around us, just like the Israelites did. Judges 3:7 says, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 

What the Israelites did was sin on two levels.  First, they turned away from God or forgot Him; and second, they served other gods or idols. The Israelites fall into the exact behavior they were warned about by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:9 - 13 This is also exactly why God instructed them to destroy or drive out whole civilizations. God knew the danger of their living amongst the pagans. They would fail to remember what they had been taught and would be too weak to resist falling into pagan practices.  This is exactly what we can be in danger of if we don’t spend significant amounts of time in God’s Word, and in prayer.

That’s right. It’s easy to “forget” God when we don’t spend time in His Word or spend time talking with Him. On the other hand, by doing these things, remembering wha God expects of us will be much easier. The concepts of remembering and forgetting have significance in the Bible. For example, Psalm 25:6 says, “Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love.” And Isaiah 64:9says, “Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever.” Obviously, the writers of the Bible did not think that God would actually ever forget anything. 

In the Bible, when it says, “Remember,” to God, what it is actually saying is, “God, please act according to Your character.”  When it says, “Remember not, or forget” to God, it’s saying saying, “God please do not act according to what our character deserves!” For the Israelites part, and ours, forgetting God means behaving as if you don’t know the truth of who God was, what He has done, and what He expects of His people. It’s not that we are ignorant of these things, its much worse. We know them, but just choose to ignore them. 

Okay, let’s move onto Judges 3:8 which says, “Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. Chris, the name Cushan-Rishathaim means “doubly-wicked blackness.” We don’t know a lot about this king, but apparently, he was a pretty bad dude that the Israelites found themselves enslaved to.

The Israelites were God’s chosen people. Christians are also God’s chosen people. If God’s anger can burn against the Israelites for their rebellion, can it also burn against us? It may be hard for us to rectify the loving, merciful God we know with the God pictured here. Does God act out of anger? Is God vindictive? The answer to both is no. God’s anger burning against the Israelites is actually very loving and very merciful. Before He handed them over to Cushan-Rishathaim, they were enslaved to sin through their idol worship, and didn’t even realize it. Had God let them be, they would have continued on in their sinful lifestyle, moving farther and farther away from God. By God putting them in actual physical slavery, He is saving them. While we may not always be aware when we are enslaved by sin, we would definitely be aware of being enslaved bodily. It is only after they are physically enslaved, that they realize they need God. And even though it takes them 8 years to cry out to God for help, He answers.

          He does answer. Judges 3: 9 – 11 says, “But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Notice something about these verses. The only thing the Israelites contribute to their saving is to cry out to God – admitting they needed God. God does the rest. He sends a judge to rescue them. The Israelites turned from their gods and idols and turned back to the one true God. This is repentance. God saves them, and they live in peace. This is a picture of the Gospel! We are cut off from God because we are enslaved to sin, dead in our transgressions, due to our inborn sin nature. We don’t even realize any of this until the Holy Spirit regenerates our heart and opens our eyes to our condition. 

And once we realize we cannot save ourselves, we cry out to the only One who can save us. We repent of our sin, and turn to God, trusting in the finished work of Jesus. Then, and only then, are we reconciled with God. Ephesians 2:1-5, which is definitely one of those passages you should memorize, says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. God does all the work, and is Sovereign over it all. Nothing is done outside of His will.  

The previous chapter, which we didn’t read, tells us that Othniel is Caleb’s nephew as well as his son-in-law. Because he was willing to take on an enemy of Israel, Caleb gave his daughter to him to marry. Othniel means “power of God.” When it says, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him,” it means that he became filled with the Holy Spirit. Now most of probably know that the Holy Spirit came to dwell in all believers at Pentecost as we see in Acts 1:4-8, Acts 2:1-4. But up until that point, God chose to indwell individuals with the Holy Spirit for temporary periods of time and to accomplish specific things. We don’t have time to read them, but we see this in passages like Genesis 41:38, Exodus 31:3, Daniel 5:11-14, Zechariah 4:6.

  David may have been an exception, receiving the Holy Spirit permanently at his anointing by Samuel, but scholars differ on whether that was actually the case. But it would explain David’s exceptional faith, bravery, wisdom, and gifts. But back to the story.  God, through Othniel, saves the people of Israel and there is peace. The Israelites are saved and restored to God’s good graces by God’s chosen deliverer. The only thing the Israelites bring to the table is trusting in that deliverer. Again, we need to note how God is the catalyst for everything, and completely sovereign over all events and people. God grants the Israelites peace in the land. 

And they had that peace for forty years, until Othniel dies. Othniel was a good judge. In fact, he is the only judge without any major flaws. Here’s something to notice, the peace and restoration of the Israelites rested on Othniel’s standing with God, not the Israelites standing. We don’t know how long it took some and/or all of the Israelites to return to doing evil, but we do know that their deliverer was faithful to God until his death. It is Othniel’s faith, not the Israelites’, that God is blessing by granting the land peace for 40 years. It is his standing before God that God is acting on, not the Israelites. So if our standing with God depends on God’s appointed deliverer’s standing, and not ours, the only way that peace and reconciliation with God can last forever is to have a Deliverer that never dies and remains faithful forever. Enter Jesus! 

Okay, let’s finish out Chapter 3. It’s a long passage, so I’ll summarize some of it. Once again, the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord. Once again, God raises up an enemy to oppress them. This time it’s the King of Moab, Eglon, who is described as “A very fat man.” The Israelites are oppressed by him. And as before, although it takes 18 years this time, the people cry out to God and He raises up a deliverer named Ehud, who is described as a “left-handed man.” Ehud brings the people’s tribute (which was basically taxes) to King Eglon. He straps a sword to his right thigh before going before King Eglon. I’ll finish up reading from Scripture, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

          Ehud escapes, gathers the Israelites, and they kill 10,000 Moabites and are freed. Again, there’s peace in the land, this time for 80 years, until Ehud dies. There’s a few things we gotta talk about in this story. Even after the previous generation had been enslaved to Cushan-Rishathaim as punishment for their idol worship, and that it was only God that had the power (and propensity) to rescue and restore them, still the Israelites returned to their sinful lifestyle. This tells us that either the previous generation did not pass down the Law and knowledge of God to their young; or they did, and like the earlier generation of Israelites, this generation chose to ignore what they knew to be true about God.  

It may seem odd that the Bible includes the detail about Ehud being a “left handed man.” But when we see odd details like this included, we should investigate. The fact that he was left-handed would have been surprising to ancient people. Throughout the Bible, it is the right hand that is favorable and desirable. The right hand was a symbol of power and ability. In fact, left-handed people were forced to become right-handed. Since Ehud was using his left hand, his right hand was most likely disabled. God goes from using a mighty warrior like Othniel, to using the handicapped man like Ehud. Another example of how God accomplishes things as He wishes to, not as to what makes sense to the world.  

Because Ehud is left handed, he strapped his sword on his right thigh so he could reach for it easier. Again, another odd detail to include. Why mention this? Well, because anyone who came before the king was searched for weapons. Since just about everyone was right-handed, most likely, only the probable places a right hander would keep their weapon was searched. Ehud asks for a private audience with the king and he’s granted it. This seems odd that he would be granted it. But remember, the fact that Ehud was using his left hand meant that he was most likely disabled in his right hand. In ancient times, he would have been considered deformed and of no threat. Court security probably spent more time ridiculing him than actually worrying if he was a security risk. As we see over and over in the Bible, God uses those the world considers useless to do great things.  

The obesity of the king, while pretty funny to us reading about it, is actually his undoing. Ehud is able to draw his sword and plunge it into Eglon’s belly before the king can move. And did you catch Verse 22? “And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out.” This probably explains why the King’s attendants thought he was relieving himself. They could probably smell it! Yet another sign the stories in the Bible are true. Who would make this stuff up?!

Okay. The last line of Judges 3 tells about the judge, Shamgar. The only thing it says about Shamgar is that, “He killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Most likely, because his time as a judge was similar to some others it was not necessary for the writer to go into detail. We can infer from this one line that Israel was being oppressed by the Philistines, cried out to God to rescue them, and God used Shamgar to save them by enabling him to kill 600 Philistines with an ox goad. An ox goad is a wooden tool, roughly eight feet long, that had an iron point at one end. It was used to spur oxen on while they pulled a plow or a cart. Using the ox goad to save the people is probably the only distinctive detail of Shamgar’s time as judge which is why it is mentioned.

We get to chapter 4, and guess what? Israel is back doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.  It’s been many, many years since Ehud. A new generation has sprung up and so has sin. Like with the generation during Ehud’s time, God’s Words and character either were not passed down, or were just ignored. This time, the Israelites fall into the hands of King Jabin, of Canaan.  Remember back in Judges chapter 1 when the Israelites were supposed to drive out all of the Canaanites, but didn’t? We see here, the consequences of their partial obedience. If they had driven out all of the Canaanites, King Jabin would not have even been there!  We read in Judges 4:3 that Jabin had 900 iron chariots, a symbol of might in the ancient world. This shows that this army was not just mighty and sophisticated, but would have been impossible to overcome. The Israelites are cruelly oppressed, but it takes them 20 years to cry out to God this time.

This time, God raises up a woman named Deborah who was a prophetess to be Israel’s judge. This isn’t the only time God raises a woman up to be a prophetess. We see other examples in Exodus 15:20, Luke 2:36, Acts 21:8-9  Deborah was holding court. While the judges in the Book of Judges are not like we think of judges, in this instance, Deborah is. The fact that she was deciding cases for the Israelites shows they respected her greatly. Out of all of the judges, Deborah is the only one to lead not out of strength, but purely out of character and wisdom. Deborah received a vision from God and sends for Barak, Israel’s General. She tells him God has said He would deliver Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, into his hands. He only needed to show up, willing to fight. But Barak refuses to go unless Deborah accompanies him. Deborah agrees to this, but informs Barak that now he will not receive the honor when victory is achieved, a woman will. 

Was it sinful for Barak to insist Deborah go with him or he wouldn’t fight Jabin? Scholars down through history have disagreed on how to interpret this passage.  There are a few ways we can look at it. It may not be a bad thing that Barak asks Deborah to go with him, but his demanding it shows he is trusting more in Deborah’s relationship with

God than in his own relationship with God. Or, perhaps, Barak may have wanted Deborah with him because she was a prophetess. He thought it would be a good thing to have a messenger of God with him to bolster his men’s morale, and in case God had any additional messages for them. And a third view is that Barak’s problem was two-fold. He lacked faith in God, and he lacked courage. If he had possessed these qualities, he probably would have gone out and fought Sisera alone. But to his credit, although he lacked faith, he was humble enough and wise enough to learn from a woman he knew was sent by God.

No doubt when Deborah told Barak that the honor of the victory would be given to a woman, he (and maybe we) thought that woman would be Deborah. But as usual, God does the unexpected. Deborah’s prophesy that a woman would defeat Sisera comes to pass through a woman named Jael. Jael is another example of a strong woman God uses. She may not be wise enough to hold court and settle disputes, and she may not even be spiritually mature, but she can wield a mean tent peg! Judges 4:17 – 21 tells the story. “But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

Setting up the tents was a woman’s job. Tent pegs and hammers would be household tools for every woman. For Sisera, death at the hands of a woman was extremely humiliating.  The ancient world would not have seen Jael as a hero, she would have considered her a treacherous woman. First, she broke the fundamental principle of hospitality that says guests in your care were to be protected at all costs. Second, she invited Sisera to come into her tent under false pretenses. Third, she killed a man that her own husband had made peace with. Jael lied and murdered, breaking two commandments; yet God used her treachery to accomplish His purpose. The lesson for us is important - God uses the sin of man for His purpose. However, that never excuses the perpetrator from the personal responsibility of committing the sin. Judas' betrayal of Jesus is an excellent example of this.  Judas’ sin served the eternal purpose of God, yet he still had to answer for his evil deed. Jael, too, would have had to answer for her deeds. 

One final note on Deborah. Conservative and liberal scholars are split on their view of a woman leading Israel. Some conservative scholars say that the fact that a woman was leading the nation of Israel was an anomaly, and shows what the pitiful state the Israelites were in. Ordinarily, the people went to the priests for judgment. But during this time, so many priests were spiritually unqualified that the people went to Deborah instead. This is all true, but God called Deborah, she didn’t volunteer for the position. God could have lifted anyone up, but He chose to lift up Deborah, a woman. On the other side, there are liberal scholars who say that the example of Deborah shows us that women can do anything men can do. That, too, can be challenged. While we can certainly admire Deborah’s intelligence and wisdom, she is the only judge that doesn’t actually fight or lead an army herself. She has to recruit someone else, a man, to do the fighting.

So what should we think about God appointing Deborah to lead Israel? It’s the same as His appointing Ehud or many others throughout the Bible? God often chooses to raise up unlikely men and women to fulfill His purpose. The story of Deborah is an excellent example of this reality. Here we have a female leader in Israel, which is pretty incredible in itself, but she is also a prophet, and we see her prophecy that a woman would rescue Israel—another amazing event—comes true. The point is that God can use whomever He wants whenever He wants, because He is the one who is really doing the fighting for His people. He doesn’t need a army of mighty men to accomplish his purposes, because the truth is, He doesn’t need anyone at all to accomplish His purposes. However, He allows His people to be a part of it. And, He often takes delight in doing things exactly as the world wouldn’t do them! That is exactly what He did with Deborah and Jael. This was such a momentous event, that Deborah and Barak retell the events in a song, which is recorded in judges chapter 5. 

It’s not exactly a song that will have you tapping your toes, but putting stories and events to song is used several times in the Bible. (they were probably a lot more catchy in the original Hebrew or Arameic). Songs were used as a way for the people to memorize events, and retell them for generations to come. They were to serve as a reminder of the goodness and greatness of God. Much like hymns and worship music does for us today! A reoccurring theme we keep seeing throughout this book is that the Israelites kept forgetting who God was and what He had done for them. Dr. Stephen Lawson said something really profound. He said the higher our view of God is, the more we will remember who He is and what He has done for us. And it will infiltrate every area of our lives causing us to live holier lives.

Living amongst unbelievers presents both problems and possibilities. And as one increases, so does the other. We are more and more surrounded by the wicked behavior like we mentioned earlier, of the ungodly. We can also be sure of facing more and more persecution and backlash from unbelievers. But along with the increased problems, comes increased possibilities. More possibilities to witness to a lost world who is getting father and farther away from the Word of God. You can say that the more wicked the world becomes and the more it harasses us, the more it needs us to point them to Christ.

And that’s a good place to end for today. Thanks for listening! Have a blessed day!

[1] Teen Vogue, February 9, 2017, “What to Get a Friend Post Abortion” by Whitney Bell, accessed December 21, 2018