Othniel: The Lion of God

all right, if you take your Bibles and turn to Judges chapter number 3,

Judges chapter number 3.

As we're going to be studying for the next few weeks, the Book of Judges. And we started last week, looking at how just at the very beginning, just prior just after Joshua, had passed away how quickly the children of Israel 46 the Lord. We see this even more clearly and Judges chapter. Number 3, Starting in verse number 1.

Says, now these are the nation's with the Lord left that he might past is Real 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 formally known. It namely five Lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites and sidonians in the hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon and mount Bell Herman. To the entrance of him off and they were left that he might test is Real by them to to know whether they would obey the Commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers, by the hand of Moses, the stew children of Israel, dwelt among the Canaanites hit type to a ice in a ice in the advice to the jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, they forgot the Lord, their God and serve the bells and a Shiraz. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he's sold them into the hand of kishan rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and the children of Israel, serve to Shawn Richie, Richie theme, 8 years when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. The Lord raised up a deliver for the children of Israel. Who delivered them oatmeal, the son of Kenya's, Caleb's, younger, brother. The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judge Israel. He went out to War and the Lord delivered to Shaun, King of Mesopotamia into the hand, into his hand and his hand prevailed over cuz Shawn Ricci theme. So the land have rest for 40 years, then Austin Hill. The son of knez died. So we'll be looking at this first judge of Israel off. Neil. And we see that because Israel refused to walk with the Lord, like he had commanded them to do. We noticed you that he did not drive out the Canaanites like he had done previously. And so because of that Israel was forced to live alongside the very people that they were to destroy. Now we're told in verses 1 through 4. Why? God left the people in the land. While he left the Canaanites in the land and we noticed a number one, but he left them there to test Israel. So God allowed the Canaanites to stay in the land. He did not miraculously dry them out as he had done previously because of their their Disobedience, he leaves them there to test them. First, one tells us that now these are the Nations which the Lord left, that he might test or prove Israel by them. So God, allow the pagans to live around his people to test his people. His people were tested to see how they would live when they were surrounded by the wicked Nations. These people were tested to see if they would keep his Commandments or not and verse for again it's, it says really the same thing and they were left that he might test Israel, buy them. Now, it's not that God tested them so that he would find out how they would do. But rather, he's proving to Israel, what happens when you forsake the Lord, what happens when you allow and you're in your compromise to dwell with them? And when you forsake the Lord your God. Now another reason he left the Canaanites, Is that he left a teach new new generations about spiritual warfare. Verse two towels is this. First to says this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel. Might be taught to know War at least those who had not formally known it. So God wanted them to learn the lessons of battle that their fathers, the previous generation had known about God wanted them to be strong and to know how to fight the enemy when he came around. It wasn't long until this caused some serious problems. Among the people of Israel as we shall see is real prove that they could not be trusted to stand up against the enemy. They proved that they would rather join the enemy rather than fight the enemy. And my, it sounds like today. Does it not today's churches? There's no more fight. An American Church against the enemy against the wicked. And now we're seeing all kinds of things be accepted within the realm of the church.

It takes a lot to fight, does it not? It takes a lot of strength and takes a lot of stamina. It's very tiresome to fighting what we're seeing here. Is that? Israel was tired of fighting but it don't want to fight and because of that, they were overtaken by the enemy. And we seen the same thing in the church for the most part.

Same thing to, you can be to be said of conservatives in Washington or even in a, the state level. Republicans and conservatives do not want to fight. Because again, the fight is tiresome. It gets old. But when you fail to fight you lose, you lose bad. And we can do know that the devil and all these liberals. Their Fighters. It is their way or no way. And we have seen in our generation. A people that just do not want to deal with it. But here's a problem. Even though you do not want to deal with it through fighting, you're still going to deal with it eventually just like Israel of old. Someone to notice how God delivered Israel from a really a time of cruel bondage by raising up, the first judge off Neil, who was the line in of God. Notice first of all, Israel's compromise. Israel's compromise verses 5 through 7, really give us the ugly details of Israel's first great failure. Just after Joshua had passed away, their great leader and even though Josh go warn them of the things that would befall them. If they persist the Lord, they still forsook the Lord. And what they did really stands as a stark warning to us today, even after all of these years,

It stands as a stark warning to us and what is real did the in as what we see the people of God doing all around us today? Mainly, they compromise the word of God. And they compromised, the will of God to do the things that they wanted to do. I notice, first of all, in verse 5, Their interaction with the Canaanites. Their interaction with the cane. And I first five tells us that's the children of Israel, dwelt among the Canaanites and the Hittites and the amorites in the parasite, in the headlights and the jebusites. So the Bible says that the children of Israel dwelt among the various tribes of Canaan, And that word dwelt, there means that they settled down with them. They took up residence with the different tribes of Canaan. And remember, when Israel arrived in Canaan, they were commanded to destroy these people without Mercy. But now they are living and dwelling among them. They're taking up residence with them. But it is shows us here. How really is amazing to see how how it just a short time it took for their former enemies to become their friends their new neighbors. You could say how quickly that transition happened but here's a problem. Israel was to be separate from the world around them. They were to be separate in all manner of speaking. They were unique the children of Israel. Were they were unique among all the peoples of the world? They have been chosen redeemed and set apart to serve the Lord God Almighty and he expected them to remain separate.

and because they did not they opened a Floodgate Of sin that would end with them facing the terrible chastisement of God.

I'll listen as gods. Children. Today just ask the children of Israel of old God's steel commands and demands that we be separate from the world. 2nd Corinthians 6:17 tells us that

In two places in the New Testament. It tells us. Paul refers this in, and both times know, Peter and Paul refer to us as a peculiar people. It's not meaning that we're weird necessarily but we are a set apart people. We are in his special possession. So we're to look different were to act different than those of the world. And when we refuse to walk in his will and honor his word in our lives, just like the children of Israel, we will open up the floodgates of seeing that eventually overwhelm us and we'll eventually drown us.

Listen, it is a dangerous thing for the child of God to live, like the world around him. Is a dangerous thing for the Church of God to accept the standard of living like the world around them. Charles Spurgeon said, God never allows his people to send successfully. And that's so true. You never allow his people to send successfully their sin will either destroy them or it will invite the chastening hand of God. It isn't this true? Haven't you witness this? of those who are saved and they drift off into seeing and either that's in destroys them or the chastisement of gone falls upon them. And if a person who claims, he professes to be a Christian and lives and unrepentant sin, but never undergoes any chastisement of God. Reveal that that person was truly never born again because every son of the Lord's is chastened by God. The Lord said as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. So it's a good thing honestly to be chasing the Lord, as it reveals, who our father is and because he loves us, he rebukes us

So there is this interaction with the Canaanites. They dwelt among them should never have happened. Never should have happened. That led to what are six intermarriage. Were the Canaanites? 46. And they took their daughters to be their wives. And gave their daughters to their sons. So, after a, while the people of Israel got so used to living among the Canaanites dwelling, where the Canaanites at the event began to intermarry with the Canaanites, which was expressly forbidden by the lord. It's hold him. Do not do this. And no doubt some of the children of Israel said something like this. Will these Canaanites, you know, they're not as bad as they, you know, as we've been told that they are and they're actually very nice people. We're not monsters. The girls make good devoted wives. There's no reason why we can't marry them after all. We might be able to change them. But Israel found out that it was them and not the Canaanites that changed. Because I married into the tribes around them. What happened was that the Israelites began to lose their national identity. The very Integrity of their families. Begin to break down, they soon lost the very thing that made them unique.

That one was gone, so concerned about them into marrying, the Canaanites. Well, you have to understand that the enemy Satan was also very concerned that they did. Because out of the Jews become, who? The Messiah, The Saviour, the Lord, Jesus Christ, who would come out of the tribe of Judah, until the enemy, try his very best to destroy the line. He tried to destroy the seed and that's why they constantly for all the years of in the Old Testament. They you find them into marrying or being seduced into that. The enemy was trying to stop the Messiah from being born. So that's what God was. So concerned about this thing of intermarriage.

I noticed. You have the interaction, you have to enter a marriage and then you have the idolatry. With the Canaanites, first six again, and they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons and they serve their gods. And they served their God. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord I forgot the Lord, their God and serve the bells and Asher has always a very short step from living among them to marrying them. And then eventually worshipping with them, You think about all that the Lord had done for them? How he deliver them from the hand of Egypt. From the bondage of Egypt. Miraculous is miraculously, open up the Red Sea, so that they could flee Egypt and Pharaoh, he fed them in the wilderness. He defeated all of their enemies and Canaan. Only, now, we find the children of Israel bowing down to the false gods of painting.

So what you have here is a group of people who have gone in one generation just one generation from worshipping God and fighting evil to abandoning God while they sleep literally with the Enemy. One generation. Separate Legos.

Even our country one generation. One generation.

As you know this same Danger.

Confronts us today.

We continually yoke ourselves to the things of the world. We are sacrificing a generation to the gods of this world.

We see their interaction, we see their into a marriage that leads to their idolatry. Then the fourth thing we see is their indifference their indifference with a Canaanite. 47 noticed. If the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord They forgot the Lord, their God. Do each step, they took LED them farther away from God every stamp. Each step they took away from him. LED them down. A pathway toward totally abandoning him and his ways. The word forgot means to ignore. They were ignoring God.

They cease to care about the things of God. And the people of Israel reached a place where they simply ignore God and seeks to care about him. Arista place of total, indifference toward the lord.

and sadly, that is where many and our day I've come to most folks know. That the Lord is there. Most folks know what God has said in his word, but most folks today, do not care. Scary place to be. Most folks do not care what God has said. So we see Israel's compromised, notice, Israel's chastisement.

See Israel seeing in compromise and this is where Israel is spiritually. But this is not where God would leave them. Remember what Spurgeon said? God never allows his people to send successfully. That is you might do it but you will not get away with it forever. There's always a price to pay for it. Disobedience and Rebellion against God verse 8 we see the focus of God's Wrath. Just there for the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And he sold them into the hand of crush on Rich. The theme king of Mesopotamia and the children of Israel serve to Shawn Ricci theme, 8 years, noticed that the Lord was his anger was there. And the word anger, their refers to the flaring of the nostrils. It is the image of a face that is filled with Fury and Wrath. And it says, the anger of the Lord was hot. The word hot means to be furious. And we notice here that that God is he, he's not angry with the Canaanites, is he not? He's not he's not angry with the Canaanites. He hated their CNA. Yes. But they were lost people. Didn't have the law of God. That Israel had, they did not have the lights that Israel had. They didn't have God's law. They had not been redeemed. They had not been separated, in command it to be different. So. I was not angry at the Canaanites. God was angry. His anger was directed to his people.

And they were about to be punished for their sin against God. Again. Same goes for children for God's children today. God will bring his chastisement into your life Revelation 3:19 as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. And he does this again, not because he hates us, but because he loves us. it is a ultimately a wonderful thing if you are chastise of the Lord because, you know, that you are his

And he wants us to be back where we're supposed to be.

Received in the remainder of versus AIDS. How fears his wrath was. We're told that God sold Israel into the hands of a pagan King. The word sold has the idea of giving up. Are getting over into one's control or power. In other words is real gave themselves to paganism. And God punished them by giving Israel what they wanted. Virtually is what happened? They did not want to follow God. They did not want to follow his rules their life, so he allowed them to be ruled by a very harsh Pagan King. And we know he's a very harsh Pagan King, just by his name. Right Deshawn. Rusev theme. Richardson means double wickedness. Are doubly. Wicked. Deshawn means blackness. So this king is doubly Wicked and black. Meaning his character Is dark. And all of this means is that is real reap, what they had sowed. They wanted paganism. They wanted their sin, they wanted their faults to God and God gave them everything they asked for and more.

We noticed that it wasn't just for a short period of a few months, but for eight long years.

Hey, in America. We have decided to forsake the Lord, and we have decided as a country to disregard anything that has any resemblance of character and biblical character biblical principle. And it seems as if God is saying, okay, that's the way you want to live, you can have it. And we're being ruled. Just like a kishan Russia theme today. Who are rulers are today. The very people that God has told us to Refrain from and never accept as an alternative lifestyle. It started with us as a country when we first dwelt among them, Your tolerance.

In-N-Out tolerance has led two different issues and two. Now they virtually are controlling us today.

I mean for some people it is you either bow down to what they're saying? Are you lose your job?

it is sad, but it is of our own doing. just like the children of Israel, we have forsaken, the Lord for so long, and we have become so,

Close to the enemy. That God is allowing us to be ruled by our enemies.

Notice though.

Verses 9 through 11. We see Israel's champion

Israel's champion.

when the children of Israel verse 9, Cried out to the Lord. the Lord raise up a deliverer for the children of Israel who delivered them both Neal, the son of Kani, House Caleb's younger, brother, The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel. He went out to war in the Lord deliver cuz Sean was a theme king of Mesopotamia and to his hands. And his hand prevailed over kashan Rusev theme. So the land had rats for 40 years than off. Now, the son of Kenya's died when Israel came to themselves, how do we know they came in the cells? They cried out to the Lord, just like The Prodigal Son. He came to himself. The scripture tells us, he realize my goodness. I could be at my father's house here. I am in the pig pen in mud. I'm eating corn. Husks that the pigs eat. He came to himself. He repented that's what happens here when they chilling. There's a cry out to the Lord. They called on God and he heard them. And when they turn back to him in their hearts, he reached out to them through a deliver. You raised up there, first judge a man by the name of off Neil. Off Neil is called a deliver in our scripture. The word means a savior and really, that's what often do off mail was In reality here, off nail, who was out of the tribe of Judah, is a picture of Christ, is a type of Christ who also is a lion out of the tribe of Judah. Who come to be a savior for his people? I noticed off nails credentials. We're told that off Neil is Caleb's younger, brother. So knowing this off, nail was a man of Courage. He was a man of much bravery, just like his brother. Caleb was He has strong ties to a former generation of leaders and Israel. Scholars. Tell us that he was an older man assembly that he was at this time. About 75 years old. So, he was battle-tested, he was available for God to use him. And so in this off, Neil reminds us that God can use anyone. Regardless of how old we might be regardless of our past. Y'all can use us for his glory. And the Lord used him in a mighty way notice. Off Neil was useful to the Lord because the spirit of the Lord came upon him. We mentioned this this past Sunday, how the Old Testament, the spirit of the Lord had a different Ministry of sorts than the New Testament in present-day, where in the Old Testament, the spirit of the Lord would dwell upon someone for a moment or for a season and then would be removed. Well today, the Holy Spirit resides within us, never to be removed to the Lord, the spirit of the Lord came upon him. Off nail did not possess the power to deliver Israel within himself. But when the spirit of God took control of his life, I was able to use him and great waves. And so, with that off, now did not deliver Israel. God delivered Israel through off Neil. Of course, we know that left to ourselves. We are incapable of serving God as he'd is deserve as he deserves to be served. And the only way that we can be useful and used by the Lord is that when we are controlled by the spirit, like off now, the Bible says not to be drunk with wine as an excess, but be filled with the spirit that is continually being led by the spirit filled with the spirit. Letting the spirit half control. The spirit of God will enable us to stand against the enemies around us. The spirit of God will make us powerful for the glory of the Lord. The spirit of God will use us in a way that we can hardly. Imagine we must yield to him and his power in and over our lives. I've been notice. Off Neil's Conquest. That God enabled off, Neil to defeat. The enemy this doubly Wicked King. Not allowed off Neil to deliver Israel from the bondage of that taken King. And God empowered off Neil to judge the nation of Israel for the rest of his life for 40 years. They had peace. God gave off nail victory in his life because off Neil gave himself to the Lord. Oh my what a parallel. We see hear of a the children of Israel of old and Israel. How they quickly took the Lord for Gothel or compromise with lead into sin. To them be controlled by the very ones that they were to destroy.

And again, we see here a picture of Christ in off now.

Will take a few moments to. Pray.

Do we have any special updates or any updates that we need to? I'll make mention here on our prayer sheet here.