The Good, The Bad, and the Oxgoad
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I remember a time when I had my log home business and I had an employee riding with me on our way back home from Virginia. If you’ve never drove that trip it’s a long drive.
We had been gone from our families for about six weeks and decided we were going to drive straight through. We took turns driving and sleeping.
Every once in a while one of us would hit the rumble strips on the road. If you’ve ever tried to sleep while someone hits the rumble strips you can understand the immediate jolting awake you get.
Both of us would get irritated any time that would happen. It was annoying and even hampered our sleep.
But those rumble strips are there for good reason. They are a safety measure to keep people who fall asleep at the wheel from having a catastrophic wreck.
The repeated oppression of Israel through the rest of the book are God’s rumble strips for His people. God in His mercy, repeatedly attempts to jolt Israel awake from their apostasy and idolatry.
We are going to be in Judges 3:7-31 today. We’re going to look at how God uses other nations to jolt Israel awake and preserve His people for His ultimate purpose of the perfect Messiah to be sacrificed once for all.
Let’s read the passage and then we’ll break it down and talk about it.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms.
14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.
17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.
19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “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.
26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader.
28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over.
29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.
30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.
I’m going to break this into two parts to look at.
The Good and the Bad
The Oxgoad
I know they seem like strange points to make. Hopefully they will be made clear as I go through them.
The Good and the Bad
The Good and the Bad
There was a time not that long ago where we trusted everyone. At least until they proved we couldn’t trust them.
Today we look at people as either good or bad. We say those Democrats are bad. You’re a Republican okay well you’re good. You’re a Libertarian, I don’t know.
We associate people with good or bad dependent upon their affiliations. Those affiliations could be political, social, or religious. Unfortunately we read the Bible the same way.
It’s so easy and simple to look at these passages and say Canaanites were bad, Israelites were good. Or even more in depth Othniel was Good, Ehud was bad. Shamgar? I don’t know.
It’s dangerous to view any Scripture or even anything in life this way. It’s a step away from the gospel and a step toward moralism.
When we read the Bible this way we tend to make heroes and villains out of biblical characters. We hear sermons like three leadership characteristics of Othniel or three character flaws of Ehud to avoid.
While there are good points within those sermons it tends to point us toward a cliff. And many have already fallen off the cliff.
How many times have you heard some version of good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. Dwelling on good traits, biblical heroes, becomes a performance based salvation before God.
That’s nothing more than moralistic religion. Now, I don’t know about you, but for me that’s terrible news. Because, I’m a flawed bad person.
There are no good characters in these stories, only sinful ones. There are sinful villains and sinful heroes. There are bad people who are not God’s people and there are bad people who are God’s people.
There are worse bad judges and there are better bad judges, but there are no good judges. Are you starting to get the point? They all fall short of Jesus Christ! They all died, and their bodies are all still in the grave.
They all needed the rumble strips to wake them up and get them back on the road. There are themes we are going to see repeatedly through Judges. “Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,” “They served the Baals and Asherah’s.”
They have rest for a number of years and then the Judge dies. The first judge, Othniel comes about because God allowed Cushan-Rishathaim, the King of Mesopotamia, to overthrow Israel.
Cushan-Rishathaim means Cushan the Doubly Wicked or Cushan of Double Wickedness. And the Hebrew word translated “served” in this context brings the implication of total bondage.
They were treated with the cruel treatment one would expect from any worldly tyrant. It was much worse than just being slaves.
Who could blame the Mesopotamians for enslaving the Israelites who had enslaved them at some point. One can imagine the cruelty they would have shown to their former masters who enslaved them.
In their enslaved, cruel treatment, they cry out to the Lord. They suddenly remember who the one true God is and they cry out for help.
They aren’t crying out in repentance, it’s only after 8 years that they cry out because of the tyrannical treatment they’re receiving in their oppression.
Othniel, the one who captured Kirjath Sepher, and took Caleb’s daughter Achsa as his wife. A great military man delivered Israel from the Mesopotamians.
You might say what’s bad about Othniel? There’s nothing that talks about his flaws. Except it does.
Verse 11 says, “Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.”
There are no good players outside of God in this scene. He’s the son of Adam and verse 11 confirms his bad status. He collects the wages of his sinfulness (Romans 6:23).
And the Israelites once again did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Okay, I have to ask, maybe it’s just me. But how many here have “repented” from sin. Asked God to deliver you from that sin. He does and then you turn around and dive right back into that sin again?
There’s a video on the internet of a farmer in a field with a very deep and very narrow irrigation ditch. In the ditch is a sheep lodged and stuck in the ditch.
The farmer frees the sheep from the ditch and the sheep hops a couple times with joy runs down the ditch a few yards and jumps right back into the ditch once again lodging itself and getting stuck.
The caption on the video simply says, “God delivering me from my sin.”
The Hebrew verb translated “again” implies a continuation of. In other words the Israelites, God’s sheep, jumped right back into the ditch.
Now we come to Ehud.
Israel does evil so God raises Elgon the gluttonous king
Then it took 18 years this time for Israel to Cry out because of their oppression
Ehud uses brutal deception to kill Elgon
Even in his despicable actions God gives Him victory over the Moabites
Some might object to even God being the only good player here. Isn’t God complicit in the evil, despicable actions of Ehud. How could God use such a despicable man?
Why do we object here? Moses was a murderer, David was an adulterer and a murderer and we don’t object there. Why such a moral compass with one and not the others?
Joseph told his brothers in Gen 50:19-20
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
We may not understand how this works. We may not understand how our free will to sin in God’s sovereignty works. But the Bible is clear we are all solely responsible for our own sin.
God uses those sins at times for His own purposes without being complicit in any way. I know the sins of my past have become a blessing today.
Because I have come through many sinful things in my life, I am uniquely positioned to understand others who struggle with those same sins. It opens the door for me to explain how God did work in me to overcome those sins.
There have been several people in churches that have questioned my ability to pastor a church or even be in church leadership. I have confessed my sins to God even others.
God wasn’t complicit in my sins, but He uses them for His purposes today. My wages of death have become a blessing in Christ.
Discussing our folly verses the Wisdom of God is so appropriate to bring in the final point.
The Oxgoad
The Oxgoad
Shamgar!! Most people, many even very familiar with the Bible don’t even know who Shamgar is.
Poor old Shamgar. Only gets one verse. Most sermons through Judges pass right over him.
What can we say about Shamgar? We know a little, not a lot.
He was probably a farmer. The oxgoad was a long spear like tool used to steer or drive oxen. It was the ancient version of a cattle prod.
Can you imagine a farmer going into battle against well trained military men with a cattle prod?
Shamgar was likely not an Israelite. His name appears to be Hurrian in origin. He was likely a contemporary of Deborah and Barak.
He killed 600 Philistines and he delivered Israel.
I don’t believe Shamgar was even fighting for Israel unless he was married into Israel through one of their daughters. But the text seems to describe that he wasn’t even fighting for Israel.
He was definitely an odd savior. Not someone we would have picked as a savior for sure. He’s a simple farmer not a military warrior.
He’s definitely not armed with any high tech military weapon. Shamgar’s not even from the right place!!
Here’s this common Hurrian farmer that God used to deliver Israel like some oxgoad super ninja. He comes into the story for one verse and disappears to never be heard from again.
Just another bad hero who’s not even part of God’s people. Only God is good in the story.
You see, nobody like Shamgar defeats 600 elite Palestinian soldiers with an oxgoad. That’s the point. Only God could give a victory in those circumstances.
I love the story of Shamgar because it sums up judges so well. They are all oddball saviors in their own way. None are good , they are all bad. Some are better bad and some are worse bad but they are all bad.
They leave no doubt that it’s God who saves.
We need to stop looking at people as good or bad dependent upon their affiliation. We need to quit associating good or bad because of what we read or watch on the internet, in the paper, or on TV.
Instead we need to start looking at them like they are just another bad person just like ourselves. A person who needs to know the one and only good person who truly saves.
The one who died on a Roman cross for our sins, who rose again, who ascended to heaven. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.