Untitled Sermon (1)

Welcome and Introduction:

Well good morning, Forest Glen! Good to be with you all again. My name is Dan Osborn and I serve as one of the Pastors at Park.

Like [HOST] said, we’re going to be continuing in our new series this morning through the book of Judges in the Old Testament.

The book of Judges is a messy. If you were here last week, Brenton did a great job kicking us off in this series and even started to talk about some of problems we have with to book of Judges.

But what we’re going to see week in and week out is actually a beautiful story of redemption as God refuses to give up on a people who constantly give up on Him.

So if you’ve got a bible, would you open with me to

Judges 3

and we’ll be looking at verses 12 through 30 this morning.

Judges 3:12-30

. It’s on page 202 if you have one of the house bibles.

Transition

And when we come to the book of Judges—particularly in the story we’re looking at this morning, there is one question that seems to come up over and over again. In fact, the entire book of Judges can be seen through this question—How will God be able to use the weakness of his people? And Judges will deal with weakness in a really broad way…phyical weakness, moral weaknes, and most importantly, spiritual weakness.

And ultimately, what we’re going to today is this idea that God uses the weakness his people for His fame. And as we look through the story, well take some time to understand what that means. God uses our weakness for His fame.

Let me pray, and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

Context of Judges

Alright, let me give us a couple quick things we need to keep in mind as we make our way through the book of Judges.

What is a Judge?

First, What is a ‘Judge’?

This is a fairly obvious question if we’re looking at the book of Judges…we need to get an accurate idea of what we’re talking about here!

When we use the title‘Judge’ today, we can’t help but immediately think of a courtroom, right? With a highly educated person sitting on a bench making legal decision…but really, that’s not at all what the bible is getting at with the word ‘Judge’.

Actually, I think one of the best ways to picture this is to think of something more like what you’d see in an old Western movie!

You gotta think:

John Wayne [SLIDE]

Clint Eastwood

Or if you’re too young to know what I’m talking about…think Bat-Man from the Dark Knight series.

These guys are really more like what the judges were. If you go back and watch these movies and see some of these characters…yes, technically they’re the good guys…Yeah, at the end of the story, they are clearly the ‘heroes’ They’re the ones calling the shots…they have the big win…they’re really the leaders…but they’re not clean guys, right? They’ve got some serious issues. They’re not always doing good things.

The World of the Judges

In fact, it might even be helpful to think of the time period of the Judges almost like the Wild West…if you want to keep going with that John Wayne/Clint Eastwood idea. We’re told a number of times in the book that everybody is just doing whatever seems right to them. It’s perfectly summed up in the last verse of the book,

Judges 21:25

, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

And over and over again, we’re told that God raises up a judge to be a deliverer or hero. They aren’t always that good but God still uses them to bring about good for His people.

Cycle in Judges

The Second thing you want to keep in mind is this CYCLE in Judges.

When you follow the storyline of the WHOLE book, it is basically this big downward spiral. Each new judge is worse than the last.

And this recurring cycle happens in all the stories. Brenton touched on this last week. Let me remind of what that cycle looks like. It’s on the screen behind me [SLIDE].

Each story beings with Israel’s REBELLION against God.

In other words, the know what God has called them to do and how He’s called them to live, but they REJECT Him and start to follow the false gods of the nations around them.

And as a result, they experience OPPRESSION at the hands of their enemies. God gives an enemy nation power over Israel and they become enslaved.

Eventually they cry out in REPENTANCE to God asking for forgiveness; they recognize what they’ve done and how they’ve been living contrary to what God has called them to…and when the cry out to Him, God responds.

God raises up a Judge to DELIVER them.

And then there is a season of PEACE for the Israel.

And this cycle plays on repeat in Judges and you’ll see it in every story we look at in the book.

And I’ll be honest, as we go through this series, there are going to be some dark stories that pop up. Judges is not PG.

But ultimately what I want you to see is that, Judges is supposed to make us feel uncomfortable. Especially when you think about that summary verse we just read, “...there was no king so everyone did what was right in their own eyes...” It’s like the author is going back and retelling us again and again ‘This is what the world looks like when God is not treated as King…when God is not seen as the hero.’

It’s messy. It’s broken. His people have serious weaknesses…His leaders have serious weaknesses…they are profoundly flawed. And again, it all begs the question, “How will God use the weakness of his people?”

Make sense?

Ehud’s Story

Rebellion (

Judges 3:12a

)

Alright, let’s get into our story. Judges 3. Look with me at v. 12, ‘And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord...’

You see that first part of the cycle here.

Now, we don’t know exactly what they did here, but already in Judges, what we looked at last week in v. 7…the pattern that we’ve seen is that the people of Israel forget God and instead worship these IDOLS—or false gods.

This is what’s called IDOLATRY [SLIDE]. It’s taking something that is not God and acting like it is—it’s taking something that’s NOT God and trying to make it be your ultimate source of JOY, PEACE, and SATISFACTION…this is what Israel was doing, they’re stepping out on God.—And the scary thing about IDOLATRY is that it’s not just Israel that does this…but WE do this all the time whether or not we even realize it!

WE take something that is not God and ACT like it IS all the time!

Your career can become an IDOL—when you look to our Job to be our ultimate source of JOY.

Your money becomes an IDOL—when you look for it to bring PEACE.

Relationships…Sex…even our long term goals... all can become idols when we look to them to be our ultimate source of satisfaction, right? We take these things that aren’t God and we functionally act as if they are! One theologian put it this way, ‘The Human Heart is an IDOL factory’. Saying that we are constantly turning things—even good things—into little gods in our lives!

You see, essentially, we can begin to worship these things as if they are gods.

And in v. 12, this is what Israel have done again.

Oppression (

Judges 3:12b-14

)

And then we see God’s response in the second half of v. 12…that he “strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab...”

You might remember that in most of the Old Testament storyline, the Moabites are the consistent enemies of Isreal but here God gives this Moabite king, Eglon the upper hand. God literally puts him in the position of Power as an oppressor over Israel. Eglon gathers some of the other nations around Israel to form a coalition and they go out and defeat the Israelites in place called the City of Palms.

And Israel is essentially enslaved by the Moabites.

And we’re not told exactly what this would have looked like, but later on in the story, we’re going to see that one aspect of this was economic oppression. It was pretty common for nations who had been taken over by other nations to be required to pay heavy taxes to the foreign king. And at this point in their history, Israel is not very well established…so this economic oppression would have eventually reached a boiling point where they couldn’t give any more away with out starving and really depleating what they need to survive.

And we’ve got to see this—because of Israel’s IDOLATRY—because of their sin—they become enslaved.

And this is one of the things that the author of Judges wants us to see…that SIN enslaves…

And I think that is something some of us need to hear this morning. Do you know that sin enslaves you?

In our own lives, how easy is it for us to use this rationale that if what I’m doing doesn’t effect anyone else, then it’s all good. Friends, let me say this bluntly. No one just occasionally looks at Pornography—you are enslaved by Pornography. Nobody just FLIES OFF THE HANDLE every now and then…you’re actually enslaved by Anger. It’s why you can’t stop yourself. Sin absolutely enslaves.

That’s the picture that the author of Judges wants us to see.

Repentance (

Jdg. 3:15a

)

Let’s jump back into the story. V. 15.

Finally, things get bad enough for the Israelites…after 18 years…they cry out to God. And on one hand I think these something to celebrate as they finally get to this place where they begin to recognize their IDOLATRY. Their failure to be obedient to what God has called them to do…they recognize they’ve got nowhere else to turn, but on the other on the other hand…it takes them 18 years to get it!

18 years before they even realized that what they had done in their IDOLATRY and sin…that THIS is actually the root cause of what they’re going through right now.

18 YEARS!

And as they begin to see what has actually been going on, they call out to God… asking Him send a deliverer…a hero…and one of the most amazing pieces of the story…is that even after 18 years…when they call out to God, He responds.

Friends—that a lone is an incredible picture of our God.

That HE RESPONDS to the need of his people—and does what he doesn’t need to do! He shows mercy. He shows KINDNESS…he shows GRACE!

And for some of you—just like the Israelites here—you have spent the last season of your life in rebellion against God…rejecting what he’s called you to do…and that may be true of you even if you’re a follower of Jesus—that you have spent years enslaved to a particular sin—YEARS living in IDOLATRY--habitually going back to the very thing you’ve said you’d never do again...years with a weakness that you just can’t shake…that you haven’t been able to move past…there is hope. God responds when we finally call out to Him.

Deliverance (

Jdg. 3:15b-29

)

The Unexpected (Weak) Judge

Look with me at the second half of v. 15. “…and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man...”

So God responds to Israel by sending them a deliverer…a Judge.

Now, we don’t know way too much about Ehud, but what we do know is incredibly important for us in understanding this story.

Look at the very last way he is described in v. 15...as ‘a left-handed man’.

And at first this seems like just a random detail right? Like who cares what hand he used!

But sometimes when you’re reading the bible, it’s those odd little details that are sometimes the most important ones for us to pay attention to!

You see, in the original language of the Old Testament, which is Hebrew, it doesn’t actually say anything about his left hand…what it really says is that his right hand was bound up…like in a cast or sling.

And what a lot scholars think is that this means for some reason, Ehud was not able to use his right hand—either because he was born with some kind of physical issue OR because it had been so badly injured in the past—whatever it was—it’s not just that he was left-handed, it’s that he was left-handed because his right hand was unusable. And you can imagine that at this time in history, when you’ve got be able to work and more importantly fight with your hands, that puts EHUD at a significant disadvantage—in other words for Ehud—this is a physical weakness.

But even more than that—in the ancient world, when Judges was written—being left-handed was usually associated with weakness while the RIGHT hand was associated with POWER.

And so when Ehud shows up on the scene—he is not really the deliverer that the people were probably expecting. He doesn’t look like the military leader that they need! They would not have thought very much of him. And at the very least, he would have been an surprising choice…an unexpected hero.

But Ehud has a plan.

Remember, Israel has to pay this Tax or Tribute to Moab and Ehud is the one who has been charged with bringing it to Eglon, the king.

And he comes to Eglon’s court with the TRIBUE he’s supposed to present…but before he leaves, Ehud tells the king in v. 19, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And when Eglon, hears this he get’s all excited and wants to know what it is, so he clears out the courtroom where everybody’s at…his guards, his servants…and he invites Ehud back to his private chambers so that he can hear this secret message.

And you’ve got to visualize this for a moment with me…Ehud’s got this bound up right-hand…which means Eglon and his guards, his servants, they wouldn’t have seen Ehud as a threat…you know, in their minds, Ehud is weak…he’s got one good arm! What’s he gonna do…so they just let him go into Eglon’s room without a second though. But what they don’t know, is that Ehud is packin’. They don’t know that strapped to his leg is this assassin’s knife…that they didn’t even bother to check for because in their minds, what’s a guy like Ehud actually gonna do…you follow me?

And when it’s finally just the two of them, Ehud says again in v. 20, “I have a message from God for you.”

In the Ancient world, Kings would OFTEN bring in people who had messages from the gods for them. So Eglon jumps up, eager to hear this secret message from God…and as Ehud leans in closer to give this ‘message’, he reaches with his left hand and pulls out the sword hiding under his right leg…and thrusts it into Eglon’s stomach…and we’re told that Eglon is so large that the fat of his stomach closed in over the hilt of the sword…Ehud leaves it sword inside Eglon and runs out the back while all of Eglon’s servants and guards are waiting out front, but be invited back in.

And while they’re out they’re waiting, we’re told that they start to smell something…but they just assume that Eglon us using the bathroom—and they’re not about to barge in on the King doing his thing. But after a while, the smell is so bad that they just start to get embarrased and finally break into the room only to find their king dead on the floor!

But by the time they get in there, Ehud is LONG gone and has even rallied the waiting army of Israelites. And look at what Ehud says to them in v. 28, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand...”

And he takes this army he’s assembled and they kill about 10,000 Moabite soldiers who have come out to fight them.

Peace (

Jdg. 3:30

)

And all of this comes to a close in v. 30 as the author tells us that as a result to being delivered, that Israel experienced peace for 80 years.

Climax/Big Idea

That’s it. That’s how it ends!

How many of you are thinking, ‘Okay…what am I even do with that story?’ Let me just give you a heads up…that questsion’s gonna come up a lot in this series!

But when we come to Ehud’s story, one of the things we have to think about is that, at best, he’s an unexpected hero, right?! I mean if God is really going to raise up a deliverer, you would think that he could find someone a little better suited for the position than Ehud…from most people’s perspective, DELIVERANCE might not be Ehud’s best contribution to the team.

But it’s once we really understand Ehud’s situation for what it was and even start to understand, for lack of a better word, his weakness…once we see that...the main point of the story really begins to POP for us...that God uses the weakness of his people...

In fact, if you were to go through the rest of the Old Testament Story line you would see this all over the place, that God uses the weakness of his people!

Moses—Stutter and inability to speak well

Gideon—Fear and Anxiety over trusting God

Jeremiah—Poor Speech and Youth

But, you see the point is not just that God uses the weakness of His people…but that you uses it for HIS fame!

And Ultimately, that’s what we see happen in Ehud’s story! See, it wasn’t really Ehud, but God the entire time who was had actually done the work of delivering Israel, right?! It was God who raised up Ehud in v. 15. It’s God who hands the Moabites over to the Ehud and his army! This is less as story about Ehud than it is about God using the weakness of his people for HIS glory…for his fame!

You see, the whole point of God delivering them was so that they would return to Him…that they would Worship Him…that He alone would be their source of JOY, SATISFACTION, and PEACE! And when He uses the weakness of His people, it is a profound way of demonstrating HIS power, HIS committment, His LOVE, HIS care…and it reminds us of OUR dependance!

So what are we supposed to do with this story? Well, if there is one thing we need to walk away thinking about this morning it’s this, “God uses our WEAKNESS for His FAME and our good!”

Amen?!

Cultural Lie/Human Condition

And yet...while it might be easy to get excited about this while we’re sitting here in church on a Sunday morning…the question we have come back to is, ‘If that’s true…why is it that we work so hard to cover up or compensate for our weakness?

Why is it, that even in the Church, that we work so hard to hide our weaknesses from everybody else?

I’m talking about the life that we portray on Facebook and Istagram to prove to whoever might be watching that we’ve got it goin on. That we’ve figured out life, family, relationships…even when we don’t.

It’s when we walk into the church building with a smile even though we’ve just had a fight with your spouse on the way OVER because we don’t want anyone else to know what just happened…or that it happens much more often than we’d like to admit.

It’s when we gloss over our week in small group, struggling to actually open up about what we might have done even the night before!

You see the reality is, we can’t really celebrate God using the weakness of his people for His fame and our GOOD... because deep down we’re terrified being weak...

Because what would people think if they actually knew?

What if our spouses found out.

What if our small group, friends, or even our kids found out.

And yet one of the things we have to acknowledge is that for all of us, our deepest weakness is our spiritual weakness. It’s our sin. THis is the HUMAN CONDITION. That all of us have, at some level failed to live the way God has created us to. That ALL of us have gotten caught up up in the SLAVERY of SIN…in fact some of you are caught up in it RIGHT NOW!

The haunting reality of this story is that at the end of the day, we are just like the Israelites—we are prone to this cycle of sin.

But there’s hope. Because this story reminds us what God does with our weakness.

See, just like for the Israelites, God sent us a judge!

Gospel

The Gospel is the story of the greater Ehud.

Just like Ehud, Jesus is an unexpected Hero!

He is the King who showed up as a baby in a barn.

He is the one who the Prophet Isaiah said had nothing about him that would naturally draw any body to him.

And though he lived the life WE should have lived, perfectly obedient to ALL of what God commanded us, Jesus is our judge who takes on our weakness as he takes on himself the consequence of our Sin!

Jesus died IN OUR PLACE, FOR OUR SIN so that when we put our TRUST in HIS work on the Cross, we would be restored to live the way we were created to live.

And yet unlike Ehud, he does not bring a TEMPORARY peace, but Jesus brings an everlasting peace to US as our relationship with God is finally and forever, perfectly restored!

Ultimately, Jesus is the TRUE and BETTER hero…and now as Followers of Jesus, we are empowered to go and live, not in fear of our weakness, but celebrating the reality that God uses our weakness FOR HIS fame and for OUR good!

Conclusion/Application

Because of the Gospel, we no longer need to fear our weakness, but can recognize our weakness as an opportunity celebrate and make much of our true and better unexpected Hero! And as followers of Jesus, our failure tells the story of God’s victory…our sin the story of His grace. Our weakness, the story of His STRENGTH!

The story our lives tell is one that celebrates Jesus, our TREU and BETTER, unexpected hero!

So what are we supposed to do with any of this?

Well I’ll start with this…it doesn’t mean we settle in our sin. No! As followers of Jesus, as people who have been liberated from the slavery of SIN, our desire should always be to honor God in ALL that we THINK, SAY, and DO. So we shouldn’t ever be comfortable with our sin! And yet we also know that we are not perfect and will fail! We will continue fall short of what God calls us to! The difference is that we no long have to fear our weakness!

And so we can embrace being vulnerable with one another! Scripture reminds us that we are to confess our sins to one another—not hide our sin from one another. Some of you, this week, there is something you’ve been hiding that you need to confess—maybe to you’re spouse…your small group…and even to God!

And this doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences…but it does mean that God will not give up on you…He uses the weakness of His people for His fame and OUR good.

For others of you, you need to keep this in mind…How do you respond when someone opens up to you about weakness in their own life? How can you point them to greater truth of the Gospel that God uses OUR weakness for His FAME and our GOOD? How can you point them to the hope of the Gospel even in the midst of their sin?!

Friends, the Story of Ehud is certainly not perfect—and yet neither is ours. So as we go out and live in a world that in many ways is the same the world of the Judges, as followers of Jesus, we no longer need to live in fear of our weakness. We no longer need to live in fear of vulnerability because as Ehud’s story reminds us, God uses the WEAKNESS of his people for His FAME and our GOOD!

Would you pray with me?