The First Judges
Judges 3:5-31
INTRODUCTION: Chapter two of Judges set down the pattern for the time of the judges. It is a time of disobedience, destruction and deliverance. Israel will continue to spiral downward away from their God but He will continue to hear their pleas for help and send them deliverers.
I. DELIVERANCE FROM MESOPOTAMIA (3:5-11)
A. God’s Anger Against Israel (v.5-8)
1. Israel intermarried with the Canaanites (v.5-6)
2. Israel rebelled against the Lord (v.7)
a. They did evil in God’s sight
b. They forgot the Lord their God
c. They served Baal and the groves
3. The Lord was angry with Israel (v.8)
B. The Oppression of Mesopotamia (v.8)
1. Israel was conquered by the king of Mesopotamia
2. They served Chushanrishathaim for eight years
3. Mesopotamia refers to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This oppression came from outside their God-given boundaries.
C. The Deliverance of Israel Through Othniel (v.9-10)
1. The Israelites cried unto the Lord (v.9)
2. The Lord raised up Othniel as a deliverer (v.9)
3. The Spirit of the Lord came on Othniel (v.10)
NOTE: All believers were not indwelled by the Spirit of God in the Old Testament. However, The Spirit of the Lord came upon men for special tasks at special times. (Judges 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 1 Samuel 11:6; 16:13) The Spirit of the Lord left Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) and David was fearful that the same thing would happen to him when he sinned (Psalm 51:11).
4. Othniel defeated the king of Mesopotamia (v.10)
D. The Time of Rest Under Othniel (v.11)
1. The land had rest for forty years
2. Othniel died
II. DELIVERANCE FROM MOAB (3:12-31)
A. Oppression Under the King of Moab (v.12-14)
1. The disobedience of Israel after Othniel’s death (v.12)
2. The strengthening of Eglon, king of Moab (v.12)
3. The defeat of the Israelites by Eglon (v.13)
4. Israel serves Moab for 14 years (v.14)
B. The Assassination of Eglon by Ehud (v.15-26)
1. God raises up Ehud to deliver Israel (v.15)
a. He is a Benjamite
b. He is left-handed
2. Ehud brings a present to Eglon (v.16-18)
a. He hides a cubit-long dagger in his raiment (v.16)
b. He presents the present to Eglon (v.17-18)
3. Ehud tells Eglon of a special message (v.19-20)
a. He speaks to Eglon of a secret errand (v.19)
b. Eglon sends all his servants out (v.19)
c. Ehud rises to give Eglon God’s message (v.20)
4. Ehud kills Eglon with his dagger (v.21-22)
a. Ehud thrusts his dagger in Egon’s belly (v.21)
b. Ehud could not draw his dagger out (v.22)
5. Ehud escapes and returns to Israel (v.23-26)
a. Ehud escapes by way of the porch (v.23)
b. Eglon’s servants assume his is sleeping (v.24)
c. Ehud escapes while they tarry (v.25-26)
Practical Outline: The Two-Edged Dagger of Ehud
1. He faced three enemies (v.12-13); so do we
a. World (1 John 2:15)
b. Flesh (Galatians 5:17)
c. Devil (1 Peter 5:8)
2. He took a two-edged sword (v.15); the word of God (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17)
3. He hid it under his raiment (v.16); hiding the word of God in our hearts or memorizing scripture (Psalm 119:11; Colossians 3:16)
4. It was a message from God (v.16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; see Luke 16:31)
5. He thrust it into the belly (v.21); the carnal nature of man (Philippians 3:18-19)
6. When the dagger went in, it would not come out (v.22); it will always be in your heart (see Proverbs 22:6)
7. When the dagger went in, dirt came out (v.22; Psalm 119:9; John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26).
C. The Defeat of the Moabites (v.27-29)
1. Ehud gathers the Israelites to battle (v.27)
2. Ehud takes the fords over the Jordan (v.28)
3. They slay 10,000Moabite soldiers (v.29)
D. The Time of Rest for Israel (v.30-31)
1. The land has rest for 80 years (v.30)
2. Shamgar delivers Israel from the Philistines (v.31)
CONCLUSION: The Israelites were caught in an awful cycle of defeat and degradation. God kept helping them but they continued to get further and further away from Him. How about you? Is your life caught in any self-defeating cycles? What can you do to break the cycle and get your life right with the Lord?
MEMORY VERSES:
q Psalm 119:11 - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
q Ephesians 6:17 - And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
q Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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Antioch Baptist Church Knoxville, Tennessee