Judges 3:7-31
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with a tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundredPhilistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
Again….
Keypoint #1: We easily sin against God when we forget how good and gracious He has been to us.
The Israelites forgot who God is. When they choose to forget His goodness, committing sin is no longer hard. The way to fight sin is to remember what Christ did for us and who we are now in Christ Jesus.
Keypoint #2: God’s grace moves him to send people to rescue us from our sin.
When God’s people cry out, God in his mercy and grace responds to our cries of help. Repentance is something we do till the day we die. As God continues to mature us, He exposes sins in our lives that He wants to deal with because He wants us to grow in Him.
We can also see in the passage that though the judges were able to save them, Israel’s salvation would be short-lived as they rebel and sin against God. This shows the limitations of man’s leadership to save people. In our lives, we must rely on and trust in Christ’s leadership over our lives and that of our nation. Only he can bring lasting change.
Keypoint #3: In spite of sinning, again and again, God’s grace abounds.
This is something you will see all throughout the Scripture. Man sins, God forgives. Man sinned again, judgment comes but God rescues. But let us be careful not to use our sin as a way to obtain licentiousness because of God’s grace. Rather, God has given us the grace so that we can fight sin not in our strength but in God’s strength.
Talk it Over:
1. Are there any areas of your life that you need to repent of? Areas of your life that you have forgotten God?
2. Share stories of God’s grace over your life.
3. Who are some people that God send to you to rescue you in times of trouble? Take time to honor them and thank them.