Judges 4:17-24 “A Moment of Courage”

Judges 4:17-24 “A Moment of Courage”

Often one brave moment can change everything. The moment you asked a girl out or to marry you. The moment you ventured into the water over your head, jumped out of an airplane, or walked in for a job interview. Moments you cannot step back from. Israel’s fight with King Jabin of Hazor hung on such a moment. Yes, there was some preparation, a set up, but it still came to a moment of courage.

1.       Deborah the judge
a. Deborah is the judge who God gave a prophecy of victory to.
b. Barak was to lead Israel to fight and win
c. Barak wants Deborah to go, as a result the victory will be given…

2.       The moment of courage
a. Barak’s army defeats the army of Sisera, King Jabin’s general.
b. Sisera leaves his chariot and runs away.
c. He comes to Jael’s tent and thinks he will find safety.
d. Jael has been setting him up from the moment she saw him.
e. When she picks up the tent peg and hammer she cannot go back.
f. what if………

3.       We face divine moments
a. The moment we gave our life to Jesus
b. each week we encounter divine moments
c. we get a feeling we should say something or do something.
d. a challenge to step from the safety of our comfort zone.
This is the Holy Spirit speaking to you, guiding you.
e. our faith hangs in the balance.  Matthew 10:32
f. someone’s eternity may hang in the balance.
g. what will we say? What will we do?
h. It may be just to walk across a room and say hello

This week you will face divine moments. Moments that demand courage, that demand faith. Moments that you cannot step back from. Will you take a step of faith, or will you play it safe? Find that courage to act on the Holy Spirit’s leading and you will not only change your life, you may just change someone else’s life for eternity. It just takes a moment of courage.

Believe For Them Judges 4:4-10

Believe For Them Judges 4:4-10

Deborah There are a couple of unique things about her time as a judge so I will two Sunday’s on her. First is that she is a woman of God being used in a male dominated world. Her saving of Israel is one of the longer parts of Judges.

Today I want to look at her work with Barak. She summons Barak to her then gives him a Prophesy from the Lord. “Go to battle with Jabin’s army and his general Sisera has been given into your hand.”

1.      To believe for him.
a. Barak lacks confidence
b. confidence that God can will win the victory.
c. Confidence that God will win it through him.
d. He needs Deborah to go with Him.
e. He looks to Deborah’s faith in God. She must believe for him.

2.      People who needed others to support them
a. Gideon has a fleece
b. Moses had Aaron
c. Balaam had a donkey
d. Paul had Barnabas

3.      People toady need someone to believe in them.
a. Ezekiel 22:30 (no one found to stand in the gap)
b. People do not know of God
c. lost without a shepherd

d. they need you to believe for them
e. they need you to believe in them
f. Isa 6:8 “here I am, send me.”

Like Barak needed Deborah to believe for him and go with him, people today need you to believe for them, go to battle for them. They need to walk in your faith for a while until they have their own. Will you stand with them? Will you go with them, until the battle is won? Many lives will be changed when you dare to believe for them.

Someone sent to save Judges 3:31

Someone sent to save Judges 3:31

The cycle of. We saw how the people reject God and go after the local gods, the intermarry, and they compromise. God brings and oppressors to punish them, The people then cry out to God and God sends a deliverer. God slays the oppressor.  Today we will look at God sending the deliverer.

When the people cry out to God, He answers and send a deliverer to free the people. We have read of Othniel, and Ehud. We know of Deborah, Gideon, and Samson. Today we look at Shamgar. We know very little about Shamgar. We know he kills 900 Philistines and does it with a farm tool.

1.     God sends a deliverer

a.     Some are well known while others are not.

b.     Shamgar seems like an honorable mention.

c.      There is no mention of the people getting behind him.

d.     The people normally come out and fight for their country

e.     Some are brave, some are not.

f.       But all are sent by God.

2.     Judges through history

a.     Samuel, David, Elijah, and Elisha.

b.     Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley and many others

c.      Jesus

3.     The deliverer

a.     Sent by God

b.     Your deliverer

c.      Who are you sent to deliver

Are you being oppressed? Are you calling out to God? Look for the deliver God has sent. A teacher, a doctor, a nurse, a friend. Fight the battle with them, believe in them.

Become the deliverer for others, see them, hear them, pray for them, fight for them.

Judges 3:15-23 “God Slays the Oppressor”

Judges 3:15-23 “God Slays the Oppressor”

 

We have looked at the reoccurring situations of Israel neglecting and turning from their relationship with God, God sending an oppressor to punish them and the Israelites crying out to God for help. Now we look at another thing that reoccurs in the book of Judges, God slays the oppressor. Though God uses nations to oppress Israel to bring her back to Him, He still keeps His promise to Abraham “³  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3

God has given your enemies into your hand.
1. 3:10 the king of Mesopotamia
2. 3:28 the Moabites
3. 3:31 Philistines
4. 4:7 the Canaanites

A Land of oppressors
1. Of nations
2. Money
a. desire for more
b. the lack of
c. retirement savings and the stock market
3. Health
a. striving after perfect health
b. eating disorder
c. Joints wearing out
d. our mind wearing out
e. Cancers
f. other illnesses
4. Other oppressors

God will slay the oppressors
1. Zec 4:6 Not by Might not by power
2. Eph 2:8 For it is by grace
3. You can’t do this on your own
a. positive thinking
b. perfect planning
c. buy your way out
4 Romans 8:31-39

What oppresses you today? What overwhelms you to the point of breaking? What holds you back from being the person who follows God without reservation? When we cry out to God, He not only hears our cries, He will slay the oppressor and make us free. As we will see it may not look the way we expect. It may come as a left handed guy with a short sward. But God will slay the oppressor when we call out to Him.

Judges 3:7-11 “He Hears Our Cry”

Judges 3:7-11 “He Hears Our Cry”

The word Judge means deliver. Israel need one. Israel was just a one generation into the promised land and they had turned away from God. They end up in servitude to the king of Mesopotamia. By force they were slaves in Egypt, by choice they are slaves again in the promised land. Then they cry out to God.

I cannot remember the whole story but there are so many like it. A police office went to empty the trash in the dumpster behind the station and heard a crying noise. Following the sound, he found a Baby in the snow crying it’s eyes out. The baby lived because he heard the cries.

The people of Israel cry out to God and God hears their cries. To save them God sends Othniel.

Slaves in the promised land.
                a. apathy
                b. addiction
                c. something from your past
                d. the loss of a spouse, child, a parent or a friend
                e. financial issues
                f. health issues

If my people who are called by my name 2 Ch 7:14

Psalm 30:1-12 his anger last a moment…

 

The whole church can be held captive in the promised land
a. dead and hopeless
b. parched dry bones
c. Dry bones live. Ezek 37:1-14
d. Dry bones stop grieving the Holy Spirit, Receive the Holy Spirit and live!

Are you dry bones, tired bones, in mourning for some lost thing? Are you a slave in the promised land? God hears your cries. Cry out, scream, yell out in prayer for God hears your cries and can make your dry bones live.

Judges 3:1-6 “Uneven Yokes”

Judges 3:1-6 “Uneven Yokes”

Samaria: 722 the northern kingdom is taken by Assyria; the leading people are taken to what is now Iraq. Then Assyria brings non-Jews in to settle in the northern kingdom called Samaria. Jew intermarried became known as Samaritans. John 4:20-24

 

Israel comes into the Promise Land but fail to drive out the people living there. Soon after the start to intermarry and then start adding worship of Baal and Asheroth to their own. The next step is that they quit serving Yahweh at all, and God brings judgement on them.

Today people are not much different from Israel back then. In order to not offend people or to blend in with the group people want to bring into their Christian faith parts of other religions and blend them. The other effort is to validate Muslims, Hindus and Jews as all valid ways to God.

1.       In the time of judges
a. 1^st commandment “you shall have no other gods besides or except Me”
b. Places of worship Deuteronomy 12
c. judges 3:8 The anger of the Lord… Judges them

2.       The Samaritans
a. who and what they are
b. they point back to Abraham
c. Jesus says John 4:22 “you worship what you do not know”
d. Though they point toward Abraham they are really worshiping something else.
e. their worship is not true.
f. they do not worship the same God.

3.       Muslims are in much the same boat as Samaritans.
a. They point back to Abraham
b. from there they go off into works and muhammadism.
c. five pillars of Islam
1. Faith which includes Mahammad
2. Prayer 5 times a day (toward Mecca)
3. Charity to the poor.
4. Fasting, as repentance, devotion, seek holiness
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca
d. Mahammad and the Quran
e. works for salvation
f. pilgrimage to Mecca to stone the devil
g. failure to recognize Jesus and the Holy Spirit as God.
h. they worship what they do not know.
i. though they point to Abraham they really worship something else.
j. there worship is not true and they do not worship the same God as we do.
k. you cannot practice Islam and be a Christian at the same time.

4.       The same can be said for the Jewish faith.

5.       2 Corinthians 6:14-17
a. worship
b. marriage
c. lifestyle
d. values

6.       Who are we yoked to
a. fear, despair, depression, some sin we cannot leave
b. there is only room in a yoke for two. You and something or someone else.
c. Whose yoke are you in? Take a good look next to you.
d. Matthew 11:28-30

“At Peace with the World” Judges 2:16-23

“At Peace with the World” Judges 2:16-23

The book of Judges covers the time from when Israel enters the promised land until the time of the Kings. It tells us of a cycle of Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s call to bring them back. Under Joshua the people entered the land and God gave them great victories. But Israel soon tired of fighting and driving out the people of the land as God commanded and sought peace with them instead.

This cycle of judges is not that much different than life in the church and the life of many individual Christians. We cycle from repentance, compromise, sin, judgement and back to repentance.

1.Where God Wants us to Be.
a. a land of milk and honey, full of promises and good things.
b. faith, hope, love, joy and peace.
c. John 4:14 Living water.

2. What God wants us to do.
a. Matthew 4:13-16 Salt and light
b. Matt 14:29

James 4:4 enemy of God.
2 cor 6:14 what fellowship
Mat 6:23 Your whole body

God has wonderful things for you, Joy, hope, peace, and love, all beyond your understanding. Is there something standing in your way? Is there a place in life where you have made peace with world? A place of compromise that keeps being brought up?  What’s living in the land?  A bit of lust? A dab of greed? A bucket of pride? A little addiction? With God’s help they can be driven out. With God’s help they can be defeated. You can have God’s best for you. Ask Him today to help you drive out the people of the land. Start to experience the best God has to offer today.