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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 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. 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. The Spirit of the Lord came upon 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.
So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel, son of Kenaz died.
Judges 3:7-11
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
This book of the Bible is called Judges, named for the leaders appointed by God to save Israel after their sinfulness led Him to hand them over to oppressors and plunderers. In today’s passage, we meet the first judge, Othniel.
You’ll recall Othniel was Caleb’s brother and Caleb was a part of the group of spies who crossed into Canaan the first time Israel was on the brink of entering the Promised Land. Upon returning from the scouting mission, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who stood confident that the Lord would be with Israel despite the opposition that awaited them. You’ll remember that the rest of the spies convinced the people that the way ahead was too dangerous and the enemies too formidable, convincing the people to rebel against the Lord and His will. As a result, He refused to allow them to enter Canaan and sent them back into the wilderness to wander for 40 years.
Despite this, God never forgot Caleb’s faithfulness and once Israel, led by Joshua, did cross the Jordan and conquer the land, Caleb was given “a portion in Judah — Kiriath Arba”…better known as Hebron. After this, Caleb had many conquests which included defeating the “three Anakites — Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.” The scriptures tell us he then led his men to Debir, also known as Kiriath Sepher where he said this:
“I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher."
This is where we meet Othniel, Israel’s first judge for we read where “Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother” defeated Kiriath Sepher and thus “Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage” (Joshua 15:13-17). Following this, we don’t hear from Othniel again until we reach this third chapter in Judges but we can assume that he was a faithful, trusted servant for the Lord…faithful and trusted enough to be elevated up into leadership.
So why did Israel need a deliverer in the person of Othniel?
Because they “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, forgetting Him and serving false gods such as Baal and Asherah. This angered God so much that “He sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim” who kept Israel in oppression for eight years. This led to God’s people crying out to Him for relief and He provided it in the way of Othniel who saved them after the “Spirit of the Lord came upon him” and “gave Cushan –Rishathaim, king of Aram, into his hands. Through the Lord’s power, Othniel overpowered Israel’s oppressor, bringing peace to the land for forty years before he died.
You know, I got thinking about this period in the history of Israel and couldn’t help but wonder what Israel’s plight might have been if they hadn’t received a deliverer. My guess is that they would have remained in a state of perpetual hardship, oppression and suffering with little or no hope for escape or rescue.
Of note, this wasn’t the first time that Israel had been in this position for you’ll recall their time of enslavement in Egypt under Pharoah. Historically, it was a terrible plight for Israel with no end in sight until Moses came along…a man appointed by God to lead His people out of their captivity and into freedom. Moses became Israel’s deliverer then and in today’s passage, Othniel became their judge and rescuer. Soon, God was going to send an even greater Savior for His people….a Savior who still delivers today.
His name is Jesus.
Going back to the Israelites, their problems were much deeper and personal than being under the hardship of a physical oppressor. I say this because it was sin that got Israel into trouble in the first place. Either unable or unwilling to stand firm against temptation, Israel decided to worship other gods, showing their total lack of faith and allegiance to the one true God…their Maker and Master. And so their enemy was a spiritual one, sin, and they desperately needed rescued from it or else they would be destined to continue repeating the same mistakes over and over and over. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened as we read through the rest of the Old Testament as the Israelites chose disobedience over compliance which put them in a place where they needed repeated deliverance from their Lord.
With this, something drastic needed to happen to break the vicious cycle. And so when we get to the New Testament, we find God deciding a new covenant between Himself and His people was in order. This covenant was established when He sent His perfectly sinless one and only Son, Jesus, to walk among His people and not only tell them how to live but show them as well. When we look at His ministry, we see how He taught them how to pray with these words contained within what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer”:
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13
After this, we know He would go on to be the Deliverer for all mankind…past, present and future…as He surrendered His life on the cross of Calvary, the blameless Lamb of God who was sacrificed and died in the place of every sinner so they might be saved and set free from the captivity of their transgressions. Jesus brought victory over the enemy and the grave for everyone who would simply place their belief in Him. This is the good news of the Gospel.
And so just as Israel was freed from the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim by their deliverer Othniel who led them into freedom and peace, so too are we freed from the hands of sin by Jesus and led into the freedom and peace of knowing our iniquities no longer have any power over us because we have the strength and protection of the Holy Spirit within.
Friends, the truth is that we have good news to celebrate today, even in the midst of this often evil world we live in. For we have a sure Deliverer in Jesus who has freed us from sin’s bondage and brought us salvation with the assurance of everlasting life in Heaven when this life is over.
In concert with the Apostle Paul, let us too say this:
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
