THE LORD SAVES FROM MIDIAN

Judges 7:1-25 / Keywords 7:14

His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 9 During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”

So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. 25 They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

1. Gideon thought of himself as weak, but God called him to save Israel from their Midianite oppressors (6:14). He prepared to attack with over thirty thousand men, but the Lord told him to send those who were fearful home. Still there were too many, so he had Gideon select those who lapped water like a dog. This left three hundred men. God was concerned that Israel might boast against him, so he made it obvious that it is the Lord who saves. 

2. God knew that Gideon could still be fearful, so he told Gideon to eavesdrop at the Midianite outposts. There he discovered that the Midianite camp was gripped with fear. They knew that God had given their entire army into Gideon’s hand. This emboldened Gideon. He devised a plan where they would divide into three companies of one hundred each, shouting, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” They basically held their position as the Midianite camp devolved into chaos, turning on each other and fleeing. They overcame their fear when they trusted God with faith. 

Prayer Lord, I am weak and fearful. Help me to trust in you, for only you can save. 

One Word It is the Lord who saves

TEAR DOWN THE ALTARS AND WORSHIP GOD

Judges 6:25-40 / Keywords 6:25b,26a

Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. 

6:25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.[b] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[c] beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[d] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second[e] bull as a burnt offering.”

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

29 They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” 32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal[f] that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.”

33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Footnotes

b. Judges 6:25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herd

c. Judges 6:25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30

d. Judges 6:26 Or build with layers of stone an

e. Judges 6:26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28

f. Judges 6:32 Jerub-Baal probably means let Baal contend.

1. The Lord told Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole and on that site build a proper altar to the Lord, sacrificing a bull on the altar. Before Gideon could truly serve the Lord, he had to remove everything that kept him from serving the Lord. He did so, but at night, because he knew he would evoke the fury of his neighbors. The next day they wanted to kill Gideon, but his father pushed back, saying, “Let Baal defend himself, if he really is a god.” They named him Jerub-Baal, “Let Baal contend with him.” To serve the Lord, we must remove all the altars in our own hearts and serve only him. 

2. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he summoned an army to him. But he still wanted to make sure, so he asked the Lord for two signs involving a fleece and the morning dew. Gideon had the Lord’s promise. That should have been enough. The Lord will always come through on his word. 

Prayer Father, help me to tear down the idols in my heart and worship and serve only you. 

One Word Tear down your altars and worship God

“AM I NOT SENDING YOU?”

Judges 6:1-24 / Keywords 6:24

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon

6:1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah[a] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Footnotes

a. Judges 6:19 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms

1. Once again, Israel sinned against the Lord. They turned from following the Lord and instead chased after other gods. Because of this the Lord grew angry with Israel and he gave them into the hands of Midian (on the northwest Arabian Peninsula). The Midianites were cruel. They slaughtered all the cattle, sheep, and donkeys. They ruined all the crops. They were so cruel, the Israelites fled to the mountain clefts and caves and cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord sent them a prophet who reminded them of their slavery in Egypt and how the Lord had rescued them and delivered them, telling them not to worship other gods. But they didn’t listen. Whenever we don’t listen to the Lord, we can be sure misery is crouching at our door. 

2. The Lord sent an angel to Gideon, who was threshing wheat in a wine press to hide from the Midianites. He greeted Gideon with, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon complained that the Lord had abandoned them. But the angel said to him, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” The Lord promised to be with Gideon and give him victory. We become afraid that we are not capable of doing the Lord’s work. But he sends us in our strength and promises to be with us. 

Prayer Father, you send your people out in the strength they have. Help us to be confident in you. 

One Word The Lord sends us out to do his work

THE SONG OF DEBORAH

Judges 5:1-31 / Keywords 5:3

Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel. 

The Song of Deborah

5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,

    when the people willingly offer themselves—

    praise the Lord!

3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!

    I, even I, will sing to[a] the Lord;

    I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.

4 “When you, Lord, went out from Seir,

    when you marched from the land of Edom,

the earth shook, the heavens poured,

    the clouds poured down water.

5 The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,

    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,

    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;

    travelers took to winding paths.

7 Villagers in Israel would not fight;

    they held back until I, Deborah, arose,

    until I arose, a mother in Israel.

8 God chose new leaders

    when war came to the city gates,

but not a shield or spear was seen

    among forty thousand in Israel.

9 My heart is with Israel’s princes,

    with the willing volunteers among the people.

    Praise the Lord!

10 “You who ride on white donkeys,

    sitting on your saddle blankets,

    and you who walk along the road,

consider 11 the voice of the singers[b] at the watering places.

    They recite the victories of the Lord,

    the victories of his villagers in Israel.

“Then the people of the Lord

    went down to the city gates.

12 ‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah!

    Wake up, wake up, break out in song!

Arise, Barak!

    Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’

13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;

    the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.

14 Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek;

    Benjamin was with the people who followed you.

From Makir captains came down,

    from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s[c] staff.

15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

    yes, Issachar was with Barak,

    sent under his command into the valley.

In the districts of Reuben

    there was much searching of heart.

16 Why did you stay among the sheep pens[d]

    to hear the whistling for the flocks?

In the districts of Reuben

    there was much searching of heart.

17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.

    And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?

Asher remained on the coast

    and stayed in his coves.

18 The people of Zebulun risked their very lives;

    so did Naphtali on the terraced fields.

19 “Kings came, they fought,

    the kings of Canaan fought.

At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,

    they took no plunder of silver.

20 From the heavens the stars fought,

    from their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 The river Kishon swept them away,

    the age-old river, the river Kishon.

    March on, my soul; be strong!

22 Then thundered the horses’ hooves—

    galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.

23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.

    ‘Curse its people bitterly,

because they did not come to help the Lord,

    to help the Lord against the mighty.’

24 “Most blessed of women be Jael,

    the wife of Heber the Kenite,

    most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;

    in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.

26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,

    her right hand for the workman’s hammer.

She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,

    she shattered and pierced his temple.

27 At her feet he sank,

    he fell; there he lay.

At her feet he sank, he fell;

    where he sank, there he fell—dead.

28 “Through the window peered Sisera’s mother;

    behind the lattice she cried out,

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

    Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’

29 The wisest of her ladies answer her;

    indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:

    a woman or two for each man,

colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,

    colorful garments embroidered,

highly embroidered garments for my neck—

    all this as plunder?’

31 “So may all your enemies perish, Lord!

    But may all who love you be like the sun

    when it rises in its strength.”

Then the land had peace forty years.

Footnotes

a. Judges 5:3 Or of

b. Judges 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

c. Judges 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

d. Judges 5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags

1. After the great victory the Lord gave Deborah over the Canaanite commander Sisera, Deborah composed a song of praise to the Lord. She praised the Lord for those who willingly offered themselves for the Lord (2,9). She praised the Lord for his mighty power to save his people. Some of the tribes of Israel did not respond to the call of war. But Deborah singled out those who did send men to fight against the Lord’s enemy Canaan. She praised those who came from Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali who risked their very lives. And she chided the men of Reuben, Dan and Asher who did not show up. She even cursed the town of Meroz for their refusal to help the Lord (23). 

2. Sisera thought he was safe when he went to Jael for refuge. But Jael was on the Lord’s side and won the victory for the Lord when she killed Sisera. Because of that, Sisera’s mother would not enjoy the spoils of war. 

Prayer Lord, thank you for people who encourage us by praising you for their victories, knowing what they did was only because of you. 

One Word Praise the Lord for giving us victory

DEBORAH

Judges 4:1-24 / Keywords 4:4

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

Deborah

4:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law,[b] and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.

Footnotes

a. Judges 4:4 Traditionally judging

b. Judges 4:11 Or father-in-law

1. As soon as the previous judge, Ehud, died, Israel once again fell into sin. Because of their evil doing, the Lord gave them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan. For 20 years, the Israelites suffered under Jabin’s commander, Sisera, and Israel finally repented and cried out to the Lord for help. Leading Israel at that time was Deborah. Deborah was unique in that she was a woman. In fact, she was the only woman who led Israel in the time of the Judges. She told Barak to take an army of 10,000 men and lead them against the army of Sisera at Mount Tabor. Barak agreed, but only if Deborah went with him. Deborah said she would go, but the honor of the victory would go to a woman. 

2. On the battlefield, Deborah encouraged Barak with the words, “Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” Israel routed Sisera’s army and his 900 iron chariots. Sisera was the only survivor of that battle. He fled to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber. He thought he was safe there and went to sleep. Jael took a tent peg and hammered it through his temple. Deborah trusted in the Lord. When this one woman trusted in the Lord, a great victory was achieved. 

Prayer Lord, raise up strong leaders, male and female, who trust you and will lead this nation to you. 

One Word Trust in the Lord

 THE LORD GIVES MOAB OVER TO ISRAEL

Judges 3:12-31 / Keywords 3:28a

“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.”

Ehud

3:12 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. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.[c] 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

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 tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit[d] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. 19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace[e] and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch[f]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.” 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

28 “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Shamgar

31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Footnotes

c. Judges 3:13 That is, Jericho

d. Judges 3:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters

e. Judges 3:20 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verse 24.

f. Judges 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

1. As people are prone to do, the Israelites soon fell back into the same sin of doing evil before the Lord. The Lord can never abide with any sort of sin, and so he gave Israel over to the Moabites and King Eglon. He defeated the Israelites at the City of Palms (Jericho) and took possession of it. And so, the Israelites came under the control of King Eglon for 18 long years. 

2. Again, as sinners are accustomed to do, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They repented of their sins and the Lord listened to their cries for help. He had mercy and compassion on them, and he raised up another judge, Ehud, to save his people. Ehud formed a plan to get rid of Eglon. He went to pay him tribute and after doing so, said he had a secret message for the king. After clearing the room, Ehud assassinated King Eglon with his double-edged sword, and then escaped before Eglon’s attendants discovered what had happened. Ehud then blew a trumpet, rallying the Israelites by saying, “the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” Moab was defeated and Israel saw peace for 80 years. After him came Shamgar, who saved Israel from the Philistines with his ox goad. The Lord truly gave Israel the victories. 

Prayer Father, we so easily forget who you are, and we stumble into sin. Thank you for your mercy and care for sinners. Help us repent our sin and return to you. 

One Word It is the Lord who gives the victory

THE LORD TESTS ISRAEL

Judges 3:1-11 / Keywords 3:4

They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’S commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

3:1 These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Othniel

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,[a] 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[b] 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.

1. When the Israelites came to the border of the Promised Land, they were expected to go in and drive out the unbelieving inhabitants. But the Israelites didn’t live up to the Lord’s expectations of them. They complained that they were too strong with their iron chariots of war. The Lord then left those tribes in the Promised Land to teach obedience to the Lord’s word and to teach the Israelites warfare. So, many of the tribes ended up sharing the land with the Israelites. They intermarried with them and took their gods as their own. The Israelites’ compromised with the Lord’s enemies. They paid a price for that. 

2. The Lord became angry with Israel for their disobedience and their turning away from him toward other gods. So, he sent Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim against them. The Israelites were defeated and suffered under them for eight years. But when they cried out to the Lord, he sent Othniel to them in the Spirit of the Lord. He defeated Aram Naharaim and the land had peace until Othniel died. When they turned to the Lord, he sent them a deliverer. 

Prayer Father, may you grant us the Spirit of the Lord by which we may fight against the true enemy—the sin of the world. Thank you for your mercy on repentant sinners. 

One Word By the Spirit of the Lord, drive out the enemy