Pastor Allan Kircher
18 Aug 2013
Shell Point Baptist Church
Judges 3:12-30
Rising to Glory
Intro:
• 400 years covered/book/Judges
• Nation/Israel followed/predictable pattern.
• Serve God faithfully while/strong leadership of their judges.
• Judge died/they had no leader/they would desert God
• began to live in disobedience to His Law
• Giving themselves/worship/pagan gods/Canaanites.
Exactly the pattern we see/work in the verses before us today.
______________________________________________
Israel sinned against God and/Lord caused Eglon, the king of Moab, to become strong.
• Eglon invaded Israel/help/Ammonites/Amalekites
• Together they oppressed Israel for 18 years.
• When they repented
• God raised/man/Ehud/their deliverer.
______________________________________________
Ehud assassinated Eglon and led Israel to victory and freedom.
• This story has much to teach us, if we will allow it to.
• Like Israel, we often follow the same pattern of disobedience, chastisement and restoration.
• Our problem is not Moabites/Ammonites/Amalekites.
• Our problem is the flesh.
Text unfolds, see Israel’s enemies clear type our own enemy.
• Eglon is the perfect picture of the flesh.
• He is out of control/self-indulgent/fat/lazy/evil.
• He is full of pride/He is also assassinated by Ehud.
In Israel’s defeat of Eglon, I see a picture/battle we are supposed to be fighting every day.
• Every one of us has problems with our flesh.
Sometimes:
• we win/we lose our battles/flesh
• We don’t fight against/desires/flesh at all.
Literally/fight for our very spiritual lives every day.
• Fight we must win, every time we enter the arena.
I want to preach/Ehud/Israel/their battle with Eglon.
They won their battle those who oppressed them/you can too.
I want to preach on How Lefty Killed Hefty.
______________________________________________
I. v. 12-14 ISRAEL’S DILEMMA
Verses describe/horrible oppression Israel suffered because of her rebellion against/Lord.
Their problems stand/warning/all those who walk away from God
A. v. 12-13a Their Foes
Israel faced three nations because of their rebellion against God.
• They faced/Moabites/Ammonites/Amalekites.
• All three/continual problems for Israel
• All three were connected to Israel by blood.
• Amalekites were descended/Esau, Jacob’s twin brother.
• Moabites/Ammonite/descendants of Lot/Abraham’s nephew.
Lot/daughters were delivered/Sodom/Gomorrah
Lot’s daughter got him drunk, had sexual intercourse with their father/conceived Moab and Ammon/descended these two nations.
____________________________________________
All three of these nations worshipped false gods.
• Moabites god--Chemosh Ammonites--Moloch.
Both/gods worshipped vile/sexual practices/child sacrifice.
• Amalekites nomadic, warlike people variety of pagan gods.
______________________________________________
All three were a continual thorn in the side of Israel.
• constantly attacking, hindering
• Seeking to enslave the people of Israel.
These three nations are a picture of our old, fleshly natures.
• Moab represents the power of the flesh.
• Ammon represents the passion of the flesh.
• Amalek represents the persistence of the flesh.
Just like Israel was repeatedly attacked by these nations, the believer is continually attacked by the flesh.
• Our flesh has its own desires.
• Doesn’t like the way of holiness/way of righteousness.
• flesh likes the way of evil/the way of Satan, Eph. 2:1-3
The flesh that you and I carry around will do everything in its power to enslave us and prevent us from reaching our fullest potential in Jesus Christ.
• Don’t be deceived
• Your flesh hates God/everything God stands for.
• Your flesh will never submit to the Word of God.
• It must be forced into submission by a strong show of force.
• Rom 7:18 I know nothing good lives in me…
_________________________________________
Three nations joined forces/came against Israel.
• We are told that they “attacked Israel”.
• pagan armies did not come by for a friendly picnic
The battle we wake up to every day is just as serious!
• We are/fight for our very spiritual lives every day we live
• Paul describes this battle for us in Gal. 5:16-18.
• We all have different areas in which we fight
• You are involved in warfare every day you live.
Sometimes
• You win the battles; you lose the battles.
• The choice is yours!
• Who you yield to is who you are a slave too. Rom. 6:16
• We are in a war!
_________________________________________
Just when you think:
• you have achieved victory/area/your life
• that problem with that sin is settled forever
Here comes the flesh.
• It will do everything in its power to undermine your victories
• Take back any ground you have won.
• The flesh is relentless.
• We let our guard down, and when we do, we lose the battle.
We fail:
• To pray. To read the Word.
• To avoid exposure/things that tempt us.
• To take a stand against the flesh.
When the flesh rises up, we must put it back in its place.
• Beat it/punch it/assault it/deny it
• Make it toe the line for the glory of God!
__________________________________________
B. v. 14 Their Foolishness
Because Israel failed/honor/will/God became/servants/Eglon.
Because their sins/servants of pagan kings/18 years!
He didn’t save us so that we might remain the slaves of sin.
• He saved us to be free.
• He saved to serve Him and Him alone!
______________________________________________
I have no doubt I am speaking to some people right now who are a mere spiritual shell of what you used to be.
• Your prayer life/devotional life/church life/Life of service
• Devotion to God has all fallen/state/disrepair.
The places used/have victory….now habitation of the flesh.
The Lord can and will set you free. (Python)
_____________________________________________
II. v. 15-26 ISRAEL’S DELIVERER
• Israel got tired of servitude/called on the Lord
• God began the process of bringing her back to Himself.
• The first step is restoration is repentance!
• Let’s learn more about Ehud, Israel’s deliverer.
______________________________________________
A. v. 15a His Problem – Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin.
• Benjamin’s allotment of land…..
• Suffered most under Eglon
• Told that Ehud was “a man lefthanded”.
• Alot/men/tribe/Benjamin/left handed/Judges 20:16.
• Many in Benjamin were ambidextrous, 1 Chron. 12:2.
When the Bible says that he was “a man left handed”
• means that he was “bound in the right hand.
• Ehud was crippled on his right side.
• forced to use/left hand because/right hand did not function.
This would seem like a handicap for a would be deliverer.
If people would have voted for deliverer, Ehud would be last.
Ehud took what many would see as a liability/turned it into/asset.
Let me say right here what everyone already knows.
• We all have our problems!
• Moses was tongued tied/David was young.
• Paul was hated by the early church.
• We all have some issue we think hinders us from being all the Lord would have us to be.
_______________________________________________
Well, I have one question for you:
Did God not know about your issues when He saved you?
Of course He did, but He saved you anyway.
He didn’t save you so you could fret over what you couldn’t do; He saved you so He could enable you to do what only He can do.
We need to stop making excuses about why we can’t do this or that and get busy doing something for Him!
Throw out your excuses and do something for Jesus!
____________________________________________
B. v. 15b-19 His Plan
Every so often, the people of Israel were required to pay tribute to Eglon.
• Sent their gift to Eglon with a delegation led by Ehud.
• Ehud took the liberty of making himself a double-edged dagger some 14 inches long.
• Strapped/dagger/right thigh/under his cloak
• Went to take the tribute money to the king.
Plan/get Eglon alone, and when he does, he is going to assassinate the king.
• It was a daring plan!
If Ehud/caught/that dagger, he would have been killed/spot.
• But, he was a cripple!
• They probably didn’t even search him, thinking they had nothing to fear from a crippled man.
______________________________________________
• By the way, the flesh knows you are crippled.
Flesh:
• Knows you lack/power to overcome it on your own.
• Thinks you are weak.
• Thinks it can control you and rule your life.
• is right!
But, the flesh forgets one important truth.
______________________________________________
The flesh forgets:
About/Spirit of God Who lives inside believer.
“My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,”
“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,”
...greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,”
I have been saved and I do not have to sin.
I can walk in victory for the glory of God!
____________________________________________
After delivering the money to Eglon, the delegation departed.
Ehud came back/told Eglon he had a secret message for him.
• The king, ready hear some great secret
• tells Ehud to keep silent until they are alone.
• Eglon dismisses all of his servants.
______________________________________________
C. v. 20-26 His Performance – When Ehud gets Eglon alone, Ehud tells the king that he has a message for the king from God.
• Eglon stands up to hear this message
• even a king must honor a word from God!
• Ehud reaches under his cloak
• draws the dagger and thrusts it through Eglon’s body.
The blade sinks so deep into the king’s body that the fat closes around the handle and Ehud cannot retrieve the dagger.
Ehud escapes/rooftop.
III. v. 27-30 ISRAEL’S DELIVERANCE
When Ehud returned from killing Eglon, He sounded a ram’s horn.
• Trumpets were sounded for several reasons in Israel.
• Blown to signal a change of location.
• The Rapture!
• Blown to demonstrate joy and to praise the Lord.
• Blown to call the people to war. That is the purpose here.
God had heard Israel’s prayers/raised up a deliverer.
Ehud taken/first step toward giving them victory over/enemies.
• He had severed the head of the serpent
• They needed to destroy the body.
• Test now/see whether they would follow God’s man or not.
• They did and they achieved a great victory.
_____________________________________________
Israel’s victory has a lesson or two to teach us about our own battles with sin and the flesh.
God has given us everything we need to walk in spiritual victory.
Given us His Word, His Spirit, prayer and His presence in our lives.
If we fail to yield to Him and walk in His will, we can never have victory.
But, if we will follow Him, humbly/faithfully, He can and will keep us from the bondage of the flesh!
• We need not fear the size or the power of our enemies.
• We are to fight them with everything God has given us.
• We are to cut off every avenue of escape
• Every place where the enemy might send reinforcements.
• We are to fight until every last ounce of the enemy’s strength is gone.
• We are to fight until the day He calls us home to glory!
Not to tolerate even tiniest bit/flesh life within us.
Every vestige of the flesh must be put to death.
Conc: We all have problems with the flesh. It is overindulged, self-assured, and out of control.
• We are lot like Ehud. We are all unlikely conquerors.
• We are all crippled in one way or another. We are all weak.
• We are all prone to spiritual failure.
• But, like Ehud, we can walk in victory.
• We need to take the Word of God, our dagger, hide it away in our hearts, Psa. 119:11, and assassinate the flesh in a sneak attack
• You don’t have to be a victim. You can be a victor!
• You can be a victor over the flesh!
If the Lord has touch an area in your life that needs work, this is the place to bring that need!
