The Beginning of an Era

in verse 5. So starting in verse 5, it says this, The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters for themselves as wives. And they gave their own daughters to their sons. And they served their gods. The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

And they forgot the Lord their God. And they served the Baals and the Asheroth. Now, this next section, I have simply labeled the downward, no, excuse me, the slow fade of compromise. The slow fade of compromise. One of the things that I have discovered is that I would say, I would say 99.65% of the time, and I just wanted to use a non-round number there, 99.65% of the time,

we don't just accidentally fall into sin. It's not like we wake up one day and go, son of a gun, I just fell into sin. No, it usually starts as a slow fade, right? It usually starts as sort of a slow downward progression. Now, in the moment, it may seem like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that just happened. But if we will take time to examine ourselves, if we will take time

to examine the decision-making process that landed us where we are, we will find out I did not get there overnight. I did not just end up in this place of compromise. It was a slow fade of compromise. I slowly but surely slipped down the hill. And this is exactly what happens with the nation of Israel. I want you to notice how it starts in verse 5. Notice that it starts off

by saying that the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites. That word live means to dwell. As a matter of fact, some of your translations may say that they dwelt among the Canaanites. Another word that we could use for a translation there is abide. They abided among the Canaanites. In other words, it became their home. It became the place where they lived.

Let me put it to you a different way. They became comfortable there around the Canaanites. Now, whether we want to admit it or not, every day we live around the Canaanites, right? Every day we live in this world and we're told that we are to be in the world. Paul, as a matter of fact, said, I didn't tell you that you should separate yourselves from the people of the world

that sin. Otherwise, you'd have to be taken out of the world. We are to be in the world but not of the world. And there should be a constant daily separation in our lives from the world that's around us because I'm here to tell you right now the easiest way to be in the world is to be in the world. The easiest thing to do is to become comfortable in the world that is around us.

To become comfortable in the filth that is around us. I'm going to tell you a story about a roommate of mine in Bible College. I won't name him. You wouldn't even know him if I did. But just in case, I'm not going to name this guy. But I had a roommate in Bible College and this guy had not washed his sheets for, wait for it, three semesters. Every time you'd walk

into our room, you were like, whoa, what is going on? We always knew our room smelled a little bit funky, right? We always knew that. Now, at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta Hot Springs, which no longer exists, sadly enough. It's back up in the mountains. But in Murrieta Hot Springs, our room was literally right next to Hot Springs. And Hot Springs usually smelled

a little bit like sulfur or rotten eggs, right? Great to sit in because it makes your bones feel good. Terrible to smell. We always thought that was why our room smelled so bad. But no, one night, we're having a conversation. Just all of us roommates in there chatting it up. And my roommate proceeds to reveal to us that he has not washed his sheets the entire time

he's been in Bible college. And we were like, bro, that has got to change. How on earth can you live with yourself sleeping in the same sheets that are that disgusting? Well, I'll tell you how he did it. One day at a time. You get used to the filth. You get used to the stink. And pretty soon, you don't even notice. You don't notice it anymore. And that's what happens to us

with the world around us. The first step of the compromise is that they lived among the Canaanites and they became comfortable among the Canaanites. Wait, I have to give you the happy ending to that story, okay? We shamed him the entire rest of the night. And the next day, I'm coming back from breakfast and all I see is my roommate, probably one of the nicest,

happiest guys I've ever been around in my entire life, whistling as he's carrying me. Carrying, wait for it, his sheets to the laundry room. And we were all like, the whole room applauded him. So that's the happy ending to that story. So step one is they lived among the Canaanites. But notice what happens in verse six. And then they took their daughters as wives

and they gave their daughters to their sons. Oh, see, now not only are we comfortable among the Canaanites, but we're now making a union with the Canaanites. We're now making them a part of our family. They're now a part of our lives. We are inseparable from them because now we are intermarrying amongst them. And now we're bound to them. You see, it started by living among them.

And then we started marrying them. Then I want you to notice the third thing that happens. And they served their gods. And they served their gods. Listen. When you start that slow fade of compromise, one day you find yourself going, how did I end up here? How did I get to where I am right now? Well, it started one slow step at a time. And with each step, you knew you should do something about it,

but you didn't. With each step, you knew you shouldn't be doing that, but you did. And pretty soon, you found yourself bowing down to their gods. It's kind of amazing because it reminds me of the story of Solomon, a story that started off so well and ended with him loving many foreign women and being led into idolatry. Brothers and sisters, I don't care if you're the king of Israel

who specifically had God speak directly to him or the average Israelite living amongst the Canaanites. None of us is above fading into compromise. And if we don't keep a constant check on our lives, if I don't constantly hold up my life to God's word and say, show me where I'm falling short, show me where I need to be on my knees before you, show me where confession needs to take place, then I too will end up fading into that compromise. And this is what happened to the nation of Israel.

And then specifically take note of what happened. Verse seven, then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. If you're an underliner, you might underline that and just write one next to it because you'll, you'll be amazed at how many times that phrase will add up throughout the book of Judges. I myself haven't counted it, but I kind of thought about doing this as I was studying.

I underlined it every single time in this chapter because you'll find that this is what we call a repetitive phrase throughout the book of Judges that the children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And then notice what the second part of what they did. I only saw this once so far anyways, and they forgot the Lord, their God. And they forgot the Lord, their God.

I found that to be a pretty, significant phrase. As a matter of fact, other places throughout scripture, especially in the prophetic books, I'm thinking specifically Hosea, although I didn't look this up, but I know it shows up other places. It says, and they forgot God. How do you, how do you do that? How do you forget God? Well, the same way that you slip into compromise.

One little step at a time. Pretty soon, God's no longer in your thoughts. He's no longer a part of your life. And he's not what guides you any longer. You're now guided by whatever feels good in the moment. And that's exactly what happened. Because when they did evil in the sight of the Lord and they forgot the Lord, their God, they served the Baals and the Asherah.

Now, remember what we said about those two gods last week? Baal, if you will, was the God of the finances because he controlled the agriculture, which was how they provided for themselves. And Asherah was the goddess of pleasure because fertility and sexuality is how she was worshipped. So if you will, they forgot God. And instead, what did they do? They looked to the gods of finance and pleasure.

And those became their gods. So that is the slow fade of compromise that took place within the children of Israel. And so God begins to deal with them. So the first judge that we'll look at is a guy by the name of Othniel. Othniel. So picking up in verse eight, it says this. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan, Rishatham.

That's a fun name, but it's not. King of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel served Cushan, Rishatham, eight years. And when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them. Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The spirit of the Lord came upon him. And he judged Israel. When he went to war,

the Lord gave Cushan, Rishatham, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand so that he prevailed over that guy. And then the land had rest for 40 years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died. Okay, so we see this cycle, right? So first of all, the children of Israel fell into sin. They did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot God and they served foreign gods, right?

So what did God do? Well, the first thing it says is that God's anger was kindled against them. That phrase kindled means to burn or to become hot. Now, I don't know about you, but I remember growing up having my dad's anger kindled against me a few times, right? We all just know that look that a dad can get on their face when they really get angry and you're like,

oh wow, his head's actually gonna blow off of his body, right? I know that I get that look on my face sometimes. I apparently get a really scary smile on my face. I don't know how that works, but I'll never forget one of my daughters saying, dad, why are you angry smiling? And I was like, I didn't even know I had an angry smile. They're like, yeah, and it's scary.

And I was like, sorry, right? Because they knew whatever happened, my anger was kindled against them. Well, that's it. I just picture God's head just like steam. Like I always picture everything as a cartoon, right? Looney Tunes, like just steam coming off of his head at this point in time because they've abandoned him. The one who brought them out of Egypt,

the one who brought them through the wilderness, the one who brought them into the land, they've abandoned him. And so he's like, oh my God, his anger was hot. And he said, you know what? If you want to serve the Baals, then I'll give you a king that the Baals would have. So it says, and I find the wording there interesting. He sold them into the hand of this Kushan Rishathayim.

Interesting thing about that name. Super fun to say, super sad meaning, right? That name literally means double darkness. That's kind of interesting, isn't it? That that name Rishathayim means double darkness. And isn't that kind of what happens to us when we're in a situation where we're in a situation where we abandon the light of God? He not only plunges us into darkness,

but that darkness is oftentimes double. Because when we knew what it was to walk in the light, and then we walk in the dark, that darkness is exceedingly dark. So it's a sad time for the nation of Israel. I want you to take note of how long they lived in this. And this is what I think is the hardest for me to understand is that they lived in this for eight years.

Their sin was so important to them. Their gods were so important to them. They were so important to them that they lived under the rule of a foreign king who undoubtedly oppressed them for eight years before they cried out to the Lord. I wonder how long it takes us. How long do we live in that bondage before we finally cry out to the Lord? Because before we're too hard on the nation of Israel,

we should ask ourselves that same question. How long am I willing to live in bondage before I cry out to the Lord? So it says, when the sons of Israel, verse 9, cried out to the Lord, that the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them. Now there's a second phrase I want you to underline, and it's this one right here. And again, if you're going to number things,

this is an interesting one to number because this one shows up multiple times too. When the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer. Isn't that great? I don't know that we can fully grasp the patience and the grace and the mercy of God. Matter of fact, I know we can't. The reason why I know we can't is because in Ephesians it says, it will take the rest of eternity

for him to explain his grace to us. But let's bask in this for just a moment. They did the dumbest thing in the world. God's anger was kindled against them because they did evil in the sight of the Lord. And yet as they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they dealt with the consequences of what they had done, what did it take for them to come back? They cried out to the Lord.

But I want to point a couple of things out about the place that our heart has to come to before we finally cry out to the Lord. First of all, in order for us to truly cry out to the Lord, you have to hate the sin more than you love the pleasure. You have to hate the consequences of what go along with that sin. You have to hate that you have broken the heart of God in order for you to cry out to the Lord because if all you want is delivered for the temporary so that you can go back to living the way that you want to without all of the consequences of sin, God's not going to deliver you because you're not really crying out to the Lord.

You're just looking for an opportunity to not be in pain anymore. So what does that mean? It means I have to come completely to the end of myself. I have to come completely to the end of myself. And I want to remind us all of something here. This is not a book written about unbelievers. This is not a book written about the rest of the world that has no idea who God is

so they had to come to themselves in order to come to God. This is a book written about God's chosen people and it's a book written to us as the church because we have to remember that when we fall into sin, just like the nation of Israel, the only way out is to come to the end of myself. To come to the end of saying, Lord, I just, I can't be this guy anymore. I can't do this anymore.

I need help. I need you to deliver me. You know what? God raises up a deliverer. And who's the deliverer that he raises up? A guy by the name of Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And we've heard that name before. Remember when Caleb was like, hey, there's a hill full of giants. Who's going to take that part for me? Othniel steps up and says,

put me in coach, right? Interesting that the first guy that God chooses, the first guy that God chooses, the first guy that God raises up is somebody who had already proven his faithfulness, who had already proven his ability, who, if you will, was faithful in the small things and now can be used in something greater. And so God uses him. But I want you to notice how God uses him.

Verse 10, it says, the spirit of the Lord came upon him. How was he able to deliver the nation from the grip of this king? It was through the power of the spirit of the Lord. Now I want to point something out to us. The way that the spirit, the way that the spirit came upon people in the Old Testament is different than the way that the spirit comes upon us in the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, we find that when God specifically used an individual for a particular purpose, God's spirit came upon them, but he did not dwell in them. The Holy Spirit didn't start dwelling in us until the cross of Jesus Christ, until that day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came and dwelt among us. So we now have a different relationship to the Holy Spirit than they did back then. But it doesn't mean that the power was any different.

It's just that the relationship was different, right? Now the Holy Spirit dwells in us. But still, if I want delivered from sin, what will it require? The power of the Holy Spirit, just like it did back then. And so the Holy Spirit comes upon Othniel, and it says, and he judged Israel. And when he went out to the king, or excuse me, when he went out to war,

the Lord gave Cushan Rishatham, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand, so that he prevailed. You know what I have right now? Questions. I bet you have questions too. How did he do it? How did he prevail over him? Did he raise up an army? Did he just come up and slap them around and say, you have a great name that means bad things? Right? Like, how did he do it?

I don't know. Apparently, we didn't need to know. Probably because this guy was Caleb's nephew and was kind of well-known. Most everybody knew the story. So Samuel, when he's writing this out, was like, they don't need to know this one. They already know the story. Whatever it was, we just know that Othniel did the delivering. When Othniel did the delivering,

the land had rest for 40 years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died. 40 years. About a generation. 40 years of rest. 40 years of, if you will, the nation following the Lord because this guy, Othniel, was guiding the people in the things of God. But you see, the problem that the nation of Israel had is oftentimes their spiritual, their spirituality was based upon their physical leader

and not a true relationship with God because I want you to take note of what happens. It says in verse 12, now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. See what it means? Like a bingo game. Bingo, right? Because we got it again. So the next judge that we come to is a guy by the name of Ehud. Great name. So verse 12, the sons of Israel again did evil

in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord, and I want you to take note of this language too. So the Lord strengthened, strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek and he went and defeated Israel and they possessed the city of the palm trees. The sons of Israel served Eglon,

the king of Moab, 18 years. Whoa. Okay, handful of things to point out to you. First of all is that this king, Eglon, was the king of Moab and he also gathered Ammon and Amalek. Now there's some significance to those names. If you remember, there's a story way back in the book of Genesis. Matter of fact, if you're reading our Bible stuff, you probably read it not that long ago

about Lot and his daughters. Creepiest, top five creepiest story in the Bible, right? Lot's daughters are like, hey, ain't no dudes left, right? We got to populate the nation. Let's get that drunk. I'm telling you, sometimes the Bible's rated R, right? They said, when I taught, a bunch of high school kids this, I'm like, guys, I'm at least going to give you the PG-13 version

that you did not hear in Sunday school growing up, okay? I'm going to give you the real stuff of the Bible. And they were like, this is fascinating, right? Because the Bible is kind of fascinating. And so Lot's daughters are like, hey, let's get that all liquored up and we can produce kids through him. And that's exactly what they did. And the two sons that were produced were Moab and Ammon,

the patriarchs of the Moabites and the Ammonites. So now, two of Israel's greatest enemies who also caused them issues in the wilderness had to overcome them, along with a third group named the Amalekites who also caused Israel issues in the wilderness. It was one of Israel's greatest nations. All three, this trifecta of kingdoms comes and they rule over Israel.

But I want you to notice how they were able to rule over Israel. Did you take note of that? Because the Lord strengthened Eglon. Listen, I had a really good friend say one time, you can choose your sin, but God will always choose your consequences. And that's exactly what happened. God chose their consequences. And this guy, Eglon, is fascinating, right? So they possess the city of palm trees

and they serve Eglon. Oh, this is the last thing I want to point out. 18 years. You remember how long it took them the first time they were taken over by a foreign king to come to their senses? Eight years. How long has it taken this time? 18 years. Things are not going the right direction for these people, right? But remember what we learned in chapter two?

Each time they got a little worse, right? So 18 years they're serving this guy. Verse 15. But when Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer. Bingo. Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon, the king of Moab. And Ehud made himself a sword which had, two edges, a cubit in length,

and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. Now, I want to point a couple of things out to you about Ehud. Ehud is really probably one of the least likely individuals to be used to deliver the nation of Israel for two reasons. Number one, he's a Benjamite. And Benjamin was one of the smaller tribes. Later when we come to Gideon, he'll say, I'm of the least of the tribes.

Saul was a Benjamite. He'll say, I'm of the least of the tribes. It was a small tribe that he was a part of, right? Not a mighty tribe like Judah. It made sense that Othniel would be the one that God would use. This guy was a Benjamite. Second thing about it is that he was left-handed. And you and I don't think too much about that because quite frankly, if I had a son

and he could all throw a ball with his left hand, I would tie his right hand behind his back and make him throw all the time, right? Because you can have a left-handed pitcher, that dude is going places, right? But at that point in time, if you were left-handed, it was actually considered a handicap. So the rest of the world considered him handicapped. As a matter of fact, some even think

that the reason why he used his left hand was because there might have been something wrong with his right hand because they usually forced people to be right-handed even if they were more dominantly left-handed. And so this guy is somehow handicapped in his right hand or at least viewed that way by the people. You see, as far as the world was concerned, he was the wrong guy to do the delivery. But in God's eyes, he was the right guy.

Do you ever feel like you're the wrong person? Do you ever feel like you were born wrong? Do you ever feel like there was something about you that God's never going to be able to use? Because quite frankly, look at this fill-in-the-blank-here thing that I have. I love talking to kids about this. I say, look, the world has told you what perfect is supposed to look like.

And each of you has something that you don't like about yourself. I asked this to a group of kids. I'm here to tell you right now, if you're going to ask this question, you better be ready for it. Like, what do you guys notice about me? Now, there's always some things that I know people are going to say. You're bald, you're short, and you're hairy, right? And so, you're bald, you're short,

you're hairy, and one of them goes, you got fat eyebrows! And I was like, ooh, that one hurt a little bit. That one cut a little deeper than I intended for it to, right? And so I'm like, yeah, you're right, all of those things. I didn't like it about myself growing up. As a matter of fact, I hated it about myself growing up. And I thought, God did something wrong with me.

And I thought, God did something wrong with me. Until I realized that God doesn't make mistakes. He uses everything about us, no matter what it is, He uses everything about us in His way and in His purpose so that He gets all of the glory, right? And so, this guy goes and he makes a sword. It says in verse 16, he made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it

on his right thigh under his cloak. Now, we cannot bypass this without pointing out a fascinating correlation. What did he make for himself? He made for himself a sharp, two-edged sword that he hid in his cloak. Sound familiar to anybody? What are we told that the Word of God is? It's like a sharp, two-edged sword. And what are we told to do with God's Word?

We're to hide it, not in our cloak, but in our heart. Kind of a fascinating picture because this guy's going to do his fighting with the one offensive weapon that we have, and that's the sword. And our sword is the Word of God. He hides it under his cloak. We hide it in our heart. And that is how he's going to do battle. That's how he's going to win this battle.

And it's a great reminder for us to hide that sharp, two-edged sword in our heart. And so, it says, he came to present tribute to Eglon, verse 17, king of Moab. Now, Eglon was a very fat man. Cancel the Bible. It just said someone was fat. Okay. I was listening to John Corson on this, and he said, I read somebody who is a historian, and he said, that it is thought, according to

secular history, that this Eglon truly was a fat man, and his waist was 480 inches around. Yeah, we're talking like Java the Hutt's like, man, you need to go on a diet, right? I mean, that's the kind of fat guy this was. He was, he was, I, this is the only time in the Bible I think that this is said, as far as I know. But Samuel's like, dude was a fat guy, right? Like, that's just,

we can't change that about him now. And once we read the rest of the story, we're going to know why that's an important detail to point out. So it came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent the people away who had carried the tribute, but he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal and said, I have a secret message for you, O king. And he said, keep silence, and all who attended him left. And Ehud came

to him while he was sitting alone in his cool chamber, and Ehud said, I have a message from God for you. And he arose from his seat, Ehud stretched out his hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. Here's where it's important to pay attention to how fat he was. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and the refuse came out.

See what I mean? Like, sometimes the Bible's rated PG-13 if not R. Like, this is, that's a violent scene that takes place here, right? So, so he goes in and he says, I've got a secret message from you that only you can hear. Now, because Eglon is kind of proud of himself, he's like, oh, secret message for me. And Ehud's able to go in. And I bet your question is just like

mine. How did they not search him for swords? Well, because they would have been looking on his left thigh for a sword, because where would they have pulled from? Like this. But he's left-handed, so they didn't check the other side. Because nobody was left-handed, because that made you handicapped. God made him specifically for this purpose. So he reaches in, he grabs the sword,

stabs it right into Jabba the Hutt. Pretty soon, Jabba the Hutt, just took the whole sword over, right? He was just like, whoa, I don't even know what to do with it. That's the greatest magic trick ever. It's going to be bad for you. It worked for me. Sword goes in, and what came out? Refuse. It's fascinating. Anybody in here reading the Old King James? Any Old King James users in here?

Okay, the Old King James says, and dirt came out. Isn't that great? Now, I did not, this is not original to me. I stole this from John Corson, but I thought it was great. He said, the sword goes in, dirt comes out. What happens to us with the sword of the Spirit? Once it goes in, the dirt comes out. Isn't that great? God's Word goes into our heart, all the junk comes out, right? So,

the sword goes in, the dirt comes out, it says, and then Ehud went into the vestibule, shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and he locked them. And when he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked. And they said, he is only relieving himself. I can't help it. I love the Bible. He is only relieving himself in the cool

of the room. They waited until they became anxious. But behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore, they took the key and they opened it. Behold, the master had fallen dead on the floor. Can you imagine them retelling this story? Dude, so there we were, right? Guy comes out of the room. We didn't think anything about it. Doors were closed. We're like,

I'll be good. Guy's just relieving himself in there. But you know how it is. You stand outside the bathroom for a long enough time, and you're like, hope he didn't fall in. Right? I mean, that's exactly what they're thinking. Because it says they stood there until they became anxious. They're like, okay, it's awkward now. It's been a really, really long time. He should

be done by now. Someone needs to go in. I don't want to go in. You go in. Dude, that's a fat guy, right? I do not want to go in that room. We should go in and check on him. Okay, so they go in and check on him. They're like, son of a gun. That dude is dead. Either that's the worst relieving himself he's ever had, or he's been murdered. Right? Well, anyway. So

Ehud takes that guy. This is one of my favorite stories in Judges, I think. It says, Ehud, verse 26, escaped while they were delaying, which makes sense. And he passed by the idols, and he came to Sirah. They came about when he had arrived. But he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and he said, sons of Israel. And the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he

was in front of them. He said to them, pursue them, for the Lord has given your enemy the Moabites into your hands. So they went down after him, and they seized the fords of the Jordan opposite of Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. And they struck down at that time about 10,000 Moabites, all robust and valiant men. And no one escaped. So Moab was subdued that day

under the hand of Israel, and the land was undisturbed for 80 years. So, we've learned two things about being delivered from sin, right? Number one, we've learned that sin, can only be overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit, right? Number two, we learned that we are delivered from sin through the power of the Word, because the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, right?

And God uses even the most handicapped people to do exactly what He wants to do. And so, they're set free from Moab. Now we come to this last story, verse 31, and we're given no introduction to it, we're given no details to it, except for this one little verse. And after him, meaning Ehud, came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who struck down 600 Philistines with an ox goad, and he also saved Israel.

Again, I have questions. When did the Philistines show up, right? We don't read that they did evil in the sight of the Lord, although we can aptly assume that something at some point in time had happened, otherwise the Philistines wouldn't have been there, oppressing the people. So perhaps there was another cycle that took place, or perhaps this was just simply a local situation, because one of the things that we do know about the judges is that just because they were a judge of Israel didn't mean that they were a national judge. Sometimes there was just a local

situation that was dealt with. At any rate, there's this local guy, his name is Shamgar, very limited amount of information, other than he's the son of Anath, or Anath. And he defeats the Philistines. And how does he do it? Well, it says he struck down 600 Philistines, with an ox goad. What on earth is an ox goad? Well, I'm glad you asked. An ox goad would have been a rod. I've seen

anywhere from 6 to 8 foot long is what this rod would be. And it would be somewhat big at one end and pointed at the other, because they would use it to move the oxen along. They would prod them with it, with the pointed end, or hit them on the other end with the wider end to keep the oxen moving. So this guy must have been somehow an agricultural worker, an average guy, with an average tool in his hand. And one day

the Spirit of God comes upon him, and what does he do? He wipes out 600 Philistines. And how does he do it? With the ox goad that's in his hand. It's kind of fascinating, isn't it? Sometimes we think we need to have special tools or special abilities or special training to be used by God. Well, I can't be used by God because, well, I've never been to Bible college, Ryan. I can't be used by God.

I can't be used by God because I don't really have that much of an understanding of what God's Word has to say. I can't be used by God because I don't have talents and giftings like a pastor would or like a Sunday school teacher would, so I can't be used by God. I'm here to tell you right now, whatever's in your hand, God can use it. Whatever it is that you do, whatever giftings God has given you, whether they look like the giftings of somebody who stands up and teaches the Bible, or whether they look like other types of giftings, God wants to use you in a powerful way for the kingdom because all we know about this guy is that he was an average agricultural worker and he saw that there was a need and he was willing to be used by God

and he simply used what he had in his hand. Can you imagine if he said, but I'm not a trained warrior. I don't even have a sword. I don't have a spear. I don't have a shield. I can't be used by God. Instead he said, I'll use what I do have and if God wants to bring victory, he'll bring victory. Not only did God bring victory, he brought victory. Brothers and sisters,

use what's in your hand. Use what God has given you. Don't complain about what you don't have. Use what you do and allow God to use you powerfully. Amen? And so as we see this beginning of the era of the judges, we see the cycle, we see the good things, we see the bad things, but in all of it, we see the faithfulness of God. And that faithfulness will continue next week

when we talk about the story of Deborah. If you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you and I thank you for the time that we have in your word. Lord, I thank you for these stories of the judges. Lord, that there are mistakes that we learn from and there is faithfulness that we can see. Because Lord, no matter what, when we cry out to you, you send a deliverer.

Only Lord, you don't send a deliverer of a warrior. You sent Jesus, the ultimate deliverer from our sins. And so Lord, help us to see you more clearly. Help us to examine our lives. And help us to stay as close to you as we possibly can. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Don't forget, go home and watch Real Life Network. It'll be great. Have a great week.