The Flawed People of a Flawless God

Scripture: Deuteronomy 7:1-6

C.I.: How God Brings Good Out of Bad

Last week… (“Judges” – “The Flawed People of a Flawless God” ). – Judges is the story of the faithfulness of God in the midst of faithlessness of man. – Through their faithlessness the people put themselves into a bad spot. – But God will bring good from it!!

•  God's Education & Empowerment of His People, (Judges 3:1-11)

A. Two Things Israel Needed to Learn, (vs. 1-4)

1. They needed to learn war , ( vs. 1-2 ), “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel (all who had not known
any of the wars of Canaan; - in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war , those who had not
known it formerly).
a. The people of God had been told to drive out the Canaanites.

•  But they had disobeyed – and allowed pockets of Canaanites to remain in the land.

•  Now as a consequence, the Canaanites caused problems for subsequent generations!!!

•  The “little problem” the Canaanites represented earlier – became the “Big Problem” in Israel. -
a) God says, ( I Pt. 5:7 ), “Cast all your anxiety upon Me, because I care for you.”
b) But we say, “I'll give you the big ones & I'll take care of the little ones.” But they GROW!!!

•  So the subsequent generation needed to learn lessons – the older generations did not teach.

•  God allowed the nations to remain in Canaan - for the same reason He allows trials to occur in our life - that we might learn spiritual warfare!
1) There are two types of warriors: those who are victorious – and those who are defeated!
2) The mind-set of the mature believer – helps them gain the victory, ( quote Jms. 1:2-4) .
3) The victorious warrior will also be the one who is best equipped, ( quote Eph. 6:12-16 ).
a) “Having girded your loins with the truth,” = ( Jn. 17:17; 14:6 )
b) “having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” = ( Rom. 3:10, 22 )
c) “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” = ( Mk. 16:15 )
d) “taking up the shield of faith with which we will be able…,” = ( Heb. 11:6; I Jn. 5:4 )
e) “and take the helmet of salvation,” = ( I Jn. 5:13 )
f) “and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God,” = ( Heb. 4:12 )
4) Therefore, if we find ourselves struggling more than usual against sin – we better check our armor.

2. The second thing Israel needed to learn was loyalty , ( v. 4 ), “And they [the nations] were for testing Israel, to find out if
they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.””
a Some things have not changed. – God still allows evil to exist around us – to see if will remain loyal!
1) Do we see life in these terms – that trials/temptations are there to test our loyalty?! Do we pass???
a) Or do we trust in others – ( Jn. 2:24-25 ), “ Jesus was not entrusting Himself to men, for He knew all
men … for He Himself knew what was in man.”
b) O do we trust in ourselves – ( Matt. 4:3-4 ), The tempter came and said to Him, ‘If… .'”

b. God is still trying to educate His people.
1) We must learn to fight against sin & Satan – and to be loyal to the Lord in all things!!!
2) So these “trials” which Satan meant for evil - God can use for good, ( Rom. 8:28 ).

B. God Empowers His People for Victory, (vs. 5-11)

1. Sadly, the people failed the test, ( vs. 5-7 ), “And 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 gave their own
daughters to their sons, and served their gods. – And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord , and forgot
the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.”
a. As we saw last week, there is a “Cycle of Sin” – which repeats throughout the Book of Judges.
1) Step #1. = Rebellion , Step #2, Oppression , Step #3, Repentance , Step #4, Deliverance !
2) When we look back at our Scripture Reading – we see how great their rebellion was.

b. This brings us to Step #2, Oppression!
1) ( v. 8 ), Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them in to the hands of
Cushan-riashathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-riashathaim for eight
years.”
2) “Cushan” = son of Cush. – Riashathaim = “Doubly-Evil” (e.g., Ivan the Terrible)!!!
3) If the people had known what would happen – do you think they still would have sinned?
4) Don't answer too quickly… - don't we know sin brings consequences (yet still we sin)!

c. This now brings in Steps #3 & 4, Repentance & Deliverance!
1) Repentance = ( v. 9a ), “And when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord….”
a) Repentance clearly demands a sorrowful crying out to God, ( quote II Cor. 7:10 ).
b) But it is more than that; a change of mind the leads to a change in action, ( Acts 3:19 ).
2) Deliverance = ( v. 9b ), …the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel
the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.”


2. God empowered Othniel to be victorious, ( v. 10a ), And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him….”
a. This idea of being empowered by the Spirit - appears several times in the Book of Judges…
1) ( 6:34 ), “So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet….”
2) ( 14:6 ), “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson mightily, so that he tore the lion as though he
had nothing in his hand.”
3) ( 14:19 ), “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon – and
killed 30 men….”
4) So here, O thniel is able to be victorious also, ( 3:10b ), “When he went out to war, the Lord gave
Cushan-riashathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-riashathaim.
Then the land had rest for 40 years. – Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz died.”

c. Can we be empowered by God's Spirit today?
1) The Bible says we can… and how, ( Eph. 3:16, 20 ), “…that God would grant you….”
2) So how is someone “filled with the Spirit” ? This happens when we make a decision = “I will
trust in God and act on the basis of that trust w/o concern for consequences”
3) ( Eph. 5:18 ), “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. – But be filled with the Spirit….”
4) Notice, that being filled with the Spirit – is a decision (just like getting drunk is a decision!)
5) ( Acts 4:8, 13 ), Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people….'
– Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated
and untrained men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”
6) And so today, - God can still bring good out of bad, ( quote Rom. 8:28 ).

CONCLUSIONS:
1. God is still educating & empowering His people (review main points).

2. If you are one of our visitors – wouldn't you like to be empowered by God?

3. God tells us how, ( quote Eph. 1:13; Acts 5:32; 2:38 ).