Day 90 – Judges 3-5

Talking Points

• The Israelites continue their pattern. First — sin, rebellion, and compromise. God’s people take on the ways and the false worship of the pagan people in their midst. Second — God’s judgment, punishment, and consequences. Third — godly sorrow and repentance brings rest and restoration from a gracious and merciful God.
• This account includes a listing of the judges and their exploits. The first four are Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah. God uses them to rally the people and to be instruments of His deliverance.
• God records those who fought for the Lord and those who stayed back.
• Honestly, as we read it, this cycle seems absurd! How can people be this fickle? This forgetful? How can the people of God be so easy to turn against Him? It’s insane…until we think about our own lives. How many times do we commit, then fall away, then recommit? How many times do we walk knowingly into rebellion? How many times could it be said, “How do they not know better?” The cycle is absurd; it is insane; and, it shows us our hopelessness apart from a Savior.

Thoughts

Okay — it has to be done! We need to talk about the elephant standing smack in the room. Isn’t God’s Word, at times, over the top? In just these verses, we find the account of the bathroom execution of an overweight king. We read of a brave army general who is fearful to go to battle without — not a soldier — but a prophetess. And, we read of the friendly woman who offers a fleeing king a glass of milk, before driving a tent stake through his temple. True story.

Don’t these accounts sound more like something from an episode of “The Twilight Zone” rather than from the Word of God? What are we to make of them? They exist in the same work telling of God, His work of creation, and His redemption.

Here’s the truth: God’s Word is beautifully complex, completely consistent, and totally honest. Maybe we would think that, if our goal is to reveal God, it would be best to leave out the history of Ehud and his chamber execution. Maybe we would think that, if we want to give credibility to the science of God’s creation account, we should leave out the miraculous happenings in the Bible, like the parting of the Red Sea. We would be wrong!

Our God has nothing to hide. If anything, His placing all the cards on the table (tent stakes and all) shows His credibility and confidence in His truth. It will stand. Today, be sure. God is faithful and His Word is truth!