King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, March 31, 2025
Chapters: Judges 3-5
Message: Judges: God Proves Israel
Hello My Friend,
As we continue in the reading of Judges we learn that God allows His people to live among those in the world to prove or test their faith in Him. Those who are true in their faith will remain faithful to Him even though they may be among the oppressed with those who are unfaithful, [1 Peter 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:]
Yesterday we learned that after the death of Joshua and the elders under him died that the children of Israel did not remove all of the Canaanites from the land as they were commanded but put them under tribute. Their disobedience brought God to make the decision to allow the rest of them to stay on the land. Today, we learn of which of the Canaanites were left and why He left them there.
[Judges 3:1-4 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; 3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.]
They already had everything handed to them so what would they gain from trusting God should they remain obedient to His commands, likewise those who receive Christ as their Saviour and are given salvation solely upon their faith in Him? They are very profitable for us, [Titus 3:5-8 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.]
The sad thing is that Israel had no clue what their father’s fought for so they could be free on that land and live as they please. Of course they had not been taught God’s commands so they were not aware of the Law either so it is no wonder why they turned to the false gods. Nevertheless, this was not acceptable with God and therefore He allowed the wicked to put them under tribute. The first was Mesopotamia.
[Judges 3:7-10 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.]
Even though most of Israel denied God there were a few who were faithful to Him and lived the best they could under His commands. When they had enough of the oppression they cried out to Him and that was when He sent a judge to free them from their oppression. The first judge was Othniel, whom we recall was the brother of Caleb. While we do not know much about Othniel we do know that God’s Spirit was upon him. Without His Spirit upon us we can do nothing for God and to be honest we would not even be interested in doing anything for God.
[Romans 3:10-12,21-24 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of- the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
Those who endure the test of their faith will be used to serve God in leading others whom have gone wayward back to Him. Saved or not, those who choose their own way instead of God’s will always be held in bondage to their sin, that is unless they repent, and we learn about Ehud, for eighteen years God placed them under tribute to Moab.
[Judges 3:12-16 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. 16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.]
Ehud came up with a plan to actually kill the king without the people even knowing about it, [Judges 3:20-21,24-25 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. 25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.]
Can you imagine the shame you would feel for being outside the door of someones room for hours and not checking on them? My mother is at the age where if I she has not gotten up at a certain time I am checking on her but sometimes I fear doing that. I do know that she is saved and that is the most important thing, no one needs to fear the death of those who know Christ as their Saviour but we do need to make sure that they know where they are going, [1 Corinthians 15:55-58 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.]
Did you ever notice that God is not subtle when He sends judgment upon the wicked? Those who are not faithful to God can expect that they will suffer oppression from the wicked until they come to their senses and when they do He will send judgment on them. This is what He did with Moab after Israel repented.
[Judges 3:27-30 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.]
Do you have any clue what Jesus delivers us from? I will be honest and tell you that I have a little bit of a clue, but I am still learning. The list keeps piling up as to all the things that Jesus saves me from, hell, the second death, dead works from years past, not to mention my past life before I came to Christ, [Hebrews 12:1-2,6 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.]
We must understand that this was not just one person or family doing evil in the sight of God, it was the majority of them. God, will not just sit back and watch His people acting like they know Him, and leading so many into sinful and immoral living, He will send judgment. However, He is faithful to forgive and help those who come to Him willingly. Once again, they turned their backs on God, this time He delivered them into the hands of the king of Canaan, and for twenty years they oppressed them.
[Judges 3:31,Judges 4:1-4 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. 4:1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.]
I always love reading about Deborah, often relating to her, in fact, I often think that God sees me as being like Deborah. Of course, I need to be careful in saying that as not to be boastful because I know how weak I can be, but I have always been a natural leader, which I believe God raised me up as. She kept her office so to speak under a palm tree, and the people would literally come to her too solve their problems. Deborah, actually led an army of men, captained by a man name Barak, in order to deliver Israel from Sisera.
[Judges 4:6-9 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.]
Deborah was trying to convey to Barak that all the people would know that he had a woman leading the army and it would be to his own shame and ridicule. Nevertheless, at this point he did not care, he would only go if Deborah went with him and while she did she still had to tell him to get up and get moving. Deborah actually led an army of men, accompanied by Baralk and another man named Heber, a Kenite.
[Judges 4:11-12,14-15 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. 12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.]
How often does God send people to us to tell us to “Get up!”? We may not realize it, but God does send women out there in the world to do the work that men should be doing. Deborah was not the only woman in this story, God would use another woman, Jael, she was actually Heber’s wife. When the king fled he ended up in their territory thinking that he was safe.
[Judges 4:17-18,21,23 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.]
More often than we think, God does use strong faithful Christian women to lead men in the right direction. Deborah knew this, but she still obeyed God and judged the people for forty years. Now, we may be told to keep silent in the church in regards to having authority over men, and we may be told that we are the weaker vessel because Eve gave into the snares of the devil first but we are never underestimate the power of a God fearing woman, [Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.]
We as Christians must understand that if we want to see God heal our land, then we need to come to Jesus first. He will not deliver us unless we are willing to let Him come in and work through us. Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit, use Him, and He will deliver us. There was a great victory the day that Deborah delivered Israel from oppression, her and Barak led the congregation in a song.
[Judges 5:1-3,6-7 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.]
I love this, and always say that God did not give me any children of my own because He made me a mother of many. Mothers are not always biological, true mothers are nurturing, very protective, and disciplined. I do not care whose kids they are, if they are in my possession, then I am like a mother bear to all of them, and I will fight to protect them. God is the same way with us, it does not matter what we have done in the past, present, or future, we just need a reminder of that sometimes, especially when we need a healing from Jesus, [Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. – Psalms 107:19-20]
There is difference between those who sin against God and those who forget Him, the ones who sin against Him cry out to Him daily, knowing they are sinners, they feel the pain they caused by failing their Father. Deborah, continues the song with some rather strange verses.
[Judges 5:12-13,23-24,31 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. 13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. 23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.]
Deborah signifies that the curse did not proceed from any ill will toward Israel but from God Himself. God uses every willing soul for His work, strong women of their faith have always been the influence of both men and women, but a Godly faithful woman is truly a virtue to those who God places in their lives, [1 Peter 3:1-2,7 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Judges 4:14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. Judges 5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.]
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that I am nothing without You and that everything in my life, good, bad, and the ugly, are allowed to prove my faithfulness to You. Lord, purge me from the things that prevent me from being who You want me to be, lead me and guide me, help me to find the strength to stand before You as a vessel of honor, let me be an encouragement to others, the Light that leads them to Your truths, be strong for those who may need a helping hand, and to keep serving You however You lead me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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