A Disobedient People

Bible Reading: Judges 6:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 10 - “And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.”

Key Words: but ye have not obeyed my voice

Israel again does evil (verse 1).  They just never seem to learn that disobedience brings them into peril.  This time they end up in the hands of the Midianites, who destroy their crops and cattle.  It seems this went on for a period of seven years and finally Israel cries out to God for deliverance.  So God reminds them of why they are where they are, “...but ye have not obeyed my voice.” (verse 10)

Charles Swindoll writes in regard to obedience: “My wife and I had the pleasure of spending an evening with former astronaut, General Charles M. Duke.  All of us in the room sat in rapt fascination as the man told of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon, including some interesting tidbits related to driving “Rover,” the lunar vehicle, and his actually walking on the surface.  We were full of questions which General Duke patiently and carefully answered one after another.

“I asked, ‘Once you were there, weren’t you free to make your own decisions and carry out some of your own experiments...you know, sort of do as you pleased – maybe stay a little longer if you liked?’  He smiled back, ‘Sure, Chuck, if we didn’t want to return to earth!’

“He then described the intricate plan, the exact and precise instructions, the essential discipline, the instant obedience that was needed right down to the split second.  By the way, he said they had landed somewhat ‘heavy’ when they touched down on the moon.  He was referring to their fuel supply.  They had plenty left.  Guess how much.  One minute.  They landed with sixty seconds of fuel remaining.  Talk about exact!  I got the distinct impression that a rebel doesn’t fit inside a spacesuit.  Whoever represents the United States in the space program must have an unconditional respect for authority.”

So must those who are going to be effective in God’s service.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Ask God to give you an obedient spirit.

Deborah, Part 3

Bible Reading: Judges 5

Key Verse: Verse 1  - “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,”

Key Words: Then sang Deborah and Barak

This chapter is known as the song of Deborah, but it’s actually a song of praise to the Lord for the great victory He gave (verses 2 – 4).

Our Daily Bread records an old Jewish legend which says that after God had created the world, He called the angels to Himself and asked them what they thought of it.  One of them said, “The only thing missing is the sound of praise for the great Creator.”  So God created music, and it was heard in the whisper of the wind and in the song of the birds.  He also gave man the gift of song to “praise Him for His marvelous works.”

Sebastian Bach once said, “The sole purpose of music is to bring praise to God.”

At the top of all his music, he wrote the initials “J.J.” (“Jesu Juva”) which is the Latin abbreviation for Jesus, help me; and at the bottom of all his music, he wrote the initials “SDG” which stands for “Soli Dei Gloria:” To God Alone be the Glory.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!  Amen and amen.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞ Remember that it’s God Who gives the victory when we fight His battles.

Deborah, Part 2

Bible Reading: Judges 4:14-24

Key Verse: Verse 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.”

Key Words: And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:

Deborah’s tenacity motivated others to accomplish things they never thought possible.  Barak was motivated to go into battle and rise victorious (verse 16).

Jael was motivated to strike a nail through the temple of Sisera, the captain of the army of the Canaanites.  She literally nailed him to the floor.

Deborah was a great motivator because she asked for great things to be accomplished by ordinary people.  That’s what great leaders do.  They require, not just small things of us, but require great things of us.

During the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln often found refuge at a Presbyterian church in Washington, D.C.  He would go with an aide, sit with his stovepipe hat in his lap, and never interrupt the meeting because the congregation would all be in a dither if they knew the president had come to sit in that midweek meeting.  He sat off to the side, near the pastor’s study, as the minister would open the Scriptures and teach God’s Word and would lead the congregation in worship.  The war was tearing the nation apart and tearing his soul.  Having just lost his own son, Lincoln was on the bottom, and he needed solace and sustenance.

As the pastor finished his message and the people began to leave, the president stood quietly and straightened his coat and took his hat in hand and began to leave.  The aide stopped him and said, “What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?”  He said, “I thought the sermon was carefully thought through, eloquently delivered.”  The aide said, “You thought it was a great sermon?”  He said, “No, I thought he failed.”  “He failed?  Well, how?  Why?”  “Because he did not ask of us something great.”

 

                                                                                                              Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞ Remember, God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him.

Deborah, Part 1

Bible Reading: Judges 4:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 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.”

Key Words: And she said, I will surely go with thee

Deborah was an unusual woman.  She was a judge; she was a warrior; she was a leader; and she was fearless and full of faith.  It was these character traits that led her to trust God to bring Israel victory over the Canaanites.

It’s interesting that Barak had so much confidence in her that he would not go into battle unless she went with him.  She may have been a female, but she was no doubt a great leader.

A leader is a person who is going somewhere – but not going alone.  He takes others with him.  His ability in setting up situations in which others are willing to follow him and happy to work with him is a precious skill called leadership.  This skill is made up of many qualities – thoughtfulness and consideration for others, enthusiasm, the ability to share responsibilities with others, and a multitude of other traits.  But fundamentally a leader is one who leads, one who has a plan, one who keeps headed toward a goal and a purpose.  He has the enthusiasm to keep moving forward in such a way that others gladly go with him.

 

                                                                                                                     Dr. Mike Rouse                                                                                               

What to do:  

✞ Remember, the speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack.

Shamgar

Bible Reading: Judges 3:12-31

Key Verse: Verse 31 – “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.

Key Words: And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath

Judge Shamgar is mentioned twice in God’s Word: first in Judges 3:31 and again in Judges 5:6.  It’s interesting that the name Shamgar means strange, for indeed, he is.  All we know of him is that he judged Israel for a brief time and that his outstanding feat is taking an ox-goad, which was an instrument used to hurry up the oxen when plowing and slaying six hundred Philistines with it.

No doubt that Shamgar was of good courage.  Now, you nor I will ever confront a Philistine army and kill six hundred soldiers, especially with an ox-goad; but we still need the courage God gave Shamgar.

It takes courage...

• To refrain from gossip when others about you delight in it;
• To stand up for an absent person who is being abused;
• To live honestly within your means and not dishonestly on the means of others;
• To be talked about and yet remain silent when a word would justify you in the eyes of others, but which you cannot speak without injury to another;
• To be a real man, a true woman, by holding fast to your ideas when it causes you to be looked upon as strange and peculiar;
• To refuse to do a thing which is wrong, though others desire it; and
• To live always according to your convictions.

 

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞ With God, courage is commendable.  Without God, courage is condemnable.

King Ehud

Bible Reading:  Judges 3:12-30

Key Verse: verse 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.”

Key Words:  the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud

Ehud was the son of Gera, the Benjamite.  He was chosen by God to deliver Israel from their eighteen years of captivity by Eglon and the Moabites.  Ehud made a special double-edged dagger (verse 16) and then gained entrance to Eglon by feigning to have a secret message for him.  When Ehud and Eglon were alone, Ehud used his special dagger to dispose of the Moabite leader.  He then blew the trumpet of war and Israel rallied behind their fearless leader and defeated the Moabites.

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?  They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.  So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t.  “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.

“These five fingers,” says Lucy.  “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“Which channel do you want?” asks Linus.  Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

There can be no victory without courage and unity.

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

• Remember, there is a difference between union and unity.  Union is when you are bound together.  Unity is when you agree.  Example: you can tie the tail of a cat to the tail of a dog and have union, but you sure won’t have unity.

Othniel

Bible Reading:  Judges 3:1-11

Key Verse: verse 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.”

Key Words:  Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

Israel had fallen into idolatry and was worshipping false gods.  As a punishment for their idolatry, the Lord delivered them into the hands of the king of Mesopotamia, Chushanrishathaim.  When Israel finally cried out to God, he raised up Othniel.  Othniel’s blood line was certainly right; he was the nephew of Caleb.

The name Othniel means “the force of God.”  We can do nothing without the power of God upon us and with God’s power there is nothing we can’t do.

The Gospel Herald records the following.

William Jessup, for fifty years a missionary in Syria, was discouraged because he could not win men to Christ.  He decided the difficulty must be in him.  He resolved to spend one week by himself with the Word of God.  He had not read far when something dawned upon him he had never realized.  He had never given God His place in the work of winning others.  He had worked in his own strength.  He thought of the fall of Jericho.  He remembered that God did that so that no man could take credit.  After this he took a sheet of paper and wrote down the names of eleven men whom he was seeking to bring to Christ and lifted them to God in prayer, asking God to do the work and use him if he was needed.

One Friday, one of the young men came to him under a burden for his sins and was saved.  In three weeks all of these men were won.  “I will be a different missionary the rest of my life.  I realize that it is God Who worketh in us to will and to do.”

It’s only by His might that His will can be accomplished.

                                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

• Go in God’s power or you’ll surely fail.

The Judges

Bible Reading:  Judges 2:11-23

Key Verse: verse 16 -“Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. “

Key Words:  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges

Every time Israel hit bottom spiritually, God would raise up a judge to deliver them; but even then Israel would reject the judges (verse 17) so God would give them what they thought they wanted and after they got it, they were sorry they had it.

I have a saying I often share with our students in our school ministry.  You are free to do what you want, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions.

Radio personality, Paul Harvey, used to tell of how an Eskimo kills a wolf.  The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin.  “First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze.  Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood.  “Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up.  When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood.  He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.  Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.

“So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood.  His carnivorous appetite just craves more – until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!”

It is a fearful thing that people can be “consumed by their own lusts.”  Only God’s grace keeps us from the wolf’s fate.

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

• Remember you are free to do what you want, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions.