Lessons Adapted from Tim Keller’s Book Judges for you The 12 Judges of Israel Lessons Adapted from Tim Keller’s Book Judges for you

Othniel Israel has turned from God. We need constant revival in our lives. Though we know truths about God, we can very easily lose the sense upon our hearts of their reality. Thus idols become more real to our hearts and we serve them instead. We have to remember what Christ has done on our behalf.

Repentance is crucial for renewal and restoration. The Spirit fell on Othniel. We cannot do anything apart from the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.

Ehud He is a surprising choice, yet he is a God’s choice. Judges 3:15. Ehud is unable to use his right hand, thus his right hand might be paralyzed or disabled in some way.

While Othniel was from a warrior family, in the tribe of Judah, Ehud was not and would not have been considered a leader because of his disability. Nobody would have followed Ehud if he had not killed Eglon. Why? Because he was disabled.

God does not work by what we call normal methods. Ehud is an ineffective leader as far as the world is concerned. Ehud points to Christ Isaiah 53:2-3 Jesus delivers his people not through great triumph, but through crushing defeat. We do not do deals with God, because we have nothing to offer him.

God is a God of grace, not works He uses people who are at the margins of society. Why? In order to show that salvation is from him, not from our own ability.

Shamgar Judges 3:31, the only reference to Shamgar He killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad He also saved Israel.

Deborah and Barak Deborah is a prophetess God’s chosen leader does not simply rescue, but also rules. Deborah is (alone among the judges) not a warrior. She is not the one who, in God’s strength, rescues Israel by defeating her oppressor. She sends for Barak, who will do this. There are three rescuers here: Deborah, Barak and Jael.

Deborah and Barak Barak teaches us three things about faith: Faith is listening to God at every stage of life and in every circumstance Faith is showing courage in the face of humanly overwhelming odds. Faith is humble and not honor-seeking.

Gideon God is both more holy & more merciful than we are. Israel worshiped God formally, but their lives revolved around idols. We always need to learn that salvation is by God’s action, not ours.

Gideon The reason for God decreasing Gideon’s army was to show his glory and his salvation in the victory. 22,000 of the 32,000 went home due to fear. Fear is contagious. When the army was decreased to 300, Gideon’s thought should be: This victory was God’s. My only part was to trust and obey.

Gideon As Christian, we should trust what God says and obey what he says. Any failure to trust and obey, is in essence sin. It is only as we know our own weaknesses that God’s love becomes more precious to us. 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 9

Gideon 3 Principles: This principle is the basis for salvation itself This principle explains how repentance works. This principle explains how we almost always grow as Christians. We can find we lack assurance because we never step out in faith and find God there.

Gideon How does God assure us? In his Word Through other people Through circumstances of life. Anger leads Gideon to a rash decision Gideon and the Midianites. Judges 8 Gideon’s anger exposes his need to be given glory. The people of Israel want Gideon to be king, because he beat Midian. Israel ultimately rejects God’s method of ruling his people.

Abimelech Abimelech worms his way into being king. Lesson on choosing a leader: We are often far too easily impressed by qualities that are unimportant to God. God does not prize popularity, human, or intelligence, being an extrovert or introvert and so on.

Abimelech Between Judges 8:34 and 10:6, God is not mentioned at all by his personal name, the LORD. God may have been silent, but he was not absent. This horrific episode in Judges points us to three truths about God’s present Judgment It comes unseen. It comes after a wait. It comes through the outworking of human sin.

Tola and Jair Tola saved Israel from itself.

Jephthah It is possible to turn from idolatry in an idolatrous way. Two signs of real repentance: A sorrow for sin, rather than just for its consequences A sorrow over idolatrous motives, not just behavioral change. You cannot have Jesus’ rescue without accepting his rule.

Jephthah Why did Jephthah make the vow? Jephthah was clearly de-sensitized to violence by the atrocious cruelty of the pagan cultures around him. This is a most vivid and horrible example of how believers can profess faith in God and hold on to some truth, yet let the world squeeze them into its mold. Jephthah was not only infected by pagan moral codes, but also by the pagan works-righteousness understanding of God’s character.

Jephthah Why did he then keep his vow? He does not trust God. He seems to believe that God will strike him down if he doesn’t keep it. Lessons from this tragedy: We are mostly far more affected by our culture than by the Bible. We are more affected by our culture than we think. God’s people struggle to believe in God’s grace.

Ibzan, Elon, Abdon Ibzan – He judged Israel 7 years Elon –

Samson Samson is the last of the God-appointed leaders in Judges. In the story of Samson, we see the flaws of God’s people between the time of Joshua and the God-given monarchy. The phrase “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” has been a repeated refrain in Judges. This is the last time it appears.

Samson Teaches two truths about sin: The definition of sin. Sin does not ultimately consist of violating our conscience or violating our personal standards or violating community standards, but rather consists of violating God’s will for us.

Samson The deception of sin We are always finding ways to rationalize sins such as materialism or worry or bitterness or pride.

Samson The purpose of the Nazarite vow was to ask for God’s special help during a crucial time. It was a sign that you were looking to God with great intensity and focus.

Samson 2 lessons about Samson’s Character: Samson is impulsive Samson is unteachable Listen to others, including your parents, they are wise beyond their years and ultimately know what is best for you. God will use the weakness of Samson to bring about confrontation between the Philistines and the Israelites.

Samson God fulfills his promises not only in spite of our sin but even through sin. God saves his People by divorcing them from their marriage to their idols.

Samson Our prayer life is the best indicator of our spiritual health. Jesus finished what Samson started! Both Jesus and Samson in their death crushed their enemy.