We all have ideals right? Those things that we say are the perfect representation of something. Ideal House, with the wrap around porch, white picket fence two dogs, tow kids and a new car in the drive. But we usually say it like, what’s your favorite, or what’s your type. And ideals tell us a lot about a person. We’ll ask children, what do you want to be when you grow up? They’re answer tells us their ideals at the moment; “Astronaut…cowboy… dolphin,” could be their responses. As we grow up our ideals tend to change, because our focus changes. A teen getting ready to drive, starts to think more about cars. So we ask, what’s your favorite car; “1969 Mustang…2012 Dodge Charger…something I can afford.” And then there’s the big one, what’s your ideal partner? Blonde…brunette…fun…active…quiet…good cook. Mine is, athletic build, short hair, height just slightly shorter than me.
Our ideals say a lot about who we are as people and what we consider important. A guy working a coal mine where he’s literally dying from the labor, probably isn’t his ideal job, but you know what is? His wife staying home with the kids, to give them a better life, so they don’t have to. A single mom who works two jobs and never stops, but she shows her ideals every night because she reads a bedtime story to her kids.
Ideals are important, because they drive what we do in our lives, and by them, people can get insight into who we are. And it’s this idea of ideals that bring us back into our summer series where we’re going to pick it up in the book of Judges chapter 3, starting in verse 7. And as we open up to Judges 3:7, lets look back at our first week in this book.
Last week we went through the unique opening to the book of Judges. We saw how the generation of Joshua began to falter in their taking of the land of Canaan, because they wouldn’t drive out the people and instead put the Canaanites into force servitude. This would end up leading to future generations taking on the gods of the Canaanites, turning their backs on Yahweh, the God of Israel.
This was breaking the covenant that the generation under Joshua made with God. And because Israel broke that covenant, God allowed them to be conquered by the very people they had not driven out. Yet, when the people called out to God, God turned back to them and saved them, by sending people known as judges to lead the Israelites out of their subjugation. This becomes the cycle of sin, judgement, repentance, salvation, and eventual back to the sin that plagues Israel throughout the time of the judges.
But through it all, the theme of the book is seen, which shows us the greater theme of the Scriptures. Though humanity, even God’s chosen covenant people, turn their back on God, God will not turn his back on humanity. God is Savior, and to those who turn back to him, he will save.
This cycle of sin, judgment, repentance and salvation brings us to the first of the Judges, Othniel (a-th-niel) in the book of Judges 3:7, let’s read together.
“7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.”
As we look at the judges, we’re going to see the book in seven sections. This first section is simply about Othniel. And he’s one of a few judges that is connected back to the time of Joshua. In chapter 1, we even have the writer of judges mention that Othniel is the one that capture Debir and in doing so was wed to Caleb’s daughter.
So already in the book Judges he has done mighty works without being called by God to protect Israel. But the passage here gives us some more insight in how, through the writer of Judges, God views Othniel’s time as judge. From verse 7 to verse 11 there’s this structure that is composed in Hebrew which points towards the cycle of sin, judgment, repentance, salvation and how God is satisfied with Othniel. So let’s break it down.
We start with verse 7 where we find the problem. This is Israel turning it’s back on God and worshiping the deities of the Canaanites, the Baals and the Asheroth.
Next it’s the consequence of the problem: God’s anger is kindled and he sells, meaning he takes his hand of protection away and allows the Mesopotamian king to conquer the people.
What follows next is the result, the Israelites now serve this king for eight years. What the Israelites did to the Canaanite people God is allowing to happen to them. Why? Because sin is a shackle; it shackles ourselves, and other people. With God there is freedom, apart from God there is only imprisonment. This imprisonment is a prophetic consequences that was mentioned back in Deuteronomy 28:25, “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
So now that the Israelites are imprisoned for their sin and have experienced the prophetic consequence for breaking their covenant with God. But Israel would learn the lesson that the Psalmist would later proclaim, “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. 6 The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me (Psalm 116:5-6).” So in verse 9 we get the turn of the people back to God, and God’s raising up of Othniel.
The same Othniel who is Caleb’s son-in-law; the same Othniel who conquered the inhabitants of Debir. This Othniel was raised up by God and God places his Spirit upon him. And when we read, “the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel…” It’s easy to say well the deliverer is Othniel, but in the Hebrew it’s a bit more ambiguous. The “who saved them” connects both the work of God and the work of Othniel. So who saved the Israelites, God or Othniel? The answer is, Yes! The text is trying to tell us that it’s through Othniel’s obedience, God saved his people.
So God raises up Othniel. Othniel then does what the Spirit of God directs, and overcomes the king. Salvation has come, God has saved his people just as he said he would.
Covenant relationship has been restored and the people find rest for forty years.
Through the obedience and merging of God’s saving work with the work he does through Othniel, Othniel is therefore seen as a paragon, the ideal, of what a godly judge should be. He becomes the standard for the rest of the judges.
So the Holy Spirit directs the writer of Judges to put the ideal judge at the front, which means when we get to our final judge we see the worse of the judges. To which the two stories have different lengths. Othniel’s story is short because the righteous don’t need a lot of explanation. They did what was right, because of their obedience. Whereas the wicked need more explanation to help us understand what went wrong.
Everything from here on out, shows us the descent from the ideal Othniel who obeys, to extremely flawed Samson.
But as I studied Othniel, a song kept playing in my head, where the chorus goes, “You’re the best! Around! Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down! You’re the Best! Around! Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down.” That songs from the classic 80’s sports movie, The Karate Kid. Then, to show you how my brain works it created an image of Othniel and the Karate Kid, and this is that image:
Getting back on track, for the rest of the book it is God’s judge Othniel and his obedience that all other judges are gauged by. From Ehud to Samson, Othniel is what a judge of Israel should be. He is called by God, faithfully responds, and carries out the task at hand.
It’s a standard that is quickly broken as we move into other sections of the book. But from Othniel we are to carry this one thing away: When God calls, what he wants from us is our obedience. He wants us to be a part of his redemptive work. It’s why God called Moses from the wilderness to Egypt. It’s why he brought up Joshua to lead Israel to the promise land. It’s why he sent the prophets to call Israel back to covenant relationship. It’s why Jesus commissioned his followers to take the Gospel to all nations.
God has redemptive plans for humanity and wants to use wiling and obedient people to carry out those plans. Paul would later quote from the fifty-second chapter of the prophet Isaiah (52:7) of those who would carry the Gospel message, “As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news (Romans 10:15b)!’”
Why are they beautiful feet, because those feet are moved by an obedient desire to follow the call of a holy loving God. Othniel had beautiful feet because he was obedient to his God.
God has called us to obedience too. In the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 15, Jesus says of his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Obedience does not save anyone, but it shows that we are saved because it shows that we love our God for the work he has done for us.
So my challenge for you this week, is to first read through Judges 3:7-11 again. Then, make brief biography of Othniel from what we know of him in this passage and in chapter 1. And then after that, seek God that you would be an obedient child of his, willing to do whatever he asks of you.
Let us be a people who shows our love for God, by the obedient lives we live, that we might follow faithful men like Othniel. Amen.
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