Transcript
Speaker: The following podcast is a Jill Divine Media production.
Speaker: thank you for following along with our sermon series based on the story. I'm your host, Jill Divine. And in this week's episode, we will be covering chapter eight.
Speaker: Today we find ourselves, as mentioned, in chapter 8 of the story, which is titled, A Few Good Men and Women. In your Bibles, it goes by the name, The Book of Judges, and I can summarize the whole book of Judges in just five words.
Speaker: Sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance, peace. And you may be familiar with the book of Judges because we covered it in a series last summer.
Speaker: ah Maybe you remember this contraption. i called it the wheel of misfortune. Round and round and round it goes, but such is the time of the judges.
Speaker: During the time of the judges, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God. They forgot.
Speaker: They forgot their chosenness. how How could they forget? ah How could they forget how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt? How could they forget that the Lord miraculously fed them in the wilderness for 40 years?
Speaker: How God gave them the victory as they marched around Jericho and blew their trumpets and the walls came tumbling down. They forgot. How's that possible?
Speaker: Here's how. They got too busy. They forgot to teach their children. They forgot to pass on their spiritual faith to the next generation.
Speaker: They did not teach their kids. They didn't send them to middle school camp.
Speaker: They didn't show them what it looks like to live in a relationship with God. um They didn't instill in their children or in their grandchildren a love and devotion to God.
Speaker: See, after that whole generation died off, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. And that there is a scary verse.
Speaker: We must always remember that we are just one generation as Christians from going into extinction. But costly and what a tragic mistake it is when we fail our children.
Speaker: The faith of the next generation matters now. That's what we like to say around here. In fact, we value it. It's one of our values, our core values. We value the next generation. And those who serve the next generation, they don't do it for the pay.
Speaker: They don't do it for the perks. They don't do it for the praise, but they deserve plenty of it. And I'm thinking of Hannah Lang. I'm thinking of Ryan Fendler. I'm thinking of our principal, Joni Smith, and all the the teachers and the staff at Messiah Lutheran School. I'm thinking about those who serve our middle school and high schoolers on Wednesday nights. I'm thinking about all those who wear the orange t-shirt on Sunday mornings.
Speaker: I'm thinking about those who care for the little ones in the nursery. That's heroic stuff there. want to thank them for their faithfulness in serving the next generation so that they may know the goodness of God.
Speaker: If you're here, let me tell you, your good work matters and you matter. want to thank you. For all that you do. 1 Corinthians 15 58 comes to mind. Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Speaker: You are and and incredible blessing. Doing incredibly important work. As you teach. As you serve. As you pass along the faith.
Speaker: How wonderful of God to work through you in this way. It's just wonderful. Let us return to this not so wonderful section of the Bible.
Speaker: ah Listen to this description. During the time of the judges, the world was falling apart. Moral, political corruption, oppression, chaos, and evil reigns.
Speaker: Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, as he saw fit. And you know, a lot of people feel that way about the world we live in today. That's because people have forgotten God.
Speaker: The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. they forgot the Lord their God. but when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer. so the land had peace for 40 years.
Speaker: Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And again, the Israelites cried out and he gave them a deliverer and the land had peace for 80 years.
Speaker: Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hands of their enemy. They cried out for help. Then the land had peace for 40 years.
Speaker: Round and round and round they go. Five words. Sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance, peace.
Speaker: Peace. Let's talk about peace. Peace is a good thing. Except when it's not. You see, peace can be dangerous.
Speaker: Peace can lull you to sleep. Such was the case for the Israelites. In times of peace, they grew spiritually sleepy.
Speaker: Their idleness led them to idleness. They started worshiping other gods, false gods, idols.
Speaker: And if sounds familiar, it's because it still happens today. I don't know why it is, but it is. It is difficult for followers of God to remain focused on him when everything is going right.
Speaker: Sometimes peace and prosperity london and can work against you. I'll tell you what, I think that's exactly why I think ministry in St. Charles is so important.
Speaker: It's what keeps me around anyway. Now, I might be overstating it, and I don't think I am. ah But personally, I think that so spiritually speaking, you and i live in the one of the most dangerous places in America.
Speaker: Spiritually speaking. Because for some reason, when all is going well, more reasonably well, we tend to grow distant from God or ignore God completely, feeling self-sufficient in our temporary happiness.
Speaker: And this is the big temptation for us in St. Charles, forgetting that we need god Like the Israelites, we forget the same God who saves us from our distress wants to walk with us and enjoy a relationship with us at all times, not just when our backs are up against the wall.
Speaker: In the case of the Hebrews, and by the way, you'll see that term Hebrews, Israelites, use back and forth, same group of people. But in in the case of the Hebrews, God will wake them up.
Speaker: In love, God addresses their rebellious idol-worshiping ways by allowing and enemy kingdom to come on in and punish his people and remind them what life is like without the one true God as your God.
Speaker: And eventually, they they get to a point. They just can't take it anymore. They reach utter desperation. They call out to God, will you rescue us? And God responds.
Speaker: with mercy, by sending a judge to free them from their oppressors. Now, don't think of a judge as someone wearing the black robe and holding the gavel and listening to court cases. No, God's judges are warriors.
Speaker: And they wear helmets and they carry the sword. And when a judge's in charge, there's a time of revival. And the Israelites repent and they turn back to God and they live peacefully.
Speaker: which lasts for a while until the judge dies, and then they return to their old rebellious ways and habits. Here we go again. Five words. Sin.
Speaker: Oppression. Repentance. Deliverance. Peace. A perilous pattern. Of the 330 years that make up this time in Israel's history, they spend 111 them in oppression.
Speaker: God will do whatever it takes. He will discipline with tough love in order to break through their stony hearts.
Speaker: How about when their hearts break? They cry out. God is gracious. And his heart breaks too. He always wants his children back.
Speaker: So he will come to their rescue. and In this part of the story, that rescue comes in the form of a judge. And there are several judges.
Speaker: But here's what's interesting is that how each one of them is such an unlikely candidate for the job. ah You look at Samson. Okay, he's a hunk, but he is an incredibly flawed individual.
Speaker: He is not a man ah virtue. or integrity, or even, would say, faith. He is not the kind of guy you would pick or you would think that God would pick to be a judge.
Speaker: Samson is an unlikely hero. ah You look at Ehud. ah He was not someone that you would pick to wield the sword.
Speaker: He is described as having a restricted right hand. That's a nice way to put it. He literally could not use his right hand, which probably meant that he was disabled, that his right hand had somehow been disfigured or crushed, or maybe he was born with a withered right hand.
Speaker: It's just another unlikely hero. You look at Deborah, and personally, I think she is the best one of the whole bunch. Best judge. but She's remarkable. And yet she was probably the most unlikely judge of all because she was.
Speaker: She was a she. She was living in a man's world and women did not hold influence. And at that time, women had no voice. They did not lead nations.
Speaker: Oh, but Deborah sure did. She was raised up by God in a powerful way. She was an unlikely hero, but an amazing leader.
Speaker: Never underestimate the leadership and the influence of a woman. That reminds me of an old story. This one goes back to the days when there was such a person who was known one as a gas station attendant. Some of you might remember this, yeah.
Speaker: I remember this as a boy. my mom never had to get out of the car to get gas. No, she would just pull the old Chrysler Cordoba up to the pump and an attendant was standing there and he would fill the tank up. He would check the oil. He would even get this, clean the windshield. It was a magical time.
Speaker: but Anyway, a long time ago, right, a wealthy CEO of a company was on a road trip with his wife and they They stopped in you know, the gas station somewhere. and the CEO, he gets out of the car.
Speaker: He's going to go inside. He's going to get a candy bar. Fine. But when he comes out, he sees his wife is having an animated conversation with the gas station attendant. And they were both laughing and smiling.
Speaker: And he felt a little awkward as he walked on by. But he didn't say anything. He just got in the car and he He waited. And his wife continued to talk to the man for another few minutes.
Speaker: And finally, she got back in the car, and and they pulled away. and And the husband was, you know, naturally a little uncomfortable about all this. And he finally says, what heck was that guy? And she says, oh, it is the strangest thing. You're not going to believe it.
Speaker: I dated that guy for years. In fact, we were even engaged for a time and long before you. and And well, we you know haven't seen each other since all that took place.
Speaker: But the husband, he didn't know what to think about all that. And he continued to drive on down the road. And finally, he broke the silence kind of with a smug arrogance, you know. And he looked over his wife. He said, well, you ever think about it, you know.
Speaker: If you have married you'd be married to a gas station attendant. And she thought about that for a second and replied, no, honey, you don't get it. Had he married me, he'd be the CEO and you'd be pumping gas.
Speaker: Never underestimate the power of a woman. And Deborah was definitely all that. Let me tell you about one more judge today. And again, we see this trend of the unlikely being used by God in an amazing way. His name was Gideon. And for seven years, Israel is being, they're just struggling ah through a period crisis.
Speaker: Cruel persecution. The Midianites, they are ruthless barbarians who just oppress the Israelites. They come in, they destroy the crops, they you know steal the sheep, they rustle the cattle, that kind of stuff. And and Gideon, his story picks up as he is hiding from the Midianites.
Speaker: He is a farmer by trade. And what he is doing, he is threshing wheat in a wine press. Here's a picture of an ancient wine press. Now, typically, one does not thresh wheat in a wine press. You are supposed to thresh wheat in the open, you know, so the wind can blow away the chaff, that kind of thing.
Speaker: But Gideon, he's a smart guy. He's not going to let the Midianites steal his food. And so he's he's kind of farming undercover, undercover farmer, right? When all of a sudden, the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says something really quite remarkable.
Speaker: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
Speaker: Mighty warrior? Really? That's a stretch. He is a farmer. he is not a warrior. But this this is good stuff. Please get this today. Don't miss this.
Speaker: What the angel of the Lord is doing it is inspiring Gideon to become mighty warrior.
Speaker: He's not a mighty warrior yet, but in the eyes of god always sees in us the best version of ourselves in the future.
Speaker: God speaks profound and inspiring words of hope and courage. God was going to stretch Gideon and equip him to do amazing things, namely save his whole nation by going into battle against the merciless Midianites.
Speaker: The question is,
Speaker: Can Gideon believe it?
Speaker: Gideon is an unlikely hero. He thinks so anyway. He describes himself as the youngest one in his family, ah from the weakest tribe, runt.
Speaker: And Gideon has a very hard time believing that God would really choose him to save Israel. he wonders if he's being punked. He's not going to fall for it. and And so he proposes to God a plan.
Speaker: That's going to prove whether he really is the man that God wants for the job. And Gideon suggests that he lay the fleece of a lamb on the ground overnight.
Speaker: And if the fleece is soaked with dew while the ground around it remains dry, then he will know that, yes, indeed, God has selected him. And sure enough, he gets up the next morning and he goes to retrieve the fleece. And it is so sopping wet that he squeezes out a whole bowl full of water while the ground around it is perfectly bone dry.
Speaker: And you know how Gideon responds? Maybe not how you'd think. He says, well, this has got to be some kind of mistake.
Speaker: Right? Ain't he just like us? You know, this can't be right. And so Gideon proposes to God one more test.
Speaker: ah This time, God, let's reverse it. And the Lord doesn't get angry, does not get impatient, but he actually does what Gideon asks him to do.
Speaker: Amazing. but So Gideon sets the fleece out again. Only this time when he wakes up, he finds the the ground is all soaked while the fleece is fluffy and dry.
Speaker: Now, I don't propose you try this at home. I recall Jesus telling Satan, do not put the Lord your God to the test. But God must have really wanted this guy Gideon for the job.
Speaker: And so Gideon gathers up 32,000 soldiers. And he heads out to meet the Midianites. But then God says, that's too much.
Speaker: You don't need that many. And long story short, God keeps sifting that number down until Gideon has only 300 soldiers left.
Speaker: Now, no one knows for sure the size of the Midianite army, but historians all agree that it was just enormous. The Bible says it was impossible to count them or their camels so great was their number.
Speaker: I read that a conservative estimate would be somewhere about 200,000 soldiers. 200,000 up against Israel's 300. That is a 666 to one ratio.
Speaker: Interesting. Naturally, Gideon is not feeling great about these odds. But recall these five words. but You heard it before.
Speaker: Oh, these are a different set of five words. But these five words make all the difference in the world because these five words come from God.
Speaker: The Lord answered, I will be with you. And you will strike down all the Midianites together.
Speaker: and of course he did. Gideon won because God was with him. God was fighting for his people and he gave them the victory.
Speaker: It is an incredible story and I would encourage you to read it for yourself. Against all odds, God saves his people once again. Well, as mentioned today, we find ourselves in chapter eight of the story, which means that we are about a quarter of the way through.
Speaker: Have you been reading along?
Speaker: Well, here's something that I've picked up on this time around. It's those five simple but powerful words. I will be with you.
Speaker: See, the story is all about ah relationship with God. And so these five words keep popping up. It's astounding to me.
Speaker: They have been said re-said re-said and re-said again. You can check me on this. I will be with you. God says it to Abraham.
Speaker: I will be with you. God said it to Joseph. I will be with you. God said it to Moses. I will be with you. God said it last week to Joshua. I will be with you. Today, he says it to Gideon.
Speaker: I will be with you. God says it to you.
Speaker: five words. I will be with you.
Speaker: I'm going to guess that there might be one or two of you this morning who really need to hear those five words from God because you're going through something.
Speaker: I'm going to take a guess this morning that there might be one or two of you who really need to hold on to those five words.
Speaker: You got to replace them. those other five words that have robbed you of your strength, robbed your story of courage.
Speaker: I don't know if you realize this, but you're in a battle.
Speaker: You have an enemy working against you. He is ruthless. He is merciless.
Speaker: He lied from the beginning to Adam and Eve in the garden, and he lies to you too. Jesus described Satan this way, that he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
Speaker: When he lies, he speaks his native tongue, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Speaker: so I'm going to take a guess that there might be one or two of you or being attacked by the enemy, and you've been listening five-word lies.
Speaker: It's too late for you.
Speaker: You messed up too much.
Speaker: No one will want you.
Speaker: It's never going to happen.
Speaker: You will just fail again.
Speaker: You're never going to change.
Speaker: You will always be alone.
Speaker: You've failed as a parent.
Speaker: God doesn't love you anymore.
Speaker: You are on your own.
Speaker: Listen, mighty warrior.
Speaker: courage. courage Lift up your head because this is what the Lord says. I will be with you.
Speaker: Okay?
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So we've come with our fears, with our failures, and we look around at the world, and we look around at ourselves, and we need help.
Speaker: We need ah rescuer. We need ah deliverer. Someone who is with us. Someone who loves us better than we can love ourselves.
Speaker: Someone who will always take us back. Someone who calls us to something better and more wonderful than we could ever dream up. Someone who offers us hope and a future.
Speaker: What shall we call him? The angel said, call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
Speaker: He's got you.
Speaker: He's got you.
Speaker: After all, you're the reason he came. What did what did he say at the end, at the very end? His parting words, last words, five words.
Speaker: I am with you always. You take that with you and you take it home and you take it to heart.
Speaker: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior, and you are loved. The Lord is with you. is with you in the power of his word.
Speaker: is with you in the presence of his spirit. And very, very soon now, the Lord is with you in a very holy union. The Lord is with you, truly here.
Speaker: His body, even his blood, poured out to forgive you and to give you strength. The Lord is with you. The question is, can you believe
Speaker: Amen. If you'd like to dig a little bit deeper, we have some questions for you to go through at normalgoesalongway.com. These are designed to either complete on your own or with a family member or a friend or community group.
Speaker: As always, thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Normal Goes a Long Way. Come back on Thursday as Miss Hannah and Miss April, they give you this sermon series, but in kids form.
