This is our second study in the
series of this Old Testament book of Judges. Look at verse
1 again with me. The book of Judges gives us the
story of Israel after the death of Joshua. And Israel, as you
well know, is no doubt a picture of spiritual Israel, God's chosen
people. Verse 1, Now after the death
of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked
the Lord, saying, who shall go up for us against the Canaanites
first to fight against them? And the Lord said, Judah shall
go up. Behold, I have delivered the
land into his hand. So immediately here, we see that
the book of Judges gives us a picture A picture beforehand looked at
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The children of Israel
having lost their beloved leader Joshua, who pictured Christ,
are lost and without any direction. Without Christ, that's what we
are. We're lost without direction. So they asked the Lord, who shall
go up and fight for us? So God raises up Judah, who also
pictures and typifies the Lord Jesus, who's from the very tribe
from which Christ came. And the Lord said, Judah shall
go up. And then he says these words, behold, I have delivered
the land into his hand. Now that, friends, is the gospel. Such an important fact concerning
our deliverance. It has nothing to do with something
that we do. It has everything to do with
what Christ, our Judah, has done for us. God says, behold, I have
delivered. That's a very important truth
in the Scriptures. Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and
He spake unto them saying, all power, is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. Our Lord speaking of Himself
in the third person in John chapter 17 verse 2 said, As thou hast
given Him, speaking of Himself, power over all flesh, that He
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. It's He that gives eternal life.
It's God who gives this power of deliverance and this power
of deliverance is given in Jesus Christ. The Lord told Pilate,
In John 19, verse 11, thou couldest have no power at all against
me, except it were given unto thee from above. It's God who
gives the power. Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1, verses
3 and 4, according as His divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge
of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. whereby are
given unto us exceeding and great precious promises, that by these
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust." So straightway
we see this glorious truth in the book of Judges. The Lord
says, behold. That's what we do in preaching,
behold. Look to the Lamb of God. Behold, I have delivered the
land and the enemy into Judah's hand, picturing Christ in his
hand." This is why Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the Gospel. It was by the death of Christ,
Christ being crucified, that chosen sinners are delivered. The first thing that we see in
Jesus Christ being crucified is it was man's will that he
should be crucified. Men like to brag on their will.
They like to talk about their will. They like to talk about
how they've cooperated with God to save themselves. But it was
an old custom during the feast for the governor to pardon a
single prisoner named by the crowd. And while Pilate asked
the Jews, or when Pilate asked the Jews, which of the two should
be released? Barabbas, who is said to be a
notable prisoner, or Christ, the sinless Son of God and God
the Son. You remember what they said?
Barabbas. Barabbas. We choose Barabbas. And then Pilate said unto them,
what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? and they
all said unto him, let him, Christ, be crucified. My, my. And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required, and he released unto them Barabbas,
who for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they desired,
and then it says this, but he delivered Jesus to their will. with the crucifixion of the Lord
Jesus, we see that Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and Christ. These
are fundamental doctrines, but so important to understanding
this wondrous teaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which
is the Gospel. Acts 2.36, Therefore let all
the house of Israel know assuredly, this is something that you can
be assured of, that God hath made that same Jesus whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst
of you, as ye yourselves also know Him, being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain." You want to see something
of man's will by nature? There you go. Acts 4, 11 and
12. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Oh, that's the best news
this sinner ever heard. And it is good news for sinners.
And then the third thing about Jesus Christ and Him being crucified
that the believer rejoices in is the fact that only Christ
can save you. It's God who gives the increase.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1, now this I say, that every one
of you say, I am a Paul, and I have Apollos, and I have Cephas,
and I have Christ. Oh, I like the way Paul preaches.
Don't you like the way Paul preaches? Oh, I like the way Peter preaches.
Well, I personally like the way the Lord preached. And Paul asked
this question, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or
were you baptized in the name of Paul? Can another sinner save
you? Can you save yourself? For while
one saith, I am a Paul, and another, I am a Paulist. Are you not carnal? Aren't you not fleshly minded? Who then is Paul? And who is
a Paulist, but ministers by whom you believe? Don't ever put a
preacher on pedestal. They'll let you down. They'll
let you down. Paul goes on to say, I have planted. That's what a preacher does.
Apollos has watered. That's what preachers do. But
God gave the increase. Salvation is of the Lord. Never
forget that. Fourthly, the preaching of Christ
and Him crucified is foolishness to this world. But it's the power
of God unto the believer. And the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. For the Jews require sign, and
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we, we, the believer, we
preach Christ crucified unto the Jews as a stumbling block.
And unto the Greeks it's foolishness. But unto them which are called,
called by His mercy and by His grace, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. And then fifthly,
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified is the only message
that saves sinners. But why would we want to hear
another message? I had a man tell me one time
that he enjoyed my preaching, but that he thought I needed
to go into the deeper things of God. What could be deeper
than God becoming a man? Taking my sin upon Himself? Dying the cruel death of the
cross as a criminal? So that I might live. Is there
anything deeper or more profound than that? That's why Paul called
this the testimony of God, that being the gospel message. He
said, for I determined not to know anything among you save
or except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Beloved Christ and
Him crucified is the only way any sinner can be saved. God
created man in His own image. God gave man, He gave Adam dominion
over all things. Adam was the only man other than
the Lord Jesus Christ who had a free will and a free choice. Adam was under a covenant of
works and in order for him to live forever, he must be obedient
unto God. And he was free to partake of
each and every fruit or tree in Eden's garden except one. Except one. Genesis 2-9, and
the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul. And the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He
put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the
Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and
good for food. The tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. And God said, that tree is mine. That's my tree. It belongs to
me alone. But Adam chose his wife over
God. Adam disobeyed God and Adam died
as God said he would. He died spiritually. God said,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die. Now, what does all this have
to do with you and me? Well, Adam was the federal head
and the representative of all mankind. And when Adam disobeyed
God, he died, as I just said, he died spiritually, and every
man and woman, born of woman, died in him and with him. Spiritually
dead we are by nature. Mankind, men and women alike,
lost eternal life and they lost their free will. So you can talk
about your free will all you like, but you're just revealing
your ignorance of the Scriptures. Mankind's will was now in bondage
to their nature. Man no longer had a choice in
doing good or evil. The Scriptures ask, how can one
who is accustomed to doing evil do good? And men and women by
nature love darkness rather than light. So how is life restored
to any fallen man or woman? Only one way, Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Some will say, preacher, that's
just more of the same. Well, yes it is, because faith
comes by hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and
hearing the Word of God. God had to become a man in order
to redeem fallen men. God had to fulfill his own holy
law. Christ, the God-man, had to satisfy
God's holy justice. Christ paid the wages of sin,
which was death. And in 1 Corinthians 15, 22,
Paul wrote, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. That's speaking of all who believe.
And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul,
and the last Adam, Jesus Christ, was made a quickening, life-giving
spirit. This is why Jesus Christ and
Him crucified is the gospel of good news. So what does Judges
chapter one have to do with all that? Well, I'm glad you asked. As you well know, the Old Testament
Scriptures provide us with beautiful pictures and types of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But they also expose the counterfeits
of the Lord of glory and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have such a counterfeit
in this king that we are going to look at tonight. His name
is Adonai Bezek. And that is the title of my message,
I Counterfeit Christ. Okay, Judges chapter 1, look
at verse 4. Verse 4, And Judah went up, and
the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their
hand, and they slew of them and Bezek ten thousand men. And they found Adonai Bezek in
Bezek and they fought against him and they slew the Canaanites
and the Perizzites. But Adonai Bezek fled and they
pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and
his great toes. And Adonai Bezek said, three
score and 10 kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut
off, gathered their meat under my table, as I have done, so
God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem,
and there he died." Now it was common practice in the Middle
East and also among the Greeks and the Romans to sever the hands
and feet of their enemy. And it was the case, and this
was the case with the thumbs and the great toes of Adonai
Bezek. And these actions serve not only
to humiliate the enemy, but also to remove the ability of the
enemy to fight. Without thumbs, they couldn't
throw a spear. They couldn't draw a bow and they couldn't
run into battle or run away from battle. This method also made
the enemy subservient and totally dependent upon their captor.
And in these verses, we see the gospel in a couple of ways. First, as we've already discussed,
the source of victory and deliverance for the child of God is always
the Lord. According to verse four, it was
the Lord that delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into Judah's
hand and slew 10,000 men. You know, I was thinking about
that today. I looked it up. Census in 2021
shows the population of Madisonville, 19,000 plus people. That was
10,000 people. That's half the population of
the city of Madisonville. And then the second application
to the gospel is the capture and disarming of this king Adonai
Bezek. And what a picture this is to
the conquering of our soul by the Lord Jesus Christ. As we've
already mentioned, we're born in sin. We're born as enemies
of God. Men think that they're something
when in reality, they're nothing. Every man and woman by nature
believes themselves to be lords of their own domain. And this
is what the Lord said about us. He said, Thou thoughtest that
I, the Lord, was altogether such a one as Yourself. I will reprove thee. I'll set
the record straight. You're nothing like me. Nothing
like me. Salvation, friends, is being
overcome. Salvation is being apprehended. The fact that we're captured
shows us that we're not what we think we are. We have no ability
to resist the Spirit of God and flee from God as Adonai Bezak
did. Our Judah will always prevail. Always. All that the Father gives
to Christ shall come to Him. John 6, 37. Paul said, brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended. Paul knew that it was Christ
who had apprehended him. And every child of God knows
that. Listen, I know if not for the mercy and grace of God and
Him setting His affection upon me and affectionately drawing
me to Him, I would have never come. I would have never come,
but he drew me with the cords of love, and by his grace, his
word is always effectual to his people." Paul knew that it was
Christ that knocked him off his high horse into the dust, and
every believer knows the same thing. Now we see from our text
that Adonai Bezek is a counterfeit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
whenever you have the real thing, I remember years ago, Coke had
a commercial. Coke, the real thing. Well, they're
wrong. They're wrong. Jesus Christ is
the real thing. And when you have the real thing,
you always have counterfeits. What is a counterfeit? A fraudulent
imitation of something real and this is seen even in the name
of Adonai B'zeh. His name means Lord of lightning
or Lord of light. But He's nothing more than a
counterfeit of the true Lord of light and lightning, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ alone is the Lord of light. Our Lord Himself said, except
those days of great tribulation be shortened for the elect's
sake, if it were possible that even the elect would be deceived. But it's not possible. It's not
possible to deceive the elect of God. Christ said, if any man
shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe
and not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets,
and shall show great signs and wonders. And many will be taken
away by them while we see it today. but not the child of God, no. God has given us divine discernment
on such things. Also, I would bring to your attention
that Adonai Bezak's name signifies a flash of lightning. A flash
is something just appears for a moment and it's gone. You've
heard the saying, a flash in the pan, just a flash in the
pan. That speaks of a thing or a person
whose sudden but brief success is very short-lived. The Lord
Jesus said in Luke chapter 10, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven. You see, all pretenders and counterfeits
of Christ will be made short work of. We also see some indication
here that Adonai Bezek was a counterfeit priest. I found this very interesting. The fact that Judah cut off his
thumbs and his large toes are very significant. Let me show
you that. Hold your place here and look
back at Exodus chapter 29 with me. Exodus chapter 29, verse
20. A counterfeit Lord and a counterfeit
priest. Exodus 29 and verse 20, when the priest of God was consecrated
with blood, we see here in verse 20, then shalt thou kill the
ram and take of his blood and put it, the blood, upon the tip
of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear
of his sons, and look at this, and upon the thumb of their right
hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot. and sprinkle
the blood upon the altar round about. You see, by Judah removing
the thumb and the great toe of Adonai Bezak, this false lord,
this false priest was proven to be a counterfeit of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our great lord and great high priest. Did you
notice Adonai Bezak's confession there in verse seven? He owned
and admitted that this dismembering that he suffered was what he
deserved. This was a just and righteous
judgment against him. He said, and if I may paraphrase
a bit, he said, I myself have cut off the thumbs and the great
toes of 70 kings, and I have made them like dogs who eat the
crumbs from my table. And as I have done, so God hath
requited or requitted, I don't know how that's said. It means
recompensed or paid me back. Now I don't know for sure, but
maybe at that moment God Almighty saw it fit to give Adonai Bezak
a sense of his sin. and show him something of the
holy justice of what he deserved? But I do know this, it's for
certain that every lost man and woman who stands before the great
judge on the day of judgment will be made to see and made
to confess that they're only receiving what they deserve.
I've heard the occasional reader of the Old Testament say things
like, boy, it's a bloody book. And I suppose that verses like
6 and 7 here are one of the many reasons. But folks have no understanding
as to why the Bible is seen as a bloody book. They are looking
to blame God of being unjust, but they don't understand what
the law of God requires and demands. What does it require and demand?
An eye for an eye? and a tooth for a tooth. You
see, it's a just and right recompense. God's law declares that one who
took the life of another should lose their life. And whatsoever
a man sown, he must also reap. God was bloody only because man
was bloody. Man was only reaping what he
had sown. And another way that this king
proves to be a counterfeit is that he treated his captured
foes for the purpose of shaming and humiliating them. To him,
they were nothing but sport. Very often, defeated foes would
be made a spectacle at feasts and at banquets by the king who
had captured them for the entertainment and amusement of those who attended.
And our Lord That proves him to be a counterfeit. Our Lord
no doubt humbles his elect people, but not for the purpose of shaming
them, not for the purpose of sport, for speculation, or for
entertainment and amusement, but for the purpose of chastening
them. Deuteronomy 8.5 says this, Thou
shalt also consider in thine heart that As a man chasteneth
his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. God's chastening
of His sons and daughters is not done in wrath, it's done
in love. This is why chastening, this is why correcting should
be patiently endured, especially when it's God who does it. The
hand from which this chastening comes and the manner that it
comes What end and purpose had come should be thankfully received. Oh, I wish we could realize that. When trouble comes our way, that
we might recognize it as the chastening and the correction
of the Lord. Proverbs 13, 24 says, he that
spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteth
him. The father who withholds and
withdraws his rod of correction, his discipline, may be said to
hate the child from whom it's withdrawn. It means that the
father doesn't love them enough to teach them. He that corrects
his children is one who loves them. I've told you this many
times. I often got a spanking. My mother
was the disciplinary one of my parents. And she was a tough
woman. And often times as she'd beat
me with the belt, she'd say, I'm only doing this because I
love you. I understand that now. I think I understand it. That's
why we're told in Hebrews chapter 12, for whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth. He corrects. And he scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. And not all men and women are
the objects of God's love. You know, we see those who have
no interest in the Gospel, no love for Christ. Seems like everything
goes well for them. There you go. Only those whom
the Lord has chosen in Christ only those whom He calls by grace,
only those that He justifies and pardons and accepts, He causes
them to love Him. And because He loves them, He
chastens them, and He scourges them whom He receives. And the
Scriptures say if you endure chastening, God dealeth with
you as with sons, for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth
not? But if you be without chastisement,
then you are bastards and not sons." Oh, the child of God who's
corrected doesn't ask, why me, Lord? No, they rejoice that it's
them. knowing that God deals with them
as with sons and with daughters. So the next time trouble comes
your way, may God enable us to recognize whose hand it's from
and why it's sent to us. Are you trusting in the Christ
of the Bible? Or is your Savior a counterfeit? Paul wrote to the church at Corinth
and he said, I'm jealous over you with a godly jealousy. He said, I've espoused you to
one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin unto Christ. But I fear, I fear as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety, that your minds have also been
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Many who've
heard the Gospel message have said things like, it can't be
that simple. It just can't be that simple.
There's got to be something that I must do in order to be saved. It can't be just as simple that
God took my sin upon Himself. Well, that wasn't a simple thing.
But the message is simple. He that knew no sin was made
to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. That's not a hard message. Impossible
to believe without divine intervention. But it's a simple message. Salvation is of the Lord, and
salvation is in the Lord. Paul continued, and he explained,
He that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if you receive another spirit which you have not received,
or accept another gospel which you have not accepted, in other
words, if you can find one to save you to the uttermost like
Christ can, you might well bear with Him. In other words, you
might consider following that preaching, receiving, accepting
this other Jesus, this other Gospel, this other Spirit. If
you can find one that is more profitable to you than Christ. But you never will. You never
will. And I don't have any reluctance
tonight in telling you from my heart why neither is there salvation
in any other than Jesus Christ because there is none of a name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. For there's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself
a ransom. He gave Himself as the ransom.
He gave to Himself, and He gave Himself as the ransom. The church
at Galatia, the apostles said, I marvel, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from Him that called you in the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ unto another gospel which is not another.
What then is the result of such a gospel message which is not
a gospel message at all? Paul said, there'll be some that
trouble you. There'll be some that trouble
you. The true gospel, the true Christ will comfort you, not
trouble you. The true gospel is just that,
good news for sinners. The other gospel, the counterfeit
gospel, only perverts the gospel of Christ. It only alters, it
only changes, it only distorts and corrupts the glorious gospel
of Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's the message of substitution.
Christ being put to death in the room instead of the chosen
sinner who deserved that horrid death of crucifixion. Mercy is
God not giving us what we deserve. And grace is God giving us what
we don't deserve. I don't want what I deserve. what I don't deserve, and that's
grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus under good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Now let me ask you in closing,
have you ever heard any better news than that? It's not what
I do, it's what He did for me. It's by grace. Through believing. And even the grace and the faith
is His gift to us. Not by anything that we do. And
that's why it's called the Gospel. And there is no other. Only counterfeits. May God enable us to continue
to believe the Gospel. of Thee, Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one Gospel. And
there's only one Christ. There's only one Savior. There's
only one Mediator between God and man. There's only one Spirit. Only one God. Oh my, this is
such a simple message, isn't it? I was horrible in math in
school, but I do know one. And Christ is the one. May God
enable us. to believe him as we all.