Turn with me again tonight to
Judges chapter 10. Judges chapter 10. We'll look
at a few verses in chapter nine. According to the gospel of John
chapter 20, verse 30 and 31, it reads, and many other signs
truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book, In another place, as you know, it said if
all the things that our Lord did were written down, this world
couldn't contain the books that they'd be written in. But in
verse 31 of John 20, it says, but these are written, everything
in this book is written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through His name. Everything written in this book,
the Word of God, God's Holy Word, were written for one reason,
according to that verse, and that is that you and I might
believe that Jesus is the Christ. He's the Son of God, He's the
Messiah. The Son of God, and that believing
we might have life, eternal life, everlasting life through His
name. Now, I have you notice the first
three words in Judges chapter 10, it begins this way, and after
Abimelech, we've looked at Abimelech the last couple of studies. And here we see that the exact
thing that Jotham, Jehovah is perfect, remember, that's what
his name means, prophesied in the parable of the trees come
to pass. Look back at chapter nine, verse
22. It says, when Abimelech had reigned
three years over Israel, then God sent an evil spirit between
Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt
treacherously with Abimelech, that the cruelty done to the
three score and 10 sons of Jerubabel, Gideon, 70 sons, might come and
their blood be laid upon Abimelech, their brother, which slew them.
and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing
of his brethren." Now look down at verse 50 there in chapter
nine. Then went Abimelech to Thebes
and encamped against Thebes and took it. But there was a strong
tower within the city. And Thither fled all the men
and women and all they of the city and shut it up to them and
get them up to the top of the tower. And Abimelech came unto
the tower and fought against it and went hard unto the door
of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast
a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head and all to break his skull. Then he called hastily unto the
young man, his armor bearer, and said unto him, draw thy sword
and slay me. that men say not of me, a woman
slew him, and his young man thrust him through, and he died." Now
many say that Abimelech took the sword himself, and I don't
doubt that. And you know, it was considered
to be a great disgrace to be killed by a woman, so rather
than be remembered that way, Abimelech either killed himself
or had his armor bearer kill him. And verse 55 says, and when
the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every
man unto his place. And thus God rendered the wickedness
of Abimelech, which he did unto his father and slain his 70 brethren. And all the evil of the men of
Shechem did God render upon their heads. And upon them came the
curse of Jotham. the son of Jerubbabel. Now the
curse of Jotham is found there in verse 20 of chapter nine. Let fire come out from Abimelech. Remember that in the parable
of the trees? And devour the men of Shechem and the house
of Melo. And let fire come out from the
men of Shechem and from the house of Melo and devour Abimelech. What a picture we have here of
God's church. The name of the city Thebes means
conspicuous, which means clearly seen. We clearly see how the
Lord always delivers what he promises in his word. Always. You sin, your sin will find you
out. Whatsoever a man sows, he shall reap. God's word teaches
that. And the name Thebes comes also
from an ancient root word that means fine linen bleached white. The children of God, his church,
his bride reside in Christ who has made unto them the very righteousness
of God. In the Lord Jesus, deeper than
the stain is gone. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the
chosen sinner is whiter than snow. Revelation chapter seven, verse
14 tells us that in Christ, the church, which came out of a great
tribulation, has washed their robes, righteousness, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. And the way that reads,
that's something that the church, the child of God did. You see,
our union is such in Christ that His perfect work of righteousness
that's imputed to us Makes His work ours. How close is our union with Christ? Oh, you can't separate it. It's
one in the same. And these things were written
that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing we might have life. When Abimelech attacked
the people of Thebes, they took refuge in a strong tower. Christ
is our refuge. He's our strong tower. David
said in Psalm 61 verse three, for thou has been a shelter for
me and a strong tower from the enemy. What a strong tower we
have in our Lord and Savior. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 18,
10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous runneth
into it and is saved. We run to Christ when we're in
trouble. We run to Christ all the time. The Lord is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer, my God, my strength and whom I trust, my
buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower, Psalm 18,
two. David said in Psalm 144, verse
two, the Lord is my goodness and my fortress. my high tower,
and my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I trust, who subdueth
my people under me." He's everything. Christ is everything, everything
to the believer. And I'd have you to take notice
that the demise of Abimelech was brought about by a certain
woman. That certain woman pictures and
represents the church. She represents the bride of Christ,
the elect who's made one with him. And she's always victorious,
always successful, forever conquering with her heavenly husband, Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory. What was her weapon? We read
a millstone, a rock, a stone. Christ is that rock. Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Isaiah 28, 16. He's a stumbling,
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. First Peter 2, 8. And whosoever
shall offend one of these little ones, our Lord said, that believe
in me, it's better for him that a millstone were hanged around
his neck and he were cast into the sea, Mark 9, 42. And listen
to these words from the gospel according to Mark chapter 21,
verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, did you
never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected? The same has become the head
of the corner. And this is the Lord's doing.
And it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof. Speaking of the Gentiles. And
whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder." Yes, this stone, dear friends,
pictures Christ. This stone is the gospel. This stone is Christ and Him
crucified. That rock always hits its mark,
every time. It landed exactly where God directed
it. It landed on a Bimelech and crushed
his head, according to verse 53 in chapter nine. Now the question
is, will sinners fall on Christ and be broken? Or will a solid
rock fall on you and you be crushed? It's one of the two. We hear
men today preach a message of love. There's no doubt about
it, that the love of God is in Christ, but God is a holy God. God is a God of justice. He'll
by no means clear the guilty. You'll either come to Christ
and bow to Him and confess Him with your tongue, believe on
Him in your heart, or you'll be crushed and broken. In Genesis
3.15, speaking of Christ, God said, and I'll put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. The prophet
Habakkuk, speaking of Christ, said, thou winnest forth for
the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine
anointed, thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked
by discovering the foundation unto the neck. And Paul said
in Romans chapter 16, verse 20, and the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. What a picture this is,
of Satan's head being crushed, our enemy being crushed, and
the bride being victorious in her bridegroom. Now, Judges chapter
10, again, verse one. And after Abimelech, there arose
to defend Israel, Tolah. Now, I know these names are difficult.
I'll be honest with you, I cheat. I get on the computer and there's
a guy there that pronounces these words for me. I try to sound
them out. So it's Tula, the best I can tell. And if you have a
marginal Bible, the word defend here in verse one means to deliver. It means to save. And after Abimelech,
there arose to defend, to save, to deliver. a man, a judge by
the name of Tola. The word deliver means to open
or to set free. And in these verses, we're told
about two judges who arose to save and deliver Israel. And
Paul wrote, all Israel shall be saved. There shall come out
of Sion a Deliverer, and it's a capital D there. We know who
that Deliverer is. It's Christ our Lord. And that's
what all the judges did. They arose to save Israel. Othanel,
Ehud, Shangar, Deborah, and Barak, Gideon, And that's what Christ,
our great judge and deliverer did. He arose to save all Israel,
all true Israel, all His people. And you know what? Not a one
will be lost, not a single one. We need to put our trust in Him.
All who do, not one will be lost. Now the word arose and arise
means to come forth. This pictures Christ's resurrection,
which proved his successful finished work. His resurrection is the
evidence of his putting away our sin by the sacrifice of himself,
but it's the proof that God accepted his finished work. If God hadn't
accepted Christ's finished work, he would have never rose from
the dead. He'd still be paying our sin debt. But God's satisfied. The work's finished and God is
satisfied. And Christ rose from the dead.
It's the evidence that our sin is forgiven. Why are these things
written? that you and I might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
we might have life through His name. Matthew 121, thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall, not might, not maybe, but He
shall save His people from their sin. Yet every believer is said
to labor to enter into rest. Now that seems like a oxymoron
or whatever. How do you labor to enter into
rest? Or why do we? Because we're always
looking for something more. What must I do to be saved? Well,
that can't be all, just rest. Just believe and rest. That's
it, that's it. And nothing more, Christ is all
and in all. And that means what it says,
he's all. He's all that God requires. And that's what I'm endeavoring
to preach. We preach and deliver the things that we receive, Paul
said. How that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. And that he was buried and that
he arose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And again, verse one, and after
Abimelech, there arose to defend Israel, Tolal, the son of Puol,
the son of Dodo. I know these names or something.
A man of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephron. And
he judged Israel 20 and three years and died. and was buried
in Shemar. And after him rose Jair, a Gileadite,
and judged Israel 20 and two years." Now, we're not given
any history here of these two judges who judged Israel for
about 45 years. All the other judges, we have
some history given. But again, we know that these
things were written that we might believe on Christ and have life. And since no history is given,
since there's no stories of their accomplishments as judges, we
must look to their names to see the Lord Jesus. Tola means worm. Not just any worm. but a scarlet
crimson worm. We discussed that before in a
previous study. Tola's name speaks to the condescension
that the Lord Jesus made. Christ condescended to be identified
with worms like you and I. Let me put that in its proper
text, maggots like us. He made himself of no reputation.
He did so in order to be a suffering substitute. God manifests in
the flesh. He became a worm for us. Substitution. Brother Gene preached
on that not long ago. A scarlet crimson worm. You might remember from that
study we did before, when ready to give birth, would climb up
a tree, always a tree, and attaches itself to the bark and covers
herself with a shell. And she would then give birth
to her eggs, larvae, upon her, under her, to protect her. An
amazing thing, really. And her larva or larvae would
feed upon her and she'd turn a crimson red, leaving a permanent
red stain on the bark of that tree. And the larvae would then
start its own life cycle, but she herself would die. These
crimson worms were used to make red and crimson dye that they
used in dyeing their clothes. But what a picture this is of
Christ, dying on a tree, shedding his precious blood that he might
bring many sons and daughters unto glory. I love what Isaiah
wrote in Isaiah 1 verse 18. Come now and let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Now I want you to hold your place
here in the judges, if you would, and turn with me to Isaiah chapter
63. Just want you to see this in
your own Bible. Judges chapter 63, verse one. Give you a moment to get there. Isaiah 63, verse one. It reads, who is this that cometh
from Edom? Now that word Edom or that name
Edom means red. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
It's I, speaking of Christ, that speak in righteousness mighty
to say. Verse two, wherefore art thou
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the wine vat? You see, friends, it was through
the Lord's bloody sufferings. It was through the scourges that
he received. It was by the crown of thorns
that he wore. It was by the piercing of his
hands and his feet and his side with the nails and the spear. But here it appears that his
garments are not red with his own blood, but the blood of his
enemies. Look at verse three. The Lord
says, I've trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there
was none with me, for I will tread them in mine anger and
trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. You see, a sinner will either
be covered and forgiven by the blood of Christ, or Christ as
judge will tread them in anger and trample them in fury, and
it'll be their blood that is shed, and the shedding of their
blood will only condemn them forever. If I am sent to hell,
not trusting in Christ, my suffering in hell will never pay for one
sin that I've committed, not one. And that's what Tola means,
the scarlet blood of Christ covering. What a delightful thought. Some
say, well, you sure, the Old Testament's a bloody book. Listen,
a child of God learns to love the blood, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I was thinking that when
we name our children, we give some thought, you know, to what
their names mean, but nothing like Israel did. The names of
scripture mean a great deal. In Tola, in Tola we see that
Christ, what Christ became in order to save sinners, worms
and maggots like we are. And I think about what Paul wrote
in Romans eight for what the law could not do and that it
was weak through the flesh and that being our flesh, God sending
his own son and the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned
sin in the flesh. When our Lord came into the world,
He attached Himself to a tree and He shed His precious crimson
blood to give birth to His church by the sacrificial death of Himself. And what a picture that crimson
worm gives us of that. Now, back in Judges chapter 10,
verse one again, We're given the genealogy of Tola. And again, these things are written
that we might see and learn of Christ. I hope that we can always
keep that in mind when we study the scripture, especially the
Old Testament. These things were written for
our learning, and they were written that we might see Christ, believe
on him, trust in him, and have life in him. We're not just studying
the Old Testament so we can say we've studied the Old Testament.
We study it because of this reason, that it shows us Christ and shows
us life in Him. Now, the genealogy of Tola. He's the son of Pua, whose name
means splendid. The word splendid gives reference
to distinguishing and shining. God has commanded the light of
his glorious gospel to shine forth, shine forth in our hearts
to reveal the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This glorious lineage
goes yet further. Tula's grandfather is named Dodo. Now, I think if my parents named
me Dodo, I might be a little upset, but his name means beloved. And my name is David. So I guess
in one sense of the way, which means beloved. So I guess in
one sense, I'm Dodo David. But this too speaks of Christ,
God's beloved son in whom he is Well-pleased, not just pleased,
but well-pleased, satisfied. And Tola and Puol and Dodo show
us something of Christ. The believer, God's elect are
saved because of the beloved Savior, the splendid one. the shining and distinguishing
Lord of glory. God's children are distinguished
because God has shined in their hearts. That's the only difference. That's the only difference between
us and the lost. The only difference between the
sane and the infidel is that God has shined in our hearts
the glorious light of the gospel. And He's made us accepted in
the Beloved. What a distinguished people we
are in Christ the Beloved. Now, in verse 3, we're told that
after Him arose Jair, a Gediadite, and he judged Israel for twenty
and two years. And interesting enough, his name
means he enlightens. Christ alone is the light of
the world. It's He who reveals the Father. It's He who enlightens
blind sinners. It's He that shows us our sin.
It's He that shows us our need of Christ. Verse four says that
He had 30 sons. Jesus Christ is the everlasting
Father. A Savior, as Savior, He has brought
many sons to glory. John 1.12 says, as many as received
him, gave he the power. And that word power means privilege. Yeah, what a privilege it is. He gave the power, the privilege
to become what? The sons of God. Jire's sons
represent the elect of God, the priesthood, the church. You say,
well, how so? Well, we're told here that they
rode upon 30 ascots. Now, in Old Testament times,
for the most part, people walked. And riding an ascot was a mark
of nobility and honor, prestige, like princes. These sons had
30 cities, you see that? Each one had a city of their
own. These cities were called Habath Jire, meaning the cities
of Jire. So we see immediately that their
honor and their nobility was derived by virtue of their father. Undoubtedly, he had given them
these cities. Their connection with their father
was the singular source of their honor. Does that not sound familiar? You and I who are nobody. We
have nothing. We are nothing. But we're made
somebody by virtue of our union with Christ. Speaking of the
elect of God, like that infant, those infants that was thrown
out into that bloody field, polluted in their own blood. where they're described in Ezekiel
chapter 16 verse 14 as renowned. People of distinction and notability. Those who went forth among the
heathen for their beauty. Bloody infant, umbilical cord
not been cut. Not until the Lord made them
his and spread his skirt of righteousness over and made them beautiful."
We're made beautiful in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were made
perfect through the comeliness which Christ had put on them,
we're told. And it's unto them that Paul
said, you've been made partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. These sons had what they had
because of their father. And friends, we have what we
have because of our father. And I'm not talking about material
things. I'm talking about a perfect and
holy righteousness in which we can stand before God and not
be ashamed. My, my. This picture's the elect
of God who's whom God has made unto them kings and priests,
and they shall reign on the earth only by virtue and connection
with our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't
have any honor or notability apart from our connection with
Christ. One last thing mentioned to these two judges, it's said
of them, as we said in the beginning, that they arose. In verse one,
Tula arose to save. In verse three, Jair arose to
judge or deliver, and that also means to save. Christ arose from
the grave to prove our acceptance in, by, and through him. Verse
five says that Jair was buried in Caman, and that word Caman
means raised or risen. The Scriptures are amazing. There's just so many layers to
Scripture. You know, we could move on to
other things, come back to this same chapter further down the
road and maybe see more. It's just so layered. The Word
of God cannot be exhausted. It's eternal. It's spiritual. Now, though there's no history
given of these two judges, these men are a picture of the shining,
beloved Christ who was made a worm for his church. The Lord, by
his death, saved his elect. He bore the burden of their sin,
and he died, and he rose again from the grave. He enlightened
everyone that he died for. He made them kings and priests,
making them honorable in Himself. There's no doubt that history
is His story. No doubt about it. Everything
that has transpired throughout all time has been at the hand
of a sovereign God, and it's all to picture Christ and what
He's done for His people. God made Him who knew no sin,
Sin for us, if we might be made what? The righteousness of God
in Him. All our problems, all of them,
in this world, are a result of our sin and a result of our shame. Now here's the question. Like our first parents, are we
going to look for someone else to blame? Adam said, the woman
you gave me, she gave me to eat. Eve said, the serpent you put
here deceived me. This fallen world blames God
for their problems. Can you do something yourself
to fix your sin, to remove your shame? No, sure can't. There's many who think they can.
All we can do, friends, is to throw ourselves at the feet of
Christ, confess our sins, and plead for mercy and grace from
the one who loved us and gave himself for us. And he is faithful
and just to forgive us of all our sin when we do. Faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to what? Cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. How? By His blood, by His shed
blood. Paul wrote in Romans 8 and 1,
I love the verse, I know you do too. There is therefore now
no condemnation. None. Not a little bit, none. No condemnation to the whole
world, no. To them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. I was thinking
about that today. What is it to walk in the flesh?
Well, it's to blame someone else for our sin. And ultimately,
that's God. It is to work our own way out
of our sin. That's what this world, religious
world teaches. Turn right and go straight, that's
the way to heaven. But I can't turn right, I can't
go straight. That's what it is to walk after
the flesh. Well then what is it to walk
after the spirit? It's to look to Christ, your
crimson one. The one who took your place on
the tree and shed His scarlet blood and died so that you might
live. Oh, may God enable us to look
to Christ in faith, to look to Him in believing. It's He who's
made us free from the curse of the law. How? By being made a
curse for us. Not by doing something ourselves
to be saved. He was made a curse, for cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. You know, there's no liberty,
there's no freedom in works of righteousness that we've done.
Why is that? Because we can't do a work of
righteousness. All our work is what? Filthy
rags. We can't do a single righteous
thing. And to do so, Paul said, Christ
shall profit you nothing. For you're a debtor to do the
whole law, and we can't do the whole law, and we can't do any
of the law perfectly, and it's gotta be perfect to be accepted.
So again, we're shut up to Christ. There's nowhere else to go. Will
you lead me also? The Lord told his disciples,
they said, where else will we go? And where else would we go? There is no place else to go. You're debted to do the whole
law, and if you don't, Christ has become of no effect unto
you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, by doing, you have fallen from grace. Christ is
our tula, tola. He's our substitute. He's our
deliverer. He's our savior. He's our sacrifice. When I stand before God, I'm
not gonna offer Him my heart. God don't want this thing. I'm
gonna offer up His Son. Lord, I plead the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ that He died in my room instead. He shed His
blood and washed me, the sinner that I am, whiter than snow. My sins were scarlet. They were
like crimson, but now whiter than snow. We're worms by birth. Christ became one that he might
redeem us. Isn't that amazing? That God
would leave his stone on high and come for sinful man to die?
Many counted strange. Once did I, before I knew my
Savior. So without controversy, people
say, well, that's a controversial message. No, it's not. No, it's
not. It's controversial to those that
don't believe it. It's controversial to those that
hate it. But it's not controversial to the child of God. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, and received up under glory." Friends, these things
were written that you and I might believe. that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life, eternal
life, everlasting life, a life that never ends through His name. Well, may God be pleased to make
it so for His glory, our eternal good, and for Christ's name's
sake. Amen.