Before turning with me to Judges
chapter 3 tonight, I want you to look at Psalm 107, please.
Psalm 107. In verse one, we read, oh, give
thanks unto the Lord for he's good and his mercy endureth forever. We just read Psalm 136, all 26
verses say the Lord's mercy endures forever. In these Old Testament
studies that we've done over the past 10 years, I think we've
seen that, haven't we? We've seen just how good and
merciful the Lord is to his people. And because of that, the psalmist
says here in verse two, let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. And that's
what we preach. We preach the goodness and the
mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the redeemed rejoice
in, the goodness and the mercy of God. They both endure forever. Don't have to worry about losing
my salvation because I didn't do anything to earn it or deserve
it. I can't do anything to lose it
because it's in Christ who did it for me. And therefore I'm
secure forever. Once saved, always saved. Oh,
you can't say that. Oh yes I can. That's what this
book teaches. I am safe and secure because
His mercy toward me in Christ endures forever. And we as the
redeemed say so. We tell everyone we can. Verse
three, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and
from the west and from the north and from the south. They wandered
in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell
in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them. Then, then they cried unto the
Lord in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses. Look at verse eight. Oh, that
man would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful
works to the children of men. For He's satisfied. Who does? He does, the Lord. He's satisfied
the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
What does the Lord do? Who does this Lord do these gracious
things for? Verse 10, such as sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
because they rebelled against the words of the Lord and contemned
the counsel of the Most High. Therefore, He brought down their
heart with labor. They fell down and there was
none to help. Then, Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and break
their bands and sunder. And what should the response
of those who the Lord does these things for be? Verse 15. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. Now look at verse 16, for he
hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron and
sundered. Fools, because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhors
all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then Then they cry unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
He sent his word, he sent Christ, that's what that means, and healed
them and delivered them from their destructions. And again,
what should the delivered soul who the Lord graciously delivered
do? Verse 21. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to
the children of men. And again, what should these
recipients of God's mercy do? Verse 22, and let them sacrifice
the sacrifices of thanksgiving. Be thankful, be thankful and
declare his works with rejoicing. Tell others what Christ has done
for you. And then again, we see that everything
that comes to pass is of the hand of the Lord, everything.
There are some who have great difficulty with that glorious
truth. I know of some that do. And it's so sad because that's
the very thing that gives the child of God hope and comfort
and rest and assurance, knowing that He does all things well
and for the good of His people. Verse 23, the sovereignty of
God. It's all in the scriptures. They
that go down to the sea and ships that do business in great waters,
these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifted
up the waves therein. They mount up to the heaven.
They go down again to the depths. Their soul was melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wits end. Then Then they
cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet, so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh,
that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his
wonderful works to the children of men. all that men, mankind
would, and all that mankind should. We should. Praise the Lord for
His goodness and His wonderful works to us. Verse 32, let them
exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him
in the assembly of the elders. Now, just a few minutes ago,
we read Psalm 136, and as I said, in all 26 verses, we're reminded
that we should give thanks unto the Lord because He is good and
His mercy endureth forever. And what a wondrous truth that
is. Let us never forget that His
mercy endures forever to those who are in Christ. There's no
mercy apart from Christ. There's no love apart from Christ.
God, people say God loves everybody, and then they never mention Christ.
No, he doesn't. He loves sinners in Christ, no
other place. And that's exactly what Israel
should have done every single time the Lord raised up a judge,
a deliverer, but they always fell back into disobedience and
idolatry. We've seen that time and time
again already in this study of judges, and we're only in chapter
three, And now, if you'll turn with me there, Judges 3, I want
to begin tonight in verse 12, where we see that the children
of Israel, it was just more of the same. More of the same. Judges 3, verse 12. And the children
of Israel did evil again. Again. In the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon
Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because they had done
evil in the sight of the Lord. Because of Israel's disobedience,
because of their rebellion, their idolatry. That little word, and,
connects the dots to us. Because of these things, the
Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel
because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. And I'd
have you notice here that it's God who strengthens the king
named Eglon. You know, it's the Lord who turns
the heart of the king whithersoever he will. It's the Lord who makes
the king, and it's the Lord who breaks the king. That's what
the Scriptures say. The Scriptures say concerning
Pharaoh, God raised him up for this same purpose, that he might
show his power, that his name, God's name, might be declared
throughout all the earth. Now look at verse 13, and he
being Eglon, or the Lord through Eglon, gathered unto him the
children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and
possessed the city of Palm Tree. So the children of Israel served
Eglon, the king of Moab, 18 years. Israel's previous captivity was
eight years, and now they're serving 18 years. And then the
pattern begins again, and we read in verse 15, but when the
children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up
a deliverer. He raised up a judge. That's
what a judge is. That's what this book of Judges
is about. The deliverers that the Lord
raised up. And then they cried, as we read
over and over and over again in Psalm 107. Older men would
praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works.
The pattern is, you disobey God, God sends trouble, and then we
cry unto the Lord. Men and women live day in and
day out without much thought of God, but when trouble comes,
then they cry. I have seen that recently on
a personal level. I have a friend of mine, known
him since eighth grade, a dear friend, he recently had a cancerous,
highly aggressive brain tumor removed, and his prognosis is
uncertain at best. And in all our conversations
in the past, always delightful conversations, a very, very kind
man, gracious man. There's never been much mention
about God or prayer, but since then, that's all that he speaks
of. Pray for me, pray for me. I need
your prayers, I need your prayers, and He does, and He does, and
I need His. Then we cry unto the Lord in
our trouble. I'm guilty of the same thing.
We pray with sincere and intense conviction when we're in the
time of trouble. The hope that we have in Christ
is this, and He saved them out of their distresses. He saved
them out of their distresses. God doesn't promise, friends,
that He'll heal brain tumors, but I know this, only He can. And what God promises is that
He will deliver His people out of their distresses. God'll make
His people rest in their trouble. God never promised us a rose
garden, as they say. Matter of fact, he promises just
the opposite. He said, with much tribulation,
you shall enter the kingdom of God. I look out to some of you
tonight, and you've experienced some real trouble. Many of you
have lost spouses, lost loved ones, some even lost children.
Hurtful things, hard things. And you cried unto the Lord.
And the Lord delivered you out of your distresses. He gave you
peace. He gave you calm. He'll give
you rest. That's what the Lord promises.
God will make His people rest in their trouble, rest in their
diseases, have peace in the midst of their trials, find comfort
in the days of tribulation. And we're all good at being armchair
quarterbacks, as they say. It's easy for us to armchair
judge Israel. We can sit back in our easy chair
and say, well, I'll tell you what, I wouldn't have done that.
You know, I wouldn't have acted that way. But to what depths
of darkness am I capable of plummeting to if the Lord lead me to myself? To what depths of depravity would
I sink if I no longer had my great intercessor at the right
hand of God pleading my cause as the only one that God hears?
The truth is, without Christ, none of us would make it. I would
have you to notice that verse 12 there does not begin with
the word but, as if this is something that fallen men and women do
out of the ordinary. Verse 12 begins with the word
and, which shows us that this is the natural course of mankind's
nature and depravity. And just like always, the children
of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, again and
again and again. I need mercy that endures forever
because I again and again and again sin against the Lord. I don't want to. I abhor myself. I hate my sin. But, and, just
like always. In the story of Judges, that
word again reveals and assures us that the characters in the
story may change. But the heart of man by nature
certainly doesn't. Its thoughts are only evil continually. One generation after another
just downwardly spiral into more disobedience and more idolatry. And yet, God in mercy would send
again another judge, another deliverer to deliver them out
of their distresses. And in the end, the Lord is going
to bring all His elect to their knees at His feet, and they will
forever worship their divine Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because His mercy endures
forever. And in Christ, we have that comfort
and assurance. Okay, verse 15. But when the
children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them
up a Deliverer. Ahud is how that's pronounced.
I pronounced it wrong for a long time. Gera, I don't know, a Benjamite,
a man left-handed. And by him, the children of Israel
sent a present unto Eglon, the king of Moab. Now, it's interesting
that the name Eglon means bull, or young bull, whose strength
is given by the Lord against Israel. He just bulled his way
into victory over them. The judge, the deliverer, Ehud
means united. It also means I will be thanked
or I will be praised. And of course, Benjamin means
son of thy right hand. And it said here that Ehud was
left-handed. Now, I don't know the full significance
of that. It may be that it served him
well to better hide the dagger that he's going to use to kill You know, I remember in grade
school, if someone was left-handed, the teacher would actually try
to change it. You know, they'd take the pencil
out of the child's left hand and put it in the right, as if
it was some kind of weakness or disability. We have a daughter
that's left-handed, but she gets along fine. She writes a whole
lot better than I do. But the phrase here is thought
to not be so much a defect, but as a streak. And the power is
to use both the left and right hands equally well. In Judges
chapter 20, for example, verse 16, we're told among all this
people, there were 700 chosen men left-handed, and everyone
could sling stones at a hair breadth and not miss. In Chronicles
chapter 12, verse 2, it said that among the mighty men, helpers
of the war, there were men who were armed with bows who could
use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting
arrows out of a bow. Now, I don't, like I said, I
don't know the full significance of that, but I know this. Ahud,
the Benjamite, is given these names and this ability of using
both hands to point us to Christ, who is the only one who can save
us from our sin. Our Savior will be thanked and
praised. He's at the right hand of the
majesty on high. That's what Ehud's name means. And listen, he has the ability
to deliver us from our enemy with one hand tied behind his
back, left or right, don't matter. What a Savior we have. The salvation
of the people of God involves the destruction of the enemy,
and when Christ was nailed to Calvary's tree, all that opposed
us, He openly triumphed over. Satan and sin had to be eliminated. Look at verse 16. But Ahud made
him a dagger, which had two edges of a cubit length, that's 18
inches from what I can see, are fine, and he did gird it under
his raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the present unto
Eglon, king of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man." Now the
dagger, no doubt here, represents the word of God. It's a double-edged
sword of the Lord. It's sharper than any two-edged
sword. It's able to rightly divide between the bone and marrow,
and God's word Wounds when it goes in and heals when it comes
out. It's a two-edged sword. The Word
of God does not change men. It reveals who and what men are. The Holy Spirit puts a new spirit
within a man. The Lord uses the Word of God
to reveal to us our need of a new heart, our need of a Savior,
a new creation. Eglon is described, as I said,
as a very fat man. And what a picture of man's satisfaction
with his state of idolatry and disobedience. All of us by nature
love to feast upon the things of this world. And men and women
by nature have a large girth of self-righteousness, don't
we? What a picture this is of us
by nature. Verse 18, and when he, Ahud,
had made an end to offer the present, He sent away the people
that bear the present. He had some, I don't know what
this present is. Must've been something pretty
big because he had help in bringing it. Not like he gave him a little
piece of jewelry that he could have carried himself. We're not
told what the present was, but the self-righteous just love
to receive gifts. They love to receive tributes
from those they rule over with their legalistic oppression.
And the self-righteous love to have things done for them. They
feel entitled. But look at verse 19. But he, Ahud himself, turned
again from the quarries that were by Gilgal and said, I have
a secret errand. Now the original word there for
errand is word. I have a secret word unto thee,
O king. And it seems from verses 18 and
19 that after this present was delivered, those who helped deliver
the present headed back to their abodes and Ehud is going along
with them as if he's going back home also and he went with them
only as far as the quarry. Now the quarry here, the significance
there, this was the place where the Moabites carved out their
graven images and idols. It seems as though this one last
glance of the Moab's idolatry motivated Ahud returned to Eglon
with a message from God. And this got the king's attention.
And Eglon told all his servants to be quiet and to keep silent.
He wanted to hear this secret word without any distractions.
Verse 20, and Ahud came unto him, and he was sitting in a
summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ahud said,
I have a message from God unto thee. And he, Eglon, arose out
of his seat. A little study here reveals that
Ahud used the Hebrew word title here of God as Elohim. And Ahud used the title Elohim
in a plural sense. And Eglon took this as if Ehud
was attributing deity to the gods of Moab. So he jumped up
out of his seat and he waited with great anticipation. In his mind, a secret word was
well-deserved for a great king like him. I'm sure he thought
to himself, I bet he does have a word because after all, I am
a great king. And I'm amazed at the arrogance
of the self-righteous. Holier than thou really means
more entitled than thou. What do we have, friends, that
we did not receive? And if we received it, why do
we glory as if we didn't receive it? Everything we've got, physically,
spiritually, it's all a gift of God. Ahud delivered this message
as a true servant preacher should. They're armed to kill with the
word of God. Now you say, well that sounds
a little strange. Well, the message from God is
the glorious message of redemption in Christ, in the salvation of
chosen sinners. It's the most glorious, beautiful
message a sinner could ever hear. But it's also a message of wrath,
indignation, and condemnation against the idols of this world
and those who love and worship them. A two-edged sword. Second Corinthians,
let me read this passage to you. Chapter two, verse 14 through
17. Now, thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we, speaking
to believers, are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that
are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the saver of
death unto death, and to other the saver of life unto life.
And who's sufficient for these things? For we are not as many
which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ." You see, to the
bonafide sinner, the message of substitution, The message
of satisfaction, the message of salvation is the gospel. It's good, good news. But to
those who will not have Christ to rule over them, those who
serve the idols of their own work, their own righteousness,
their own merit, the messenger and his message are out to kill. Roth Barnard used to say to the
unconverted, if I'm ever going to introduce to you my God, I'm
going to have to kill your God first. And there's so much truth
to that. Folks say, well, you preach awful
negative against religion sometimes. Well, we're just trying to kill
their God. He's not worth shooting, really. Verse 21, and Ahud put
forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh
and thrust it into his belly. And the hat, half of the blade,
nine inches of that blade, also went in after the blade and the
fat closed up on the blade so that he could not draw the dagger
out of his belly and the dirt came out. Brother Tim James in
his commentary on Judges said, once the Word of God finds its
target, it doesn't go away. Men and women have no control
over what the Word of God does to them. It's a well-placed dagger
that cannot be removed. It'll prick your heart and make
you call on God for salvation, or it'll pierce your heart and
kill you to the things of grace. The Hebrew Bible tells us that
Ahud pierced Eglon with a dagger that food came out. And whatever,
it seems to me here, whatever he had eaten mixed with water
and with blood looked like dirt. But what a picture, what a picture
we have here of what is in us by nature. Dirt, filth, sin. When Christ slayed our sin and
the iniquity that we drink like water, we do, don't we? We drink
iniquity like water. Along with the filthy, self-righteous
iniquities that we gluttonously ate, it came out. It came out. And by God's grace
and mercy, we were spared and the filth of sin came out and
was forever put away. That's what our mighty Deliverer
has done for us. And that's what we have a picture
of here. Christ putting away the sin is our great Deliverer.
Look at verse 23. Then Ahud went forth through
the porch and shut the doors of the parlor upon him and locked
them. And when he was gone out, his,"
speaking of egg-lawn servants, came, and when they saw that,
behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, well,
surely he'd cover his feet in his somber chamber. In other
words, he's big egg-lawn taking a nap, as he often does. Verse 25, and they tarried till
they were ashamed, or that word means confounded, didn't know
what to do. And behold, He opened not the
doors of the parlor, therefore they took a key and opened them.
And behold, their Lord was fallen down dead on the earth." I think
again about which God of the Philistines, that they put the Ark of the
Covenant in the temple with and they came the next day and it
was knocked over and they set it back up. And the next day
they came in and it was falling over again, this time broken.
Oh, anything that man makes a Lord other than Christ is going to
fall. It's going to be fallen dead
on the earth. Verse 26, and Ehud escaped, Ehud,
excuse me, escaped while they tarried and passed beyond the
quarries and escaped. And I believe that's pronounced
Say-ah-rah. And as I told you earlier in
the message, the name Ehud means united. His name gives strong
reference to our English word union. And when Ehud escaped to Sairah,
that's talking about Mount Ephraim, which is also called the mountains
of Israel. I think about the Lord Jesus
Christ, who died in the sinner's room. Instead, he arose from
the dead and we were united with him. We were united with him
in life and in death and in burial and in his resurrection and in
his ascension. We're one with him. That's a
beautiful word, united, union. The Lord Jesus escaped into the
mountain of true Israel at the right hand of God. And the child
of God was united with Him there because we are one in union with
Him. Verse 27, and it came to pass
when He was come that He blew a trumpet in the mountain of
Ephraim and the children of Israel went down with Him from the mountain
he before them, and he said unto them, follow after me, for the
Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after him
and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab and suffered not
a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that
time about 10,000 men, all lusty, all big men." I guess they admired
their king so much they wanted to look like him. And all men
of valor, and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that
day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest four score
years." 80 years. God's deliverer, Christ Jesus,
subdues and destroys our great enemy of sin, and the children
of God have rest. And it's just beautiful. God's
word is beautiful, isn't it? and the land had rest, and we
have rest in Christ. And it's a whole lot longer than
80 years. His mercy endures how long? Forever. Forever. Beloved, I have a message
from God for you. The Lord Jesus said, come unto
me, all you that are weary and heavy laden, laden, heavy with
your sin, and I'll give you rest." And He gives us rest by putting
away our sin. The guilt of sin. The burden
of sin. And He does so by the sacrifice
of Himself. So do you hear the trumpet blowing? It's blowing from the mount of
God's throne. The sound of this trumpet is
not for us to go down, but to go up and to stand before God,
accepted in Christ, the beloved. Matthew 24, 30. Let me read this
to you in closing. And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great joy. and he shall
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one
end of heaven to the other." That's good news. And that's
for every child of God who puts their trust in their great Deliverer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may God be pleased to enable
us to do just that. Put our trust in him and him
alone for his glory for our good. And for Christ's sake.