If you'd turn with me tonight
to the first chapter of the book of Judges, the first chapter
of the book of Judges, and I'd like to, again, read verses 12,
13, 14, and 15. We have looked at Caleb, and
we spent one of our studies on Caleb, and he would be as all
the saints in that line on the right-hand side. He would say,
when did I do all that? But from the biblical standpoint,
we find out what a faithful man he was and not in himself and
not of himself, but because God had given him the faith. He'd
given him a new spirit and he came back with a good report.
And that report is God can do what he said he was going to
do. And that's really what that faith that God gives to his elect
is God will do what he promised. He has the power to do it and
he will carry it out. Well, we looked a little bit
at Othniel, but we looked mainly last time at what Caleb said
in verse 12. Caleb said, he that smiteth Kerjath
Zephyr and taketh it, to him will I give Aksa, my daughter,
to wife. Now I listened to the Bible being
read out loud so I could get that name Aksa right. That's
the way that he pronounced it, so that's the way I'll do it.
I'll give Aksa, my daughter, to wife. And in verse 13, and
Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it. And
he gave him Aksa, his daughter, to wife. And it came to pass
when she came to him that she moved him to ask of her father
a field. and she lighted off her ass,
and Caleb said unto him, what wilt thou? And she said unto
him, give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a south land,
give me also springs of water, and Caleb gave her the upper
springs and the nether springs. Well, it looks like a historical
event, and yet we want to look at this particularly tonight,
and we may not get completely through verses 14 and 15, But
we want to look at this particularly tonight as a few words about
the bride. A few words about the bride. This bride, Axa, that is here. Now, last time we looked at Caleb's
words and he said, not only are you going to smite it, but you
have to take it. And we find out then that Othniel took that
city. And he had the power and he went
and took it. And I don't believe he thought
for a second that he was going to lose it. He just went into
battle and he had the interest in the battle and he won the
battle and put that city aside. And there in the middle between
Caleb and Othniel is a bride. There is this daughter and she
is a bride. And as we look at this, we find
that There's a great point illustrated by her. We have this question
about how much did she have to do with this passage of scripture?
That's what caught my eye. How much was she involved in
this? Number one, she's a daughter of Caleb. Number two, she has
been promised by Caleb to the person who takes the city and
Othniel takes the city and so she becomes his wife. Well, how
much did she have to do with all of that? Well, when we look
at marriage today and marriage in the scriptures, we're looking
at two different things. And when we begin to interpret
a marriage in the scriptures in the way we look at a wedding
or a marriage, we're going to find out we're going to be far
afield. And in fact, when we look at what the Bible has to
say about this marriage, we're going to be looking into what
the Bible has to say about the husband, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and his bride. We're gonna find out that the
church is really in the same position that Axa was between
Othniel and Caleb, or Caleb and Othniel. There was a daughter. There is a mention of someone
taking the city. The man takes the city, completely
destroys it, and then he is given this woman as a wife. Axa is only, she's not a participant. She is a recipient. She's not
participating. We don't have any words here
in this whole conversation until after she's married to Othniel. And then she makes a request
to Othniel and then to her father. What a statement about the church
and how we go and approach the Father through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how we are told to do
that. We approach the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now her birth was not of her doing, and her family was not
of her doing. That was another thing that I
brought up today, and I've asked the young man a number of times,
and I asked his wife today, how much did you have to do with
your physical birth? And you know, they answered correctly,
because they know the answer to that question. But when it
comes to spiritual things, we want to get involved in it. But
her birth, this ax's birth was not of her doing. And her family
being placed in the family of Caleb was not of her doing. It
was Caleb's doing and her mother's doing, but it was not her doing.
And her father was not of her doing. God chose Caleb to be
the father. And we find out as we go through
here, that our father has been the father for eternity. And
we have no interaction with him whatsoever until he has an interaction
for us. And her marriage was not of her doing,
and her husband was not of her doing. There is nothing that
she does in this whole passage of scripture about being married
or choosing a husband or anything else. She is really simply a
recipient. Axa is not a mere pawn, but she
is a recipient of a tremendous blessing. Number one, she is
the daughter of the Prince of Judah. And number two, she becomes
the wife of the Lion of Judah, Othniel. That's his name. That's
what it means. She becomes one who has been
given great blessings by birth and by marriage. Whoa, that kind
of rings, doesn't it? We have great blessings by birth,
spiritual birth. We have great blessings by spiritual
marriage, marriage to Christ, birth by the Father and the Spirit.
I don't think that Othniel, as I've mentioned, had any idea
in this world that he would fail in going up against that city.
He had complete confidence when he left that he would take that
city. And he didn't say prior to taking
that city, well, I'll take her to wife. He went and took the
city and she's given to him. Now, all of the intricacies that
God had on behalf of the church is much more than we'll ever
be able to comprehend. But we do find that the Lord
Jesus Christ would not have a bride if it was not for him going into
battle and defeating every enemy of the church and of God on the
cross. He purchased his bride, and he
purchased his bride with his blood, and he put away the sin
of his bride with his own blood. And the blood of Jesus Christ
is of such value to the church. So as we look at this incident
here, we find it plays out just as the scriptures play out on
behalf of the church, God the Father, God the Son, the Church,
and all the intricacies and workings that go with it. And there's
not a lot said in this passage about that. Now, if we go back
to the book of Genesis, we find that Abraham wanted a wife for
his son, Isaac. And he said, I don't want any
of the women that are here in this land. What reason? We've got to numbers when we
find out what reason. The Lord shared with us last
Sunday in the reading of the book of Numbers that I want you
to destroy everything, everybody, every idol, everything, every
grove, And it didn't happen because many of the people loved what
they found there. This is just a little addition. We've been enlightened. We see
a little bit more than we've been following the Lord through
these 40 years. So they went in there. And so
Abraham said, I don't want anybody from here. He had the right to
do that for his son. And when it came time for a wife,
he sent his servant back to to get a wife. Now that wife is
related to Abraham through his wife. That wife is related and
she is chosen by God. She is chosen by the man that
went back, the Holy Spirit went and found her. You know, that's
what he does for us. He finds us and she came willingly
back clear all that distance and went into a tent And that
night they're married. And that's his wife for the rest
of his life. So what a beautiful thing that
we have here. And no doubt upon the word of
Caleb, Othniel had a great love. I mean, not only a love for her,
but a love so much that he would be willing to risk his own person
to be with her. capture her, to take her. So
we have all these blessings are involved here. He had an interest
in her before he went and destroyed that city. He had an interest
in her and married her before he went and destroyed that city.
He went with the idea that he would take that city and knowing
that he would take that city, it's just like the Lord Jesus
had no thought of ever being defeated at the cross. And he
never had a thought of not going to the cross. This is my purpose
for the church. This is my redemption for the
church. He loved her before he fought for her and fought for
her hand. He had an interest in her. He
went to battle for her and she was completely pleased by all
that went on on her behalf. She was glad. There was no riling. In fact, when it comes time to
ask something of her father, she goes to her husband and says,
Would you talk to my dad about this piece of property? How blessed
it is that the church has the opportunity of going through
Jesus Christ, all that you ask in my name, I will give you. Now, we know that that is in
the will of God. He will not give us reckless
things. He will not just... just because
we say the name of Jesus at the end of our prayer. We desire
to pray in the will of God. That's what we want. All right,
so in Bible language, we find much said about the bride. So
if you turn with me to the book of John for just a moment, the
book of John, in John chapter 10, as we think about Aksa, you
know, one of the definitions I found for her name was serpent. And another definition I found
about her name was a piece of gold on the ankle. Now, how you
could come up with those two, but you know, then I got to thinking,
well, isn't that kind of like us? By nature, we are bitten. We are dead in trespasses and
sin, and by the grace of God, we're given the most blessed,
powerful position that could be given, and that is to be the
bride of Christ. to know Him in His completeness
in that day. Now, we know Him now, but that
day, we're gonna know Him as we are known. It's gonna be so
much different than we know now. What is in between us right now
is our sin. I mean, our nature, our flesh. Our sin has been put away, but
we still have that. And our prayers are not worth
much unless it is taken over by the Holy Spirit. And our thoughts,
all this, So in that day, there will be a knowledge about the
Lord Jesus Christ that we will have never come to in this life. We have him, we know him, but
that knowledge, we will know him as we are known. And I've yet to comprehend that
because that tray is just too big to get around. Anyway, okay,
John chapter 10. Turn with me to the book of John
chapter 10. And the book of John is such
a good book about Christ being the son of God, that he is declared
throughout this. And it truly is there for a great
purpose. John chapter 10 and verse 16,
it says this. and other sheep I have, or which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Now, what an interesting statement here, they shall hear my voice. Now we're gonna look at another
place over here in verse 27 of the same chapter, and we find
here, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them. There was something
about this transaction that took place between Caleb and Othniel
that the bride was in complete agreement with. there was no
fuss about what was taking place. Now, we can say, well, that's
the way weddings went in that day or marriages went in that
day. Well, that may be, but when we get to this Aksa and we find
out who she is and who she's going to be married to and the
results of the actions of Othniel on behalf of Aksa, we find out
what a beautiful picture we have of Christ in the church, the
father having a daughter, willing to give to his son, close relative,
as a bride, as the bride of Christ, all right? So in chapter 10,
verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow
me. There is no rumble. Here we have a wonderful picture
of the bride following without controversy, without interference,
following what the father has set up and procured on her behalf. The person that takes this city,
I will give my daughter to, and the person that took the city,
Othniel, took the city, and now he has the bride. Back up to
the book of John chapter six, if you would. John chapter six,
as we think about these things, in John chapter six, verse 37,
we have this wonderful passage of scripture that shares with
us again, all that the Father giveth me. It's amazing that we find so
much said in the Old Testament about the church of the living
God, and when they are brought to Christ, there is no fuss. We are brought, we are brought. We do not come of our own free
will, but we are brought and made willing to come. And we
see that in Acts. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. It's so important to see this
picture as the bride, the husband, and the father doing all of this
on behalf of the bride. She comes, why? Because? All
that the Father gives me shall come to me. They will come, and
they will come willingly, and they will come graciously, and
they'll come thanksgivingly, and they'll come What we have
because God has chosen a bride. What we have. All the riches
of the blessings of Christ is ours. So all the blessings that
Othniel is gonna have is his wife's. All right, let's look
at another place here in John chapter 17. John chapter 17.
In John chapter 17, we read this. It says, I pray for them. John chapter
17 verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. And then in verse 10, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. What a contract we have here
between the bride, the father, and the son. What a contract.
They're his, he gave them me. All mine are thine, thine are
mine. And who are the thine and the
mine? That's the church. That's the ones he's talking
about. The church of the living God. All those blood bought ones,
those that have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ are
brought to him in such a glorious manner. What do we read about
the bride in the scripture? She was created in the image
of God. Adam was created in the image
of God. The bride was created in the image of God and in Adam
all died. I used to read that incorrectly.
I hope I correct myself from now on. It doesn't say in Adam
all died. It says in Adam all die. It's a continuous process that
every generation is born. They die and we die as we all
the time. And in, uh, the bride was an
Adam and Adam and an Adam, the bride fell and she became. unfaithful
and spiritually dead. You know, there's a wonderful
illustration in the Bible about this whole experience and it's
covered in about seven verses in the book of Hosea. So would
you turn with me to the book of Hosea? Here we find Hosea
was commanded, if you please, to marry Gomer. Book of Hosea. We see the background. She is
going to come. We see the background. She will
be willing in the day of His power. We see the background.
She will not argue about the word of the Savior, the word
of God. I answered that question again
today. What's the difference between
now and when you were in religion? I said one of the things I noticed
most is I don't argue with God about His word. I don't argue
about God about his purpose. I don't argue against God about
his sovereignty. I don't argue with God over those
things anymore. God is God. Now, I don't understand
it, but God's sovereignty covers all things and nothing is left
out. I used to think, well, God knew. Well, it's much more than
that. God purposed. Yes, he knew, but
he knew in his purpose what he would do. All right, here in
the book of Hosea, Old Testament book of Hosea, and in chapter
two, now it is incorrect for me to start with chapter two,
but I didn't think you wanted me to read the whole book tonight,
so do that on your own. It's a very interesting book,
but notice here in chapter two, beginning with verse two, chapter
two, beginning with verse two, plead with your mother. Plead,
for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband." Now, this
is Hosea speaking, but it's really, we see through this God speaking
about the church in the fall. Very unfaithful, Adam was very
unfaithful. Adam was very unfaithful. He
was unfaithful to God. He was unfaithful to his word.
He was unfaithful to his wife. He was unfaithful to his family.
He was unfaithful to us, but we all fell in Adam and in Adam
all die. He was very unfaithful in all
of his characteristics there when he disobeyed God. He was
unfaithful in his covering. He didn't come to God and ask
for a covering. He was unfaithful in running into the bushes. instead
of coming out and saying, Lord, I've sinned. He was unfaithful
to his wife and lied about her, the woman you gave me, all of
the unfaithfulness that went on here. Well, we find here,
for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Let her therefore
put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries
from between her breasts. lest I strip her naked and set
her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wilderness
and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst. You know,
this is all written about Israel. This is a metaphor for Israel. This is an analogy of Israel. And yet in Israel, always remember
in Israel, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. Now from the outside, the remnant is just as unfaithful
as the not remnant. From the outward appearance,
you cannot tell the difference. God alone can tell the difference. God alone knows who are his.
He gave them to Christ. Christ took them as a gift and
he died for them. So he knows exactly who he gave
to his son and his son knows exactly who he went to the cross
for, but nobody else does. We don't know. So he says here,
this whole outline about her, It says, slay her with thirst,
and I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the
children of whoredoms. For their mother hath played
the harlot. She hath conceived them, hath done shamefully. For she said, I will go after
my lovers that give me my bread and my water and my wool and
my flax, my oil and my drink. You know, we're going to go on
here in just a moment and find out where all of those actually came from.
But she is assuming that her lovers are giving her this stuff.
And yet her lovers can't do anything. They're as dead as she is. They
don't have anything. I was going to use a double meaning. They don't have nothing. Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up thy ways with thorns, and make a wall, and she shall not
find her paths, and she shall follow after her lovers, but
she shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but
shall not find them. Then shall she say, I will go
and return to my first husband, for then was it better for me
than now. For she did not know that I gave
her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and
gold, which they prepared for Baal." What a statement about
this wife that went unfaithful, and then by the grace of God,
she is given the spirit to say, I'm wrong. I need to go back. Well, how did she go back? God
drew her back. And that's what he does with
us. We are unfaithful servants. We have, there's not a bit of
difference between us and the lost, the eternally lost, except
for the grace of God. So he comes along. Now here,
her name is Aksa. She's not interviewed by Caleb
and said, I really would like to use you as bait to take this,
you know, that's the first thing commentators talk about. What
Caleb used her for? Well, Caleb didn't use her for
anything. He's looking for a blessing for her. And the blessing is,
here is a man that is able to take care of her for all time
and love her. And he's already had a love for
her because that's why he's going into battle. He's going to win
this city because he already loves her. Now she may not know
that, but he knows that. When did God start loving us?
Long before we ever come to the conclusion that we love him.
He has loved us with an everlasting love. And we love him because
he first loved us. So as the bride, we are way late
in our love. We lost it in Adam, but we're
giving it back in Christ Jesus so we can love him. All right,
as it goes on through here, we find that the Lord shares, just
as we find here in the book of Hosea, Hosea, in the end, Lot
did not lose his wife. All right, turn with me again,
back to the book of John. Book of John chapter six, again,
John chapter six. John chapter six, and there in
verse 39. The Lord is not defeated by the
will of men. The Lord is not defeated by anybody's
will. He's not defeated by the will
of the church. He's not defeated by the will of the lost. He makes
us willing in the day of His power. and he gets all the glory
for it, and we give all the thanks for it. All right, here in the
book of John chapter six and verse 39, it says, this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. The blessings in time and eternity
continue on. I think of Axa being married
to Othniel and for the rest of her life, she is blessed by this
transaction that took place between the father and a husband, that
she is in a spot already with her husband, but she's in a spot
with Othniel. He is the lion of of Israel,
the Lion of God, and he will do all things well. He's going
to turn out to be the first judge over Israel there in the Book
of the Judges. And in John 17 again, John 17
and verse 12, we read this about the situation here of Aksa and
Othniel and of Caleb. John 17 verse 12. It says here,
while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. What a statement. Those that
thou gavest me I have kept. What a statement. And none of
them is lost. What a statement. But the son
of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. When he chose
those 12, he knew exactly who, what, where, when, why. He was
going to fulfill an Old Testament statement about Judas. He chose
him. This is the way that God determined
in the covenant of grace that the son would be betrayed, that
one of those that was a close friend ate food with him. Was at the prayer meetings with
him? Was at the instructions and teaching with him? You know
what Judas reminds me of? A whole bunch of Israel that
saw all those blessings and miracles and everything else and never
once changed his heart towards God. In the end, he would be
willing to betray him for some money. And he did. Now when,
in the end, It says, I've betrayed innocent blood, but he never
bowed and said, Lord, forgive me. He was, what? A son of perdition, hardened,
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Learn with me, if
you would, to an illustration again about the bride in the
book of the Psalms, in the book of the Psalms. Once again, we
have AXA. Once again, we have the Bride
of Christ, the Church of the Living God, described here in
the Book of the Psalms, Psalm 45. Psalm 45. Psalm 45, verse
10 through 17. Psalm 45, verse 10, we read this. Hearken, O daughter, and consider
and incline thine ear, forget also thine own people in thy
father's house. So shall the king greatly desire
thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him, the daughter
of Tyre. shall be there with a gift. Even the rich among the people
shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter is all glorious
within. Her clothing is wrought gold.
She shall be brought unto the king." What a statement. She does not come of herself.
She must be convinced, converted, and made willing. And that's
where we find Aksa. She must be convinced, converted,
and made willing. And you know, she was. Lord dealt
with her graciously. She was shall be brought unto
the king. in raiment of needlework. The
virgins, her companions, that follow her, shall be brought
unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's
palace. Instead of thy father shall be
thy children, whom thou mayest make princess in all the earth.
I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore
shall the people praise thee forever and ever. What a glorious
event is taking place here because of a king and because he has
been, the bride has been brought to him in glorious righteousness
of Christ apparel. It just continues on through
the scriptures. You know, as we think about this, we find
of the same lump, It doesn't tell us that she had any sisters.
She may have, but she's the chosen one. Of the same lump, we find
out that there are vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. She is a vessel of honor chosen
by God and she comes and comes willingly because he had made
her willing in the day of his power. We also find out that
when in verse, going back to the book of Judges, go back to
the book of Judges here to the first chapter in verses 14 and
15 for just a moment. The book of Judges chapter one. We read here in verses 14, after
Othniel has won that victory, and after she is given to him
as a bride, and after this, she has such confidence in her husband
that she asked him to make an inquiry to her father on her
behalf. Notice this, it came to pass
when she came to him, to her husband, that she moved him to
ask her father a field. And it tells us in verse 15,
for thou hast given me a south land. Apparently, Caleb got involved
in this, or Othniel got involved in this and went to dad and said,
I'd really love to have this field. I have that. You know, the Lord
tells us over in the book of Romans chapter eight, that if,
oh, I gotta go there before I mess it up. Romans chapter eight. I had it on the tip of my tongue,
but then Romans chapter eight, verse 32. He that spared not his own son. He that spared not his own son. If he gave us the son freely,
which he did, to redeem his people from their sins, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all things. If he gave us the son, it's just
a small thing. All these other things that are
freely given to us. The son is without price and
he gave the son. So every blessing shall he not
get freely give us all things, every spiritual blessing. She
goes to her husband and says, would you ask dad for a piece
of property? And off Neil went and she got
that piece of property. Then she goes to the father and
says, you know, would you give me the springs to go with it? Would you give me the, and she
was given, what's it say there? Go back to the book of Numbers
chapter one, verses 15. Give me a blessing for thou has
given me the south land. Give me also springs of water. And guess what? Caleb gave her
the upper springs and the nether springs. Now, where was those
property and where were those springs? on Caleb's property,
his inheritance. And he gave his inheritance to
his daughter, who is another man's wife. How glorious. All spiritual blessings
are given unto us. And what we have really belonged
to the father to begin with. He had the springs, he had the
property. He had the right to give it away to whomever he wanted
to give it away, and he gave it to his daughter, who is the
bride of the victor over this town. And not only did he go
down there and fight against it, he took it. There's nothing
left. There is no sin laid at the charge
of the church because of what Christ did so effectively and
so sufficiently at the cross. So here in the middle is a woman,
who has, she had every right, be quiet, they're working this
out for your glory. She is given by the father to
Othniel, who is a successful battle winner. And now she is
the bride of the Lion of Judah, the Lion of God. and the church,
what blessings we have. We find so much said in the scriptures
about this. No man can come. She comes not of herself and
she must be convinced and she must be converted and she must
be made willing. And we find no one can come without
Christ. The garment provided by the king
originally hostile against grace, yet now
subdued by his love, there is a joy unspeakable and full of
glory. Please talk to my dad. And we
ask our prayers in Jesus' name, for Jesus' sake. And what does
the father give us? Every spiritual blessing in Christ
Jesus. If he gave his son, he will freely
give us all things, nothing held back. And so as we look at this,
we find a beautiful picture of that very event in the work and
ministry of Caleb, the faithful servant of God, Othniel, the
Lion of God, and a beautiful bride in the middle. I have no
doubt she was a beautiful woman, but she's been more beautiful
by what she has been given. The Church is the Bride of Christ. arrayed in his righteousness
with all the glory of the Godhead given to her. And we find that
description over in the book of Revelation. We read that last
time. Beautiful coming down, not in
her own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ.
What a glorious place the church has in the presence of God. And Lord willing, we'll pick
up here in the book of Judges, with verse 16 next time and continue
on through this book, verse by verse, and hopefully we can see
some more nuggets about the grace of God.