DTB Judges Pt 2&3: Unlikely Heroes of Faith 

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Heb 11:32 time would fail to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and prophets 33 who thru faith subdued kingdoms...

I. Barak the Wimp: Faith in the Face of Fear 4:1 When Ehud was dead, Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them to king of Canaan  3 Israel cried out to the LORD; for Jabin had 900 chariots of iron, and for 20 years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. 4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 Ephraim...Israel came up to her for judgment. 6  called for Barak "Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take 10k  Naphtali  Zebulun 7 and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?" 8 And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!" 9 So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak

14 “Up! this is the day LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not LORD gone out before you?" 15 LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear." And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket

21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

5:2 "When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves cf v9, Bless the LORD! 3 I will sing praise....11 recount acts

13 The LORD came down for me against the mighty. 16 (Where's Reuben et al?) 23 Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD, ' Curse its inhabitants bitterly, because they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty

24 "Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed is she among women in tents. 25  He asked for water, she gave milk; She brought out cream in a lordly bowl. 26  She stretched her hand to the tent peg, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head, She split and struck thru his temple. 27  At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he sank, he fell; Where he sank, there he fell, dead. 28 The mother of Sisera looked thru the window, And cried out thru the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?' 30  'Are they not finding and dividing the spoil: to every man a girl or two; for Sisera, plunder of dyed garments, plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, 31 "Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength." So the land had rest for forty years.

APP  We lose out when we fear obeying Gods' clear will. To live is Christ; to die is gain Phil 1:21; God has not given us a Spirit of fear 1 Tim 1:7

God remembers and blesses those who were in the battle or not v13 and bitterly curses those on the sidelines v23; Fellowship courage.

II. Jephthah the Warmonger: Faith Regardless of the Cost  6 Israel again did evil in the sight of LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 7 So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the people of Ammon. 8 harassed and oppressed Israel for 18 years 9 Israel was severely distressed. 10 Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, 'cse we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!" 11 "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, Amorites  Ammon and  Philistines?....13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress." 15 "We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray." 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

11:7 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" 9 "If...fight against the people of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them to me, shall I be your head?"

21 LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them

23 LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it?

24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you? So what LORD our God takes possession of before us, we will possess.

27 Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, render judgment 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah 30 made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace...shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." 32...fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

34  his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it." 36 "My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me acc to what has gone out of your mouth, 'cse the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, cf 1 Sam 1:11

37 let me go wander on the mts and bewail my virginity, my friends and I." 38 went and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

39 at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man

APP  God relents when we repent. When we trust God, He delivers and blesses, even tho we might lose out during our time on earth.

The faithful fulfill their promises to the Lord, regardless of the cost, and He fulfills His promise to bless them.

III. Samson the Womanizer: Faith in the Belly of Failure

13:1 Again Israel did evil in the sight of LORD...delivered them to Philistines for 40 years. 2 Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 Angel of the LORD: 5 you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines

24 So the woman bore a son, Samson; child grew, the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him

14:3 Samson "Get her for me, for she pleases me well." 4 father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD --- that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines 6 Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart

16  Samson's wife wept on him "You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle, but you have not explained it to me." 17 she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted...he told her, 'cse she pressed him so much.  she told the riddle...

19 Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily...killed 30..So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father's house. 20 Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

1Sam 11:6 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.

14:14 Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him 16 Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain 1k men!" 18 he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?" 19 So God split the hollow place and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. 20 he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. 

16:15 Delilah: "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies" 16  she pestered (Hiph) him daily with her words and pressed (Piel Impft) him, so that his soul was vexed to death

20 “I will go out as before”, But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him  21 eyes put out  22 hair began to grow 

28 Then Samson called to the LORD, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!" 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the 3k lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

APP God uses imperfect people and even our unwise choices to accomplish His perfect plan. 

It's never to late to call out to God for help. It's always to early to quit. 

IV. The Case of the Unfaithful concubine and tribe and clan: every man did what was right in his own eyes (resulting in death).

17:5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!"

18:30 The children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh/Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. 

19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months.

20:13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!" But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.

8 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, "Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah first!"

26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

APP We must seek God's blessings God's way (acc to His Word). Indulging our desires eventually results in disaster. Always.

 Those who refuse to take correct action against sin suffer sad and bad consequences. Those who take correct action often suffer too.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response: 

1. What causes fear? Are fears legitimate? How should we respond when we are fearful? Do we lose when we are slow to hear/obey? 

2. What's the difference between fighting the Lord's enemies, and forgiving ours? How do you know someone is an enemy of God?

3. How does good/bad fellowship affect the quality of our lives temporally/eternally? How do you avoid bad influences?

4. Why do you think God answered Samson's prayers? Are you ever tempted to think that God doesn't care about you? Why?

5.  Why do people do what is right in their own eyes? How can the Spirit of God be at work in those who neglect/reject true worship?

6. Why do you think God let the army suffer losses against Benjamin the first two times He told them to attack? Why did the 3^rd time work? 

7. Was God pleased with all the actions of Barak, Jephthah, and Samson? Is He pleased with the majority of yours? How do you know?