The Pathway of Deliverance
By Pastor Jim May
Time and again Israel took a ride on the spiritual roller coaster. One moment they were on the mountaintop when God would bring them great deliverance, but it was only a short fall to the bottom where they would find themselves in terrible bondage once more.
Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? I did when I was younger but now God has given me a little more wisdom, and lot weaker stomach, so I don’t ride anymore. But if there was one thing I can remember is that when you were moving fast and you reached the top of the hill, you’d better be strapped in and holding on, or you would feel like you are coming out of the car. On the other hand, when you are screaming down the hill and hit the bottom, it seemed like you would weigh 5 times your normal weight and you couldn’t get up if you had to.
That sounds a lot like life in general doesn’t it; especially in the spiritual aspects of life. When I am set free from depression, from sickness, from pain, from anything that weighs me down, I feel like I could fly. It’s a time of joy and euphoria as you bask in the sweet feeling of freedom. Much like the freedom and joy we felt at the moment that Jesus washed our sins away. Life was much brighter, the world was more beautiful and we felt as though the weight of the whole world was lifted and if Jesus didn’t have us bound to the earth with the force of gravity, we might just have floated on into Heaven right then and there.
But the feeling of euphoria doesn’t last long for most of us. In just a few minutes we can find ourselves sliding down that slippery slope into the bondage of sin and the temptations of the world once more.
There are a lot of people in the church who I know are riding that spiritual roller coaster right now. We can never know what to expect. One Sunday they walk in praising the Lord and the next Sunday, if they even show up, they walk in dragging their baggage of sin that they have been weighed down with all week.
Today I want to bring you two instances from the history of Israel and show you how God can use some pretty strange circumstances and some unlikely sources to deliver you from that roller coaster ride.
The important thing to note is that there was always one major factor that led Israel to go back down the slope into sin each time it happened. I want you to see that we have that same problem today. The main thing that allows people to get caught up in sin after they have been delivered is that they often have too much time to waste and they relax and let their guard down. I’m all for those wonderful times of peace and rest, but we must take heed lest we allow Satan to use our “idle mind” as his own workshop to bring us down.
During one period of their history, Israel was led and sometimes delivered by people who God called to the forefront but they were not prophets or teachers. These folks were just godly people who had a desire to serve the Lord and see Israel set from the bonds of slavery. Some of the things they did to deliver Israel aren’t what we might expect.
When you read about Moses, that great prophet, being used by God to deliver Israel, it’s an awe inspiring story. When you read how God used Elijah to set Israel free from idolatry on Mount Carmel when the fire came down and consumed everything in sight, we are reminded of God’s judgments and his intolerance of sin in the camp.
But today I want to show you how God used a few of his judges in Israel. Their stories are quite different and it may even shock you to see how God uses them to set His people free.
First, let’s begin in Judges Chapter 3.
Judges 3:1-7, "Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves."
Now, we might say to ourselves, “Why does God allow temptations to come to me? Doesn’t He know that I am weak and easily swayed? Why doesn’t God just save us and then keep us from temptation altogether?” First, let me make this clear, God does not tempt anyone with sin, so don’t blame Him if you fail!
James 1:13-15, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
So, it’s not the “devil that made you do it”; “it’s not God who made you do it; it’s all you! It’s your fault and not mama, or daddy, or the preacher or your brother or sister – it’s you and you alone who is guilty. The only reason that any of us fall into temptation is because we choose not to – period. There’s no other reason other than we are weak-minded, weak-willed and easily swayed bunch of children who won’t stand up to temptation and “Just Say No!”
God doesn’t send the temptation but He doesn’t allow it to come because he wants to prove to us what we really are on the inside. God already knows our heart. He already knows our weaknesses, but we don’t know them. So He has to allow things to come our way that will open our eyes to just what, and who, we really are, so that we can allow the Holy Ghost to work on our heart, our mind and our attitudes to conform them more to the mind of Christ.
And that’s just what he did for Israel too. God allowed a few of the heathen nations of Canaan to hang around so that they could be his tool to test Israel and teach them that there was a spiritual warfare to fight and so that they could learn to trust in God and serve Him with all their hearts.
God knew their propensity to fall into idolatry, just like he knows our propensity to fall back into a life of sin, so he had to show them their weaknesses and give them the chance to change into the nation that he could be proud to call his own.
God loves you. You are his child. But God also knows that foolishness is bound in your heart and mine and he will use the “rod of correction” to drive it from us.
Most people don’t believe in spanking children today because of all of the child abuse that is going on. But let me tell you that verbal abuse and neglect are often a worse form of child abuse than a little willow switch. A switch may leave a red mark for a few moments, but verbal abuse and neglect create scars in the heart and mind of a child that may never be healed in this life. The “rod of correction” isn’t always a paddle or a switch. In our modern society, sometimes just taking away the computer game control for a week is a pretty good “rod of correction”. For other kids, the “rod of correction” may be banning them from the TV for a few days. These “rods” might do more to drive the foolishness out than a paddle. I don’t encourage spankings, but I don’t want to say that they are always wrong either. Each case must stand on its own merits, and every form of punishment must be aimed at correction more than punishment and must be administered with love and compassion, not just with a fit of anger.
Sometimes the “rod of correction” that God used to correct his children came in the form of a heathen king, or a heathen nation, that conquered Israel and made them slaves for a while. That’s what sin does anyway – it makes us slaves to the flesh and to the devil and we need deliverance.
Israel failed the test miserably and soon found themselves under the heel of the King of Mesopotamia. (I won’t try to pronounce his name) They were slaves for 8 long years under this heathen king. They cried out to God for deliverance, just has their ancestors had done while in the land of Egypt, and God heard their cry. He sent them a Judge named Othniel who was the son of Caleb. They were delivered from bondage once again and had peace in the land for 40 years. They were on the top of hill on their roller coaster ride.
Then Othniel died, leaving them to fend for themselves. 40 years of rest had let them get lazy and to forget the lessons of the past, so once again they fell into idolatry. It’s back down the hill they went, with the wind blowing in their face, headed for a hard bottoming out once more in the valley of defeat.
God sent two heathen nations against them this time in the form of Ammon and Amelek, along with Eglon, the King of Moab. For 18 years they were slaves to Eglon until they finally cried out for deliverance one more time.
This time God sent a judge by the name of Ehud. In Judges 3:16-31 we read how that God used Ehud and it’s a strange story indeed.
Ehud made a double-edged dagger about 18 inches long. He hid it under his clothes on his right side so that he could reach across with his left hand and easily get it. He walked into the king’s summer house and said that he had a present for him, but before he could give it, he asked that all of the king’s body guards and servants be sent away.
Of course Eglon, the king, wanted his gift, so he quickly sent them out. Ehud then drew the dagger and stabbed into Eglon’s belly. This was an 18 inch long dagger, but Elgon was so fat that it disappeared into the layers of fat and Ehud couldn’t get it out. All that came out was the food and the excrements that were in his bowels, and he died on the spot.
Ehud left and the body guards came back but they thought that the king was just taking an extra long time in the bathroom and stood by waiting for a long time before they decided to open the door and found him dead.
While they all waited, Ehud escaped, blew the trumpet and signaled for Israel to attack. 10,000 Moabites were killed that day and Israel was free once again. They had finally climbed the hill on that roller coaster ride one more time. This time they stayed on the top of the hill for 80 years in a time of peace and rest.
Ehud died and Israel came under attack once again. They came zipping down the hill, sliding headlong into idolatry again. This time it was the Philistines, that God brought as a “rod of Correction” but they weren’t around long. God was giving Israel a chance to turn around.
God raised up another judge by the name of Shamgar who killed 600 men with an Ox Goad. After losing 600 men to one man with a stick in his hand, the Philistines went back home and Israel was delivered again, still on the top of the mountain but it was to be a short stay this time.
Israel didn’t heed the lesson and they fell into sin again, hitting rock bottom as hard as they could.
God sent a stronger “rod of correction” this time in the form of King Jabin and his army commander named Sisera. This army was more than Israel could handle because they had 900 iron chariots.
It was a lot like trying to fight an Armored Tank Division with bows and arrows and Israel never had a chance. Israel suffered greatly under the iron fist of the Canaanites. It seemed that this enemy was trying to get even with Israel for all of the times that they had defeated the other tribes in Canaan to claim their Promised Land.
Now it was time for Israel to cry out for deliverance again and that’s what they did with a loud voice. God heard their cry and sent them a judge named Deborah who listened to the voice of God and set up a trap for the enemy. When Sisera came out to put down the rebellion with his 900 iron chariots he found 10,000 well armed soldiers and lost every chariot. Sisera fled to the home of a friendly king, but didn’t know that the king’s wife, named Jael, was on Israel’s side.
She called Sisera inside and hid him under a blanket. After he had a drink of water, he fell asleep and that’s when Jael nailed him, and I do mean nailed him.
Judges 4:21 says that Jael, "… took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died." She literally drove a long nail through his head and nailed him to the ground. The last thing that Sisera had go through his mind was that nail!
God delivered Israel one more time and they had rest for another 40 years.
What’s the point of all this for you and I? Like I said before, we all tend to take a ride on that spiritual roller coaster from time to time. Sooner or later, the “rod of correction” sent from the Holy Spirit will catch up with us and remind us of how far was have fallen.
All God wants us to do is look up and call upon Him. He will rush to deliver us from the enemy, from the bondages of sin, from the slavery to ourselves, if we will only cry out to him. God can use some of the most unlikely people and unusual circumstances to deliver us, but He will deliver us.
The important thing to remember is: When you are on the top of the hill, thank the Lord and praise God for your blessings, but when you go sliding down the hill, don’t forget that God is there too.
The old song says, “The God of the Mountain is still God in the valley”. He will hear your cry as you hit rock bottom and he will lift you out. As long as you stay on the track there is hope. It’s only when the roller coaster jumps the track that the real trouble begins, and you can’t jump the track unless you decide to. God will keep sending the “rod of correction” to get you on your knees and calling out to Him. He won’t allow you to go without doing everything He can, aside from using force against your will.
Just because you may be in the valley doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you. Just because He allows a “rod of correction” in the form of a temptation or some sort of failure to come into your life doesn’t mean that he has abandoned you.
Hebrews 12:6, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
The pathway to deliverance often leads us to the “rod of correction” first so that we will know to cry out to God so that He can answer our prayers and come to our rescue.
