How many of you remember the old record players? You remember when a record would get a scratch in it how it would repeat over and over and over again, it would always jump on the scratch and you would either have to physically move the needle up a bit so the song would continue or toss out the record because it was damaged. I guess that’s where the saying “you sound like a broken record” comes from.
Kind of like when you would tell your kids to clean their rooms or put away their toys. You may have sounded like a broken record. Or maybe you have said “If I told you once I have told you a thousand times”. Ah, ah, a broken record.
Well for the next many weeks we are going to be looking at a book of the Bible that may sound more like a broken record. In this book you will see the destructive cycle of sin rearing its head and you will see the results of that sin which takes the form of slavery, oppression, devastation and sorrow. Then you will see a calling out to God when the people of Israel hit rock bottom, when there is no where else to turn. Finally you will see God raised up a hero to save the people from their pit of despair.
Maybe you guessed it already or you read your bulletin. We are going to look at the book of Judges, but more specifically character sketches of each of the judges. Often when we hear sermons from the Book of Judges we hear sermons on Gideon and Sampson, but I want to look at some of the other ones too, the lesser known Judges.
I have wanted to do this for a couple years now, but have veered away from it, but now is the time.
The book of Judges begins with the death of Joshua. After wandering in the wilderness for years, Israel has finally moved into the Promised Land. They’ve defeated several Kings and the 12 tribes have each been given a portion of the land to call their new home.
This book is full of adventurous people, victorious battles and the most unexpected heroes. Also, it’s a book that illustrates the amazing grace of God toward his people.
Like I said you probably have heard of judges like Gideon, Sampson and maybe even Deborah, but today we are going to look at a lesser known judge, we are going to look at the judge named Othniel. Who has heard of him?
Through this period of Judges, God was preparing the people for a King. They did not have a king at this time so God rose up Judges and empowered them by the Holy Spirit to deliver the people. I think about today and how I believe God is preparing us for a new kingship. The King we await will not disappoint, He will not have faults and He is the greatest King ever. King Jesus will one day reign and every knee will bow and every tongue confess. But….Let’s get back to the story that is filled with action and adventure.
Let’s turn to Judges 3:7-11 and read our passage for today:
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
I. Othniel (Who?)
“Few words sometimes speak volumes”. That it the title of the sermon today and you were probably hoping that would refer to the length of my sermon this morning…
As we go through the book of Judges you will see that many of the judges have short comings. They let the power get to their head. Gideon and Sampson have lots of verses that speak to their downward spiral into sin, but not Othniel. Now you may think that Othniel maybe was a judge for a short time or did not accomplish a lot. However, as I studied I found out he ruled at least 40 years and more likely 48 years. Gideon ruled at least 40 years also and had 3 chapters in Judges about his life. So why is there really only 3 verses about this guy in this passage and he has a verse in Joshua also?
Well I believe that few words speak volumes. You have heard the saying “no news is good news”? Well I think that is the case here. Some of the other judges screwed up royally and we heard about it, but not Othniel. We read “The Spirit of the LORD came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years”.
That says it all! There is nothing more powerful than the Spirit of the Lord coming down on someone. “The Spirit of the Lord came on him”. Othniel may be a lesser known judge from the book of Judges, but he should never be thought of as a lesser judge just because not much is said about him.
II. Lessons from the story of Othniel
Well there are four lessons we can learn from Othniel today! Lessons that can speak into our lives.
a. God is Sovereign
The first and really most important lesson we can learn from the life of Othniel is that God is Sovereign. We read in Judges 3:7: 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. Even though they turned from God, God was still sovereign.
8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. God was not pleased with their turning from Him, but He allowed it and there were consequences. In all of this God was still Sovereign.
9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. And in God’s sovereignty he raised up a judge to save the people and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. Furthermore God gave the Cushan King into their hands. Man’s decisions do not take away from God’s sovereignty. God is always God and is in full control despite man’s sinful ways.
b. The impact of a Godly family and friends
The second lesson we can learn from the life of Othniel is that a strong Christian family and family foundation is important.
Othniel was the nephew of Caleb. Caleb and Joshua together were the ones who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. Remember the twelve spies that were sent to scope out the situation in the promise land. The Israelites had wandered in the wilderness and had been promised the promise land but sent the 12 spies in. There was a song “Twelve men went to spy on Cannan, 10 were bad and 2 were good”. Well Caleb and Joshua were the good ones!!! So Othniel is the nephew of Caleb and he lives up to Caleb’s example. We hear about Othniel in Judges Chapter one when he defeated a ruler in Negeb and moved into that region. As a prize for defeating this ruler and opposing army, Caleb gives his nephew his daughter to be married to him. Kissing cousins! Mmmmm!
Anyways, back in the day this marriage was all kosher, all okay according to Mosaic Law and tradition. In fact, this marriage was pleasing to God unlike a lot of the other marriages of that day. You see, when the Israelites came into the promise land there was a lot of un-holy hanky-panky going on. Nazarene Theologian Robert Branson says that the Israelites transgressed against God and the covenant by intermarrying their enemies’ daughters. Judges 3:5, 6 previous to our passage today, it reads: “But the People of Israel made themselves at home among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons in marriage. And they worshiped their gods.”
So Othniel had a godly heritage, he came from some god Godly foundation and had a marriage that was pleasing to God. There is not much said about Othniel, but what is said speaks volumes. It is important to raise our children, grandchildren with Godly principles and be Godly examples to our nieces and nephews.
c. Without God we can do nothing
The third lesson we can learn from the life of Othniel is the without God we can do nothing. We saw that a couple weeks ago in the story of David and Goliath. God took a little boy with no military training, who was the least in his family and used him to defeat a massive military man. Without God we can do nothing. It like that poster I told you about also of the little polar bear walking across the ice pack and the caption read “Lord there is nothing you and I can’t handle today”. Without God we can do nothing.
Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, "Who were all those men with you there?" Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.
Without the power of the Holy Spirit coming down on Othniel this story would have look a lot different. It was by the power of God that Othniel defeated the enemies and the people experienced 40 years of peace. Without God we can do nothing.
d. Be ready to fight spiritual battles in the name of the Lord
The fourth lesson we can learn from the life of Othniel is that we need to fight our battles in the name of the Lord and by the power if the Holy Spirit. These battles could be a variety of things like spiritual attacks from the evil one, problems with others, financial problems. We need to come at them in the name of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:10-13 states: 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand firm.
III. Conclusion
Final thought! So how do I wrap this all up? I could point toward the ups and downs of the Israelite people. How they call on God one moment, God helps them and then they fall back into sin. That is a problem when we as Christian fall back into the same sin patterns. This is a theme throughout the book of Judges.
Today I wanted to look at the man Othniel and see what we could learn from this lesser known character of the Bible. In Grande Prairie, Pastor Lindsay, Pastor Mel and I did a sermon series on lesser known characters of the Bible and this guy Othniel did not even make the list. He is lesser known than the lesser known’s. So here is what we need to remember….
We need to remember that Godly acquaintances; family and friends are important. Also giving a Godly heritage to those we are bringing up.
Secondly, we need to remember that without God we can do nothing. We need to lean on Him for every area and everything we do.
Thirdly, we need to fight spiritual battles in the name of the Lord. Rely on the Holy Spirit when we come up against uncertainties. We need the Spirit of the Lord to come upon us in a powerful way!!
Lastly, and most importantly we need to remember that God is sovereign. He has the whole world in his hands. Nothing happens, not a moment goes by that God is not still in control.
Recently I read in our Daily Bread: Professor Robert McClory from North-western University asked the question: Was God absent when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans? McClory said “no, God was not absent”. God was present! God was present with the suffering and dying. He was present with individuals, communities, churches and schools as they organized aid for victims and took evacuees into their cities and homes. He was with the hundreds of thousands who showed compassion by pray and financial assistance.
God was there with every bottle of water that was handed out and God is still there today as the rebuilding continues. God is Sovereign even we cannot understand. God was sovereign when the people turned from Him. God was sovereign when the people cried to Him in their bondage and persecution and God was sovereign when he raised up Othniel a leader to deliver the people. God was and is sovereign today in every situation.
