PRISONER OF THE WINDS?
Judges 11:1-33; 12:7
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. David, Henry and Alan, 3 little boys, were visiting their grandparents. David went over to his grandfather and asked, "Can you make a sound like a frog?
2. His grandfather, being in a kind of ill mood replies, "No David, I don't really want to make the sound of a frog right now." Next Henry went over to his grandfather and asked, "Papa, will you please make a sound like a frog?"
3. Once again, his grandfather said, "No Henry, not now. I don't really want to do that. I'm in a grumpy mood. Maybe later."
4. Lastly Alan went over to him and said, "Papa, oh please, please, please will you make a sound like a frog?"
5. "Why do all of you boys want me to make a sound like a frog?" their grandfather asked.
6. David replied, with a hopeful look on his face, "Well Grandpa, Mommy told us that when YOU croak, we get to go to Disney World!"
B. TEXT
1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman."
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him. 4 Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."
7 Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?" 8 The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah. 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. 32 Then
Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.
C. THESIS/ TITLE
1. We're going to look at a man who God worked great things in and how, in the end, he became God's leader for His people by overcoming. “Overcomer” – “one who faces a great contest but turns defeat into victory through hidden inner strength.”
2. Title: "Prisoner of the Winds?"
I. JEPHTHAH’S TRAGIC MISFORTUNE
A. HIS BIRTH
1. He was a child of shame. His mother was a prostitute. In that time, prostitution and illegitimacy were on par with a crime.
2. It was not his fault. He had no part in the sin of his father, yet he became treated as if he had done wrong.
3. How many know it’s possible to feel bad about something even if you haven’t done anything?
4. ILLUS. Pastor William Russ told about giving a sermon one Sunday. He heard two teenage girls in the back giggling and disturbing people. He interrupted his sermon and announced sternly, "There are two of you here who have not heard a word I've said." That quieted them down.
5. When the service was over, he went to greet people at the front door. 3 different adults apologized for going to sleep in church, promising it would never happen again.
B. HOW HIS FAMILY TREATED HIM
1. His own brothers despised him. They expelled him from the family -- either from a motive of selfishness or a false feeling of guilt.
2. To them, Jephthah was just a reminder of their father’s infidelity.
3. They denied him any of his father's inheritance: not one dollar, not 1 acre of land.
C. HE BECAME A REFUGEE
1. He was driven from their territory.
2. He fled and lived in the Land of Tob, near Ammon, a land of:
a. Enemies of Israel
b. A warlike people
c. Immoral, Idolatrous, and Lawless people.
3. It was a terrible place to try to serve the Lord.
D. “I DON’T WANT THIS, GOD!”
1. Five-year-old Johnny was being urged by his mother to take some medicine. "It's good for you, Johnny. And God wants you to take it."
2. "I don't think He does, Mommy. I'll ask Him." The youngster buried his head under the blankets on his bed, and soon a hoarse voice spoke; "No! Definitely not!"
3. But sometimes God does want us to go through difficulty for a higher purpose, and so we can become overcomers.
II. MISFORTUNES DON’T DETERMINE DESTINY
A. ARE WE PRISONERS OF THE WINDS?
1. Some people think if you're put in a difficult position, the devil has taken over and you might as well quit.
2. How many know God doesn't want us to be quitters? He will make a way! "There is no temptation that has taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may bear up under it" 1 Corinthians 10:13.
3. ILLUS. OF NAVIGATING THE WINDS
a. On January 13, 1997, the National Geographic reported an adventurer Steve Fossett climbed into the cockpit of a hot air balloon in St. Louis Missouri, and rose into the sky with the ambition of being the first to circle the globe in a balloon. After three days he had crossed the Atlantic and was flying at 24,500 feet eastward over Africa.
b. The prevailing wind carried him on a direct course for the country of Libya, and that was a problem. Libya had refused him permission to fly in its airspace, which meant he could be shot down. Of course, hot air balloons cannot turn. When a change in direction is called for, what they must do is change altitude. At a higher or lower altitude a balloonist can usually find a cross wind blowing in a different direction.
c. Fossett vented helium, and the balloon dropped 6,300 feet, where it came under the control of a wind blowing southeast. Fossett skirted safely south of Libya, then heated the balloon, rose almost 10,000 feet and caught an easterly wind, which carried him back on course.
d. Although Fossett got only as far as India, he set dual records for the longest distance (10,360 miles) and duration (six days, two hours, 44 minutes) of balloon flight.
4. ANALOGY TO TRANSCENDING CIRCUMSTANCES
a. Bertrand Piccard, another balloonist seeking to travel around the world in a balloon, sees a similarity between balloon flight in daily life.
b. "In the balloon," says Piccard, "you are prisoners of the wind, and you go only in the direction of the wind. In life people think they are prisoners of circumstance.
c. But in the balloon, as in life, you can change altitude, and when you change altitude, you change direction. You are not a prisoner anymore." A person changes altitude by changing attitude!
d. Think of Joseph. God changed his altitude to move him to the throne of Egypt!
B. JEPHTHAH BLOOMED WHERE PLANTED
1. JEPHTHAH MAINTAINED HIS FAITH IN JEHOVAH
a. He went to Mizpah -- the place of ancient covenants with Jehovah, God of Israel.
b. He made public confession of Jehovah.
c. He looked to Jehovah for guidance and help.
d. He was filled with the Spirit -- and he fought in the Power of the Spirit.
2. HE MAINTAINED HIS CHARACTER
a. He Forgave those who wronged him (when he could've gotten revenge)
b. He kept his Vows, though difficult. He remained loyal toward his people.
c. Character alone dictates destiny. [John McCain]
C. GOD HAS A PLAN, GREATER THAN MISFORTUNES
1. 1 Samuel 12:11, "The Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel and He delivered you from your enemies on every side."
2. “Jephthah” means "he shall open," prophetically referring to the prison of bondage imposed on the Israelites by the Ammonites.
III. MISFORTUNE REBOUNDS TO HONOR
A. TIMES OF DIFFICULTY CAN REWARD US IF WE TRAIN DURING THEM.
1. He prepared for the future (while a refugee) by training to fight and amassing an army.
2. In Israel's need, they recognized His gifting and called on him to help.
3. They made him Head of Gilead, probably rightfully his anyway (esp. if he was the eldest son).
B. HE NOW RECOG. GOD’S HAND IN MISFORTUNE
1. Without it – God’s hand – he could never have arisen to the headship of his tribe and, for six years, to rule/Judge all Israel.
2. But difficulty bred in him strength that surpassed the abilities of others. He was God's man to deliver Israel.
C. ILLUS.: PICKING BLACKBERRIES IN SCOTLAND
1. “Years ago,” says John Stuart, “I used to go blackberry picking with my brothers, usually during the Fall. They look like dark colored raspberries and they grow wild in Scotland.
2. To get to the biggest and sweetest blackberries, you have to be willing to fight your way through some really nasty thorns. To pick the berries off the thorns, you cannot use gloves.
3. Inevitably, my brothers and I would all come home with painful thorns stuck in our hands. So our mom, as well as making jelly and resewing our ripped clothes, had to removing the thorns with tweezers.
4. In the end it was worth all of the discomfort, trouble, and pain. The jelly she made was delicious, especially on buttered slices of toast.
5. Sometimes as Christians, we think that we’re entitled to live our lives free from worries, stress, or attack. We think that just because we follow Christ then our lives should be free from trouble. But this is not the case.
6. God gives us the ability to cope with our problems and to adapt our lives accordingly. He never promises to remove them, otherwise saints like Paul would never have had to go through the troubles they did.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. The University of Oklahoma struggled for years with their football program. They selected a new coach. In a short time, O.U. won the national championship. The coach was asked, "Did you obtain a better class of athletes?"
2. "No, it was won with the athletes we already had. They just didn't believe they were champions. But they came to believe it. Then, when they went into a game, they expected to win it. Their attitude made all the difference." (He had the same effect as Bill Parcells).
B. SCRIPTURES
1. "If God be for me, who can be against me?" Romans 8:31.
2. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" Phip. 4:13.
3. "If you have faith... nothing shall be impossible for you" Matthew 17:20.
4. Luke 1:37, 18:27 "with God, nothing shall be impossible."
C. ILLUSTRATION: WHEN YOU CAN’T SEE WHY
1. KICKING BY FAITH. Duffy Daughtery was the football coach for the Michigan State Spartans from 1954 to 1972.
2. At the end of one game, Daughtery sent in his kicker to win the game. As the kick sailed through the uprights, the kicker looked at the referee.
3. Why? Because he had forgotten his contact lens and couldn’t see! He couldn’t see the goalposts, but had practiced the kick so many times that he just followed the pattern by faith.
4. When things don’t make sense and we can’t see the reasons why, we should continue to walk by faith knowing that the God whose sight pierces the darkness will guide and help us all the way!
D. ALTAR CALL
1. Call for salvation and call for those who are going through trials.
2. Prayer.
