Sunday Sermon: Judges 9, Learn from the bad example of Abimelech’s life!

Let me begin this morning by quickly recapturing what we observed from Gideon’s life last week. During the period of Judges, unlike the neighboring countries, Israel had no physical human kings to rule them over. So, when there was a stunning victory against the Midianites with mere 300 men of Israel, they came to Gideon the leader of the 300 men and asked him to be their king because they believed that Gideon had saved them out of the hand of Midian (8:22). This was of course wrong thinking. It was not Gideon, but God made it possible!

We saw how Gideon rightly turned down their request to be their king. He said to them in Judges 8:23, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.” Gideon appeared to be on the right track.
But, we saw Gideon gave only lib service to God’s rule over Israel and his life. He said God was the king, but in reality, he lived as though he was the king. Gideon robbed God’s glory when he took the credit for the stunning victory with just 300 men instead of correcting Israelites’ wrong belief. He took the credit for the victory for himself when he asked people to give him earring from their share of the plunder.

And, with this share of the plunder people gave to him, some 43 spounds of gold, he made an ephod. He made it in complete dishonor to what God said in Exodus 28. There, God gave a specific instruction about making ephod. It was to be made by priests, for priests to use for worshiping God and inquiring his will, to be used in tabernacle or temple setting. Gideon made his ephod violating God’s specific instruction; he was not a priest; he didn’t follow the specific details on making it; he didn’t place it in the tabernacle to be used for worship by priests, instead he placed it in his own town, perhaps in his own home. He went about it against God’s will.

Do you remember what the result of Gideon’s action was when he robbed God’s glory and made an ephod in violation to God’s word?

8:33-34 tells us, “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.”

When he gave only a lip service to God’s rule over him and Israel, he, he left the legacy of undermining God’s rule, God’s kingship over Israel.

Now, we are going to see the destructive result when Gideon undermined God’s glory and God’s rule over him, his family and his nation. And, the question that I want you to keep in mind is, “How does your choice, to follow God as your king or be your own king, affect the legacy you leave behind?

1. Abimelech’s treacherous and murderous rampage to become the king of Shechem.

In chapter 8, we were introduced to one of his son, Abimelech. I highlighted him last week because of his name, which means, “My father is king.” My father can either refer to God or Gideon, Abimelech’s physical father. But, from what we see in chapter 8, Abimelech’s name indicates Gideon’s unspoken, but lived out life choices to become his own king.

Abimelech grew up watching his father Gideon saying he was not a king, but living as a king. But, Abimelech was not like the rest of Gideon’s other sons. 8:31 tells us that Abimelech was born to a woman who was not Gideon’s wife, but his concubine, his mistress. So, although he was born into a prestigious and influential family of Gideon, he was a sort of outcast an illegitimate son, unaccepted by his own half brothers.

Also, what we notice about Abimelech is that his mother was not an Israelite. We see this from what Abimelech said to his mother’s relatives in Shechem in 9:2. He said to them, “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man? Remember, I am your flesh and blood.” Abimelech was telling his relatives of his mother’s side that he should rule over them because he was related to them by blood. This meant Abimelech’s relatives from his mother side were not related to Gideon, an Israelite, by blood. This makes Abimelech’s mother, Gideon’s concubine, a non-Israelite. God strictly forbade his people, the Israelites from having this kind of relationship with the non-Israelites who worshiped the idols and the other gods.

A case in point, when God’s people ignore God’s mandate, God’s purpose for their lives, what could they expect? What could Gideon have expected when he got himself a concubine, a Shechemite woman, a non-Israelite who worshiped not the God of Abraham, but Baal-Berith, a pagan god? Certainly not what his rogue illegitimate son, Abimelech did to his other seventy sons!

For the unspecified reasons, Abimelech had tremendous hatred and anger toward his half-brothers and against his father Gideon. As an illegitimate son, he didn’t have the legitimate claim to rule over the Israelites like Gideon’s seventy sons would have. Not being content of low status compared to his half brothers, having this pent-up anger and hatred against them and Gideon his father, he devised a wicked and brutal scheme to rule, to become a king!

We see in 9:1-6 how he went about doing this. He went to his mother’s relatives in Shechem to rally them to back him up and to make him their king instead of Gideon’s other seventy sons. Being convinced by him, his relatives gave him seventy sheckels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, which was about 1 and ¾ pounds of silver. With this silver, he hired reckless adventurers, thugs. And, he went to his father’s house and sought to murder seventy of half brothers one by one by crushing them to death with one stone. He successfully, brutally, in cold blood murdered all but one of his half-brothers, Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon. And, when the people of Shechem and Beth Millo got together in Shechem, they crowned Abimelech a cold and brutal murderer as their king.

2. Jotham, the sole surviving half-brother curses Abimelech.

And from verse 7 to 21, we see the account of the sole surviving half brother, Jotham bringing indictment, a lawsuit against the citizens of Shechem by telling them a fable. He told them in verse 7, “Listen to me, citizesn of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.” Herbert Wolf says that Jotham was asking citizens of Shechem “to present to God a response to his arguments,” and that “God is viewed as the judge in Jotham’s lawsuit against Shechem.”[1]

His fable went like this. The trees seeking to anoint a king for themselves asked the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine to become their king. But, all of them rejected the offer because they did not want to abandon their roles; the olive tree producing olives used for food, ointment, and medicine, one of Israel’s most valued crops (Deut 11:14), the fig tree yielding its good and sweet fruit, and the vine producing grapes to make fine wines. Then the trees asked the thornbush to be their king.[2] To this thornbush answered in verse 15, “If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!”

Jotham then explained and applied the fable to Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem in verse 16-20. If they acted honorably and in good faith made Abimelech their king while treating Jerub-Baal, Gideon, and his family well, he would wish that they would be glad for making Abimelech their king. But, this was not the case at all. The trees are analogous to the citizens of Shechem, seeking to make someone their king. And, the thornbush is analogous to Abimelech. In verse 20, Jotham cursed for that the citizens of Shechem and Abimelech would turn against each other and destroy each other.

Having cursed Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, Jotham took of to a place called Beer to find safety from his half-brother.

3. The revolt against Abimelech and Abimelech’s revenge and his own demise

And, from verse 22 to 25, we see the unraveling of the relationship between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. Verse 23 makes it clear that it was not happening randomly; it says, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem.” Their hearts having turned against Abimelech, they now rebelled against his rule by setting ambush and robbing indiscrimately.

And, when a new guy Gaal son of Ebed showed up in Shechem, the people of Shechem put their confidence in him and they cursed Abimelech. Then, Gaal went on to dismiss Abimelech because he was after all the son of Jerub-Baal, Gideon, an Israelite. Gaal asserted that he was better fit to rule over Shechem than Abimelech because he was not an Israelite. He said in verse 28, “Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father!” Genesis 34:2 says that Shechem’s father Hamor was the Hivite prince. Gaal was instigating the people of Shechem to revolt against Abimelech.

And, now in verse 30-41, we see how Abimelech defeated and squelched the revolt against him. Abimelech placed Zebul to rule over Shechem. And, when Zebul realized what Gaal and the people of Shechem were up to, he secretly sent a messenger to Abimelech to warn the impending danger. Zebul encouraged Abimelech to preemptively strike Gaal and Shechemites. Abimelech successfully ambushed Gaal and the revolting Shechemites, defeating them soundly.
Abimelech was still thirsty for revenge. It was not enough to drive out Gaal and his accomplices. In verse 42-45, when the people of Shechem went out to the fields unarmed to bring in the harvest, Abimelech went after them and struck them down. And, he attacked Shechem until he had captured it and killed its people. He destroyed the city and scattered salt over it to symbolize that the city was utterly destroyed with prospect for life.
There yet remained a stronghold of the pagan temple of El-Berith. There the remainder of the people of Shechem locked themselves in. But, Abimelech led his men to set the temple on fire. And, verse 49 says that about a thousand men and women died.

Apparently, the resistance against Abimelech spread to the adjacent city Thebez about 10 miles northeast from Shechem. The people of Thebez all fled to the strong tower hoping to defend themselves against Abimelech. Abimelech again tried to the same thing he did against the stronghold temple of Shechem. But, while he was approaching the tower to burn it down to the ground, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull, verse 53 says.

Having mortally wounded, he didn’t want to be known as having killed by a woman who dropped a millstone on him. So, he ordered his armor bearer to finish him off, which the armor bearer did.

With their leader killed, the rest of the Israelites simply retrieved and went back to their home.

And, the story ends with verse 56 and 57: Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.

4. Application #1: Think twice before you set out to make yourself your own king!

Abimelech’s father Gideon did great thing for the kingdom of God. In spite of his doubts, fears, skepticism, Gideon rose to God’s challenge and led 300 men to witness God’s deliverance.

But, the story didn’t end there. Instead of continually adoring God and worshiping him, Gideon did whatever he wanted to do without regard to God’s will, God’s concern, God’s opinion.
His revenge was not of God’s will; Making an ephod was against God’s will; marrying a Shechemite woman, non-Israelite was against God’s will, naming his son Abimelech, “My Father is king,” betrayed his confession of God’s kingship.

Just like the father, Abimelech learned to walk the same destructive path. To become his own king was so important that he murdered all his seventy brothers except one. Once he secured himself the position of a king by committing evil sins, maintaining the power as a king was so important that he turned into tyrant.

When the people revolted against him, he mercilessly killed his own people and burned them alive, only to meet the death in shame without any honor.

As a father of three daughters, I often think about what kind of legacy I am going to leave behind me. I take the warning from God seriously. The way I relate to my wife, the way I related to them, the way I relate to other people have huge influence on what kind of character they develop. The kind of person I am also influences you as I pastor you.

I certainly do not want to raise Abimelech kind of children. So, I take God’s call to lay down my pride before him, my king, to trust him, to humbly follow him and serve him. I know I don’t always succeed in imitating Jesus in the way he lived. But, I press on to become more like him.

5. Application #2: Ask God to increase and overflow your love.

When you and I try to be the king of our own lives, what happens is we become selfish, we try to use people for our own gain, for our own happiness. When we make ourselves kings, we subject others to serve us. We loose the ability to compassionate. We loose the ability to put ourselves in others’ shoes. We want to win the arguments. We want to conquer the relationship. We want to manipulate people, gossip, swear, yell and scream. We want to have our ways at all cost.

These days God has opening my eyes to see the kind of person I become when I set him aside and try to make myself as the king of my own life. Are you aware of the capacity to become like Abimelech if you insist on being your own king? Are you aware how your love gets cold and it gets replaced by anger, bitterness, resentment and hatred when you insist on getting what you want?

This past week I’ve been mediating on Apostle Paul’s letter to Thessalonians. He always prayed for people whom he ministered to. And, one particular prayer stood out to me. It comes from 1 Thessalonians 3:12, where he prayed, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as our does for you.” This prayer has revealed my spiritual state. Is my love increasing for my wife, my children, and for you guys? Am I overflowing? My self-assessment was negative. That discouraged me.

But, what really encouraged me was the fact that I have something I can do about that! That is I can ask God to increase my love to overflow just like Apostle Paul prayed. So, this past week, I’ve been praying this for myself, for my wife, for my children, and for you guys.

Can you imagine how our church, our relationship with each other would be like if our love for each other increases and overflows?

God desires this for us. And, to see that happen, we are given the pathway. We got to ask God for it! And, our God is the perfect person to train us in love. Philippians 2:5-11 says this about our Lord Jesus Christ, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on across! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knew should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
When we ask God to increase and overflow our love for people, what God does is he first takes us to the cross and has us learn the way of Christ, his Son.

Would you join me asking God to increase and overflow our love by imitating the attitude of our Lord Jesus?


[1] Herbert Wolf, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Judges, Judges 9:7.
[2] Ibid., “In recognition of Israel's lowly status, Jotham began, not with a cedar, but with an olive tree (vv. 8-9). Olives were used for food, ointment, and medicine. They were one of Israel's most valued crops (Deut 11:14). Olive oil kept the lamps in the Holy Place burning constantly, thus "honoring" the Lord. In view of its important functions, the olive tree declined the offer to become king. 10-11 The fig tree likewise passed up the opportunity to rule. Like olives, figs were a key agricultural product. Israel's picture of the ideal age was for every man to sit under his vine and under his fig tree (Mic 4:4; cf. 2 Kings 18:31). 12-13 Predictably, the vine also refused. Its fruit was the main beverage of the land, and libations of wine accompanied many sacrifices at the sanctuary (Num 15:10). "Wine makes life merry" (Eccl 10:19).”

Sunday Sermon: Judges 8:3-35, God is your King!

Today, we are going to consider Gideon’s life written from 8:3-35. Last week, we learn our God is God who does impossible things and he does them through us. And, although we are often unwilling, timid, and distrusting of God doing impossible things through us, he deals with us compassionately and patiently to help us come to trust him deeper.

Today’s heart response question is, “Who is your king?” “Who do you trust the most to set the example for you to live, to lead, guide and rule your life?” Well, we all know the appropriate Christian answer is God.

But today, through the story of Gideon in chapter 8, we are going to be under the subject of God’s word, which according to Hebrews 4:12, “is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Every thing is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” May God examine your heart through his word in answering the question, “Who is your king?” And, may God help you make him your true king!

1. God’s patient and compassionate dealing with timid, distrusting, manipulative and fearful Gideon

Thus far, what immerges out of chapter 6 and 7 is the image of Gideon as a man who doubted God, who couldn’t believe the impossible thing God was going to do through him. He was a timid man who was easily driven by fear and anxiety. He remained this way even though God talked to him through the angel and directly as well.
He resorted to a form of manipulation, asking God to perform the signs of dry and wet fleece thinking this would corner God to really follow through his promise.
But, we learned last week God doesn’t subject himself to people’s manipulation.[1] God comes through his promises because he is God of covenant, the ultimate promise keeper, not because he can be manipulated by us.

We try to understand God in our own terms, to fit him into our limited thinking. And, if God doesn’t fit in our own terms, we demand that God work in the way we think he should work.
But, God is not subject to manipulation. God’s business is to have us come to terms with the reality that he is God and we are not. God did this with Gideon by reducing Gideon’s men from 32,000 strong to mere 300 men, to face 135,000 enemy troops, now that is the odd of one man against 450 men. 7:22 says, “the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.” This is how God gave the victory to 300 men against 135,000 men.

As for Gideon only after listening to God’s encouragement for him to go down to the enemy’s camp to hear two men talk about the dream and its interpretation, was he willing to trust God.

God patiently and compassionately worked with timid, distrusting, skeptical, manipulative and fearful Gideon.

2. Gideon’s impatient and harsh dealings with his own people unlike the way God dealt with him.

This is what we see since chapter 6 through chapter 8:3 about Gideon. But, in 8:4-21, we see very different side of Gideon emerging. Instead of being timid, fearful, hesitant, we see a man on the hot pursuit to get even, to revenge, to make things right by taking matters into his own hands.

On the pursuit of the two Midianite kings Zebah and Zamunna, he came across two cities some forty miles south from the original battle ground of Mount Moreh. He asked for some bread for his men from the fellow officials of these two cities Sucooth and Peniel. The leaders from the both cities rejected Gideon’s request for help. The men of Succoth and Peniel were acting out of fear against Midianites of what they might do to them if they regrouped and won against Gideon’s mere 300 troops. Just like Gideon was fearful and skeptical, the men of Succoth and Peniel feared the Midianites and they were skeptical of what Gideon and his 300 men could accomplish.

Now, having experienced himself the Lord’s kind, faithful and patient dealing with his doubts, manipulation, fear, you would think Gideon would be patient with the men of Succoth and Peniel as well. But, no, to the men of Succoth, he said in verse 7, “Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.” And, to the men of Peniel he told in verse 9, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.” And, we are told from verse 13 that when he returned from routing the Midianite army, he executed his own form of punishments against the people of Succoth and Peniel. Verse 16 and 17 says, “He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.” Another word, they were tortured to death. And, as for Peniel, verse 17 says, “He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.” He destroyed the protective fortification of the city. This would have greatly compromised the safety of the city. Not only that, the people in the tower got killed when it fell.

What’s missing in this account of Gideon’s punitive punishment against Succoth and Peniel is God. God was actively involved in chapter 6, 7 and through 8:3. But, in 8:3-8:21, we see no involvement from God. Another word, Gideon was acting mercilessly and vindictively against his own people of Succoth and Peniel, completely opposite to God’s compassionate and patient response to Gideon.

Here is the question that God is asking of you through his word. Are you dealing with patience and kindness to those around you who you find to be lacking in some ways? Or, are you dealing with harshness without compassion?

Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Now, we are not talking about being passive as in the sense of doing nothing. Instead, as Christians we are to actively live out the life examples of Jesus Christ. In dealing with the men of Succoth and Peniel, Gideon didn’t clothe himself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Instead, he let his flesh reign on him, by giving into the attitude of revenge, grudge, anger, hatred, bitterness. Our God, our king deals with us compassionately and patiently. And, we are to do the same.

3. Who is really your king?

When all was said and done, the Israelites said to Gideon in verse 22, “Rule over us-you, your son and your grandson-because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.” The Israelites saw how other nations had their own kings and they wanted to be like them. We see this later in 1 Samuel 12:12. Samuel told the Israelites, “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’-even though the LORD your God was your king.”

The Israelites craved for the human king, thinking that would ensure the real security. They believed that not having human king made them substandard to other nations with their kings. And, when the Israelites asked Gideon to be their king, they were asking it because they thought it was Gideon who saved them out of the hand of Midian.

Having learned how God led timid, unwilling, skeptical, fearful Gideon to engage the 135,000 strong enemy’s army with mere 300 men, we know it was not Gideon, but it was God who really saved the Israelites out of the hand of Midian.
It was God who raised Gideon up to be used as a judge to rescue them. It was God who responded to the Israelites when they cried out to him for his help under the severe oppression.
Now, there are two parts to what they said to Gideon. First is their request for Gideon and his son and grandson to rule them over as their kings. And, another part is their reason for asking him to rule over them, namely they thought it was Gideon who saved them out of the hand of Midian.

Now, Gideon’s response to them appears to be a godly one. He told them in verse 23, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.” Kudos to Gideon for refusing to be their king! He had a good sense to realize that the people were to commit their allegiance to their true king, God.

It appears that Gideon was on the right track for refusing to be their king. But, then this is what he asked the Israelites in verse 24, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” I mentioned already, the reason they asked Gideon to be their king was because they thought it was Gideon who saved them out of the hand of Midian. This was far from the truth. Here, Gideon had the chance to set the record straight by telling them really it was not him, but God who saved them. Instead of correcting Israelites’ wrong thinking by giving God the full credit for the deliverance, Gideon did completely the opposite. By asking the portion of the plunder from people, he affirmed their thinking that it was really he who saved them from the hand of Midian, not God.

Although in words Gideon turned down the offer to be their king, but in actuality he lived like their king. Like the kings of other nations would, 8:30 says that he had 70 sons of his own from his many wives. To support such a large family, he had the means of a king. 8:26 tells us that he gathered a great fortune, 17,000 shekels of gold, which was equivalent to 43 pounds of gold without counting the ornaments and the pendants. He also acquired the purple royal garments worn by the kings of Midian.

He also made an ephod out of the gold he received. An ephod was a vest that was especially made for inquiring God by the priest. God gave the instruction on how to make it and how to use it in Exodus 28. It wasn’t Gideon’s job to make the ephod to begin with; it was the job of the priest. We will come back to Gideon and his ephod shortly.

Another indication that he lived like a king comes from the way he named one of his sons. He named a son Abimelech. The meaning of this name is “My father is king.” “My father” could be understood as referring to God instead of himself. But, the fact that Gideon named his son that could be easily understood as to credit him as a king is puzzling.

Gideon told the Israelites that he wasn’t going to be their king because God was their king, but in reality, Gideon lived like a king. Instead of helping people to realize that it was God who saved them, he took the credit for God’s victory when he asked for gold from the people. Instead of glorifying God, he took God’s glory for himself.

The result was devastating. 8:33-34 says this, “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.” Things could have been very different had Gideon made it very clear to the people that it was God who rescued them, gave them the victory against the oppression of Midian.

Now let me go back to the ephod that Gideon made. In Exodus 28, God gave the Israelites a very specific instruction on how to make the ephod for the priest to wear. It was to be worn by the priest in their ministry at the tabernacle, or temple later. The fact that Gideon made an ephod on his own initiation out of gold that he received from people, the fact that he placed it in his home town of Ophrah, likely in his own house tell us that he didn’t know the word of God. If he knew the word of God, if he had read Exodus 28, he would have known that making the ephod and having it in his own town, in his own home was against God’s will.

What happened when Gideon went ahead and made the ephod without the knowledge of the scripture that is without the knowledge of God’s will? 8:27 says, “Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” People believing that it was Gideon who delivered them focused their attention now on this unholy ephod Gideon made against God’s will. The ephod became an idol to people, but also to Gideon and his own family.

Gideon and the Israelites struggled to fully trust God as their King.

Applications

What is the connection between Gideon’s story and our story? The connection is the universal experience of the tension between God’s kingship and our own insistence to rule ourselves.
The struggle for Gideon was to acknowledge God as his king not only in words, but in how he actually lived out his life. He had the vague sense that it was not right for him to claim the kingship over the Israelites, but without the knowledge of God’s will revealed in the scripture, he didn’t know how to live out his daily life following God as his king.

Only if he had intimately treasured the word of God in his heart, he would have known that making the ephod was wrong; he would have known that asking for the gold from people was wrong because it didn’t give credit to God for the victory; he would have known that harshly and vindictively punishing his own people was wrong instead of dealing them with compassion and patience God showed him. Without the knowledge of the scripture, he didn’t know the will of God. Without knowing the will of God, he sought to make his own determinations and decisions as he saw fit with the tragic outcomes.

This ought to compel you to desire to dig into the word of God. When you neglect intimate reading of God’s word, you end up like Gideon who had the vague sense of God’s will, but had no clue as to how to live day and day out according to God’s desire and will. Without faithfully hearing, reading, studying God’s word, he didn’t have the faith to deeply trust God as his King!
Again, we face the same struggle as Gideon did. We may give the lip service that God is our king, but our actions betray our words. It is really the battle of the heart. Can you trust God as your king? Can you trust that God can run your life far better than you can? Can you trust that God as your king can provides you what you need? Can you trust that God as your king can protect you? Can you trust that God as your king wants to use for his kingdom purpose? Can you trust that God as your king wants to make radical differences in the way you relate to people? Can you trust God as your king who wants to impossible things through you?

If you go halfhearted about this, what you are going to end up is building your own idols, not only for yourself, but for your families and for your friends, all the while not remembering God and forsaking him. Instead of being positive contribution in the kingdom of God, you become stumbling blocks to yourself and to others.

So, would you renew your commitment to see God as your king! In order to see God as your king and to trust in him as your king, you will need to know who he is. And, how do you get to know who he is?

Many of you have this vague feeling you know God! And, you are content with knowing him as you know him now. And, you feel confident about knowing God without having to read his word everyday. Don’t believe it for a second that you can really know God without God’s word! You can not get to know anyone without engaging in deep conversation and interaction with them. Without getting to know someone’s character, you will have very difficult time or even impossible to trust the person.

Reading the word of God is like engaging in deep conversation and interaction with God. When you read, you discover who God is like, what he likes, what he dislikes, what’s important to him, how he wants to relate to you, what he wants to work in you, how he wants to change you, what he promises you, how he works in the world, how he works in people, and he speaks to you through his word! God uses his word to help you trust in him, his kingship over you!


[1] K. Lawson Younger Jr. The NIV Application Commentary: Judges and Ruth, Zondervan, 2002, p. 192. “the emotional and psychological assurance that God will really give the victory.”

Sunday Sermon: Judges 3:12-30, Life Lessons from the story of Ehud

The story of Ehud involves the same typical cycle that often characterizes what happened during the period of Judges. The Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord responded to change the course of their action by giving Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. When they cried out for help, he gave them a deliverer, in this case Ehud. Ehud single-handedly killed the king of Moab and led the Israelites to overcome Moab’s oppression.

Ehud cunningly concealed the weapon of his choice, a short sword just made for the risky mission to take down the king of Moab. He was chosen by the Israelites to lead a group to bring the tribute to Eglon. Ehud first had his encounter with the king when he brought the tribute. After leaving and sending away the rest of the people who brought the tribute with him, he went back to the king.

Ehud managed to get a private time with the king when he told the king, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Having received a nice tribute from the group led by Ehud and Ehud showing up alone, Eglon had little reason to suspect any foul play.

Excited to hear something special, he ordered the attendants to be quite. This was perhaps a signal for the attendants and the officials to clear out the King’s upper room of his summer palace. They left the room, leaving the king alone with Ehud.

Ehud told the king, “I have a message from God for you” in verse 20. Expecting to hear a divine message, the king got up to show his respect only to meet Ehud’s dagger. The king fell to the floor dead.

How did Ehud get out? While the attendants and officials waited outside the doors, Ehud snuck out of the porch locking the doors of the upper room behind him. The king’s attendants and officials thought the king was attending to his bodily need.
They waited until they weren’t sure what was going on any more, only to find their king on the floor dead.

Ehud having successfully assassinated the enemy’s king, went back to the Hill country of Ephraim, blew a trumpet and gathered the Israelites. And, then he gave his pep talk! “Follow me… for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” Well, the rest was history! Verse 29 says, “they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.”

Reading the story of Ehud is like watching an action flick. It reminded me of House of Flying Daggers that I recently watch on DVD. Well, it is one thing to watch and be entertained by the movies like House of Flying Daggers, but it is another thing to read a story like this in the Bible and glean spiritual insights for our lives.

Hebrew 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any doubled-edged sword, in penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him whom we must give account.”

So, this morning, I pray that this scriptural story gets applied to us as the living and active word of God.

1. Who’s driving your life vehicle?

Judges 3:12 says that Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. It doesn’t say what they actually did. But, there are few clues. When Ehud returned back from delivering the tribute to Eglon the king of Moab, verse 19 says at the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back.”

And, verse 26 says Ehud again passed by the idols when he escaped to Seriah somewhere in the hill country of Ephraim. This again close to Gilgal.

you remember what was in Gilgal? In Gilgal were the twelve stones that the each tribe of Israel carried from the bottom of the Jordan River bed when God miraculously stopped its flow to allow the Israelites to safely cross it. The pile of these twelve stones were to be the lasting reminder to the Israelites what God had done for them.

But, what we see in verse 19 & verse 26 is that along side of the twelve stones monument in Gilgal were the idols.

God very specifically prohibited the Israelites from making idols. Deuteronomy 4:15-18 says, “You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.” And, God gave them specific instructions as to what they should do when they came across the idols. Deuteronomy 12:3 says, “Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and bur their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” Another word, they were to “purge the evil.” So often the Lord commanded the Israelites, “You must purge the evil from among you” (Deut. 13:5, 17:7, 12, 13, 19:13, 19, 21:9, 21, 22:22, 24, 24:7. & Judges 20:13). Another way to understand this command is to picture sweeping away.

Our dinning room area gets dirty very quickly because it is a high traffic area close to where Rocky our dog stays and our dinning table sits in it. The floor accumulates dirt, Rocky’s dog hair, food crumbs from the table very quickly. We either need to sweep away or vacuum away the unwanted elements from the floor few times each day.

God did not want the Israelites to tolerate any idol in the Promised Land. But, this is exactly what the Israelites did. They either tolerated the idols made by the native people of Canaan or they themselves built the idols with their own hands.

What are idols? Idols are anything that tries to substitute God.
Instead of relying on God for help, an idol is trying figure things out on our own.

Psalm 33:10 says, “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

Proverbs 16:1 says, “To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.”

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

God is very clear on this. His purposes, his plans, his steps will succeed. His call is for us to come to him and cooperate with him to accomplish his purposes, his plans, and his steps with his ability, his strength.

There are many things that make our hearts anxious, but one great source of anxiety must be when we think about our future. As students now, some of you think about what you will become, as working people, you think about how you might progress through the ladders at your business, out of school now, you are looking for a job, career direction, you are single and you want boyfriend, girlfriend or you want to get married.

I remember talking to Shannon’s mom when she visited our church a day before his departure to Guinea. When I asked her how she was doing, she chocked up. She tried really hard to hold her tears. I told her that it was hard for me to imagine how difficult it would be to send off my child to far away land where basic living condition is so poor.

Well, we had our moment when Abby got on that Big Yellow school bus for the first time to go to her kindergarten. Our first daughter, for about three hours each weekday she will not be with us. After Abby got on the bus, I asked Lyn how she was doing. I wanted to record a video clip on how mom felt for sending Abby off to school. She chocked up and cried! Well, you better believe we pray hard that week for our kindergarten student! Instead of giving into anxiety and fear and try to control our daughter’s destiny, what we are learning is to trust God knows what he is doing.

He says in Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.”

So, next time you feel anxious and fearful, impatient, unhappy when you think about your life, where you think it is heading, I want you to see who is driving your life vehicle. Because the field of life is filled with rough terrains with dangerous and unexpected turns and obstacles, you want your life vehicle to be driven by the professional. You would like to think you are well capable of navigating your life vehicle, but you are just an amateur. You need to hire the big name professional! Not just any one, but the best of the best. And in the universe, there is no one with the better credentials, better track records of successes, better skills and knowledge to our life vehicle than Jesus. And, by the way, you don’t need to hire him, because he offers you his super-professional spiritual service to you at no cost. Only thing that he asks of you is for you to get off the driver seat and let him navigate for you! Another word, trust in him!

2. What do you do when you are downcast?

Let me take you back to the story of Ehud. I wasn’t sure how this rather gory account of Ehud using his sword to get the enemy’s king would apply to my and your lives. I got some help from K. Lawson Younger who wrote a commentary on Judges.

We don’t face warfare situations like Ehud as Christians. So, the question he asks is, “How are we to wage spiritual warfare against those who abuse, exploit, and persecute the church?”[1] More general question I would ask is, “How are we to wage war against Satan who wants to discourage us?”

If Satan tried to take our Lord Jesus down when Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, you better believe Satan is out to take us down!

If it is not with the physical sword of Ehud, what is that we are to use for the spiritual warfare? K. Lawson Younger connects Ehud’s sword to the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. In Ephesians 6:7, Paul calls us to take up the arm by picking up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

This past week, I was overwhelmed with deep sense of discouragement. My wife was feeling it too. Although the weather was bright and warm, our hearts were downcast. I didn’t know how to shake off the discouragement.

That is when the Lord presented me with his sword, the word of God from Psalm 42:5-11:

Why are you so downcast with me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon- from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me- a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Over fifteen years ago, I was able to see Niagara Falls with my family. We took the tour boat at the bottom of the falls. Wow, the roars of the waterfalls completely drown my hearing, I could hardly hear myself. The falls from above doesn’t look so bad, but where the falls hit the water, you feel so small and powerless. The roars of waterfalls drowning all your senses, it feels chaotic. Have you felt like that in your life?

Have you felt like someone is saying to you, “Where is your God?” God feels distant and far.

God put this psalm 42 in the Bible to let us know that we will go through the times of great confusion, chaos when we feel powerless, insignificant, out of control, discouraged.

What do you do? You take up the sword of the word of God and you begin to preach to yourself, “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”



[1] K. Lawson Younger, NIVAC on Judges, p. 126.