(Judges 3:7-11 NIV) 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 upon 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.
Israel's trip into idolatry began with forgetting: "...they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals ..." That's the way it is with all migration to the far country, it begins with forgetting. The term "forgot" suggests the path to idolatry. It means "to mislay" or "to be oblivious of due to lack of attention." There's one word that describes that and it is NEGLECT. In Judges 2:11 and 12, we read that "Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers...". Forsaking is preceded by forgetting. A life style of doing evil is preceded by "forgetting the LORD."
(Rom 1:28 KJV) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
They didn't intellectually deny the existence of God, they just failed to give Him a place in their every day life.
How long does it take for weeds to overtake a garden? How long do you have to neglect a relationship before it is no more?
(Prov 6:10-11) Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest: {11} So shall thy poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.
Neglect is enough to ruin a man. A man who is in business need not commit forgery or robbery to ruin himself: he has only to neglect his business, and his ruin is certain. A man who is lying on a bed of sickness need not cut his throat to destroy himself: he has only to neglect the means of restoration, and he will be ruined. A man floating in a skiff above Niagara need not move an oar, or make an effort, to destroy himself: he has only to neglect using the oar at the proper time, and he will certainly be carried over the cataract. Most of the calamities of life are caused by simple neglect. --Barnes
We would be surprised what we are capable of apart from our relationship with God. Our life of purity isn't the result of a strong will, but of our walk with God.
Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9)
Paul declared, "For I know that in me, i.e., in my flesh, nothing good dwells, for while the desire to do good is present, I find myself doing evil." (Romans 7:18)
(Rom 8:12-13 KJV) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. {13} For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Thieves and robbers don't steal garbage, but valuables. Scripture warns us that we are being stalked by a thief.
(John 10:10 KJV) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The first warning is "the thief is coming." You can count on it. The thief is coming and when he does, he is coming "to stead, and to kill and to destroy."
He was sitting at a traffic light minding his own business when the gunman burst into the car. With the barrel of the pistol pressed into his side, he was told to get out of the car or he would be killed. Valuing his life more than his automobile, he complied. His feet weren't yet firmly planted on the ground when the car jacker sped off into the night with his automobile and briefcase. It was an overt act of violence.
She was told by the clerk that it was a genuine four karat diamond worth more than $5000, but he would let her have it for a lot less. The diamond was so beautiful and the price so good that she had to have it. The price included mounting it on a pendant which would hang from a gold necklace. A year later, now living in a different city, she decided to have it remounted on a ring. It was then that the jeweler informed her that her four karat diamond was a cubic zarconia (a fake diamond) worth much less than what she paid for it.
Both of these people were robbed, only the method was different. Not all of Satan's work is overtly observable. The effect is always the same, but the methodology often varies.
Most Christians wouldn't think of allowing Satan to rob them of their prayer life or their faith in God, but it happens. There are times when Satan's is guilty of overt acts of theft. Times when he steals a young mother's health or the father's job and the families income. He is a thief. There are, however, times when his acts of theft are characterized by stealth. He trades us glass for diamonds, religion for relationship and seasonal pleasure for Holy Ghost joy. He's a thief who wears many disguises and utilizes a variety of tactics.
I think most Christians are on guard for the thief with the gun, but they aren't able to discern the covert activities of the thief. They are lulled to sleep by a false sense of security. They are distracted by the cares of life, pleasure and riches, and don't even notice when the thief replaces their devotion to God with business. They are still doing things for God, but they aren't aware that their activity has replaced affection. They are the first to express grief over the "prayer in schools" issue, but their own prayer life is a shambles. They will point out the sin of others and make speeches about the moral decadence of our society, but at the same time they do the things they condemn in others.
(Judges 3:8 KJV) Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan Rishathaim eight years.
The name Chushan Rishathaim means "blackness of double wickedness," and speaks of intensified wickedness. He was the king of a place whose name, in all probability, means "deceiver from the place of the two rivers." The end result of forgetting and forsaking God is never what we thought it would be. The final state is always worse that we ever dreamed. It is the place of double evil and consequence.
(Jer 2:13 NKJV) "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns; broken cisterns that can hold no water.(Mat 12:43-45 KJV) When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. {44} Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. {45} Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
(2 Pet 2:18-22 NIV) For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. {19} They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. {20} If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. {21} It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. {22} Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
The prodigal didn't leave home for the pig pen, but that's where he ended up. We'd never convince the first time drug user that they are headed for addiction, but they are. Sin is exponential, i.e., it has a downhill snowballing effect.
Some of the most frightening words in Scripture are "and God gave them up."
Here we are told that God "sold them into the hand" of their enemy and that "the
children of Israel served Cushan- Rishathaim eight years." (Judges 3:8) Eight
years of bondage. Eight years of carnage and vulnerability. Eight years of
brutal servitude and then "the children of Israel cried out to the LORD."
I love the next few lines, for they place us in the territory of grace. Scripture says:
"When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died." (Judges 3:9-11)
The Word of the Lord encourages us with this promise:
"...whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)
"...whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." (Rom 10:13)
"And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance..." (Joel 2:32)
There is no need to spend one more day in bondage to Cushan-Rishathaim. There is a deliverer in our midst and His name is Jesus.
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save [deliver] His people from their sins [that which makes them vulnerable to their enemies]." (Matt. 1:21)
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because he has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." (Luke 4:18-19, NKJV)
Please note with me that Othniel's name means "the hour of God." It was God's time and God's man that would bring deliverance to a nation in bondage. I am here today to tell you that One anointed to do good is in this place. He is the Anointed of God and He is here to break the bondage imposed by Cushan-Rishathaim. He is here to set the captive free. He is here to bring peace to your life and home. He is here to emancipate those who are sick and tired of being sick and tired. His name is Jesus and He is our deliverer and He is here. He is here to cut the silken cords that bind your life. He is here to break the chains of uncontrollable habits. I'm not offering you a Freudian evaluation of your problem. What I am offering you is a spiritual solution to your dilemma. I'm offering to you this Jesus who can set the captive free and liberate the oppressed.
I'm not sure why they waited eight years. More than likely it took them that long to realize their need for God, but deliverance was available for all of the eight years they lived in bondage. Your life isn't going to change by itself anymore than a prize winning garden is going to start growing in your front yard this spring. We must do what Israel did, we must come to see God as our only hope and call upon the LORD. If we will call upon Him, His Spirit will give us the strength to stand against, defeat, and even rout, if you will, those things that once dominated and hurt us.
Prayer:
God, I am no longer in control of my life. I intended to purchase happiness, but it has turned to pain. I am in bondage to passions and appetites that are destroying me, my family and my future. I acknowledge my sin and ask you to forgive me for my foolishness. I need you to do for me what I cannot do for myself. Jesus, I believe that you have paid for my freedom and that you are willing to set me free. I now put my trust in the provisions of your death, burial and resurrection, and ask you to be the LORD of my life. I surrender my will to you and express my heart desire to be your servant/handmaid for all eternity. Jesus, Son of God, you are my Lord!
