Would you please turn in your Bibles now with me to Judges chapter 3. In Judges 3, I'll read the first 11 verses. Our focus will be verses 7 through 11 of Judges chapter 3. And that is found, I believe I have the same Bible as you do in your pews, that is found on page 234. and this is as every portion of scripture we read the word of god and we come then with confidence knowing that this is god's word it is therefore true and it is most certainly relevant so let us with that humble ourselves to hear our god revel judges three verses one through eleven these are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan. He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience. The five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hemath, they were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands which he had given their forefathers through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They forgot the Lord, their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, so that he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathayim, king of Aram Naharayim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 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. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan Reshethayim, king of Aram, into the hand of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for 40 years until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died. Let's ask the Lord's blessing on his word proclaimed. Father in heaven, we do thank you for this great privilege that is ours. And we do pray, O Lord, that your spirit would work mightily with this word to accomplish your purposes in us. Lord, we pray that you would, by this word, teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us in righteousness. So that we may be fully equipped for every good work. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, congregation, the passage which we have just read is an important passage in the book of Judges. In the first two chapters of Judges, these chapters serve as introductory, telling us that the people of Israel, living in the land of Canaan, did indeed capture certain portions of the land and run out the inhabitants of those portions, but also allowed other nations, inhabitants, to remain in the land. And this served then as a great temptation for the people of Israel to take their gods and worship these false gods. And in fact, the book of Judges, which covers about a 400-year period from the death of Joshua until Samuel arrives on the scene. The book of Judges tells for us a recurring cycle that takes place through these nearly 400 years where the children of Israel would take the gods of the nations and bring their idols to themselves and worship these idols. Committing spiritual adultery. And God would send judgment by sending nations to overtake Israel. And they would be under bondage to these nations for a particular time until Israel would cry out to the Lord. And the Lord then would send a deliverer, a judge. And that judge then would conquer the nation that was ruling. and there would be a time of peace. Then that judge would die, and after a time, Israel would resort back to the false gods. And the cycle would repeat again and again. But this passage is most important because it bridges then this introductory portion, which tells us, which makes very clear to us, that this is going to happen, That God, indeed, was sending judges again and again because of the people's unfaithfulness. And then now we come to this passage in chapter 3 where that happens. And so you have it generally told us in the earlier chapters, chapters 1 and 2. Now we see it specifically with the judgeship of Othniel. But what is most important about this passage is not so much that it tells us about Othniel, but what it tells us about God. And that shouldn't surprise us. It shouldn't surprise us that this passage reveals to us God Himself. Because God's Word is His self-revelation. Recently, my wife and I had opportunity to travel to Hawaii. And there we were so impressed with the beauty of that place. And I could not help but think that the creation that God has made is indeed a most elegant book revealing to all mankind that He is. And that He is powerful. That He's very creative and beautiful. Reveals these things to us. But God is more fully and clearly known in His Word. His Word is His self-revelation to us in which He reveals Himself and His way of salvation through Jesus Christ. The deliverance. And so when we read that Othniel is a deliverer that God sends to the children of Israel, we need to see and understand that Othniel serves as a type of Jesus Christ. He looks forward to Jesus Christ. And this then passage reveals to us this beautiful thing about God. That He is the one who sends a deliverer for His people. Othniel is the deliverer who saved the people of Israel from Cushan, Reshethayim. We do not know much more about Othniel. But we do know of God. And He reveals Himself to us by word and by event that is taking place. By what He says and by what He does. And here we read that God provides then a deliverer for Israel. Othniel. And notice, first of all, the necessity of deliverance. The necessity for that deliverance. Secondly, we'll see the source of the deliverance, and thirdly, the result. But first of all, the necessity for deliverance. And clearly, the reason that the people needed deliverance is because of their wickedness, because of their sin. If you look at verse 7, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord they forgot the lord their god and served the bales and the asherahs the sin of the people the wickedness of the people is what necessitated their deliverance and that sin and wickedness is described in three ways they did evil in the sight of god they forgot god and they served the bales and Asherahs. This is a serious charge being leveled against the people of Israel. It's a serious charge of apostasy and of rebellion. That they have forgotten God and all that He had done for His people. They've ignored God and served that which is false, the Baals and the Asherahs. the command of God's law. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not worship them or bow down to them. It's flagrantly trespassed and ignored. People are committing spiritual adultery. So what necessitated a deliverer was the sin of the people. But we're told more than that. more than just the sin of the people, the anger of God necessitated their deliverance. God had revealed Himself to them, not others, to the people of Israel. And He had made a covenant with them. And He promised them salvation. He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey. He delivered them from Egyptian slavery, brought them into this land which He had promised, the land of Canaan. Israel was the object of God's affection. And now, Israel forgets God, and God's anger waxes hot against Israel, against his people. This tells us a few things about God, as I've said. This passage reveals things to us about God. And one of the things it does reveal to us when we think about this is the anger of God is that he is a personal God. He is not like the Baals and the Asherahs. He's not like the gods made of stone and of wood who have ears but do not hear and who have eyes but do not see and those who make them are like them. He's not like those gods. But He is a God who sees His people and what they do. He is a God who hears. He hears them crying out to the false gods. He's a personal God. He is a God that isn't unmoved. but he has moved to passion. I am preaching a series through the book of Judges and another sermon I entitled God is Never Lukewarm. We see that here. God is never lukewarm. He is always passionate. He is passionate in His love, but He is passionate also in His anger. And here His anger waxes hot against the people of God. He is a personal God. The other false gods are unmoving. They're unresponsive, unfeeling. But this God, whom we know, and who reveals Himself to us, is a personal God who is faithful as well. He is a faithful God. Now, how can the anger of God reveal His faithfulness? Precisely because God said He would be angry if the people were to bow to these false gods, if they were to take these false gods into their homes, and if they were to forget God he promised them he said before they entered into the land of Canaan that he would be angry with them and that he would send judgment on them and so God is simply being faithful to what he has said and it's a measure of his covenant faithfulness that yes he blesses his people in obedience and he sends sanctions upon them in their disobedience God had warned them of his anger. Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy 8, and so many other places, God is being faithful. Children, I know some of you, maybe most of you, have studied or are studying the Heidelberg Catechism, and you know and are familiar, and I know it's been preached many times from this pulpit, so you know and are familiar, I am sure, with the first question and answer, what is your only comfort in life and in death and that i am not my own but body and soul and life and in death belong to my faithful savior jesus christ and you know you're familiar with that the second question is very important though the catechism lord's day one question number two what must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort and the answer i'm sure you could all tell me is three things. First, how great is my sin and misery. Second, how I'm delivered from that sin and misery. And third, how I'm to thank God for such deliverance. But the first thing it says is how great is my sin and misery. And when we think about that, I think we quickly understand that we are sinners and that we are defiled, that God is holy. We are sinners and defiled. We understand that and that therefore that sin and misery that is in us is very great but possibly what we don't quite get to or quite understand is what makes it so miserable is that our sin angers god god is angry with sin and in fact god reveals to us that nothing that is sinful Nothing that defiles can enter into His presence. The very end of Revelation, when we read about the New Jerusalem and about the final state, it says that. Nothing that defiles may enter. That's why sin is so miserable. Because God is angry against sin. And here we see the anger of God against His people because of their spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness. They needed a deliverer because of their sin, because God was angry. And very practically, because Cushan, Rishathayim, was a very wicked man. Who had control over them. God sold his people into the hand of Cushan Resethaim. King of Mesopotamia. Cushan Resethaim, king of Aram, Naharaim. Literally, this Cushan Resethaim means Cushan, the double wicked. king of aram the double rivers i think it's safe to say this is probably a nickname given to him by the israelites i don't think his parents gave him that name you know the midwife comes and says mr kushan here's your new baby and he takes the baby in his arms oh kushan reshethaim you doubly wicked one I don't think that's the case but like we do with our leaders we will often give them little nicknames especially those that we don't care for I am sure in certain circles George Bush has his nicknames among people I know other nicknames given to the Ayatollah given to bin Laden there were a lot of them for Clinton a lot of nicknames this was a nickname given to Kushan the double wicked from Aram, the double rivers this Kushan, the double wicked is an instrument in the hands of God brothers and sisters to punish his people God sold his people God gave his people into the hands of Cushan Rishephaim. We see God's providence that all things come from His hand. Rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty. All things come from His hand. Even Kushan, Reshethayim. But God's mercy is evident here too. Because this isn't just simply punishment. God refuses to allow His people to remain comfortable in their sin. God refuses to allow them to remain comfortable and so He sends Kushan, Reshethayim, forcing them to lose their grip on the Baals and the Asherahs. That's what God does. That's His mercy. He sends Cushan in order to cause the people to look away from themselves and to look away from the Baals and Asherahs and look up again. To look to the God of their fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God will not allow them to be comfortable in their infidelity. See, He is merciful. And so all of this, the sin of the people and the anger of God and the rule of Cushan necessitates a deliverer. But what is the source of this delivery? Well, we read in verse 9, don't we, what that source is. But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer. Othniel, son of Kinez, Caleb's younger brother. Cushan ruled for eight years, and the people, it took them eight years, finally cry out to God. They cry out to God. Now, it's an interesting word. It doesn't necessarily mean that this cry was a cry for repentance. It may mean that. But it might also simply be a crying out in distress. But at least, if that is what it means, at least the people turned to the right one who could deliver them. They turned to God when they cried out to Him. And God responds to the cry of His people, showing the power of God is evident here. God hears the prayers of His people. God hears the crying of His people. God hears the groanings that you and I groan when we don't have the words. And is able to turn those groans into prayer and to respond to them in ways that go far beyond our asking. This is divine power. We need to be in wonder and in awe of this. This is not just some ho-hum thing that God is doing when He sends this Deliverer. God is hearing, He is seeing, and He responds to the needs of His people. and he sends to them a man. He sends to them the man, Othniel, son of Kinnas, Caleb's younger brother. We do not know much about Othniel. We read of him in Joshua 15, and also in Judges chapter 1, just very briefly, where he is a nephew of Caleb, and Caleb wanted the place Dibir to be captured, and he says whoever would go and capture this Dibir, I will give to him my daughter. And Othniel goes and he accomplishes the task and marries the daughter of Caleb. But that's all we know. That's all we know about Othniel. Which is why I believe this isn't so much about Othniel, but it's about God and what he has done and what he is doing. And God's spirit was on Othniel. Verse 10. God gives him power, strengthening, making ready, enabling him to bring deliverance to the people. This is the power of God displayed as well as the purpose of God. The Lord delivered Cushan Resethaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. In verse 8, we read that God gave the people into Cushan's hand. In verse 10, we read that Cushan is delivered into Othniel's hand. and God's hand is directing it all to bring the people. This is so important. He raises up Othniel, his deliverer, to bring the people from self-destructive, spiritual adultery to deliverance and rest. That is what God here is doing. And that, brothers and sisters, is the thread that runs through all of Scripture. that is the whole purpose for which God gave us this passage and the Word, to reveal to us that He is the Deliverer and that He has sent a Deliverer. You and I, apart from Christ, are in that place of great sin and misery where the anger of God is hot against us. And if we are sinful and defiled and nothing that defiles may enter into that place where God dwells, we're in a terrible situation. Because we cannot somehow manage to cleanse ourselves and to undefile ourselves. We cannot do that. But God has sent a man, the God-man, into this world to redeem us, to deliver us from our sins. And His anger, which waxes hot against sin, was hurled upon His own Son, Jesus Christ, as He hung upon the cross. Christ cried out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? So that you and I would never more be forsaken of God. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. This is what God does. He ascends a deliverer. Othniel is but a type of the true deliverer, Jesus Christ. And God calls upon you this day to believe in His Son. To believe in Jesus Christ. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. We're miserable and hopeless apart from Jesus Christ. But the call to you this day is to confess your sins, repent, and believe in this Son, His Son, Jesus Christ, the God-Man who came to save. There is no hope or salvation apart. And that's the word that is being preached to you this day. Repent and believe. And what is the result? It is rest. The land had rest. The people had rest. No warfare. No attack. No enslavement. No affliction for 40 years. This is the result God gives. He gives rest to those whom he delivers. But of course, the reason we know this is but a type is because it is not an eternal rest. It's a rest that lasted 40 years. And then it was done. And people, if you look at the next verse, Verse 12, once again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And the cycle begins again. We ought to see then this, not only as a blessed result, but as an opportunity. When the Lord gives rest, it means that we not ignore Him in our rest. But that we worship Him. We cry out to Him, be faithful to Him, love Him, live for Him. This is what the Israelites forgot. We cry out to God not only in our distress, we should cry out to God in our rest. And honor and glorify Him. We read that God rested on the seventh day of creation, demonstrating that the end for which He made this world, that He created this world, And the end that He created man was so that there might be rest and that we would find rest in Him. And Hebrews chapter 4 then brings this all together telling us that that rest, that peace, that rest is only in Jesus Christ, found only in Him. God's people rest in Him and they rest from all of their labors as a result of His victory on the cross. This is the God that reveals himself to us in this little story of Othniel. This is the God who sent another man, his son, who says to you, Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. We who know that rest, we join with one another and with the thousands for a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemer's praise. The glories of our God and King, the triumph of His grace. That's our praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Amen. Oh, Lord, we thank you for your word. And that in your word, Lord, you reveal to us who you are and the wondrous works that you have done and that you have sent a deliverer, Jesus Christ. And we thank you that even in this Old Testament passage, we can see Christ clearly portrayed. And Father, we pray that you would increase our love for you, for one another. As we have contemplated how great is your love for us. Bless us, Lord, as we lift up our voices in song. And as we leave this place this evening, we pray that, Lord, you would give us rest. Prepare us for the week ahead. that we may live lives that glorify and honor You, our great King and our Redeemer. Through Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Spirit belong all praise and adoration both now and forevermore. Amen.