WEBVTT

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 It was Homer, who was the Greek poet, Homer, who was the first one to tell the mythical story of the Trojan horse.

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 Do you know that story?

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 As the story goes, the Greeks unsuccessfully sieged the city of Troy for about 10 years.

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 But Odysseus had devised a brilliant plan to finally take the city and bring a close to the Trojan War.

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 And you know what he did?

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 His idea was to trick the Trojans into thinking that he'd given up on the battle, that he'd given up on seizing the city.

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 So he had a huge wooden horse constructed, according to the myth.

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 He had a huge wooden horse constructed, and they left it outside of the city of Troy as if it was a gift to the goddess Athena.

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 And then after they leave the horse outside of the city, of course, that doesn't mean anything in and of itself,

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 until the Trojans look out from the city.

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 And they find that Odysseus and all of the soldiers have boarded the ships in the water, and they are actively sailing away.

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 And as they see the ships of soldiers sailing away from Troy, they feel a sense of safety and victory.

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 So they go out and they bring the giant wooden horse inside the city as their victory trophy,

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 and they celebrate and they feast.

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 And they believe this 10-year war has finally come to an end.

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 But what they did not know is that hidden inside of that giant wooden horse was a special company of trained soldiers

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 who, after everyone went to bed and night had fallen and people felt comfortable and safe in their homes,

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 they slipped out of the giant wooden horse and they went to the gates of the city and they opened them from the inside.

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 And lo and behold, the Grecian ships had sailed back to Troy under cover of night.

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 And at that moment, all of the Grecian soldiers invade the city of Troy, and this 10-year siege comes to an end.

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 Trojans were defeated from the inside rather than the outside.

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 And for them, for the Greeks, victory was won through the element of surprise.

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 That's the point of the story, right?

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 There's the element of the surprise coming in and unexpected results come as a result of what was happening in the story.

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 Well, this dynamic of surprise, this element of surprise, is a central theme to the Ahud cycle of Judges chapter 3.

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 Everything about this, if you sit down and you really begin to think about it, think it through,

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 everything about this story is surprising.

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 It's unexpected.

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 Israel's oppressor is an unexpected foe for many reasons, but most notably in this passage,

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 he's an unusual and unexpected foe because he's caricatured really as a total buffoon.

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 There is no hiding the fact of what the author of Judges' thoughts are on this King Eglon from Moab.

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 He goes out of his way to make this man look as foolish as he can possibly make him look.

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 And there's other reasons for us to consider him as being a surprising foe,

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 and we'll get to that in a minute, but that's at least part of it.

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 Ahud is a surprising figure in the story as well.

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 Not only is he unique among the judges for his particular skill set,

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 but his entire strategy for victory is dedicated and relies on the element of surprise.

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 He acts alone.

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 He needs for Eglon to trust him.

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 And this element of surprise comes to the surface again.

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 And then undoubtedly, the most astonishing feature of all of these narratives

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 is how God continually pours out mercy and grace on people who continually turn away from him

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 to pursue other gods.

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 Everything about this is unexpected.

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 Everything about it is surprising.

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 It's exciting, but surprising.

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 The Eod Psycho is a remarkably entertaining story.

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 It's filled with fascinating characters and plot lines, but it's more than a story.

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 That's the thing.

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 It's not just a story.

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 Every passage of Scripture we believe is inspired by God,

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 that it serves a particular purpose in his revelation to us.

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 None of it is wasted space.

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 None of it is gap filler in God's mind.

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 It is all revelation.

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 It is all meant for us to understand something particular about God

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 and about his plan of redemption and the way that he works in salvation.

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 And this narrative, it not only contains every facet of the pattern that we find in chapter 2,

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 but it is God's salvation of his covenant people that carries the emphasis in the Ahud cycle.

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 There's not a huge amount of emphasis on Israel's sin.

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 There's not a huge amount of emphasis on battles that were fought or things that came as a result.

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 There is a massive emphasis on the fact that God uses Ahud to deliver his people.

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 16 of the 19 verses is dedicated specifically to the way that God delivered Israel.

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 What we need to see in this text is not a caricature of a king,

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 nor is it the efforts of an assassin that we are to primarily see.

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 We need to set our eyes on the God who delivers his people in extravagant and sometimes unexpected ways.

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 That's what I want us to think about this morning.

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 Here's the first surprise that I want you to see.

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 I want you to see the surprising consequences of sin.

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 The surprising consequences of sin.

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 Look with me again at verse 12.

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 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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 And the Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites and went and defeated Israel.

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 And they took possession of the city of Palms.

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 And the people of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, for 18 years.

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 Now, the fact that there are consequences to sin is not a surprising thing.

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 That's not what we're surprised by here.

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 It's not unexpected.

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 We know that, right?

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 What is surprising is how quickly we tend to turn back to sinful practices after already having dealt with their effects.

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 Twice we're told in verse 12 that the people again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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 So that after a relatively short time period, the Israelites had again forgotten Yahweh and were following wholeheartedly after the ways of the world.

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 We're not far removed from the Othniel cycle.

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 And they've already moved to do the same exact thing that they were doing before.

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 They have left Yahweh.

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 They've left worship of Yahweh.

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 They're no longer committed in any way to obeying his law.

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 And they have turned once again to the bells.

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 This issue of worship comes to the surface once again.

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 We don't have to look very far to see this same pattern in our own lives.

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 How many times do we have to deal with the destructive consequences of sin before we finally learn to live in righteousness?

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 How many relationships must we destroy before we finally realize that we've got to get a grip on our anger or we've got to get a grip on our tongues?

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 How many times are we going to go through ups and downs in our relationship with our spouses because we can't control our minds?

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 We can't control where we're putting our eyes over and over.

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 We go through these cycles, don't we?

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 We're just like Israel.

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 We cry out for God's deliverance when his correction comes and then he delivers us and he provides mercy and he gives us forgiveness and we rest in those things for a little while until the ways of the world once again become more attractive to us.

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 Then God's ways are attractive to us.

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 We pursue them all over again.

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 The consequences themselves aren't surprising.

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 What's surprising is that the consequences were necessary.

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 And we're going to find it over and over and over in the book of Judges just like we find it over and over and over in our lives as well.

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 Sometimes the particular instrument of judgment can come as a surprise as well.

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 Moab, the Moabites are an unforeseen foe in this narrative.

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 Kind of like Cushan Rishathame of the earlier cycle, they were not inhabitants of Canaan.

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 Sometimes we get in our mind that all of the enemies that Israel is fighting in this moment are the enemies that God left in the land.

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 Well, the Moabites weren't ever, they weren't ever inhabitants of Canaan.

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 Their land was outside of Canaan.

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 They're not listed in the group of nations in chapter two that, or at the beginning of chapter three,

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 that God intentionally leaves in the land to test Israel.

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 Moab's not a part of that.

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 They kind of come out of nowhere here.

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 Not only that, but they're distant relatives of Israel.

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 The Moabites were descendants from Abraham's nephew Lot.

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 We don't expect this particular instrument of judgment in the story.

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 But then Eglon, the king of Moab, is a surprising weapon of God's judgment.

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 As I said, the author really goes through great lengths in this story to mock this particular king.

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 Even the language of verses 12 and 13 here imply his weakness as a leader.

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 I want you to think about it in contrast to who we studied last week, Cushan Rishathame.

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 Cushan Rishathame appears to be a mighty leader whom God allows to overcome Israel temporarily.

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 Eglon, on the other hand, appears to be a weak leader who must be uniquely strengthened by God in order to succeed at all.

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 It's a very different scenario here.

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 And all of this is meant to embarrass Israel.

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 Surrounding nations used to melt in fear over Israel and their God.

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 But now they're being conquered by the most unlikely of kings.

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 Again, God is the primary agent of activity in these cycles.

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 He's working out his particular plan in unique and unexpected ways.

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 And even the instrument of judgment comes as a bit of a surprise.

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 A surprising consequence in that sense.

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 With God's help, Eglon joins forces with the Ammonites and the Amalekites and succeeded in conquering the city of Palms or the city of Jericho.

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 Or is maybe at least trying to rebuild the city of Jericho at this point.

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 So it's not that Israel is being prevented from moving forward in the possession of Canaan.

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 This is a complete reversal of conquest.

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 This is reversal.

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 It was Jericho where God does this incredible work on behalf of the Joshua generation.

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 You remember it.

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 The people of Israel, they march for seven days around the city.

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 And then God miraculously and powerfully destroys the walls.

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 And the people go in and they're able to conquer the city.

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 An amazing story.

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 An amazing moment coming into the land of Canaan.

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 And God proving that he's going to fulfill his promise to his people.

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 And now we get to this chapter and we find that it's in this same place.

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 That God has taken away this very area, this very region.

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 That was so powerfully given to his people before.

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 It's not just that Israel has grown to be able to stop.

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 They can't move forward anymore in their conquest of the land.

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 Now they're losing land.

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 They're moving backwards.

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 It's conquest reversal.

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 And this is always the case when we choose to live in sin.

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 Always.

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 It doesn't merely prevent us from moving forward in our walk with God.

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 It puts us in reverse.

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 Moving us away from God.

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 Moving us away from his blessing.

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 Remember here, their sin is a...

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 The way it's presented in the book of Judges, it's a sin of worship.

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 It's a sin of the heart.

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 The whole direction of their lives.

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 Their heart, their soul, their mind, and their strength was not being dedicated to Yahweh.

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 Their heart and their soul and their mind and strength is now being dedicated to the bells,

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 to the culture around them, to all the things that they wanted.

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 This isn't just about acts of sin.

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 It is about the internal pursuit of one's life, which produces then sinful behavior.

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 And when we live that way, it's not just about when we mess up sometimes.

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 Some of us are living our lives in a complete internal disposition that is not concerned about obeying God.

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 We're not concerned about knowing God.

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 We're not concerned about worshiping Him.

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 We're just concerned about ourselves.

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 We just want to do our own thing.

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 We just want to follow our own way.

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 This is more than I told a lie this week or I raised my voice at my kids.

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 This is not what's happening here.

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 This is complete reversal because the people are completely reversing course in their entire worship,

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 their entire purpose and pursuit of life.

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 And this is exactly what happens to us when we take this same reversal, of course.

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 And we start to turn away from a pursuit of God.

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 We start to pursue anything else that we can possibly pursue.

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 It's not just that God holds our spot in line there so that whenever we're ready,

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 we just pick up where we left off.

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 You can't do that when you live in sin like this.

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 It doesn't work that way.

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 You start to move backwards.

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 We call this apostasy.

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 It's why the writer of Hebrews warns over and over and over about this particular way of sin.

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 It's where Israel's at.

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 And they're facing the consequences of this sin.

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 And there's surprising consequences, but necessary ones.

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 Let's move on.

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 Secondly, I want you to see the surprising choice of Savior.

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 A surprising choice of Savior.

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 Now, Ahud stands out in this book due to his unique set of skills and method of deliverance.

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 I want you to think about it.

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 Whatever you know about judges, you will surely know that they generally act as leaders of armies.

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 That was Othniel's case.

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 It's going to be Barak's case in the next story.

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 It's going to be the case with Gideon and so on, Jephthah, as we go on through.

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 Samson's a little bit different, but basically the same.

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 The only one that stands out as different than that is Ahud.

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 He doesn't act as a leader of an army primarily.

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 He acts as a rogue assassin.

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 He's like the James Bond of the book of Judges.

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 He's got a license to kill.

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 And he mostly acts alone.

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 And to many people, his methods are objectionable.

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 Maybe even to you, as we read through that story, maybe you cringe a little bit that God would include this in the Bible.

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 That we would look at this with any kind of positive bent at all, right?

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 This makes Ahud a surprising choice for God to use.

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 But again, God delivers his people often in unexpected ways, doesn't he?

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 Let's just work through the story a little bit.

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 First, I want you to see Ahud the man.

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 Ahud the man.

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 Verse 15.

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 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer.

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 Ahud, the son of Gerah, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.

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 And the people sent tribute by him to Eglon, the king of Moab.

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 It's this brief description of Ahud that sets the stage for what's about to unfold with Eglon.

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 And there's a few things we need to note before we move forward.

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 First, he is God's deliverer.

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 He's God's chosen deliverer, meaning that the author intends for us to see the ultimate agent of salvation to be the Lord God, not Ahud.

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 Ahud.

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 And we're going to say this every week.

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 In every study, we're going to say the same thing because it's so important for us to see.

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 If we come here and we just get so fascinated by Ahud that we want to put Ahud's poster up in our bedrooms now,

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 then we've missed the point.

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 This is not about Ahud delivering Israel.

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 This is about the Lord delivering people.

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 And Ahud is just the instrument that he has chosen to use.

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 It was God who strengthens Eglon to prevail against Israel, and it's God who empowers Ahud to overcome Moab.

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 So as we read what transpires between the two men, we need to understand that God is acting sovereignly over all of it.

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 For every event of their lives and over every event of mine in your life as well.

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 That's the first thing.

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 The second thing I want you to see is that God uniquely prepared Ahud for this task.

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 And we see that especially in the note of Ahud being left-handed.

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 Left-handed.

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 This is how we typically understand Ahud.

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 Well, that's the left-handed guy.

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 I spoke to a guy at a meeting earlier this weekend, and he was asking me where I was preaching from right now.

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 And I sent him to Judges, and this Sunday we're in Judges chapter 3 with Ahud.

00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.279
 And the first thing he says, oh, the left-handed guy.

00:18:26.460 --> 00:18:27.559
 That's how we know him, right?

00:18:28.120 --> 00:18:30.220
 There's a reason we know him as the left-handed guy.

00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:35.019
 That's the thing God uses about him to bring deliverance for his people.

00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:37.819
 Now, what does this actually mean here?

00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:40.960
 Is it just like, what's the whole point of bringing this up here?

00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:43.740
 Why do we need to know which dominant hand he had?

00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.519
 We need to think about this for a moment because it matters to the story.

00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:54.180
 Some people have suggested that Ahud was maybe crippled or disabled in his right hand.

00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:55.759
 I don't find that convincing.

00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:58.019
 I don't think that's the case for a couple of reasons.

00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:01.420
 The Greek translation of the Old Testament, it's called the Septuagint.

00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:05.319
 It translates this with the word ambidextrous, right?

00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:11.119
 Ambidextrous, which means usefulness, equally useful with both hands.

00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:15.160
 But then support for this comes later in the book as well.

00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.460
 I think the verse is on the screen for you.

00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:22.900
 In Judges chapter 20 and verse 16, this is what it says about a group of Benjaminite soldiers.

00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:29.460
 Among all of these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed.

00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.059
 And in their being left-handed, it describes it this way.

00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.680
 Everyone could sling a stone at a hare and not miss.

00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:42.080
 Clearly, this is not to be understood as a disability.

00:19:42.860 --> 00:19:48.340
 This is a trained proficiency for hunting and fighting.

00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:50.680
 That's what this is a reference to.

00:19:51.100 --> 00:19:53.400
 It's not that he was dominant in his left hand.

00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:54.820
 It's that he could use either hand.

00:19:55.060 --> 00:19:59.120
 And that was unusual for them, just like it's unusual for us today.

00:19:59.620 --> 00:20:02.140
 There's not many switch hitters playing baseball, right?

00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:04.280
 There are very few.

00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:06.420
 Ahud's a switch hitter.

00:20:06.860 --> 00:20:07.560
 He can do that.

00:20:07.620 --> 00:20:08.420
 He can handle that.

00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:10.740
 So God uses him.

00:20:11.600 --> 00:20:17.700
 Now, at some point along the way in his life, Ahud began training himself to skillfully use both hands.

00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:26.480
 And that unique facet of his life was used to bring deliverance to Israel and bring glory to God.

00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:27.680
 Do you see where I'm going with this?

00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:28.720
 Do you see it yet?

00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:33.720
 I find this wonderfully encouraging.

00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:35.100
 I hope you do too.

00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:54.099
 That God orchestrates the minutest details of our lives so that we may glorify him best in the ways that he has uniquely gifted us in the unique qualities of what make us who we are.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:57.339
 I find this incredibly encouraging.

00:20:58.379 --> 00:21:00.799
 He is God of the little things.

00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:09.539
 And when we submit our lives, our whole self to him for living for his purposes, he uses our individual interests.

00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:17.319
 He uses our individual skills and abilities to benefit his people and to glorify his name.

00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:27.099
 How many times have you ever sat in a room of people and something needed to be done and you felt totally intimidated by the other people in the room?

00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:30.619
 And you sit down and you look around and you say, I'm not like these people.

00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:33.319
 I can't communicate like this person.

00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.399
 I'm not strong like this person.

00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.000
 I'm not witty like this person.

00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.559
 And I don't have all the other things.

00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:40.599
 In fact, I'm a little strange, to be honest with you.

00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:42.399
 I'm a little weird.

00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:44.559
 Tom raises his hand.

00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:45.799
 We all know Tom's the weird one here.

00:21:47.379 --> 00:21:48.559
 You know what that's like.

00:21:48.659 --> 00:21:50.779
 We get insecure about who we are, right?

00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:52.759
 And what do we do when we get insecure about who we are?

00:21:52.899 --> 00:21:54.460
 We try to be like everybody else.

00:21:55.460 --> 00:22:00.940
 We try to find somebody and we mirror our lives after then and we try to be like them and then we try to cover up who it is.

00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:02.180
 And God's not interested in that.

00:22:02.840 --> 00:22:13.160
 This is a helpful reminder that we only need to be who God created us to be to experience joy and usefulness in God's plan.

00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.200
 Young people, listen to me.

00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.420
 Teenagers, kids, give me your eyes for just a second.

00:22:20.120 --> 00:22:21.940
 You don't need to be anybody else.

00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:24.960
 God created you to be you.

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:29.100
 He gave you unique characteristics to your personality.

00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:31.579
 He gave you unique interest.

00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:36.579
 He's going to develop in you unique skill sets that you think he has nothing else to do with in your life.

00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:38.340
 That this is just the path that you've chosen.

00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:46.240
 But I'm telling you, he's going to oversee the minutest details of your life just in the way that he's overseeing the minutest details of Ahud's life.

00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:50.400
 And in the end, you don't need to be somebody else to be used by God.

00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:57.400
 You only need to live out your unique life for his honor and for his glory.

00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.700
 And when you do that, you'll be an Ahud.

00:23:02.060 --> 00:23:05.440
 You may not be ambidextrous and you may not have to kill a fat king.

00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:10.519
 But the Lord will find a way to use you in this church.

00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:13.460
 It doesn't matter if you're an adult or a kid or who you are.

00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:14.100
 It doesn't matter.

00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:24.939
 God will use you, the unique you, to deliver his people, to build up his people, and ultimately to glorify his name.

00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:30.839
 So whoever you are and whatever you are, be that for the glory of God.

00:23:31.899 --> 00:23:33.219
 And let him use your life.

00:23:34.339 --> 00:23:35.159
 That's Ahud the man.

00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:38.919
 Now let's look quickly at Ahud the assassin.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:41.039
 Ahud the assassin.

00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:42.819
 Verse 16.

00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:44.799
 This is where it gets exciting, guys.

00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.259
 Ahud made for himself a sword with two edges.

00:23:48.379 --> 00:23:50.759
 This is a dagger, 18 inches in length.

00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.579
 And he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.

00:23:53.679 --> 00:23:58.439
 So if you're trying to picture this in your head, as you understand the details of the story working out here,

00:23:59.139 --> 00:24:00.379
 he fashions this himself.

00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:02.000
 He's not involving other people.

00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.799
 He does this himself.

00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:09.919
 He probably doesn't put a cross piece on the dagger because he knows he's going to have to jab and run.

00:24:09.919 --> 00:24:11.339
 That's the goal of the game here.

00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:14.159
 It needs to be concealable.

00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:15.779
 It doesn't need to stick out in any way.

00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:20.039
 It's probably basically just a straight sword with no cross piece in the middle.

00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:24.000
 He fashions it about 18 inches in length.

00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:28.240
 And he presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab.

00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:29.039
 Now this is interesting.

00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.720
 The people of Israel have no idea what Ahud is doing.

00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:33.519
 He's acting alone.

00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:34.500
 He's a rogue assassin.

00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:45.960
 Yet God sees fit to orchestrate the events of Ahud's life so that Ahud is chosen by the leaders of Israel to send their taxes to Eglon,

00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.599
 to present tribute to Eglon.

00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:50.660
 Interesting the way the Lord works, right?

00:24:50.660 --> 00:24:53.220
 Now Eglon was a very fat man.

00:24:53.300 --> 00:25:00.360
 The implication being here that he had grown fat because of his oppression of the Israelites.

00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:04.060
 He's humiliated these people.

00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:11.339
 And when Ahud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute.

00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:12.980
 He's not involving anyone else.

00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:16.480
 And he himself turns back at the idols near Gilgal and he says,

00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:18.720
 I have a secret message for you, O king.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.079
 And the king commanded silence and all his attendants went out from his presence.

00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:29.480
 Now there's so much we could get into here and I will spare you and let you study it out for yourselves.

00:25:29.639 --> 00:25:31.159
 You're reasonable people to do that.

00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:36.000
 But I want you to just see how the author is contrasting the character of these two men.

00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:36.720
 Okay?

00:25:37.699 --> 00:25:38.980
 They're exact opposites here.

00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:48.720
 Eglon is presented as a foolish glutton who enjoys the luxuries he's been afforded through oppressing Israel.

00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:50.500
 That's how he's presented here.

00:25:50.500 --> 00:26:01.480
 And again, the implication is that he has grown obese because of the extreme taxation that he has enforced on those subjugated to his rule.

00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:06.099
 Everything he does here in this text is careless.

00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:13.660
 He's grown so prideful that he sees no Israelite as a reasonable threat to him.

00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:23.480
 So he recklessly sends out all of his guards and he retreats to a private roof chamber alone with Ahud.

00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:26.940
 What are we supposed to see about Eglon?

00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:36.560
 Eglon is a fool who has now spent 18 years humiliating God's people, extorting them.

00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:38.400
 That's who Eglon is.

00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:41.460
 Now, Ahud is completely different from that.

00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:43.319
 He's the antithesis of Eglon.

00:26:44.940 --> 00:26:46.259
 Ahud is clever.

00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:51.539
 He's calculated as he plans his assassination of the king.

00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:59.759
 He was careful not to include other people in his plan, else it would be discovered potentially or someone else would get hurt.

00:26:59.860 --> 00:27:01.539
 He acts entirely alone.

00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:08.680
 He fashions a dagger that's large enough to be fatal, but small enough to be concealed on his thigh.

00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:11.619
 But he doesn't go with the right hand.

00:27:11.659 --> 00:27:12.599
 He goes with the left hand.

00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:12.920
 Why?

00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:17.659
 Because the left hand would have been unanticipated by anyone who might have stopped him.

00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:19.940
 So he conceals it on his right thigh.

00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:20.420
 He's clever.

00:27:21.899 --> 00:27:22.720
 He's calculated.

00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:26.460
 He took advantage of his ambidextry.

00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:30.299
 Something the guards wouldn't have thought about.

00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.460
 And he executed the assault at precisely the right time.

00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:37.480
 These two men couldn't have been more different.

00:27:38.120 --> 00:27:39.839
 I think we need to see something in that.

00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:49.119
 I think the author intends for us to see such a marked difference between those who belong to God and those who do not.

00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.059
 It's the way the Lord's working out his plan here.

00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:53.139
 Look at verse 20.

00:27:53.259 --> 00:27:56.779
 And Ahud came to him and he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber.

00:27:56.879 --> 00:27:59.139
 And Ahud said, I have a message from God for you.

00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:00.879
 And he arose from his seat.

00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:03.240
 Ahud reached with his left hand.

00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:08.000
 He took the sword from his right thigh and he thrust it into Eglon's belly.

00:28:08.879 --> 00:28:09.439
 Think about this.

00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:14.180
 A potential oracle from a God would have been taken very seriously by any king of that time.

00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.100
 There's no atheist in antiquity.

00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:18.120
 Everybody has a God.

00:28:18.580 --> 00:28:20.880
 Everybody believes in multiple gods.

00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:23.120
 So it's not that they've got a problem with Yahweh.

00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:26.640
 They just don't like the exclusivity claim that the Jews have with him.

00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:29.100
 It's the same thing with our pluralistic environment today.

00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:30.420
 It's the same thing with Eglon.

00:28:31.120 --> 00:28:33.980
 Somebody comes and says, I have a secret message for you from God.

00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:37.759
 He's going to listen because he thinks this is good news for him.

00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:39.420
 Or at least he needs to care about it.

00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:42.779
 And Eglon played right into Ahud's hand.

00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:47.779
 God's man was able to escape an arm.

00:28:47.779 --> 00:28:51.980
 You see, what Eglon didn't realize is that there was actually a message from Yahweh.

00:28:52.059 --> 00:28:54.559
 But what he didn't realize is that the message was a sword.

00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:57.639
 Two-edged sword.

00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:03.460
 As soon as he begins to stand up as if to receive this in some type of reverential manner,

00:29:03.639 --> 00:29:07.039
 Ahud takes advantage of the moment and immediately thrust his dagger in.

00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:10.279
 A fatal blow to the fat king of Moab.

00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.740
 And the details here of what happened in his death.

00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:15.440
 Why are they recorded?

00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:16.420
 Why are they so graphic?

00:29:17.619 --> 00:29:20.019
 Well, they're meant to humiliate him.

00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:26.379
 They're meant to humiliate the Moabites in the same way they had been humiliating the Israelites.

00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:30.800
 For 18 years, they've humiliated the people of Israel.

00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:33.480
 Literally growing fat on extortion.

00:29:34.520 --> 00:29:37.100
 He and the Moabites grew very prideful.

00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:45.100
 But in the end, their king, their savior, was reduced to a pile of fat and excrement.

00:29:45.099 --> 00:29:50.519
 God may use this wicked world to correct his people.

00:29:51.719 --> 00:29:53.799
 No wicked ever goes unpunished.

00:29:54.859 --> 00:29:57.019
 God always answers last.

00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:00.179
 He always wins victory.

00:30:02.639 --> 00:30:04.240
 We've seen Ahud the man.

00:30:05.459 --> 00:30:07.599
 We've seen Ahud the assassin.

00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:11.139
 But what about the true and better Ahud?

00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:14.599
 That's the common theme through all of these stories, right?

00:30:15.099 --> 00:30:16.179
 They point us to Jesus.

00:30:17.679 --> 00:30:24.459
 Jesus is the true and better Ahud who does not initiate victory by taking a king's life,

00:30:24.959 --> 00:30:27.519
 but giving his own life as a king.

00:30:30.939 --> 00:30:35.539
 Ahud's unique ambidexterity led to temporary deliverance from Israel.

00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:40.179
 But what Jesus does in his righteousness, not in any physical ability,

00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:46.519
 but in his righteousness brings eternal salvation for all who believe and follow him.

00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:51.019
 The Ahud story makes a mockery of the Moabite king,

00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:54.840
 but Jesus defeats and humiliates a far greater enemy,

00:30:55.340 --> 00:30:59.500
 death and hell and spiritual powers that work against us.

00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:02.580
 Isn't this Paul's point in Colossians 2?

00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:04.000
 When he says,

00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.679
 You who were dead in your trespasses, the uncircumcision of your flesh,

00:31:08.159 --> 00:31:12.599
 God made alive with him, having forgiven us all trespasses,

00:31:12.980 --> 00:31:17.559
 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

00:31:17.619 --> 00:31:18.519
 And how did he do it?

00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:21.960
 This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:26.199
 Through the death of our king, we receive life.

00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.439
 But our king doesn't stay dead.

00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:30.419
 Our king comes back to life.

00:31:30.420 --> 00:31:32.180
 And then what does Paul say he does?

00:31:32.580 --> 00:31:35.460
 He disarms the rulers and authorities,

00:31:35.460 --> 00:31:40.900
 and he puts them to open shame, triumphing over them.

00:31:41.700 --> 00:31:47.259
 I know the ladies just studied this in their Phoebe Collective meeting a couple of Saturdays ago.

00:31:47.580 --> 00:31:52.740
 This is a picture of a Roman army coming back into a city after winning great victory

00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:55.560
 and literally putting the kings, the powers that were against them,

00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:58.420
 on public display, in public shame.

00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:03.080
 We get to the Ahud story and we see the author is putting the Moabites,

00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.019
 or putting Eglon in public shame,

00:32:05.080 --> 00:32:07.360
 and then we see Jesus does the same thing.

00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:10.500
 He humiliates the enemies that are fighting against us,

00:32:10.800 --> 00:32:12.440
 the powers of this world.

00:32:14.539 --> 00:32:16.160
 Ahud is a surprising savior.

00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:17.920
 So is Jesus.

00:32:19.080 --> 00:32:20.420
 That's what Isaiah says.

00:32:21.060 --> 00:32:24.060
 He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:27.139
 no beauty that we should desire him.

00:32:31.139 --> 00:32:34.099
 Finally, let's look at the surprising nature of salvation.

00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:36.519
 So we've seen the surprising consequences of sin.

00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:40.000
 We see the surprising choice of savior, God's deliverer.

00:32:40.220 --> 00:32:43.619
 Now let's just consider this salvation and the way that it's worked out here.

00:32:43.619 --> 00:32:49.679
 Final paragraph here paints a vivid picture of God's work in salvation.

00:32:51.219 --> 00:32:54.119
 And just as we find those elements of surprise in other places,

00:32:54.359 --> 00:32:59.319
 there is a measure of surprise regarding the simplicity of salvation here.

00:32:59.739 --> 00:33:00.719
 It's very plain.

00:33:01.779 --> 00:33:04.139
 We tend to complicate things, at least I do,

00:33:04.140 --> 00:33:10.780
 and we tend to complicate salvation even with religious works or doctrinal mystery.

00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:13.160
 But it's actually quite simple.

00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:17.340
 And there's two things about God's salvation here that I want to point out to you.

00:33:17.660 --> 00:33:21.280
 Number one, salvation is conditioned on faith.

00:33:23.020 --> 00:33:26.780
 Salvation is conditioned on faith.

00:33:27.180 --> 00:33:27.800
 Verse 26,

00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.820
 Ahud escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the idols,

00:33:30.819 --> 00:33:32.859
 escaped to Sarai.

00:33:33.619 --> 00:33:36.659
 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim.

00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:40.460
 Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country,

00:33:40.579 --> 00:33:41.559
 and he was their leader.

00:33:42.099 --> 00:33:44.159
 And he said to them, listen to what he says,

00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:47.759
 Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies,

00:33:47.899 --> 00:33:49.460
 the Moabites, into your hand.

00:33:50.220 --> 00:33:51.599
 So they went down after him,

00:33:52.220 --> 00:33:54.419
 seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites,

00:33:54.679 --> 00:33:57.259
 and did not allow anyone to pass on.

00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:59.299
 So I want you to think about what's happening here.

00:33:59.299 --> 00:34:03.759
 God has graciously provided salvation for Israel

00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:06.700
 through his chosen deliverer, Ahud.

00:34:08.219 --> 00:34:11.619
 But the salvation that they receive in the end of this paragraph

00:34:11.619 --> 00:34:16.840
 is conditioned on their faith in Ahud's message.

00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:20.380
 Ahud blows the trumpet.

00:34:20.539 --> 00:34:21.860
 They all gather to him in Ephraim,

00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:22.900
 in the hill country of Ephraim,

00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:25.500
 and he says, listen, let me tell you what just happened.

00:34:25.759 --> 00:34:27.679
 I went into the fat king of the Moabites,

00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:29.099
 and I did this thing, and now he's dead.

00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:34.099
 Now, God has delivered these people into your hands.

00:34:34.980 --> 00:34:36.500
 Let's go take care of business.

00:34:36.739 --> 00:34:38.679
 Now, it wouldn't have been enough

00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.799
 for the people of Ephraim,

00:34:40.879 --> 00:34:42.199
 for the people of the hill country,

00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:45.639
 to have intellectually agreed with the fact

00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:48.119
 that Ahud assassinated Eglon.

00:34:48.759 --> 00:34:49.699
 That's not enough.

00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:52.960
 They couldn't have just stopped in the mountains there

00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:53.980
 and just had a celebration.

00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:56.519
 How wonderful that Ahud did this thing.

00:34:57.379 --> 00:34:58.119
 It's not enough.

00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:04.099
 They needed to act in faith by following Ahud,

00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:08.319
 trusting in God's promise of deliverance through him.

00:35:08.619 --> 00:35:09.299
 Do you see it there?

00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:11.840
 What if they had just decided,

00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:13.160
 you know what, that's great, Ahud,

00:35:13.220 --> 00:35:14.120
 but I think we're good.

00:35:14.160 --> 00:35:14.720
 We're gonna stay here.

00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:15.900
 You got it.

00:35:16.660 --> 00:35:18.260
 There's no salvation for them

00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:19.680
 if they don't follow him,

00:35:19.700 --> 00:35:20.960
 if they don't believe the message,

00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:24.100
 if they don't receive the Savior God has sent.

00:35:24.680 --> 00:35:26.080
 And such is the case for us.

00:35:26.140 --> 00:35:26.920
 You can see it.

00:35:28.240 --> 00:35:31.220
 God has graciously provided forgiveness of sin

00:35:31.220 --> 00:35:34.120
 and eternal life through his chosen Savior,

00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:35.260
 Jesus Christ.

00:35:35.260 --> 00:35:39.820
 But that salvation is conditioned on faith.

00:35:41.120 --> 00:35:43.940
 It is not enough for you to intellectually agree

00:35:43.940 --> 00:35:46.060
 with the fact that Jesus is the Son of God

00:35:46.060 --> 00:35:47.780
 and that he lived a perfect life

00:35:47.780 --> 00:35:50.080
 and that he died on a cross and rose from the dead.

00:35:50.240 --> 00:35:51.580
 You can believe all of those things

00:35:51.580 --> 00:35:52.440
 and it doesn't mean anything.

00:35:54.120 --> 00:35:56.920
 Even the devils believe and tremble, James says.

00:35:57.340 --> 00:35:58.420
 They know the truth.

00:35:59.120 --> 00:36:00.240
 They believe the truth.

00:36:01.860 --> 00:36:03.180
 That's not saving faith.

00:36:05.260 --> 00:36:09.240
 We too must act in faith,

00:36:10.680 --> 00:36:11.820
 following Christ,

00:36:13.220 --> 00:36:15.440
 trusting in God's promise of salvation

00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.160
 through him alone.

00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:22.840
 If we don't actually trust him,

00:36:23.380 --> 00:36:25.960
 if we don't actually follow him,

00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:29.380
 then it doesn't matter what we agree to

00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:31.280
 about his life and his story.

00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:38.220
 This is what the reformers emphasize so much

00:36:38.220 --> 00:36:40.740
 in their standing against the church of Rome.

00:36:42.160 --> 00:36:45.519
 We are justified by faith alone,

00:36:46.200 --> 00:36:47.519
 apart from any works,

00:36:48.740 --> 00:36:50.140
 apart from any intellectual agreement.

00:36:50.260 --> 00:36:50.760
 It's not that.

00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:51.940
 That's not saving faith.

00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:54.180
 Secondly,

00:36:55.180 --> 00:36:57.120
 salvation is total.

00:36:57.900 --> 00:36:58.640
 It's complete.

00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:00.440
 It's conditioned on faith

00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:01.559
 and it's complete.

00:37:02.359 --> 00:37:02.819
 Verse 29,

00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:04.179
 they killed at that time

00:37:04.179 --> 00:37:05.799
 about 10,000 of the Moabites,

00:37:06.339 --> 00:37:07.039
 all strong,

00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:07.920
 able-bodied men.

00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:10.019
 Not a man escaped.

00:37:11.339 --> 00:37:13.239
 So Moab was subdued that day

00:37:13.239 --> 00:37:14.299
 under the hand of Israel

00:37:14.299 --> 00:37:17.279
 and the land had rest for 80 years.

00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:18.859
 The point is,

00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:19.659
 when God delivers,

00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:21.359
 he delivers all the way.

00:37:21.420 --> 00:37:25.460
 Not a man was left of the Moabites

00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:27.279
 that had invaded Israel's territory.

00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:31.279
 God gave his people total and complete victory,

00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:34.920
 which is also what he's given to us

00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:36.379
 through Christ.

00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:41.519
 On the cross,

00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:43.299
 Jesus takes the wrath of God

00:37:43.299 --> 00:37:44.779
 for all the sins of his people.

00:37:46.359 --> 00:37:50.219
 Not a single one remains unatoned for.

00:37:50.219 --> 00:37:54.339
 Guilty,

00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:54.919
 vile,

00:37:55.099 --> 00:37:55.819
 helpless we.

00:37:57.539 --> 00:37:59.480
 Spotless lamb of God was he.

00:38:01.219 --> 00:38:02.919
 Full atonement.

00:38:03.919 --> 00:38:04.839
 Can it be?

00:38:07.179 --> 00:38:07.659
 Hallelujah.

00:38:08.659 --> 00:38:09.559
 What a Savior.

00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:13.219
 God doesn't give us a partial salvation

00:38:13.219 --> 00:38:14.919
 and then expect us to hold up

00:38:14.919 --> 00:38:16.919
 this certain condition of works

00:38:16.919 --> 00:38:17.899
 or whatever it is

00:38:17.899 --> 00:38:20.480
 in order to fully deliver that salvation

00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:21.319
 later down the road.

00:38:21.379 --> 00:38:22.359
 That's not what he does.

00:38:22.779 --> 00:38:23.699
 When Jesus says,

00:38:23.819 --> 00:38:24.759
 it's finished on the cross,

00:38:24.819 --> 00:38:25.599
 he means it's finished.

00:38:25.699 --> 00:38:26.500
 There's nothing left.

00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:28.599
 Everything that must be paid for

00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:29.459
 has been paid for.

00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:33.319
 Does that not come as a comfort to you

00:38:33.319 --> 00:38:34.559
 when you reflect back

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.419
 on the surprising consequences of sin

00:38:36.419 --> 00:38:37.439
 from the beginning of this story

00:38:37.439 --> 00:38:38.279
 and you start to think about

00:38:38.279 --> 00:38:40.099
 all the cycles that you go through?

00:38:40.099 --> 00:38:42.659
 And you start to think about

00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:43.900
 how much you love Jesus,

00:38:44.019 --> 00:38:45.360
 how grateful you are for them,

00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:46.699
 but then you get a little bit depressed

00:38:46.699 --> 00:38:47.119
 when you think,

00:38:47.219 --> 00:38:48.860
 I'm just as foolish as the Israelites are.

00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:51.980
 And I keep falling over and over and over

00:38:51.980 --> 00:38:53.880
 and my faith isn't as strong as it should be

00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:56.440
 and I've got these other things going on in my life

00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:56.779
 and man,

00:38:56.839 --> 00:38:58.259
 you just wouldn't believe the way I blew it

00:38:58.259 --> 00:38:59.900
 and then you start beating yourself up a little bit

00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:02.699
 and you get discouraged

00:39:02.699 --> 00:39:05.779
 and then you go to this part of the story

00:39:05.779 --> 00:39:06.239
 and you find out,

00:39:06.319 --> 00:39:06.799
 you know what?

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:11.420
 There's nothing I can do now

00:39:11.420 --> 00:39:14.900
 to remove myself from the grace of God.

00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:15.580
 Nothing.

00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:19.360
 When Jesus paid the price for your sin,

00:39:19.600 --> 00:39:23.019
 He paid the price for every one of your sins.

00:39:23.720 --> 00:39:25.820
 Not just what you've committed up to this point,

00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.240
 but what you'll commit today

00:39:27.240 --> 00:39:29.039
 and what you'll commit the rest of the way.

00:39:30.620 --> 00:39:31.840
 Isn't that not a blessing?

00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:36.620
 Isn't that not an encouragement

00:39:36.620 --> 00:39:38.059
 that when everybody else looks at us

00:39:38.059 --> 00:39:39.900
 and they think there's no way that person's serious,

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:40.820
 look at their life,

00:39:40.900 --> 00:39:42.400
 they are an absolute wreck.

00:39:45.340 --> 00:39:47.300
 That you can look to Jesus in the song

00:39:47.300 --> 00:39:48.220
 that we sing so often,

00:39:48.300 --> 00:39:49.460
 I love the song so much.

00:39:51.600 --> 00:39:53.440
 Because the sinless Savior died,

00:39:54.100 --> 00:39:56.140
 my sinful soul is counted free.

00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:58.120
 For God the just is satisfied

00:39:58.119 --> 00:40:00.779
 to look at Him and pardon me.

00:40:01.759 --> 00:40:03.199
 Not to look at the best way

00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:05.099
 that I can live up to the Christian standard

00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:06.779
 after my moment of conversion,

00:40:06.900 --> 00:40:07.940
 but He doesn't look at me anymore.

00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:08.759
 He looks at Him.

00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:10.019
 He looks at Him.

00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:12.719
 This atonement is full.

00:40:13.259 --> 00:40:15.019
 The victory given to Ahud and to Israel

00:40:15.019 --> 00:40:15.539
 is complete.

00:40:15.659 --> 00:40:16.519
 Not a man was left.

00:40:16.859 --> 00:40:17.900
 And if you're a Christian today,

00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:18.699
 if you know Christ,

00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:20.719
 not a sin is left.

00:40:21.779 --> 00:40:23.019
 It's all been paid for.

00:40:23.299 --> 00:40:23.920
 Praise God.

00:40:26.199 --> 00:40:27.239
 Let me finish this way.

00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:30.659
 There's at least two things in this account

00:40:30.659 --> 00:40:32.019
 that are not surprising at all.

00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:35.819
 First one is that sin kills.

00:40:36.859 --> 00:40:38.159
 That's not surprising at all.

00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:38.679
 We know that.

00:40:39.619 --> 00:40:42.940
 Second one is God saves.

00:40:43.819 --> 00:40:44.500
 God saves.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:46.420
 That's not surprising at all either.

00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:47.259
 That's the point.

00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:49.539
 The problem is,

00:40:49.579 --> 00:40:51.819
 is that we know these two facts so well

00:40:51.819 --> 00:40:52.960
 that we tend to lose sight

00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:54.480
 of their significance from day to day.

00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:59.079
 We forget how offensive our sin is to God.

00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:02.820
 How destructive its consequences are to us

00:41:02.820 --> 00:41:04.240
 and to the people around us.

00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:07.619
 But God is so faithful over and over

00:41:07.619 --> 00:41:09.740
 to provide forgiveness and restoration

00:41:09.740 --> 00:41:13.960
 that we sometimes take that for granted as well.

00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:18.619
 And we need to praise God

00:41:18.619 --> 00:41:20.240
 that he gives us passages like this

00:41:20.240 --> 00:41:22.400
 that help us to see and to understand.

00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:24.320
 Again, it jogs our memory.

00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:27.179
 Jogs our memory.

00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:28.960
 That yeah, our sin is a big deal.

00:41:29.059 --> 00:41:30.139
 We need to care about that.

00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:32.260
 But we have a Savior unlike any other.

00:41:32.260 --> 00:41:36.860
 So that every time we find ourselves back

00:41:36.860 --> 00:41:37.800
 in one of these cycles,

00:41:37.940 --> 00:41:40.800
 every time we experience his grace,

00:41:41.420 --> 00:41:42.800
 may it produce in us

00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:46.180
 a profound sense of gratitude.

00:41:47.320 --> 00:41:47.960
 Gratitude.

00:41:49.120 --> 00:41:51.660
 Because our God saves.

00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:53.659
 .

00:41:53.659 --> 00:41:53.659


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