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Rescuing Judges - The Book of Judges · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: who delivered them, even Othniel, the son of Canaz, Caleb's
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  Speaker 1: younger brother. Judges 3.9 Dear God, as I meditate on
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  Speaker 1: today's reading of Judges 2-3, I ask, Lord, that you
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  Speaker 1: make me like the mighty men and women of Judges,
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  Speaker 1: who were used to deliver your children from the hands
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  Speaker 1: of the enemy. Quicken my heart and strengthen my hands,
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  Speaker 1: so that I can take on the honor of being
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  Speaker 1: used to bring freedom and breakthrough to those who are
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  Speaker 1: hurting and in bondage. Raise me up like Othniel. Let
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  Speaker 1: your spirit come upon me as I continue to win
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  Speaker 1: battles and take territory for your kingdom. Next, I thank
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  Speaker 1: you that, you are giving me the boldness of Ehud
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  Speaker 1: so that I can face my oppressor head on and
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  Speaker 1: without fear. Give me divine strategy today so that I
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  Speaker 1: know where my enemy's weak points are. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: inside information that will ensure the victory for me and
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  Speaker 1: for all of your children. Shout out loud and declare
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  Speaker 1: that you have given us complete victory over all of
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  Speaker 1: our enemies. Thank you for rest and restoration. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day.
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  Speaker 1: To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story.
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  Speaker 1: Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Click the link in the description to grow closer to God.
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  Speaker 2: There you'll find daily prayers, Bible plans, sleep stories, and
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  Speaker 2: so much more. all on the Pray.com app. Click the
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  Speaker 2: link in the description to get started.
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  Speaker 3: Rescuing Judges The generation of Joshua had passed, and Israel
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  Speaker 3: made a home for themselves in their new land. The
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  Speaker 3: gods of the other kingdoms surrounding Israel made their way
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  Speaker 3: into their hearts, and they turned their backs on God.
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  Speaker 3: In this story, we will learn how God heard the
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  Speaker 3: cries of Israel, as He did once in Egypt. Only now,
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  Speaker 3: instead of sending Moses, He sent His judges. Mighty heroes
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  Speaker 3: of great courage, inspired by the book of Judges.
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  Speaker 4: We're so glad you joined us on the Bible in
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  Speaker 4: a Year podcast today. The Bible in a Year podcast
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  Speaker 4: is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries. and can only come
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: to you each week through the support of listeners just
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: like you. Your support today is so important that we
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: want to thank you for your gift by giving you
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: a copy of my book called The Jesus Book. It
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: is a powerful guide that shows how every book of
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: the Bible points to Jesus and how his living word,
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  Speaker 4: the truth of God's word, will transform your life. So
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  Speaker 4: to get a copy of The Jesus Book, simply go
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  Speaker 4: to jackgram.org slash Jesus. That's jackgram.org slash Jesus. And thank
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  Speaker 4: you for your support. In today's reading, we concluded the
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  Speaker 4: story of Job and learned how God restored Job to
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  Speaker 4: health and wealth, giving him more than even he had lost. Today,
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  Speaker 4: we return to the story of Israel. The hearts of
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  Speaker 4: God's people have turned to other gods. And rather than
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  Speaker 4: influencing the culture around them, they were letting the pagan cultures,
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  Speaker 4: the unbelieving cultures, shape and corrupt them. Soon they find
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  Speaker 4: themselves enslaved again. It is the result of their unfaithfulness
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  Speaker 4: to God and their forgetful hearts. But as we'll learn
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  Speaker 4: again today, God is not about to abandon his children.
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  Speaker 4: He will hear their cries and come to their rescue
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  Speaker 4: just in time. So let's listen now to today's reading.
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  Speaker 3: Truth had been forsaken. The generation that fought for the
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  Speaker 3: promised land had passed away. God's mighty axe had been
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  Speaker 3: buried and forgotten with the past. Now Israel lived in comfort,
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  Speaker 3: sinning on the graves of those who bled before them.
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  Speaker 3: Israel abandoned the Lord and adopted the gods of the natives.
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  Speaker 3: Since they forsook God, all their military exploits went without victory.
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  Speaker 3: In vain they marched to conquer new lands, but they
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  Speaker 3: were left with heartache and bloodshed. Israel spiraled into a
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  Speaker 3: whirlpool of defeat. They had forgotten that Israel's strength was
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  Speaker 3: not in their military might, but in the sovereignty of God.
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  Speaker 3: Weakened and distressed, Israel was vulnerable to outside attacks. Other
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  Speaker 3: nations would descend upon the people and plunder them. Women
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  Speaker 3: and children were stolen in the dead of night. Homes
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  Speaker 3: were set ablaze, and their food and livestock was taken.
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  Speaker 3: So God raised up mighty men and women of valor,
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  Speaker 3: those who would save them and bring them out of oppressions.
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  Speaker 3: Yet Israel would not bow to them. They whored themselves
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  Speaker 3: to other gods and did only what seemed right in
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  Speaker 3: their own eyes. Yet God would not relent in His
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  Speaker 3: compassion over His people. When Israel descended into destruction and slavery,
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  Speaker 3: God would send His heroes to save them. After delving
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  Speaker 3: deep into the worship of other gods, Israel found themselves
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  Speaker 3: overcome by Kushan, the king of Mesopotamia. Kushan's army took
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  Speaker 3: Israel by force, and God's people found themselves once again enslaved.
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  Speaker 3: For eight years they sat under the cruel reign of Mesopotamia.
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  Speaker 3: The people of Israel cried out to God, begging Him
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  Speaker 3: to save them as He had thousands of times before.
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  Speaker 3: God did not ignore their cries. He raised up His
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  Speaker 3: first judge, Othniel, the nephew of Caleb. The Spirit of
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  Speaker 3: God was with Othniel. The same burning intensity Joshua once
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  Speaker 3: had came upon him. Othniel gathered men from all over
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  Speaker 3: Israel to raise a resistance. For weeks he plotted, schemed,
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  Speaker 3: and strategized. Othniel was a man of few words. He
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  Speaker 3: was a man of the sword and exactly what Israel needed.
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  Speaker 3: Othniel stood at the top of a valley in front
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  Speaker 3: of Kushan's army. Weeks of preparing had led him to
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  Speaker 3: this moment. The air was cold, and the piercing wind
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  Speaker 3: of winter blew from the north. Othniel was silent. As lightning,
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  Speaker 3: with thousands of Israelite soldiers behind him, Othniel stormed the
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  Speaker 3: city of their oppressors. Blood scattered across the sky above them.
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  Speaker 3: Israel had its first taste of true victory in years.
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  Speaker 3: They were free. God had gone before them, and Othniel
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  Speaker 3: was judge over Israel for forty years until he died.
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  Speaker 3: After forty years of peace under Othniel's leadership, the people
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  Speaker 3: of Israel fell prey to their old devices. Slowly and gradually,
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  Speaker 3: their old idolatry crept back into their lives and hearts.
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  Speaker 3: They let their guard down and became complacent. While Israel rested,
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  Speaker 3: feasted among idols, and enjoyed their newfound freedom, King Eglon
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  Speaker 3: from Moab gathered the Ammonites and the Amalekites to overtake Israel.
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  Speaker 3: He succeeded, and for eighteen years his cruelty and greed
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  Speaker 3: plagued the Hebrew people like a sickness. The people of
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  Speaker 3: Israel cried out again to God, not knowing that he
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  Speaker 3: was already raising up a young man named Ehud from
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  Speaker 3: the tribe of Benjamin. He was a left-handed man, which
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  Speaker 3: was uncommon and looked down upon in his time. Yet
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  Speaker 3: his skill as a warrior and master of deception were
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  Speaker 3: exactly what the people of Israel needed. So God provided.
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  Speaker 3: It was tradition for the people of Israel to pay
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  Speaker 3: a tribute to King Eglon in his palace. These tributes
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  Speaker 3: were large platters of food filled with meats, cheeses, and grains,
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  Speaker 3: for Eglon was a large and slothful man. He gorged
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  Speaker 3: on Israel's offerings and grew fat in both mass and confidence.
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  Speaker 3: The people sent Ehud to pay the tribute with a
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  Speaker 3: double-edged sword strapped to his right thigh. Ehud brought in
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  Speaker 3: the tributes. Hail the king, he said. I have brought
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  Speaker 3: you your tribute. Ehud then leaned over to the king's
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  Speaker 3: side and whispered, I have secret news from some spies
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  Speaker 3: in Israel, my king. Eglon's interest and concern rose. He
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  Speaker 3: shooed away his guards and rose from his seat to
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  Speaker 3: speak with Ehud. As Eglon rose from his seat, Ehud
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  Speaker 3: unstrapped the sword from his thigh and lodged it into
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  Speaker 3: Eglon's gigantic stomach in one motion. Eglon's fat wrapped around
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  Speaker 3: the blade and closed it into his belly. Entrails and
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  Speaker 3: dung came spewing out of Eglon as he fell to
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  Speaker 3: the floor and died. Ehud drug the king's massive body
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  Speaker 3: into his restroom. The guards heard a noise and entered
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  Speaker 3: into the king's chambers. They heard a stirring in the
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  Speaker 3: lavatory and did not want to bother the king while
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  Speaker 3: he was relieving himself. While they delayed, Ehud escaped through
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  Speaker 3: the hole where the excrement was released and crawled to safety.
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  Speaker 3: Moments later, the guards opened the doors to see the
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  Speaker 3: king dead on the floor. Ehud ran past the temples
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  Speaker 3: to Sarai. When he arrived at the right spot, he
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  Speaker 3: sounded a trumpet that echoed throughout the entire hill country.
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  Speaker 3: As one waved, the Israelite army emerged from the horizon
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  Speaker 3: and ran behind Ehud. They followed him, and Ehud let
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  Speaker 3: out a battle cry, saying, Ehud's left-handed swings tore apart
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  Speaker 3: the flesh of the Moabite army. One by one they fell,
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  Speaker 3: and hope in God was restored. Ten thousand Moabites fell
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  Speaker 3: that day, all of them strong and able-bodied soldiers. No
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  Speaker 3: one escaped. For eight years, Ehud protected the people of Israel,
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  Speaker 3: and there was peace in the land. Yet danger and
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  Speaker 3: temptation lurked around every corner. Ehud understood just as well
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  Speaker 3: as God that the peace would not last. Soon, Israel
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  Speaker 3: would whore itself to other idols again, and God, as
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  Speaker 3: a faithful groom, would do anything to protect them.
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  Speaker 4: In today's reading in God's Word, we begin with a
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  Speaker 4: new generation of Israelites. This generation is different from those
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  Speaker 4: who followed Joshua. Joshua's people were gone, but now the
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  Speaker 4: people who had been living in comfort became complacent. They
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  Speaker 4: turned to false gods, idols. They allowed the world around
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  Speaker 4: them to infiltrate their daily lives. And the God of
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  Speaker 4: their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
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  Speaker 4: God of Moses and Joshua, these were a distant memory.
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  Speaker 4: As always, rebellion and unbelief have consequences. God had warned
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  Speaker 4: them that if they turned from him, they would not
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  Speaker 4: experienced victory, but only the bitterness and the brokenness of defeat.
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  Speaker 4: And that's exactly what they experienced. In loss after loss
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  Speaker 4: after loss, they became weaker and weaker as a nation.
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  Speaker 4: Even though God sent them a godly leader, the Israelites
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  Speaker 4: persisted in their rebellion until they were overcome by the
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  Speaker 4: king of Mesopotamia, Kushan. And then the people were once
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  Speaker 4: again under the rule of another, They were slaves in
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  Speaker 4: a pagan nation. This was the price to be paid
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  Speaker 4: for their sins against God. But God would not abandon
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  Speaker 4: his people, and when they cried out to him, he
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  Speaker 4: brought a mighty warrior, a judge named Athoniel. He was
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  Speaker 4: the nephew of Caleb, and he burned with zeal, a
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  Speaker 4: zeal for God and a zeal for the people of God.
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  Speaker 4: And so God began the time of the judges. Athoniel
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  Speaker 4: raised up an army, and under God's protection, he led
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  Speaker 4: them to victory over Hushan's army. They were once again free,
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  Speaker 4: and for the next generation, this man led the people
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  Speaker 4: as God's appointed judge. But as it happened after Joshua died,
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  Speaker 4: once Othoniel was gone, the people rebelled against God again.
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  Speaker 4: And so began a tragic pattern of turning from God,
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  Speaker 4: facing defeat, turning back to God for help, and God helping.
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  Speaker 4: The words in Judges 3.12 signal the refrain that will
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  Speaker 4: repeat itself too many times in the years to come.
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  Speaker 4: And the people of Israel again did what was evil
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  Speaker 4: in the sight of the Lord. Rescue, rebellion, repentance, and return.
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  Speaker 4: Before we too quickly judge the Israelites for their unfaithfulness,
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  Speaker 4: let's consider how often we do the same thing when
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  Speaker 4: we allow other gods to take over our hearts and
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  Speaker 4: our minds. idols of the heart. We get caught up
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  Speaker 4: in the world and rebel against God. But here's what
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  Speaker 4: we know. Because of what Jesus Christ has done for
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  Speaker 4: us on the cross and by the power of his resurrection,
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  Speaker 4: God can redeem us, renew us, and restore us when
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  Speaker 4: we repent of our sin and return to him. God
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  Speaker 4: will respond and receive us because of what Christ has
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  Speaker 4: done for us. we do need to remember that there
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  Speaker 4: are consequences to our sins. And so when the people
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  Speaker 4: once again turned against God again and again, they were
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  Speaker 4: conquered by another nation. They cried out to God, and
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  Speaker 4: God brought them a new judge, Ehud. Ehud courageously faced
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  Speaker 4: the king of Moab and put him to the sword
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  Speaker 4: before leading an army against 10,000 Moabite men, killing them all.
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  Speaker 4: Once again, Faith in God and hope for the future
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  Speaker 4: was restored. But once again, this would be only temporary
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  Speaker 4: as the people would turn away. They would often lose
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  Speaker 4: their faith and their faithfulness. But God was faithful to
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  Speaker 4: His people, and He would not abandon them. And it's
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  Speaker 4: a wonderful promise to know that God loves you, that
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  Speaker 4: His plans for your life, even when you fail, when
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  Speaker 4: you are fickle, and when you fall, if you will
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  Speaker 4: return to Him, and receive him through his son, Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 4: you can be forgiven and God will lift you up.
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  Speaker 4: Dear God, thank you for your patience with us when
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  Speaker 4: our hearts fall away and stray and our attentions drifts
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  Speaker 4: to the gods of this world. Help us to come
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  Speaker 4: back to you and to cry out to you for
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  Speaker 4: your unending mercy and grace. We know this grace, this
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  Speaker 4: mercy is available because of your son, Jesus, who died
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  Speaker 4: on the cross for our sins and rose again that
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  Speaker 4: we may have eternal life. It is in his name
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  Speaker 4: that we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to today's
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  Speaker 4: Bible in a Year podcast. And before we go, I
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  Speaker 4: wanted to let you know that the Bible in a
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  Speaker 4: Year podcast is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can
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  Speaker 4: only come to you each week through the support of
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  Speaker 4: listeners like you. Your support today is so important that
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  Speaker 4: we want to thank you for your gift by giving
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: you a copy of my book called The Jesus Book.
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: This book is a powerful guide that shows how every
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: book in the Bible points to Christ and how you
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: can better read and understand the Bible and how God's
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: word transforms our lives. So to get your copy of
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  Speaker 4: the Jesus book, simply go to jackgram.org slash Jesus. That's
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  Speaker 4: jackgram.org slash Jesus. And thank you for your support.
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