What
is a Judge?
Do YOU know what a judge does? ex. He sits on a high seat above the court and says “please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth? (where do you put your left hand? - on the bible)
- EXECUTE
this scenario by having students “raise right hand and put LH on
bible” or He might say “order in the court!” or He might
proceed to explain:
- Then in our mock court, he might say something like this:
“In the matter of _God the Father
and righteous Judge__vs. __(student name's)__ we are here today to
try the case regarding (willful sin) if (student name's) are found
guilty but have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, then I will
judge him accordingly in his life and the next. If (student name's)
is found guilty and do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her
personal Saviour, in the free pardon of sin, then (student name's)
are condemned and will spend eternity in torture, darkness, and
hellfire forever and ever. A place where “the worm dieth not and
the fire is not quenched.” (Mk 9.48)
Why did God send judges? Over
and over we are told because “Israel did evil in the sight of the
Lord,” or they sinned by worshiping other gods -
Attend your ear to the following judges
– did they judge rightly?
- Ehud whose
name means “I will be thanked, I will be praise.”
3:12-30 was left-handed and killed Eglon, king of Moab. V15
“...when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord
raised them up a deliverer...(who
slew the enemy king with a two-edged sword (v16) into his fat
belly) (v22) – (v29) and slew about 10,000 men and there
escaped not a man.” No
enemy was allowed to escape
- Deborah (the
exception, not the rule – but still under the authority of the
ruler Barak) whose name means “bee” (maybe because she
had stinging words a cowardly man 4.6 “didn't the Lord tell you go
into battle”) 4:1--5:31 urged Barak to attack the mighty army of
the Canaanites, which he did and their 900 “chariots of iron”
and slew all of them.
- Othniel
(oth·nē·āl) whose name means “lion of God.” 3:7-11 a
nephew of Caleb, delivered Israel from the Mesopotamians. V10 - “the
spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out
to war: and the Lord delivered...king of Mesopotamia into his
hand...”
- Gideon whose
name means “hewer” or to cut or chop down
6:11-8:35 led 300 Israelites to defeat the entire army of the
Midianites. “Little is much when God is in it.” Gideon actually
saw the angel of the Lord (6.21) who told him he would not die in
the battle (6.23). Gideon, though a timid leader, took the Lord at
His word. To execute the battle for the Lord, God only allowed 300
men out of 22,000 for Gideon's campaign against the Midianites. The
Midianites numbered (7.12) “as the sand by the seaside.” So,
for illiteration's sake 300 against 100,000 – that's over 300 to
1! Yet by the Lord's direction with the tactics Gideon used, that is
Gideon, whose name means to “cut down,” did just that – get
this, without EVER using a weapon! I ask you, does
the Lord need the might of many men for battle?
Does the Lord need our
pitiful weapons for battle?
What is the greatest
weapon for battle?
Prayer and obedience
- Jair (ya ear) whose
name means “he enlightens”
10.3-5 – this man had many sons and many donkey's which just means
he was a rich man in his day – most times it is the rich men who
are in a seat of authority. So
who is the richest and owns it all?
- Jephthah (yif·täkh')
whose name means “he opens”
11:1--12:7 was a harlot's
son who defeated the Amorites. He
had the heart of a judge but was made rash or quick decisions
without thought of the consequences. He vowed to make sacrifice of
of the first thing he saw after the enemy was defeated. The first
thing he saw when he returned home was his only daughter – to give
her to God in sacrifice meant his name would never live on in sons –
but we know, by reading this scripture, that his name did live on,
because we are told of him in this book. Everything God does is
eternal...
- Ibzan (iv·sän)
whose name means “their whiteness”
12.8-10. The only thing we
know about Ibzan is he had 30 daughters. We also know that he
married them to outsiders. Thus the Lord ushered in the Gentiles in
the NT who were before known as “outsiders.”
- Elon (a
loan) whose name means “mighty, strong” 12:11-12 All we
really know of him is the meaning of his name and that he judged for
12 years (12 being the number of government, consequentially) as in
“the government shall be on His shoulders” (Isa 9.6)
- Abdon (Av
doan) whose name means “servile or dependent like a
servant” 12:13-15.
He was also a rich man in that he had 40 sons 30 nephews and 70
donkeys which was a sign of wealth in his day. This man judged 8
years – eight is the number for resurrection or new beginning.
- Samson whose
name means “like the son”
13:1--16:31 delivered Israel from the Philistines. Known for
his great strength. But forgot where his help came from and was
fooled by a woman and suffered for it. But at the end of his life,
Samson destroyed more enemies than the span of his life.
Where do you see Jesus?
I
will be thanked-I will be praise, (Ps 150.4 let everything
that hath breath praise the Lord)
bee,
(I Cor 15.56 the sting of death is sin)
lion
of God, (Rev 5.5 the lion of the tribe
of Judah...hath prevailed)
to
cut or chop down,
(Heb 4.12 “For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.”)
he
enlightens (Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light
unto my path...Ps 119.105),
he
opens
(Eph 1.18 The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of
his calling... ),
their
whiteness,
(Isa 1:18 sins
white like snow,
Rev 1:14 His
hair white like wool)
mighty
– strong,
(Isa 9.6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.)
dependent
like a servant,
(Phil 2.7 But
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant,
)
like
the son
– what was gained by Samson's death? Destroyed more enemies by his
death than in life (Rom 5.10 For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
)
Okay,
you are the judge, what will you do? You are the Judge, will you
judge righteously?
Two
women, one baby. Both women have a baby. One woman rolls over in
the night and smothers her baby by accident. This woman take the
other baby unknown to its mother. This is discovered and now the two
women dispute who is the true mother. What would you do?
To
find the answer to this dilemma, read I Kings 3.16-28
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