God's Mercy And Deliverance

March 31, 2021

When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord , the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

~Judges 3:9~

The book of Judges has many accounts of how God uses a single person to be a stand in for the children of Israel. We begin with Othniel, a simple man, younger brother of Caleb; who was used by God after the Israelites cried out to Him. The Lord allowed punishment to come upon His people for serving Baals and Asherahs; these being Canaanite goddesses. When Moses was taken up to the mountain to write down the commandments of God, we understand God's top commandment was directed at serving false gods. "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3)

God is a jealous God. He warns of the punishments that will approach if we are to remain disobedient. The israelites had chosen to worship these false gods and it angered the Lord. "Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years." (Judges 3:8)

What does God do? He uses a king to be as a form of judgement. A ruler to be over these men and women who chose their own fate. Eight years of this the Lord allowed and the people cried out to God for deliverance. One can not truely be set free unless they are desperate enough for the help, to fully admit they made a mistake and to show God they really do need Him. This is all God asks of us, for Him to be needed. He knows we can't live peaceably without Him, but sometimes it takes an extra shove for us to realize this ourselves. "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

(Deuteronomy 10:12)

The children of Israel chose to act upon their own desires and "freedom." Truely they were setting themsleves up for bondage they did not expect. The problem is we do things we do not even realize can be damaging to our entire nation and God is asking for us to fear Him above all. When we refuse to, He judges us and this forces us to press into Him for mercy. "But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you." (Acts 3:14)

The children of Israel chose to do evil in the sight of the Lord. They chose to deny God in the way they lived. Truth was known to them, yet they chose to take part in abominations and in turn created their own punishment. The glory of this verse today however, it shows that God is always merciful and His punishment can be withheld or shortened by prayer and supplication from the heart. The children cried out to God and He sent in Othniel to deliver them from this king. "For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

(Romans 10:13)

This applies to us today. We can look around our own nation and see the chaos breaking out and wonder why God allows certain people to rise up in authority that may be damaging to us. We can look back on many times He used these very circumstances as a way of teaching His children a lesson. We have put Him under idols for far too long, we have allowed blood shed of innocent lives to occur without batting an eye, we have focused more on our own desires verse the desires of the Lord and we have condemned people around us with lies rather then love them with truth. God is still the same God. He still gets angry towards disobedience. We should never feel as though we are too "special" of a nation for God to judge. We should be crying out to Him daily and preparing for the time when He decides to. That fear of the Lord should always remain. When we become overly confident in our society, we lose track of God. We dip into worldly posessions and idolatry is welcomed into our life. Whether it be worshipping false gods, other people or ourselves. It is all the same to God. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , He also has rejected you from being king.” (I Samuel 15:23)

The Lord can choose any form of lesson He wishes; it is our job to continously abide in Him, put Him first in our lives and question anything that comes our way of being offense to Him or not. Let us enhance our prayer life so we may hear Him over all of the voices crowding the world today. "Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech." (Isaiah 28:23)

Let us put God first in our heart each day, above all else. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Let us keep His laws and precepts deeply fashioned in our families. "Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye." (Proverbs 7:2)

Even in the time of judgement, God is merciful and is willing to send help for deliverance. It is His will that we are free. He just longs for us to turn back to Him fully for that help. Othniel was one example of many who was sent for this purpose. It then says the land received rest for forty years after. We too, can receive such divine rest in Him if we look solely to Him for help. Deliverance comes in all forms and God is waiting to set us free. We must not blame Him for our own choices, rather thank Him for making a way through His Son to be able to speak directly to His throne for help. He is faithful to hear our cries, we must be faithful to utter them.

Prayer:

Father God, thank you for You deep mercy and patience towards us even when we are abominable before Your eyes. I am deeply sorry for the destruction that has been caused upon this earth and I pray more people in the Body of Christ wake up and begin to rise in prayer and supplication. Lord I thank you for Your deep sacrifice that has allowed my family to be adopted into Yours. I receive blessings and strength as I stand for You and You alone. If there is any form of idol in my life, please strip this away from me. I do not wish to put others before You in my life. I serve You. I pray repentance for this nation as we have offended You so much in the way we have went against Your commands. I ask for protection over our brothers and sisters in times of judgement, if You ever decide to bring them. I could not blame You for it, Lord. I rest in Your presence today and I praise You for the ability to do so. I receive Your love and glorify You in all that I am, in the Mighty Name of my King who delivered me, Jesus Christ. Amen.