Judges 3:7-9 "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. (8) Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. (9) And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother."
Yesterday, we saw the danger of trying to act like the world always results on
the negative side. Again, the words of Jesus: "A little leaven, leaveneth
the whole lump." Good apples cannot repair bad apples; rather, they
begin to rot faster when in contact with the corrupt. Some would say,
"Well, Jesus went to where the sinners were located in order to teach
them." Yes, He did, but He did not stay there nor did He leave them
in that state. The difference between Jesus and us is major, in that, He has
the ability to change lives. We can have an influence on others, but we cannot
change them. Therefore it is important that we do not allow ourselves to sink
to the place where we are separated from God. The children of Israel did just
that and the end result was "evil in the sight of the Lord, and they
forgot the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves."
They were delivered into the hands of an evil king for eight years until they
began to cry unto the Lord once again. Understand there were consequences
for their actions, but God in His mercy brought them back from their torment.
He "raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them,
even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother." The Lord
used the nephew of Caleb to deliver the people. You can go back to Numbers,
chapter 14 and Joshua, chapter 14 to see the great faith of Caleb. I feel
positive that Caleb had an influence upon Othniel, but something happened to
both of them that caused them to cease being the deliverer: They both
died. I'm so thankful that our Deliverer today is none other than the
eternal Son of God, Jesus the Christ. We can call upon Him day or night
and He will hear our petitions for help. He stands with open arms, saying,
"Come unto me."