In the fall of 2004, ABC launched its hit television series Desperate Housewives. The show, part comedy and part drama, follows the lives of a group of housewives, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their—at the surface—beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood.

In more recent years, the show’s incredible popularity has spawned a number of spinoff reality shows called “The Real Housewives of …well…take your pick…Orange County, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Atlanta, and even Wall Street. Thankfully, I have never watched a single episode of any of these shows, but I have seen their advertisements. They seem to have just a little too much matriarchal drama for this pastor’s taste!

Well, this morning’s Bible character was a real and desperate housewife. We know virtually nothing about Hannah’s origin or early life. We only meet her when she is already married to a man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite from the town of Ramathaim, and even then, we don’t know how old she was, how long she had been married, or what she was like. The only other thing that the biblical text tells us about her was that she had some problems—problems that made her desperate!

Hannah’s Problems (1-8)

The opening verses of I Samuel reveal some of the problems that made Hannah such a desperate housewife. In verse 2 we learn that Hannah was childless. Although the ultimate reason why she couldn’t conceive was because God closed her womb, it must have been viewed as some physical problem that prevented her from experiencing a mother’s joy. This physical problem caused her deep emotional pain and grief. Can you imagine trying to have a child year after year, and yet, every time you look at the pregnancy test it is negative? She probably kept asking herself, “What is wrong with me?”

Sometimes spiritual problems lead to physical problems, but in this story, Hannah’s physical problem led to her spiritual problem. In ancient Jewish culture, if a woman could not conceive, it was often understood to be a curse or punishment from God. She would have been considered a disgrace to her husband and the people from her town would have wondered and gossiped about what she did to deserve such a fate. Even though Hannah appeared to have a devout faith, God had not blessed her with a child.

Hannah not only had physical and spiritual problems, she also had relationship problems. Her husband had another wife named Peninnah, and she was able to have children. The text doesn’t tell us for sure, but Elkanah probably took a second wife because Hannah was unable to bear children.

Now two women sharing one man typically has its share of relationship problems anyway, but this relationship was complicated further by the fact that even though Peninnah was a virtual baby factory, Elkanah still loved Hannah more. They each had what the other wanted—Hannah wanted children; Peninnah wanted love. This led to a serious bout of matrimonial rivalry. Over the years, Peninnah took every opportunity to provoke and irritate Hannah. With every child she bore, she rubbed it in Hannah’s face, even when they were on their way to worship God at the temple in Shiloh.

To make matters even worse, when Elkanah would saw Hanna crying, he gave the typical male response in verse 8, “Why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” His intentions were good, but he was just another blundering husband that didn’t understand women!

You can certainly see the complexity and severity of Hanna’s problems. This housewife had real problems! And they made her desperate!

Do you ever have problems that make you feel desperate? Maybe you have struggled with infertility or some other physical problem. Maybe you know that there is something wrong with your body, but neither you nor your doctor can figure out what it is. Maybe you have been rehabilitating an injury for a long time, but it doesn’t seem like therapy is helping. Like Hannah, our physical problems are real, and they can make us feel desperate.

Perhaps your health is fine, but you are experiencing relationship problems. Maybe you have an unresolved conflict with your spouse, your boyfriend or girlfriend, a family member, a co-worker, or even a fellow church member. Have you hurt or been hurt by someone? As with Hannah, relationship problems can cause deep emotional pain; where tears replace your appetite.

Whether your problems are physical, relational, spiritual, or emotional, or something else, the fact is we all have real problems and sometimes they make us feel desperate! What is your biggest problem right now? And more importantly, what should we do about it? Well, let’s see what Hannah did about her problems!

Hannah’s Prayer (9-20)

Hannah’s heart was so distraught that she couldn’t eat anything, so she got up from the dinner table and walked over to the Lord’s temple. Out of her great distress and bitterness of soul, she poured her heart out to the Lord in prayer. We see the passion of her prayer in her tears, the faith of her prayer in addressing God as (Yahweh Zuba)“the Lord of hosts” or “the Lord Almighty”, and the humility of her prayer by referring to herself as the Lord’s “servant” or “handmaiden” three times.

In her prayer, she also made a vow to the Lord that if he blessed her with a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service for all the days of his life. This was the same Nazarite vow that Samson’s mother made, whereby she promised that the child’s hair would never be cut. His long hair would serve as a symbol of his being set apart for God.

While Hannah was praying, the priest Eli, who was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the temple and, noticed her. As he approached her, he thought it strange that her lips were moving but her voice was not heard, and concluded that she was drunk. (Eli’s misunderstanding of Hannah’s piety shows some flaws in his own character, but that is another sermon for another day.) He chastised her by saying, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself?” She defended herself firmly and thoroughly by explaining that she was pouring her soul out to the Lord in prayer because of her anguish and grief. Once Eli realized what she was doing, he pronounced a blessing upon her “may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” The combination of her time in prayer and Eli’s blessing encouraged her so much that she was able to go on her way, eat something, and her overall demeanor changed. Her prayer hadn’t been answered yet, but she felt much better!

When Hannah prayed, her problems didn’t necessarily change, but she did. Time spent in prayer always changes us too! Prayer doesn’t always change our predicament, but it always changes our perspective! Oswald Chambers, in his classic daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest, writes in his entry for August 28th, “It is not so true that ‘prayer changes things’ as prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.”

When you have problems, do you pray about them? Do you pray with tearful passion? Do you pray with trusting faith? Do you pray with heartfelt humility? When you pray, sometimes God will fix your problems, but he will always fix you! Listen to this poem with an unknown author titled “DOES PRAYER CHANGE THINGS?”

They say that prayer changes things, but does it REALLY change anything?
Oh yes! It really does!

Does prayer change your present situation or sudden circumstances?
No, not always, but it does change the way you look at those events.

Does prayer change your financial future?
No, not always, but it does change who you look to for meeting your daily Needs.

Does prayer change shattered hearts or broken bodies?
No, not always, but it will change your source of strength and comfort.

Does prayer change your wants and desires?
No, not always, but it will change your wants into what God desires!

Does prayer change how you view the world?
No, not always, but it will change whose eyes you see the world through.

Does prayer change your regrets from the past?
No, not always, but it will change your hopes for the future!

Does prayer change the people around you?
No, not always, but it will change you – the problem isn’t always in others.

Does prayer change your life in ways you can’t explain?
Oh, yes, always! And it will change you from the inside out!
So does prayer REALLY change ANYTHING?
Yes! It REALLY does change EVERYTHING!

Hannah’s Presentation (21-28)

In Hannah’s story, God not only changed her, but he changed at least one of her problems. When she and her husband returned to their hometown, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel because that name means “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Over the next few years, Hannah and Samuel did not accompany Elkanah and the rest of the family on their annual journey to Shiloh. Hannah must have known the complications of taking a child on a long road trip. But after three years (the usual duration for breastfeeding in ancient Israel) the boy was weaned and Hannah knew it was time to fulfill her vow to God by dedicating Samuel to His service.

Sometime after Samuel’s third birthday, his parents gathered a bull for a sacrifice and some food for the trip and set off for the temple in Shiloh. When they reached the temple, she kept her extremely difficult vow and turned the boy over to Eli the priest to raise from that point on. She gave up the very child for which she prayed. For the rest of Samuel’s childhood years, Hannah only got to see him once a year when they went to Shiloh for the festival. She always made him a little robe and brought it for him every year.

Can you imagine how difficult it would have been for Hannah to give up her son? She was incredibly faithful. God takes our vows seriously and so should we! Whether they are marital vows, religious vows, or some other kind of vows, God expects us to keep them!

Hannah’s Praise (2:1-11)

After Hannah gave Samuel to Eli, she worshipped the Lord by composing and singing one of the most beautiful songs in the Bible. I Samuel 2:1-11 records Hannah’s Song, where she praises the Lord for who he is and what he had done for her. Throughout the song, the lyrics express various aspects of God’s character—his holiness, uniqueness, omniscience, sovereignty, creativity, protection, etc. She also praises him for delivering her from her problems and giving her strength. Praise was the appropriate expression of gratitude for the Lord hearing Hannah’s prayers and transforming her from a desperate housewife into a devout housewife.

I wonder how often we forget to praise God for who he is and what he has done for us? Especially when we think about how he understands our problems, hears our prayers, and transforms us. He deserves praise for all of these things, but most of all for allowing Jesus to die and rise again to delivering us from our greatest problem: sin.

In Hannah’s story, there is a clear pattern that goes from problems to prayer to praise! Do you see it? Will you live it?

Samson’s Potential (Judges 13)

Few people in the Bible were born with more potential than Samson. Like John the Baptist’s parents Elizabeth and Zechariah, in Judges 13 we learn that Samson’s parents had been unable to conceive for many years. Then God sent his angel to announce that they were going to have a son. The angel told Samson’s mother to abstain from unclean food and fermented drink and to never cut the boy’s hair because he was to be a Nazarite. Nazarites were dedicated to God’s service from birth and were raised under strict conditions. They had stringent dietary regulations, could never cut their hair, couldn’t come in contact with anything that was dead, etc.

Along with the general pronouncement that the boy would be a Nazarite, the angel also declared in verse 5 that God had already chosen Samson to begin the specific mission of delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines, who had oppressed them for forty years. Verses 24-25 tell us that God’s hand remained on Samson throughout his youth—“he grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him…” As Samson grew, he began to realize that God blessed him with supernatural physical strength. God had given him this gift of strength to help him fulfill his destiny of delivering Israel from the Philistines.

An angelic announcement, a declaration of destiny, a miraculous birth, a loving family, a godly heritage, supernatural strength, and the divine blessing of God upon his life! Samson had everything anyone could ever hope for! He had all the potential in the world! You would think that he would be the one to deliver Israel once and for all, but he was about to flush all of his potential down the proverbial toilet. He had a triumphant childhood, but he was about to have a tragic midlife!

Do you know anyone like that? Do you know anyone who has had all the potential in the world but failed to live up to it? Do you know anyone who has been blessed with incredible talent, but they threw it away? I think about people like Lindsay Lohan. As a teenager, she showed promise of becoming a great singer and actress, but she traded her capabilities for cocaine. I also think of Plaxico Burress. With great size, strength, and speed, he could have become one the greatest wide receivers in NFL history. But he was more interested in waiving a handgun around a night club. He traded his skill for a jail cell.

God has blessed many of you here today with great potential to serve him and others. He has blessed many of you with loving families, godly heritages, and tremendous talent! I have seen it! Use it! Don’t make the same mistake that Samson made. Don’t waste what God has given you!

Samson’s Selfishness (Judges 14)

Samson’s tragic demise begins in Judges 14 when he leaves his hometown of Zorah and traveled to the Philistine border town of Timnah. He met a Philistine woman there and it was love at first sight. He immediately returned home and told his father that he wanted to marry the girl. This seems like a beautiful fairy tale love story to us today, but when we consider the cultural background, we discover that it is actually a story of selfishness and manipulation.

The regular custom in ancient Israel was arranged marriages. People did not choose their own spouse like we do today; parents picked their children’s spouses for them and arranged it with the other family. In this culture, to choose one’s own spouse was an act of selfishness and disrespect for one’s parents. In verse 3, we see that Samson’s parents vehemently oppose Samson’s choice. They knew that when you flirt with the enemy, it is only a matter of time until you get burned! They had seen other Israelite boys run after Philistine girls and be dragged into idolatry, and they certainly didn’t want this to happen to their son, especially a son with such potential. But in spite of his parents’ protest, Samson asserts his will and demands to marry her.

In verse 5, we see Samson fall deeper into selfishness and sin. As he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he was coming dangerously close to breaking one of his Nazarite vows to not eat any food that was grown on a vine. He made a conscious decision to flirt with temptation once again. But while he was off the road by himself, God sent a ferocious lion to warn him against this deadly path, but instead of heeding God’s sign, Samson used the great strength that the Lord had given him and he tore the lion apart.

Sometime later, when Samson was going down to marry the girl, he went back to see the lion’s carcass. He discovered that a swarm of bees made some honey in the carcass. Again, his appetite overtook him and he broke another Nazarite vow by touching a dead carcass. He knew that his actions were wrong—that is why he didn’t tell his parents where he got the honey.

How many times have we seen and experienced this same pattern in our lives? God has given us everything we need, yet we become infatuated by that which is forbidden? How many of us flirt with sin by putting ourselves in compromising and tempting positions? Do you allow your carnal appetites to rule your life?

How many young people disregard and disrespect their parents and make selfish decisions? It is all about what they want now and they don’t care what anyone else says. Like Samson, a rebellious attitude toward parental authority usually indicates a rebellious attitude toward God. Who rules your life—God or you?

Samson’s Arrogance (Judges 14:10-20)

Well, Samson made sure he got what he wanted! He married the Timnite girl, but he as soon as they sat down to eat the reception meal, he was already getting bored. Somewhere between the cutting of the cake and the dollar dance, Samson decided to become the life of the party by introducing a riddle and a wager. Riddles were common entertainment at parties in the ancient world. He arrogantly bet 30 Armani suits with his 30 groomsmen that they wouldn’t be able to figure out his riddle. They told him, “Bring it on!” But when he posed his riddle: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet”, they were completely stumped.

Samson had given them until the end of the reception to figure it out (wedding feasts lasted seven days in ancient Jewish culture), but on the fourth day, the Philistine groomsmen went to Samson’s wife and threatened her. They told her that they would burn her and her father to death if she didn’t coax her husband to give the answer to the riddle. So, she went to Samson with great sobs and a sob story and manipulated him into revealing the riddle. On the last day of the feast, he finally confided in her, and she secretly gave the answer to the Philistines.

When they explained the riddle and won the bet, Samson immediately knew that he had been tricked. In verse 18, he called out the men for cheating with another riddle, “If you had not plowed with my heifer you wouldn’t have solved my riddle.” As heifers don’t plow, neither should they have been able to figure out the riddle. To pay off the debt, Samson secretly ventured into one of the prominent Philistine cities and killed thirty men, stole their expensive clothing, and gave them to the men who solved his riddle.

Samson’s arrogant attitude led him down the path of destruction. His selfish desire to be the center of attention led to his bragging about his sin in the riddle. Bragging about his sin set him led him to make a wager that he could not pay. And when he could not pay, he had to kill 30 men and steal their clothing to pay his debt.

When we have an arrogant attitude, we are led down that same path of destruction. Do you ever have a selfish desire to be the center of attention? Do you ever find yourself bragging about or glorifying your past sins? Do you say things to show your superior intellect? Do you ever find yourself making wagers you can’t pay or making arrogant promises you can’t keep? Like Samson, when our hearts are filled with arrogance and we try to take advantage of someone, it is only a matter of time before someone will take advantage of us.

Samson’s Anger (Judges 15)

Samson was so angry with his wife for betraying him and making him lose the bet that he went to spend some time with his father. After his temper settled down a little, he went back to be with her. He didn’t have two dozen roses and a bottle of wine, but he did bring her a young goat (an appropriate gift in this culture), but he returned he discovered that his father-in-law had given his wife to his best man.

When he realized that he had been manipulated again, his anger drove him to tying torches to the end of foxes tails and burning all of the Philistines crops. When the Philistines discovered who had done this and why, they burned Samson’s wife and father-in-law to death. Samson poured out his revenge on the Philistines by using a donkey’s jawbone as a form of brass knuckles and killed 1000 Philistines. Samson went on to lead the Israelites for 20 years.

Samson’s Fall (Judges 16:1-22)

During his 20 year rule, Samson still exhibited character flaws and spiritual weaknesses that would eventually lead to his final demise. He was selfish, arrogant, impulsive, hot-headed, vengeful, violent, and he always had a weakness for women. One day he put himself in great danger by sleeping with a Philistine prostitute in the region of Gaza. When the Philistines discovered where he was, they devised a plan to kill him when he woke up in the morning. But he outwitted them by sneaking away in the middle of the night and destroying their city gate.

By this time you would think that Samson would have learned his lesson about women (at least Philistine women), but he was a slow learner. He was all brawn, no brains, and sometime later he fell in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah. When the Philistine leaders found this out, they made a deal with Delilah to discover the source of Samson’s strength. She would be paid handsomely for seducing Samson’s secret.

So, on three different occasions, Delilah tried to manipulate Samson into telling her his secret, but each time he tricked her. If you ever want to see a good example of a manipulative relationship, read Judges 16, especially verse 15 when Delilah says “How can you say you love me when you won’t confide in me?” Samson finally succumbed and told her that the source of his strength was his long Nazarite hair, even after she tried to kill him three times.

After he told her his secret, she lulled him to sleep by placing his head on her lap and running her fingers through his long hair. She had already arranged for the barber to shave his head. His Nazarite vow was completely broken and God took away his strength. With this, the Philistines captured him, bound him, gouged out his eyes, and forced him to work the grinding mill in prison, a job usually reserved for donkeys. This is truly a tale of triumph to tragedy!

Samson’s weakness for women finally caught up with him. Like muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning right now, Samson learned that illicit relationships will cost you your strength. Do you hear what God is saying in this?

Samson’s Triumph (Judges 16:23-31)

As Samson suffered in the grinding mill day after day, the Philistines held a celebration to give glory to their god Dagon for helping them to capture their enemy. They humiliated Samson by calling for him to perform for their rulers in the pagan temple. Since he was blind, they didn’t think he was a threat, even though his hair had grown back.

While he was entertaining, he could hear the noise around and above him and he realized that he was at the center of the temple. Samson finally humbled himself by asking his servant to help him locate the central columns. He humbled himself again by praying to God to remember him and restore his strength one last time. Then he pushed the pillars and dislodged them from their bases, making the whole temple collapse. Although Samson died in the wreckage, he had his greatest triumph in destroying the pagan temple and killing over 3000 of the most important Philistines. He killed more in his death than in his life, and thus, fulfilled his destiny that the angel pronounced to his mother—that “he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (13:5)

Samson’s life was filled with great tragedy and great triumph! God has given us this story to remind us that he is sovereign over all things, including false gods and human weakness. Let’s face it, Samson was a screw up! He had incredible potential, but he allowed selfishness, arrogance, anger, and illicit relationships get in the way. He is definitely not a model for behavior, but he is an example of God’s incredible grace. God chose to use him in spite of his flaws and failures! He was even a forerunner of our Lord Jesus, who by his death brought down our great enemy and delivered us from the penalty of sin. There was great tragedy and great triumph in the cross!

There are two things I would like us to take away from Samson’s story. First, let us learn from Samson’s mistakes! Listen to your parents! Don’t be selfish! Remember, the world doesn’t revolve around you! Don’t go through life with an arrogant chip on your shoulder! Control your appetites! Beware of manipulative people and illicit relationships! Take your vows to God seriously! Keep him at the center of your life! Don’t waste the potential he has given you!

Secondly, remember God’s sovereignty and grace! Like Samson, we all have flaws and have experienced failures. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, but he gives us his grace. He overcomes our faults and is more powerful than our failures. In his great sovereignty, he even uses them to advance his kingdom. If God can use a screw up like Samson, he can certainly use people like you and me!

Everyone considered him the coward of the county
He’d never stood one single time to prove the county wrong
His mama named him Tommy but folks just called him yellow
But something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong

Kenny Roger’s “Coward of the County” is one of my favorite country songs. The song tells the story of a young man named Tommy. When Tommy is 10 years old, his father “dies in prison.” Tommy and his uncle (portrayed by Rogers in the role of narrator) come to see him for the last time, and Tommy’s father makes him promise not to fight when provoked. This earns Tommy a reputation as the “Coward of the County” as he never stands up for himself.

Tommy is in love with a girl named Becky, who loves him despite his unwillingness to fight. One day, while Tommy is out working, the three “Gatlin boys” attack Becky. When Tommy returns home and finds Becky hurt, he is forced to choose between upholding his promise to his father or avenging the crime that is committed against the love of his life.

The story ends with Tommy going to the local bar where the Gatlin boys hang out. At first, it appears that Tommy will cower again after being laughed at by the Gatlin boys as he turns towards the door. However, he has done so in order to lock it, and there is deathly silence in the bar before “20 years of crawlin'” ends in an explosive fight that leaves all three Gatlin boys unconscious on the barroom floor. Tommy then addresses his dead father, saying that while he did his best to avoid trouble, he hopes he understands that “Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.”

The Bible has its own version of the “Coward of the County.” His name is Gideon son of Joash. He spent most of his early life living in fear, but God transformed him into a mighty warrior and used him to deliver the Israelites from oppression.

1.) The Cycle of Sin Continues (6:1-6)

Gideon’s story begins like the other judges of Israel, with the nation spinning through another cycle of sin. Deborah led Israel through 40 years of peace, but when she died, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord again. So, God disciplined them by giving them into the hands of the Midianites for seven long and brutal years. The Midianites were so malicious that they forced the Israelites to abandon their homes and literally “run for the hills.” The Israelites lived in caves, mountain clefts, and anything they could find to provide shelter.

The Midianites were merciless when it came to raiding Israel’s crops too. Like a swarm of locusts, they descended upon Israel during harvest season and devoured everything in sight. They stole as much food as they could and destroyed the rest. They even killed the livestock and left the land completely desolate. God used these seven years of misery to humble his people.

When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, Paul and Mary, a couple in their mid-seventies, lived in the brown and white trailer across the road from me. Mary was a sweetheart, but Paul was a miserable old curmudgeon who didn’t like anybody or anything, except his large and lush vegetable garden and his long blacktopped driveway. Every summer, he spent many hours manicuring his garden and maintaining his driveway. He had the only blacktopped driveway in our area, but he refused to let me or my friends ride our bicycles on it.

One August night when I was about 13 years old, six or seven of the neighborhood boys decided to camp out in a tent in the backyard. None of us were really interested in camping, but we liked being able to roam around the neighborhood in the middle of the night. That night, we snuck into Paul’s garden and picked every vegetable and smashed them on his beloved driveway. We whipped tomatoes and beans at each other. We threw the heads of lettuce and cabbage over our heads just to watch them shatter on the pavement. We destroyed everything except the watermelons. We took those back to camp to eat!

When I went home in the morning and surveyed the damage from the seclusion and safety of my front porch. Paul’s driveway looked like a giant tossed salad. I watched Paul dash from his front door to the edge of the driveway. (I had no idea a 75 year old man could run so fast!) He had a look of devastation on his face and I knew he was experiencing a mixture of emotions that swayed back and forth between extreme sadness and burning anger.

I’m not sure if God used us to humble Paul or not, but when I remember that look of devastation in his eyes, I can understand how the Israelites felt about the Midianites!

2.) An Incorrect Candidate (6:7-24)

After seven years of misery, the Israelites called upon God once again and he gave them Gideon, the coward of the county. What an unlikely candidate! Gideon didn’t have the correct character or credentials to serve as judge of Israel. The text reveals four reasons why Gideon was the wrong choice. First, verses 11-12 reveal that he had the wrong occupational background. He came from an agricultural background. Now there is nothing inherently wrong or cowardly about farming, but especially in this time and culture, we would expect someone with a military background to be the top man in Israel.

Secondly, Gideon had the wrong attitude. When the angel pronounced God’s calling upon Gideon, he told him that the Lord was with him. In verse 13, Gideon’s questions reveal his bad attitude toward God, “If the Lord is really with us, why has all of this happened? Sure, we have heard about his miracles in the past, but why isn’t he doing anything in the present?”

Many people today have this same attitude toward God! They blame him for the bad things that have happened to them without looking for his plan. It becomes all about them in the moment rather what God is doing in the big picture of their lives. Questions like these show a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s character. Like Gideon, questions like this show a fundamental self-centeredness in our own hearts. Do you ever find yourself having a bad attitude toward God?

Thirdly, Gideon came from the wrong family. As he points out to the angel in verse 15, he was from the weakest clan in Manasseh and he had the lowest status in his family. His family background made him an unlikely candidate to save Israel.

Fourthly, Gideon had the wrong faith, or at least a lack of faith. As this encounter with the Lord’s angel was coming to an end, in verse 17 he demands a miracle to prove that this angel really was from God. This lack of faith should have disqualified Gideon from serving as Israel’s judge, but the Lord honored his request by consuming the meal of lamb meat and unleavened bread with fire from the rock.

Like Gideon, God chooses unlikely people to serve him today. People with the wrong occupational background! People from the wrong family! Even people with bad attitudes and fickle faith! When God chooses you, it doesn’t matter if it makes logical sense or not! When God calls you to do something, there is never a reason or excuse that is good enough to deny it. Are you one of God’s unlikely choices? If God chose the coward of the county to save his people from oppression, there is no telling what God might choose you for!

3.) The Cost of Obedience (6:25-32)

After Gideon received his call from God, his first mission was to destroy his father’s idols that the people of his hometown worshipped. He was to tear down the altar that had been built for worshipping Baal, the Canaanite God of nature, and to cut down the Asherah poles that were erected to worship the Canaanite fertility goddess. He was also supposed to build a new altar to the Lord and sacrifice a bull with the wood from the Asherah pole.

Although Gideon expressed his cowardice again by doing it at night, he obeyed the Lord and accomplished the tasks that were appointed for him. When the people woke up the next morning, they were outraged when they saw that the idols had been destroyed. They immediately launched an investigation to find out who did this. When they discovered that it was Gideon, they demanded that he be executed. But Gideon’s father Joash interceded for his son by saying that Baal can take care of himself. Nonetheless, Gideon learned the cost of obedience to God!

This scene reminds us that when we obey God today, it comes at a cost. When we act in obedience to God and do what is right, it costs us something. Think about it! When we obey God by giving him 10% of our income, it cost us monetarily. When we make God our top priority in life, it may cost us a relationship with a family member or friend. When we refuse to cut corners at work, it may cost us our jobs.

Like Gideon, when we are obedient to God, it may even threaten our life? Would you be willing to give up your life to be obedient to God? I’m so glad that our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to obey his father even to the point of death!

4.) Fear in the Fleece (6:33-40)

Gideon’s second mission was even more difficult and terrifying that the first. He was to round up the troops from the northern tribes of Israel and battle against the allied forces of the Midianites, Amalekites, and eastern peoples who were camped in the Valley of Jezreel. But before he went to war, fear and cowardess crept into his soul again. He tried to get out of his mission by testing God twice.

The first time, Gideon says that he would place a dry fleece (a wool coat) on the ground and if there was only dew on the fleece and not on the ground in the morning, he would know that this really is what God wanted him to do. When he woke up, the fleece was soaked but the ground was dry. So, he tried to get out of it again by saying that he would set out the fleece again the next night and if it was dry and the ground was wet, then he would know for sure that God wanted him to lead the Israelites into battle. Sure enough, in the morning, the ground was wet but the fleece was dry, and Gideon knew what he must do. He should have known that it is impossible to pull the wool over God’s eyes!

I wonder how many of us have ever laid our fleece before the Lord! We may not have used a literal wool fleece, but I would bet that most of us have tried to manipulate God by making a deal with him. Have you ever showed a lack of faith by demanding a sign or a miracle? Have you punted God’s plan by saying, “Well, I need to pray about it?” We need to realize that God is not interested in making deals with us! He is interested in our faith, not our fleece!

5.) Faith Finally Overcomes Fear (7:1-25)

Well, once Gideon finally mustered up enough courage to obey God and lead 32,000 Israelites into battle, God taught him one more lesson about fear and faith. Although the Israelites were far outnumbered, God told him that he had too many men in his army to defeat the Midianites. So, Gideon reduced his army to 10,000 men, but God said that this is still too many troops. Gideon then reduced his army to 300 men, a ridiculously low number, and God told him that this was perfect. This was a real test of faith!

God sent this battalion into battle at night with only trumpets and torches in their hands. When the Midianites heard the trumpet blasts and saw the lit torches, they became hysterical with fear, turned their swords on each other, and ran away. Gideon’s faith finally overcame his fear and God used him to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites.

Gideon’s life helps us put our lives in perspective. Like him, we are always teetering on the edge between fear and faith. Every day we have to make a decision: Am I going to trust my instincts or am I going to trust God? Are my decisions going to be driven by fear or faith? Am I going to be the coward of the county or a courageous follower of Christ?

In 1907, Anna Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, had an idea. She wanted to do something special to honor her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. So, she solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honoring Anna’s mother. Anna handed out her mother’s favorite flowers, white carnations, as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna’s hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother’s Day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother’s Day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Jarvis’s worries, Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries celebrate Mother’s Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

As we honor our mothers today, we continue our series of Major Characters of the Bible by remembering Deborah, who was called “a mother of Israel.” We learn about her life in Judges 4 and 5. Judges 4 tells us the story of how God used her to liberate the people of Israel by leading them in battle against the Canaanites. Judges 5 records the song that Deborah composed and sang in response to the Lord’s deliverance. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of Hebrew poetry ever written.

Let us take a look at this wonderful woman that God used to lead his people! Let us take a look at the life of Deborah—a mother of Israel!

The Cycle of Sin Continues (4:1-3)

After Ehud assassinated Eglon, king of Moab, the Israelites experienced peace in the Promised Land for 80 years. Under Ehud’s leadership, the people stayed on the straight and narrow path. They worshipped the one true God and remained faithful to him. But after Ehud died, the Israelites continued in the cycle of sin that is so prevalent during the period of the judges. They did evil in the eyes of the Lord by turning their hearts toward idols. They forsook the Lord as the top priority in their lives.

Just as in the days before, God disciplined his people by allowing them to experience oppression at the hands of a foreign enemy. This time God sold them into the hands of Jabin, the king of the Canaanites, who reigned from the northern city of Hazor. The commander of Jabin’s army was Sisera, who cruelly oppressed the Israelites with his 900 chariots for 20 years.

Every time we see this pattern of God disciplining his people for doing evil in his eyes, it should cause us to reflect on the condition of our own souls. When we continue to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, it is only a matter of time until we experience his discipline. When we turn our backs on him and go our own way, he orchestrates the events of our lives so that we see our need for him. Just as the Lord rose up Jabin and Sisera to discipline the Israelites, he rises up all sorts of calamities and sufferings to bring us back to him today.

If you have been persisting in some cycle of sin, stop! If you are engaging in some evil endeavor, stop! If you have turned your heart away from the Lord, come back! Come back before you endure God’s discipline!

Deborah: An Unlikely Leader (4:4-5; 5:7)

It took the Israelites 20 years to humble themselves before the Lord—20 years of oppression and misery, but eventually they cried out to the Lord for help. And as he had done so many times before, God heard the cries of his people, and he poured out his grace on them by raising up another judge to deliver them. This time he raised up a woman named Deborah!

When we read verse 4, we should be shocked. In a time and culture that was almost exclusively patriarchal, it is astonishing that God would raise up a woman to fulfill these unlikely roles. Notice first, she was a “prophetess.” This is an extremely rare role; the term is only found in the Bible 8 times. Like her male counterparts, she received and proclaimed God’s Word to the people. She served as God’s mouthpiece to deliver instruction to the nation of Israel.

Secondly, she was the wife of Lappidoth. This is a more traditional role for the time. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about Lappidoth or their marriage. Because of Deborah’s other roles, we can assume that her role as a wife would have been considerably different from the typical wife of the time.

Thirdly, she was “judging (or leading) Israel at the time.” This is the most remarkable role of all. During this period of Israelite history, the judge was the top position in the nation. She had final legislative, judicial, social, and military authority. She led the people and spent considerable time deciding cases in court, which she held under the palm tree that was named for her in the hill country of Ephraim. Long before Judge Judy draped herself in a judge’s robe or opened her big mouth on television, Deborah administered real justice in Israel!

Finally, in 5:7, Deborah sings that when village life in Israel ceased, she arose as a “mother of Israel.” When the life and livelihood of the people in the villages of Israel were being oppressed, she came to power and delivered her people. All of her roles (prophetess, wife, judge, and leader) are encompassed this term. As a mother fulfills many roles for her children, Deborah did all of these things for the children of Israel. We don’t know if Deborah had any biological children, but we do know that God called her to be a spiritual mother of the whole nation.

Deborah’s unlikely leadership roles in Israel remind us that God is not limited by historical periods or cultural customs. Even in a patriarchal culture, if God wants a woman’s touch at the top of a nation, he can do it. I am so glad that he raises up spiritual mothers like Deborah to shepherd his people today.

Today on Mother’s Day, let us give thanks for the spiritual mothers that he has placed in our lives. Mothers who speak God’s Word! Mothers who stand up for justice! Mothers who are willing to serve God in all sorts of roles! Mothers like Eleanor Dodd and Pricilla Gates! Praise God for spiritual mothers!

Deborah’s Courage, Barak’s Cowardice (4:6-10)

God revealed to Deborah that Barak was to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to prepare for battle against Sisera by the Kishon River near Mount Tabor. There the Lord would lead Sisera into a trap and give Barak and the Israelites victory. God chose the leader of his army, the place of the battle, and he also guaranteed the victory; all Barak had to do was trust the Lord.

Barak’s faith was weak and he showed his cowardice when he said to Deborah, “If you go, I’ll go; but if you don’t go, I won’t go.” He was like a little a little boy walking into a dark room who says to his mother, “I’m scared, mommy! You go with me!” I love Deborah’s response, “Very well, I’ll go with you.” But she warned him that he would not receive the honor; for the Lord would take Sisera by the hands of a woman. This was her way of telling him, “No guts, no glory!” So, Deborah and Barak summoned the soldiers and gathered them for battle.

This scene should serve as a lesson for us today. How often does God call us to do something, yet we are reluctant to obey because we are afraid? How often does God reveal his plan for us, yet we are still paralyzed by fear? Even though God already guaranteed the victory, all Barack could think about was 900 iron chariots. When God calls you to do something, will you have the cowardice of Barack or the courage of Deborah?

Jael Kills Sisera (4:11-24; 5:24-31)

Now it was the family of Heber the Kenite who first warned Sisera that Barack was planning a revolt at Mount Tabor. Sisera’s 900 iron chariots made him cocky and arrogant. His forces hadn’t seriously been challenged in years, but he did not know that the Lord God of Israel has the power to turn mighty chariots into tinker toys. This God is the creator of heaven and earth and is all powerful.

As Sisera and his chariots rode toward the Israelite army, God sent fierce rains upon the land that made the Kishon River overflow and turned the battlefield into a sea of mud. The chariots were rendered immobile and the Israelites completely routed the Canaanite army. This unexpected rainstorm during the dry season would have messed with the Canaanite’s minds. Remember, the Canaanites worshipped Baal, the supposed God of storms. God proved his superiority and sovereignty over all other gods.

While Barack and his men were defeating the Canaanite army, the mighty warlord Sisera abandoned his chariot and ran for his life. He was probably heading for Hazor, but his strength began to give out and he sought refuge in the tents of Heber the Kenite, the one who had originally warned him about the Israelite revolt. Since the Kenites had been friendly toward Jabin, he assumed that this would be a safe place to rest.

As he approached the tents, Heber’s wife Jael came out to greet him. She immediately recognized who he was and why he was on the run; we might say “She had him pegged from the start!” She got him some milk to drink and prepared a place for him to sleep. Just as Sisera had no idea that God had planned to rout his army by sending a rainstorm, he had no idea that God had planned for a woman to take his life. He didn’t suspect any danger, so he rested in peace.

As Sisera slept, Jael picked up a long tent peg and a hammer and quietly knelt down by his head. She held the peg in one hand and the hammer in the other, set the peg up against Sisera’s temple, and drove it into the ground. In this culture it was the woman’s job to set up the tents, so she knew how to hammer a tent peg. In this way, God kept his promise that Sisera would fall by the hands of a woman.

When Barack arrived on the scene, Jael showed him what she had done. From there, the Israelites grew stronger and eventually the Lord used them to overthrow Jabin, king of Canaan. Under Deborah’s leadership, the land experienced peace for forty years.

This scene betrays all of our expectations. We would expect God to raise up a powerful Israelite warrior to kill Sisera with a sword, not a housewife with a hammer. Even when Deborah tells Barak that he would fall by the hands of a woman, we expect that it would be Deborah, not some obscure Kenite woman. This would be the equivalent of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders taking out Osama Bin Labin instead of the Navy Seals.

But God often uses unexpected people to accomplish his plans. He likes to break our expectations to show his sovereignty over all things. That is really what the whole Book of Judges is about—a long list of unlikely heroes. No one would expect God to use disabled Ehud to deliver his people from Moab, but he did! No one would expect God to use Deborah to lead Israel, but he did! No one would expect God to use a housewife and a hammer to conquer the greatest military leader of the day, but he did! No one would expect God to sacrifice his own Son to save us from our sins, but he did that too! God often uses the unlikely people to accomplish his purposes. I wonder how he is going to use you?

As I conclude, I would like to leave you with three exhortations from today’s text: 1.) If you are sinking somewhere in the cycle of sin, repent before you incur God’s discipline! 2.) When God calls you to do something, respond with faith instead of fear. 3.) Expect God to use unexpected people to accomplish his plan—people like you!

Deborah epitomizes what Mother’s Day is all about! She was a women of the Word—a woman of faith—a woman of justice—a woman of courage—a woman of service! Praise God for our spiritual mothers!

After Moses delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, he led them for forty years and then he died. Then his assistant Joshua took the Israelites into the Promised Land and he was their leader for another forty years. After Joshua died, Israel entered the time of the judges, where God raised up a series of fifteen individuals to lead and judge the people of Israel for a period of about 430 years until Saul was appointed the first King of Israel.

The key word to summarize the Book of Judges is “cycles”—“cycles of sin.” We will see same pattern over and over again—the Israelites fall into sin, God disciplines them by allowing a foreign nation to oppress them, they cry out for a deliver, God raises up a judge to liberate them, they experience peace until the judge dies, and then they fall into their evil ways again.

Let’s see how this cycle develops in the story of Israel’s second judge, Ehud—the disabled deliverer!

Israel Does Evil in the Eyes of the Lord (12-14)

The story of Ehud begins after Othniel, the first judge of Israel, dies. Under Othniel’s leadership Israel experienced peace in the Promised Land for forty years, but as we will see, “once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” This “evil in the eyes of the Lord” means that they turned away from God and worshipped man-made idols carved out of wood, stone, metal, and other materials. They turned their backs on God’s law and did what was right in their own eyes. They exchanged God’s truth for their own lies.

As Israel fell into sin this time, God made them to fall into the hands of Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon forged alliances the Ammonites and Amalekites, two of Israel’s arch-enemies, and together they attacked Israel. They captured the city of Jericho which was called the City of Palms. This was the same city that Joshua had marched around and defeated seventy years earlier. Now it was controlled by the Moabites. God disciplined the nation of Israel for its sin by making the people to live in subjugation to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

The pattern we see here should not surprise us. God has always dealt with his people in the same way. When we worship him and put him first, we experience peace and protection, but when we turn our faces from him, worship idols, and make other things a greater priority than him, he allows us to suffer. He does this to remind us of who is really in control. As a loving father, he disciplines us when we sin.

This is true on both a personal and national level. As individuals, when we don’t put God first, we should not be surprised when we suffer money problems, relationship problems, or health problems. I am not saying that every problem we experience is a direct punishment for sin, but I do want us to see that our relationship with God always affects the circumstances of our lives. When we act like we don’t need God anymore, he has ways of reminding us that we need him all the time. If Israel hadn’t done evil in the eyes of the Lord, he wouldn’t have allowed them to be oppressed for eighteen years!

This is also true on a national level today. When countries abandon God’s law and do what is right in their own eyes, it shouldn’t surprise us when governments and economies collapse and natural disasters occur. Again, I am not saying that every national problem is directly caused by sin, but I do want us to see that there is a relationship between personal and national faithfulness and personal and national crises!

If the nation of Israel hadn’t diverged into idolatry, they wouldn’t have lost the city of Jericho or have been oppressed by the Moabites for eighteen years. If we simply take God’s word seriously from the beginning, we save ourselves and our nation a lot of heartache.

Ehud: An Unlikely Deliverer (15a)

Well, eighteen years of Moabite oppression took its toll on the Israelites. Losing their land, their freedom, and paying a tribute to Eglon year after year finally convicted them of their sin, and they began to take God seriously again. They began to put him first again. They began to realize that they really needed him all of the time. So, they cried out to the Lord for a deliverer!

Just as a loving father disciplines his children and also hears them when they cry, the Lord heard the cries of his children. So, he raised up Ehud, son of Gera from the tribe of Benjamin. Now Ehud would have been an unlikely candidate to deliver the people from Eglon’s grip because of his disability. The text says that he was “a left-handed man”, but it literally says “bound or handicapped as to his right hand.” For some reason Ehud did not have use of his right hand. Moreover, the Benjamites were known for being ambidextrous, having equal ability with both hands. His visible disability in his right hand and his hidden capability with his left-hand provided the perfect strategy to liberate Israel from the Moabites.

So, Ehud’s disability actually becomes the centerpiece of the strategy to assassinate King Eglon. He was able to conceal a weapon on his right side where the king’s guards would not have expected to find a threat. Most warriors in the ancient world were trained to wield their sword with their right hand; therefore, they would not expect to find a weapon on the left side. The guards probably never even searched his right side.

God has a history of rising up disabled people to accomplish great things. He also has a reputation for turning disabilities into advantages. We must remember that God is not limited by human handicaps!

Think about how God has used disabled people to accomplish his plans in the Bible. Moses had a speech impediment when he freed the Israelites from slavery. David was a young shepherd boy when he killed Goliath! Paul suffered from an eye disease when he evangelized the world!

Think about how God has used disabled people to accomplish some of the greatest feats in history. The Greek poet Homer who wrote “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”, two of the greatest classics of world literature, was blind! Beethoven composed his 5th symphony when he was almost deaf! Albert Einstein, the great scientist of the twentieth century had learning disability in his childhood. He could not talk until he was three and could not read until he was eight. Joni Erickson Tada, a quadriplegic, continues to preach God’s Word to thousands of people all over the world even today!

If you have some physical or mental disability, you need to know that God can use you to accomplish great things for his kingdom. He is not limited by your disability! Like Ehud, he may have given you your disability to serve some strategic advantage in his plan!

The Assassination (15b-25)

Ehud fashioned the perfect assassination weapon, a sharp 18 inch bronze dagger. It was small enough to conceal under his thigh but large enough to strike a fatal wound. Unlike most swords of the day, it was double-edged and meant for thrusting rather than hacking. This dagger was designed to deal a deadly blow quickly.

He also devised a perfect assassination plan. He gained access to the king without suspicion by gathering a commission of Israelites to deliver the annual tribute. The king expected and looked forward to this payment of wealth and goods from his Jewish subjects. After Ehud made the presentation, he and his men left the City of Palms. When they reached the stone quarries at Gilgal, he sent the men home, and he returned to King Eglon alone.

The fact that Eglon had already met Ehud, he was alone, and he was disabled in his right hand, he didn’t pose much of a threat to the king. Ehud was granted access to the upper room of Eglon’s summer palace because he said that he had a secret message from God for the king. Eglon probably felt proud that the God of Israel had a special message for him, so he dismissed all of his guards and servants so he could receive this message from Ehud alone.

As Ehud approached him, Eglon stood up out of respect for the divine message he was about to receive, and when he did, Ehud pulled the dagger from under his right thigh and plunged it into the massive belly of the obese king. Eglon was so fat that he could not defend himself. His flesh encompassed the whole dagger, handle and all, until the blade came out of his back, and the King of Moab fell dead on the floor.

After Ehud assassinated Eglon, he needed to buy himself enough time to escape without being detected. So, he closed and locked all of the doors of the private chamber, thus delaying the discovery of the corpse. As Ehud slipped away, the king’s servants eventually came to see if he needed anything. When they found the doors locked, they concluded that he was relieving himself in the bathroom. They probably joked among themselves, “The king must be sitting on his throne again.” So they waited. And they kept waiting! They waited very patiently. They waited until the point of embarrassment and then they finally got a key and opened the doors, only to discover their king on the floor bludgeoned to death.

Ehud Delivers Israel (26-30)

Meanwhile, Ehud got away and went to the wooded region of Seirah near the hill country of Ephraim. Using the ancient alarm system of a trumpet, Ehud quickly assembled the Israelites for battle. He knew that the discovery of Eglon’s death would throw the officials and soldiers at Jericho into confusion—an opportune time to attack the hated invaders and free Israel from Moabite oppression.

Ehud’s courage inspired a large following. He shouted, “Follow me! The Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” He led them into battle and they defeated the Moabite army at Jericho, ten thousand strong and vigorous men. They reclaimed Jericho and there under Ehud’s reign, the land experienced peace for the next eighty years.

Ehud’s assassination of Eglon and the war against the Moabites raises some interesting ethical questions for us. Is there ever a time when assassination is morally OK? Is there ever a time when war is right? How do we reconcile this story with the sixth commandment, “Thou shall not kill?”

For centuries, faithful Christians have disagreed on these difficult ethical questions. In general, I think that God wants individuals and nations to live peaceably with one another, but unfortunately, the reality of human sin doesn’t always allow for this to happen. Therefore, I believe that there are times when God ordains war and even assassination to liberate people from oppression. The story of Ehud and Eglon is one such example in the Old Testament.

A more modern example of this would be with Adolph Hitler in World War II. The Nazi’s engaged in prolonged oppression against the Jews, other European countries, and even against their own people. Many of Hitler’s abuses and atrocities are unspeakable. I think the world going to war against Hitler was morally justified. I think that even the almost 20 assassination attempts on Hitler’s life were morally justified.

We need to be very careful how we apply these ethical principles today? For instance, was the Vietnam War morally justified? The war in Iraq? The war in Afghanistan? Or even more recent, what about Gadaffi in Libya? I’m not sure! We need to continue to wrestle these difficult ethical dilemmas!

I would like to conclude by highlighting the real significance of this story. Ehud was an unlikely deliverer of God’s people. He foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ, another unlikely deliverer of God’s people. With Jesus’ humble background, no one would have expected him to deliver God’s people from anything, but he was God’s son. He lived a sinless life and died a holy death to deliver us from the oppression of sin. The cross was the weapon that he used to assassinate the devil. When he was resurrected on the third day, he triumphed over the forced of evil and death.

Jesus’ death and resurrection has secured our place in the ultimate Promised Land. By trusting in him as our savior and deliverer, we will one day we can live in a land of perfect peace; not for just eighty years, but for eternity! Are you spiraling down in the cycle of sin? Have you called upon the Lord to deliver you? Do you want to secure your place in the Promised Land forever? Become a follower of Jesus Christ today!

Have you ever been caught off guard by something? That is, have you ever expected one thing to happen but then you were completely shocked when something else happened? Maybe you thought you job was secure, but then your boss called you into his office and said, “I’m so sorry, but we are going to have to let you go.” and you are left wondering what you are going to do. Maybe you weren’t expecting to have a baby, but then all of the sudden, “Surprise! You’re pregnant!” and you are left wondering what you are going to do. Or maybe you have experienced the shock an unexpected death of a loved one, and you felt that empty whole in the center of your heart.

This is exactly what happened to Jesus’ followers when he died on the cross. They thought that Jesus was going to lead a revolution and liberate Israel from Roman occupation and establish a kingdom of peace and justice on earth. But when Jesus breathed his final breath, their hopes were nailed to the cross! They were caught off guard by the crucifixion and they were left wondering what to do next.

But if Jesus’ followers were caught off guard by his crucifixion, they were really caught off guard by his resurrection. Even though he had foretold his resurrection on six occasions during his ministry, it never really registered with them. Since they didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead, it made it very difficult for them to believe it. In today’s passage, we see that the resurrection consistently catches Jesus’ followers off guard.

The Women: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (1-8)

The story begins early in the morning on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and some other women were taking spices to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body according to the Jewish burial custom. They had to wait until the first hint of light on Sunday morning because Jesus was buried late Friday afternoon just before the Sabbath had begun. It was against the law to anoint a dead body during the Sabbath. So, they went to his tomb at the first moment they could.

As they approached the tomb, they certainly expected to find Jesus’ body there. The first hint that something strange had taken place came when they saw that the stone had been rolled away. Tombs in ancient Israel were not like tombs today. They were usually caves rather than a hole in the ground, and tombstones were large round rocks set in a groove over the entrance rather than a granite slab engrave with decorative angels and flowers. This open tomb caught them off guard because there was no sign of who rolled it away or why they did it.

They were caught off guard again when they entered the tomb and discovered that Jesus’ body was gone. They saw his grave clothes lying there and they wondered what had happened. Had robbers stolen his body? Had a friend moved it? They just didn’t know and it troubled them.

As the women discussed the various possibilities, all of the sudden two men appeared beside them. They were caught off guard by this too. Their clothing shimmered white like lightning and the women were terrified. Who were these men and what did they want? After gazing for a minute, they recognized that they were some sort of supernatural beings, and they bowed down and put their faces toward the ground in worship.

Of all the surprises they experienced that morning, none was greater than the shock they received when the angels asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen!” Could it be true? Was Jesus really alive? Did he really conquer the grave? As they pondered these things, the angels reminded them that Jesus himself foretold this. When they explained this, the women remembered Jesus’ words.

When see how Jesus’ followers refused to listen to his foretelling his own death and resurrection multiple times, it should make us think about how slow we are to listen to God’s word. They didn’t want to think about Jesus’ death; so they weren’t prepared for his resurrection. Like these women, many people today have trained their ears to only hear what they want to hear, especially when it comes to God.

How many times has God spoken to us about something in our lives? How many times has he tried to tell us something through the verses we read in the Bible, sermons that we hear, or major events in our lives, but we block it out because it isn’t what we want to hear in the moment. It is bad enough that many of us exercise selective hearing with our parents or spouse, but it is extremely detrimental when we exercise selective hearing with God.

Has God been speaking to you about something? Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other! Don’t be caught off guard!

The Eleven Apostles: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (9-12)

With elation, the women immediately went to tell the Eleven apostles what they had seen and heard. They told them about the stone that was rolled away, the empty tomb, the grave clothes, and the two angels. But the apostles were caught off guard by the women’s resurrection story and they didn’t believe it because their story seemed so farfetched.

Now we need to remember that the 1st century hadn’t experienced the feminist revolution. In this culture and historical period, women were considered less credible than men. So, if you can picture a group of women telling a group of men that Jesus had risen from the dead, their skepticism is somewhat understandable.

On the other hand, their skepticism is somewhat surprising. These eleven apostles had been with Jesus for over three years. They watched him turn water into wine, walk on water, and raise Lazarus from the dead, and yet they did not believe that he was resurrected.

There was one apostle that wasn’t totally caught off guard though. Peter had spent more time with Jesus than anyone else. Still feeling the effects of denying Jesus three times just a few days earlier, his skepticism wasn’t as profound as the others. He wanted to see for himself if the women’s story was true, so he got up and ran to the tomb. When he saw the grave clothes on the ground, he went away wondering what had happened.

The apostle’s initial skepticism about Jesus’ resurrection helps us to understand people’s skepticism about resurrection today. Resurrection is difficult to believe! It is a supernatural phenomenon and it completely betrays our instinct and experience. No one questions the reality of death because we have all known someone who has died, but how many of us know someone who has been resurrected? We would expect non-Christians to be skeptical about the resurrection, but what about Christians?

Last year Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, came to the Enosburg Falls High School and told us about his tragic car accident and how the coroner pronounced him dead at the scene. He told us about his 90 minutes in heaven and how he came back to earth. It was a compelling story. But I can’t tell you how many so called Christians asked me, “Do you think that really happened to him? Do you think he was really dead? Do you think that he is just trying to make money from this?” They showed their skepticism.

I honestly don’t know what happened to Don Piper, but I know that Jesus was resurrected on the third day. How about you? Do you really believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

Cleopas: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (13-35)

Later that day, two of Jesus’ followers were walking on the road toward the village of Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were probably heading home after their hopes of a redeemed Israel were dashed. Cleopas and the unnamed disciple were discussing the events of the past few days, Jesus came up and walked alongside of them, but they didn’t recognize him.

Luke uses an imperfect passive grammatical construction to convey that God supernaturally prevented them from recognizing Jesus. This allowed Jesus to engage them in dialogue and make the surprise of the resurrection even greater. Jesus uses his hidden identity to play dumb with these disciples and to test their knowledge of the gospel. He asked them what they were talking about. Cleopas was amazed that this man hadn’t heard about the things that happened over the weekend. The irony in verse 19 is hilarious as Jesus plays dumb again and asks, “What things?”

From there, Cleopas and the other disciple went on to share the gospel with Jesus. Again, the irony of this scene is humorous as they tell Jesus who he was and what he did. They do a pretty good job of telling the story of Jesus’ identity, trial, and death, but they began to stumble when they got to the resurrection. They obviously did not understand the reality or significance of the empty tomb.

At that point, Jesus took over for them. Beginning with Moses and the Prophets, he led them through a little Bible study and showed how the whole Old Testament pointed to himself. They were so intrigued by this mysterious figure that they invited him to dine and stay with them for the evening. When Jesus sat down with them and reenacted the Last Supper by taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking it, and giving it to them, God miraculously opened their eyes and enabled them to see that it was the resurrected Christ. Talk about being caught off guard by the resurrection! As soon as they recognized him, he instantaneously disappeared from the table. They returned to the apostles in Jerusalem and confirmed the account that Jesus was indeed resurrected from the dead!

This episode of unknown identity reminds me of something funny that happened to me a few weeks ago while I was at Jay Peak skiing. I was riding up the ski lift with a friend and another guy that I did not know. The other guy knew my friend but not me.

After simply exchanging names, I listened to them talk for most of the ride. The guy was telling my friend that he is a Canadian citizen but he lives in the States all winter for ski season. He explained that what he was doing was technically illegal, but it wasn’t hurting anyone and there was little chance he would ever get caught.

As we were nearing the top of the lift, the guy wanted to be polite and asked me what I do for a living. I said, “Oh, I work for Border Patrol!” A blank and terrified look fell over his face and it looked like he wanted to say, “Oh, shhhooot!”Then my friend and I started cracking up laughing and I said, “No, I’m just kidding. I’m a pastor of a church!” I don’t think he believed me. He took off pretty quickly and we didn’t see him again.

Cleopas and the other didn’t realize that they were speaking to Jesus, and they told him the story of his own death and resurrection. Although this scene is somewhat humorous, it makes me wonder: If Jesus appeared to us while we were walking down a road today, would we be able to tell him the story of his own death and resurrection? Would we be able to explain the significance of the cross and the resurrection?

For those of us who are Christians here today, we may be the closest thing to Jesus that some people ever see. If someone came to you and asked the equivalent of “What things?” would you be able to tell him or her that Jesus had to die on the cross so that we have forgiveness for our sins? Would you be able to tell them that Jesus had to be resurrected so that he can offer us eternal life today? Would you have the courage to them that Jesus is the only way their souls can be saved from hell? Don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

If you are not a Christian today, here these words! Jesus sacrificed his life for you! He was resurrected so that you could spend eternity in heaven with him. He wants you to take him seriously! He wants you to put your trust in him today! He wants you to make a commitment to follow him right now! Whatever you do, don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

In this passage, there are three groups of people who were caught off guard by the resurrection. I hope we have learned something from them!

This evening I would like to tell you a story about something that happened to me a number of years ago; something that happened during my trip to Jerusalem. Ever since I was a kid, I had always wanted to go to Israel and see Jerusalem. As I grew up, my parents had told me about all of the wonderful things God had done through biblical history, and I wanted to see the place for myself. I wanted to see all of the famous sites in Jerusalem—where Melchizedek had been a priest-king, where Joshua battled against the Jebusites, where David brought Goliath’s head after he slew the giant and made Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Unfortunately, Jerusalem was on the other side of the world, and my parents told me that we didn’t have enough money to go there. When I was a teenager, I started saving my money to make this trip, but it wasn’t until after I was married that I finally had enough money to go.

Since I figured that this would be a once in a lifetime trip, I wanted to make the most of it. So, I arranged to be there during Passover, the biggest Jewish holiday, where Jews from all over the world flocked to Jerusalem to celebrate how God delivered his people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. This was the best time to visit Jerusalem, so that is when I went!

The Journey to Jerusalem

Making plans to travel to Jerusalem is a complicated process, but it got even more complicated than I had expected. All along, I was planning on just my wife and I making the trip, and the kids would stay with my in-laws. But not long after our plans were finalized, we found out that she was pregnant. Although we were excited about the pregnancy, we were disappointed because we knew that she wouldn’t be able to go.

As I was trying to figure out what to do, she came to me and said, “You shouldn’t go to Jerusalem alone. You should take the boys with you. They are old enough to make the journey and it would be a great educational opportunity for them.” We agreed that our two sons, Alexander and Rufus, would accompany me to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast.

The three of us boarded a ship in our hometown of Cyrene and made the 750 mile voyage to Israel and then we walked the last 30 miles to Jerusalem. The trip provided the perfect opportunity to teach my boys about God’s faithfulness to our people. As we watched the sun rise over the sea, I told them about how God created the heavens and the earth. When we gazed at the stars in the night sky, I reminded them that God promised our father Abraham that he would make his descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky. As we watched the tails of giant whales splash the Mediterranean water into the air, I reminded them of how God used the belly of a fish to help Jonah repent from his sin. And as Passover approached, I reminded them about how God used Moses to deliver our people from slavery in Egypt.

Those last 30 miles on foot were so exciting as we approached Jerusalem. We were anxious to see what the city would look like and what we would experience there!

Chaos in Jerusalem

As we approached the city, the Passover feast had already begun. We expected an atmosphere of joy and celebration, but all we saw was chaos. Something was wrong! We had anticipated a festive throng of singing and dancing, but all we encountered was angry mobs making threats of violence. My young sons were scared and asked, “Daddy, what’s happening here?” I held their hands and said, “I don’t know boys, but I’ll find out.”

As we made our way through the anxious streets, I asked someone what was going on. He said, “Where have you been? Haven’t you heard of Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee? He is on trial for blasphemy; he claims to be the Son of God. Some people say that he is the son of God because he performed many miracles, but others claim that he is a false prophet. He has divided the city and turned it into an uproar. The religious leaders brought him to the Roman governor early this morning.” Then he said, “I’m on my way to Pilate’s palace right now to see what will be decided. Follow me!”

Sentenced to Crucifixion (6-15)

I held my boys close as we pushed our way through the crowd. Eventually, we came to the court of Pilate’s palace and stood amidst the angry mob of people. Just as we got there Pilate brought Jesus out onto the balcony. As soon as the crowd saw him, they began to hurl insults and profanities at him. I wanted to get my kids out of there, but it was too late; the crowd filled in behind us and we were stuck.

With all of the noise around us, I could barely hear what Pilate was saying. The best I could make out was that he was willing to release one prisoner, either Jesus or some murderer named Barabbas. Pilate appeared to be spineless and willing to do whatever pleased the crowd the most. Then, in a sarcastic voice, I heard him say, “Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?” And the crowd chanted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Carrying the Cross of Christ (16-24)

From there, Pilate took Jesus back into the palace and had him flogged. He must have given Jesus over to his soldiers to make sport of him because when they led him out, he didn’t even look like the same man. His head had been so badly beaten that his whole face was deformed. It looked like they had fashioned a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head and then struck it with a staff until the thorns sunk in so deep that blood splattered all over his face and neck.

The soldiers led him out of the gate and the crowd formed an alley for them to walk. My heart sank as I realized that my sons and I were going to have a front row view of the gruesome procession. I didn’t want my boys to see this dreadful sight, but there wasn’t anything I could do. As he approached, I could see the heavy wooden beam on his back and the soldier’s spit all over his hair. He was so weak that he could barely walk.

When he was standing right in front of me, his legs gave out and he collapsed under the weight of the beam. I’ll never forget the look of desperation on his face as he fell or the sound of his gasp as the beam bounced against his back. The whole event only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The beam rolled off of him and I could see the bloodstains on his back from where he had been flogged. I marveled at how he could still be alive after such blood loss.

As he lay there, the soldiers commanded him to get up. When they realized that he couldn’t carry the beam any longer, the centurion looked at me and said, “You, carry his cross! At first, I refused. I didn’t want anything to do with this perilous procession. When I tried to explain that my two young boys were with me, he raised his whip and threatened me. I told my boys to follow close behind, and then I bent down to pick up the cross. I was surprised by how heavy it was and I remember thinking, “How had he carried it so far?”

When I got the beam balanced on my back, I saw Jesus on his feet stumbling ahead of me. Then the soldier exclaimed, “On to Golgotha!” I followed Jesus up that long and lonely hill until we reached the top. At one point, I looked back to make sure that my boys were following in the procession. Thank God they hadn’t been trampled by the crowd!

The Crucifixion of Christ (21-41)

When we reached the top of the hill, the soldiers told me to drop the beam and they pushed me out of the way. I ran over to my boys and wrapped my arms around them as the crowd gathered. When I looked back, I realized that two other men were going to be crucified along with Jesus.

I had heard of crucifixions before, but I had never actually seen one. I didn’t want my boys to see this horrifying event, but after carrying Jesus’ cross, I knew I had to stay until the end. We watched as the soldiers stretched Jesus’ arms across the beam and nailed his wrists into the wood. When he gasped with pain, the religious leaders began to cheer, the soldiers cast lot for his clothing, but there was a group of women standing off in the distance who began to wail.

From there, they lifted Jesus up and attached the horizontal beam to the vertical one that was already in the ground. After they nailed his feet to the cross, they hung a sign over it that read: The King of the Jews. Over the next few hours, Jesus continued to pull his body up to breath. And the chief priests and scribes mocked and made fun of him. I overheard one of them say with sarcasm, “He saved others…but he cannot save himself. Let this Christ, this king of Israel, come down from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

As Jesus approached death, a strange and terrifying darkness came over the whole land. Jesus mustered up all the strength he had left and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? A few minutes later, Jesus breathed his last and gave up his spirit. The centurion who had forced me to carry Jesus’ cross was standing right in front of Jesus when he died. I heard him say, “Surely this man was the son of God!” At that moment, I knew in my heart that this Jesus was indeed the long awaited Messiah!

Carrying My Cross (Mark 8:34-36)

The soldiers took Jesus’ limp body off the cross, and I knew it was finished. I looked at my boys and said, “They have killed the one that Abraham, Moses, and the prophets foretold. They have killed the Christ!”

The crowd began to disperse and I turned around and looked at the wooden beam lying on the ground stained with blood. As I thought about how I carried the murder weapon on my back, I felt responsible for Jesus’ death. I thought, “If I had just resisted the soldiers more, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” My head told me that it wasn’t my fault, but my heart was filled with guilt.

As we started walking away, the group of women who were standing off in the distance weeping began to approach me. One of them, who introduced herself as Mary Magdalene, spoke to me. It was as if she could read my mind when she said, “It’s not your fault! You didn’t kill him! This was the devil’s doing!” And then she said, “While Jesus was still alive, he taught us that, “If anyone would come after him, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow him. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and my gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul?”

When I heard the words that Jesus had spoken, I felt like my soul had been liberated. I learned that being a true follower of Christ has nothing to do with literally carrying a cross, but it has everything to do with giving and living my life for him. That is when I realized that I had been living my life for myself and my family, not for the Messiah. At that very moment, I made a commitment to follow Jesus with and for the rest of my life! I have never been the same since!

Today I understand much more than I did that day I carried Jesus’ cross. I know that he died on the cross to provide forgiveness and atonement for my sins. He was indeed the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. It was really difficult to carry his cross that day, but I have discovered that it is even harder “carrying my cross” everyday.

How about you? Do you know that Jesus died on the cross to grant you forgiveness? Do you know that his blood was shed so you can have atonement for all of the sins you have committed? Have you received him as Lord and Savior? Are you a true follower of Jesus Christ?

Have you learned what it means to carry your cross? Who are you living for? Yourself? Your spouse? Your kids? Or are you truly living your life for Jesus? If you want to save your life, give it up! Are you carrying the cross of Christ?

Joshua is one of the few people in the Bible who didn’t have any major moral weaknesses or character flaws. He was strong, courageous, lived a life of faithfulness to the Lord, and became one of Israel’s most prosperous and successful leaders!

Joshua’s Life

Joshua was the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, was born a Hebrew slave in Egypt, and he became Moses’ aide when he was a young man. Other than this, the Bible doesn’t tell us anything about Joshua’s background. We don’t even know anything about his role in the Exodus from Egypt.

Joshua’s first job was as a spy. Moses sent representatives from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan. Joshua was selected as the representative from the tribe of Ephraim. His early days as a spy prepared him for his future role as Israel’s military general.

Later, Joshua emerged in the battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim. While Moses held his staff above his head and Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms on top of the hill, Joshua became the general of the Israelite army and led them to victory in the valley. It was here that he distinguished himself as a strong and courageous warrior and brilliant military strategist.

From there, Joshua went with Moses to receive the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. He was such a faithful servant that Moses chose Joshua to succeed him as leader of Israel. With great strength and courage, Joshua was confirmed and commissioned to be Israel’s next leader.

After the death of Moses, Joshua made preparations to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the Promised Land. As the Lord had done for Moses at the Red Sea, he miraculously stopped the waters and Joshua led the people across the river on dry ground. They camped at Gilgal on the eastern shore of the river and Joshua took 12 stones from the river and built an altar to remind them that God had dried up the Jordan until all the people had crossed.

When they came to conquer the city of Jericho, they ran into a big problem. The city wall was high and thick. The fledgling Israelite army had no natural means of penetrating the wall, but the commander of the Lord’s army appeared and told Joshua to march the soldiers around the city seven times and the walls would collapse. So, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down!

After the fall of Jericho, Joshua and the Israelites went on to conquer Ai, Bethel, and number of other cities. As long as Israel obeyed the Lord, they won every battle; even though the Israelite army was usually outnumbered. God gave Joshua strength and courage to lead his people and fight their enemies.

The first half of the Book of Joshua tells the story of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land; the second half of the books tells the story of the dividing of the land between the twelve tribes of Israel. Joshua was the leader of the Israelites until he died at the ripe old age of 110. Like Moses before him, he delivered a farewell speech where he reminded the Israelites of the great deeds that God had done for them and challenged them to keep the covenant. When he died, he was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the hill country of Ephraim.

Joshua’s Fear

When we read about Joshua and all of the amazing things he accomplished, we might be tempted to think that he had so much strength and courage that he never feared anything. But that is simply not true. There was a time in Joshua’s life when he faced great uncertainty and was overcome with fear. His fear never surfaced when he was a spy or a military commander, but it came when Moses died and it was his time to assume leadership of Israel. Even though he had already been appointed as Moses’ successor, he probably thought that day would never come.

His fear is certainly understandable. He was following in the footsteps of Israel’s greatest leader. He witnessed Moses perform miracles in Egypt! He was there when Moses parted the Red Sea! He was there when Moses delivered the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. He saw Moses put up with a cantankerous people for forty years and still love them.

Now the baton of leadership had been passed to Joshua, and so many unanswered questions left him terrified! Would he be able to live up to the mentor? Would the people follow his leadership? Would he be able to finish the mission that Moses started and lead the people into the Promised Land? He was facing the biggest change of his life, and he was paralyzed by fear.

Our Fears

Change always produces fear! That is why we can all identify with Joshua! When we don’t know what is going to happen or how things are going to work out, it naturally causes fear to stir in our hearts.

Are you facing any changes or transitions in your life today? Maybe you are facing a change at work? Perhaps you are moving to a new position or changing jobs altogether? Maybe you are facing changes in your family? Perhaps you are still trying to adjust to life since the loss of a loved one? Maybe you are worried about the future of your marriage? Maybe you are concerned about the condition of a relationship with another family member? Maybe you are facing changes in your body? None of us are getting any younger! Maybe you are experiencing physical problems that you have never experienced before and you are afraid that you won’t be able to do the things you used to do?

What changes and transitions are you facing today? What fears are you struggling with? Are you like Joshua? Do you need some strength and courage today?

Well, if you do, look with me at Joshua 1! Strength and courage come from God! The Lord always gives us exactly what we need to get through the transitions of our life. Joshua 1 reveals four ways that he gives us strength and courage. Let’s take a look at them!

1.) God gives us strength and courage through continual encouragement (6, 7, 18)

Since Joshua was so overcome by fear, God knew that he would need continuous encouragement to face his fears and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Notice the phrase “Be strong and courageous!” This phrase had already been introduced back in Deuteronomy 31. It was spoken by Moses twice and God once, and now it is repeated by God three times in this chapter. This phrase became the mantra of Joshua’s life and it gave him the strength and courage to move forward.

It is very interesting to see that Joshua actually uses this phrase a number of years later when he was encouraging the Israelite army to march against the five Amorite kings who were hiding in the cave of Makkedah. In Joshua 10:25 he says, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to the enemies you are going to fight.” This shows how far Joshua had come since chapter 1. The continual encouragement he received from this repeated phrase gave him great strength and courage.

I had something very similar happen to me a number of years ago. Not long after I became a Christian, I started to sense a call to pastoral ministry, but this terrified me. I was afraid that I wasn’t smart enough or had the right abilities to be a pastor. Public speaking petrified me! I was also afraid of what my family and friends would think if I became a pastor.

As God continued to encourage me privately in my prayers, he used about eight different people over a period of a couple of months to encourage me toward vocational ministry. Random people would come up to me at church and said, “I think you would make a good pastor!” At the time, I thought that they were crazy, but that repeated phrase became the mantra that gave me the strength and courage to move forward.

How about you? What has God been speaking to you about? What has he been continually encouraging you to do? How is he doing it? Through your prayers? Through other people in your life? Has he given you some word or phrase to help you face your fears and move into the future?

2.) God gives us strength and courage through his Word (7-8)

In verses 7-8 God tells Joshua to be careful to obey the law that Moses gave to Israel. As long as he followed God’s word, he would be successful no matter what he did. If he kept the Book of the Law on his mind and in his mouth at all the time, he would be prosperous and successful. It is like a simple mathematics equation: Knowledge of God’s Word + Obedience to God’s Word = Prosperity and Success.

Joshua obeyed God’s Word throughout his whole life, and God blessed everything he did. He even obeyed God when it didn’t make sense to him. Apart from God’s command, marching around the city of Jericho was the most ridiculous military maneuver in the history of warfare. But Joshua trusted God and kept his command, and the walls came tumbling down. God’s Word gave Joshua the strength and courage he needed to lead the people into the Promised Land.

The same thing is true for us today. When we know God’s Word, we know what he wants us to do. And when we obey God’s word, we do what he wants us to do. Then he blesses us with success and prosperity.

Just as it did for Joshua, God’s Word gives us strength and courage to overcome our fears. His Word sustains us in times of doubt and despair. His Word gives us wisdom and guidance to make good decisions. His Word empowers us in the midst of an uncertain future.

How well do you know God’s Word? Are you meditating on it day and night? How well are you obeying God’s Word? Are you following it right down the middle? God gives us strength and courage through his Word!

3.) God gives us strength and courage through his presence (5, 9-11, 17)

The third way that God gives people strength and courage is through his presence. The three promises of God’s presence in Joshua 1 are also recapitulations of Deuteronomy 31, showing that God repeated various forms of the phrase many times. In verses 5 and 17 there is a direct comparison to God’s presence with Moses, which is quite profound if we remember the burning bush, the pillar of cloud and fire, the Ten Commandments. This assurance of God’s presence greatly increased Joshua’s strength and courage.

God’s promise of his presence in verse 11 is very interesting. The words “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” sound very much like Jesus’ promise to his disciples right before he ascended to heaven, “And I will be with you to the very end of the age.”

We too can be strong and courageous because God is with us. As God’s presence was with Moses and Joshua, his presence is always with us no matter where we go or what we do. So, whether your fears have to do with your family, finances, or some sort of failure, know that God is with you. Whether your fears are driven by changes, transitions, or just the unknown, know that the omnipresent God of the universe is with you at all times.

As I said, Joshua was filled with fear as he encountered the biggest transition of his life. But through God’s constant encouragement, God’s Word, and God’s presence, Joshua became one of the strongest and most courageous leaders not only in the history of Israel, but in the history of the world! I hope we will follow in Joshua’s footsteps! Be strong and courageous!

Many years ago in a land far away, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. For 400 years Pharaoh brutalized the Israelites and forced them to make bricks and build the great storehouses of Egypt. When Moses came along, a new hope dawned. They wondered if he would be the chosen one who would deliver them from slavery. But after he murdered an Egyptian, he was forced into exile in the Midian desert for 40 years, and the people continued to suffer.

After Moses received special training with his shepherd’s staff, he returned to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, and set the Israelites free. Moses led them through the Red Sea, gave them God’s Law at Mount Sinai, and led their march to the Promised Land. But the Israelites continued to complain against Moses and God, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

At the end of this 40 years, they headed north toward the Promised Land. They had to travel through the territory that was inhabited by the Amorites. Moses politely asked King Sihon for passage through his land, but he refused and advanced his army against the Israelites. Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites made quick work of the Amorites and took over their land.

After this, the Israelites continued toward Bashan, a fertile territory famous for its oak trees and cattle. Like King Sihon, King Og of Bashan sent his army against the Israelites and they encountered the same fate. From there, the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan River across from the city of Jericho.

Now that the stage is set for today’s story, let me introduce you to our cast of characters!

Balak: King of Moab (1-4)

Introducing first, Balak! Other than being the son of Zippor and the King of Moab, we don’t know much about him. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They settled the land on the east side of the Jordan River and worshipped many pagan gods, but their chief god was Chemosh, to who on occasion they would even present human sacrifices.

Balak was terrified by the Israelites! He knew that a people of this size (some estimate over 2 million people) would consume his pasturelands. He compared the horde of Israelites to an ox that licks up the grass of the field. He had also heard about what the Israelites did to the Amorites and the people of Bashon. The thought of them being camped at his back door made him sick to his stomach.

Balak was smart! He knew that the Israelites were too numerous and too strong to attack with militarily, so he decided to attack them spiritually. He gathered a group of Moabite and Midianite elders, gave them with a large sum of money, and commanded them to travel 400 miles to the banks of the Euphrates River and summon the services of a great soothsayer.

Balaam: The Soothsayer of Pethor (5-20)

This leads us to the next character in our story: Balamm, son of Beor, a soothsayer and sorcerer of international renown. People probably called him the “The Powerful Prophet of Pethor”, the “The Marvelous Medium of Mesopotamia”, or “The Diabolical Diviner from Down Under!” He practiced all sorts of divination and magic arts, including the observation of natural phenomenon to determine the will of the gods, the interpretation of visions, dreams, and animal behavior, and most famously, the ability to pronounce blessings and curses that came to pass.

When the elders of Moab and Midian arrived at Pethor, they gave Balaam the letter from Balak requesting his services to put a curse on this people who had come up from the land of Egypt. Balak believed that Balaam’s powerful curses would allow him to conquer the Israelites. He knew that a spiritual attack would give him a better chance than a physical advance.

Balaam was intrigued by this request, but he was even more intrigued by the large money bags in the hands of the elders (Balaam was greedy and usually contracted his services to the highest bidder). But before he jumped in head first, he wanted to test the spiritual waters. He invited the elders to stay the night while he sought the will of God.

As a diviner, he was used to speaking to the gods. He believed that the God of the Israelites was just like any other deity that he could manipulate. But God gave him a clear message to stay away from Moab. So, he refused to go with the elders.

When the elders reported this to Balak, he got more distinguished representatives and an even greater sum of money to entice Balaam. On the surface, Balaam still refused Balak’s offer, saying that no sum of money could get him to go against the command of the Lord, but when he woke up the next morning, he told the representatives that God gave him permission to go. I think the best way to understand verse 20 is that Balaam was lying. I think he saw an opportunity to manipulate God and Balak at the same time. So, he decided to go to Moab!

Balaam’s Unnamed Donkey (21-30)

That brings us to the third and most surprising character of our story: Balaam’s donkey. Apparently Balaam had owned this donkey for a long time and she had become his trusty companion on countless journeys. The next morning he saddled his donkey and headed west.

The Lord was angry with Balaam for going to Moab. So, he placed his angel in the middle of the road with sword in hand to oppose him. Balaam was blind to the angel, but the donkey saw it very clearly and veered off the road and into a field. Balaam began to beat her.

As they continued along, they came to a narrow path with vineyards and rock walls on both sides of the road. The donkey saw the angel again and pressed up close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the rock. He was so angry with her that he began to beat her again.

Then the angel stood on a narrow pass and there was no place to turn around. This time, the donkey just lay down in the middle of the road and refused to go any further. Balaam was so furious with her this time that he beat her with his staff.

Please do not miss the divine irony in this scene! Donkeys were famous for their stupidity, yet this foolish beast saw the angel standing on the road. Balaam was a famous soothsayer who was internationally known for his insight into spiritual matters, and yet, he did not see the spiritual reality of the living God standing before him. Moreover, Balaam was an expert at interpreting the behavior of animals, but he couldn’t figure out why his dumb donkey wasn’t cooperating.

Well, that brings us to the best part of the story. Notice what it says in verse 28, “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.” God performed a miracle and enabled the animal to speak in a clear intelligible language. What did the donkey say? She said, “Balaam, raise your staff again, and I’ll beat your …” Just kidding! He said, “Hit me again and I’ll call PETA.” No, the donkey simply asked Balaam why he beat her three times and pointed out the fact that she had always been faithful to him. He was humiliated by the whole event.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel standing there with his sword drawn, and his humiliation turned into humility. He bowed low and fell facedown, confessed his sin, and showed a willingness to turn back. But the angel told him to go on with the princes of Moab, but he warned him to only speak what the Lord told him to speak.

Yahweh: The Lord God of Israel (31-41)

Even though we have already encountered the fourth character in the story, allow me to introduce you to him anyway. He is Yahweh, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sovereign Living Lord God of Israel. He is the one who orchestrated all of these events to display his power over all other powers and to show his faithfulness to his people by blessing them and leading them into the Promised Land.

I don’t have time to give you a detailed account of Numbers 23-24, but let me summarize how God ironically used this wicked warlock to accomplish his purposes. When Balaam finally got to Moab, Balak took him up onto a series of mountaintops where he could see the Israelite encampments and told him to pronounce curses on his enemies. But every time Balaam spoke, God put his message in his mouth and he blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.

The high point of Balaam’s blessings came in Numbers 24:17 when God actually used this manipulative magician to utter a messianic prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This messiah will conquer all the enemies of God’s people in the last days.

After God turned the tables on Balak and used the sorcerer Balaam to pronounce blessings instead of curses upon his people, Balaam showed the true nature of his character by giving Balak some evil advice. He told him that even if he couldn’t overcome the Israelites through military might or diabolical divination, there was still another way: sexual seduction. He told Balak to send the prettiest girls of Moab to the Israelite camp to seduce the men into committing sexual immorality and idolatry.

The best way to break the blessing God’s people was to get them to commit idolatry. It is the old strategy: If you can’t beat them, try to make them beat themselves. God eventually held Balaam responsible for his sin. In Numbers 31:8, we learn that the Israelites killed Balaam in during the Midianite raid.

Well, now that you have heard the tale of Balaam and the talking donkey, I would like to highlight a few lessons that we can take away from the story.

1.) The Temptation toward Witchcraft

Like Balak, when many people (including Christians) get in a bind today, they are tempted to turn to witchcraft. I’m not just talking about overt forms of witchcraft like Satanism, Wicca, and Voodoo; I am talking about all forms like black magic, psychic healing, mediums, fortune telling, séances, Reiki, dowsing, Ouija boards, ghost hunting, and some forms of yoga.

Some of us ask the question “Does anyone really participate in these things?” Others ask, “Are these things really dangerous?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” to both questions. These practices can open people up to real demonic forces.

Many people get involved in these things out of mere curiosity. Others get involved to solve some problem in their life. They may seem outrageous to you now, but if you have a disease that the doctors can’t diagnose or you have a missing child, is easy to be tempted. If you ever find yourself tempted toward any form of witchcraft, run the other way!

2.) God’s Sovereignty

In this story, God shows his sovereignty over the physical and spiritual world. He shows his power over the physical word by causing a dumb donkey to speak a human language. He shows his power over the spiritual world by allowing the donkey to see the angel and causing Balaam to bless the Israelites.

God foiled Balak and Balaam’s attempts toward evil and used them for good. God protected the Israelites from a threat that they didn’t even know about. He does the same thing for us all the time. He protects us from harms we can’t see and he even uses evil to advance his purposes and accomplish his plans in our lives!

Also, just as God used this dumb donkey to humiliate powerful prophet, he is still in the business of using the foolish things of the world to humble the wise. He still uses the weak things to baffle the strong. So, just in case you think you have occasion to act proud or strong or independent, be careful! God just might make a donkey out of you!

3.) God’s Faithfulness

Finally, this story shows us how God was faithful to his people. He made a covenant with Abraham that he would multiply his people and give them the Promised Land. God was now making good on his promise in spite of this threat from Balak and Balaam.

God still keeps his promises today. Indeed, Jesus will return one day and defeat all of the enemies of God’s people once and for all. So, let’s thank God for his faithfulness to us by being faithful to him!

Have you ever heard of the medical condition called “arteriosclerosis?” It is a form of coronary heart disease that refers to the hardening of the artery walls throughout the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong, and elastic.

Over time, however, too much pressure in the arteries can make the walls thick and stiff, restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. If it is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack! The American Heart Association estimates that twice as many people die from arteriosclerotic disease as from all cancers combined!

Did you know that there is a comparable spiritual coronary disease that affects the human heart? I don’t have any precise figures on how many Americans have it, but I know it is a lot. This disease is known by a number of technical terms including “stubbornness, obstinacy, selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, self-conceit.” It is basically the hardening of the heart. If this condition is not treated, it leads to broken relationships, a broken relationship with God, and ultimately spiritual death!

Many people in the Bible suffered from this spiritual disease, but the clearest case we know about is with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. When Moses and Aaron confronted him about freeing the Israelites from slavery, he refused to listen. He hardened his heart toward Moses and God, and it eventually led to his spiritual and physical death!

As we look at Pharaoh’s life today, I hope that it will serve as a check-up for the hardness of our own hearts!

Pharaoh’s Ego: A King and a god

It isn’t surprising that Pharaoh had this spiritual heart disease. His position made him predisposed to the condition. Pharaoh was the most powerful person in ancient Egypt. The title “Pharaoh” literally meant “the great house” and was given to the hereditary line of Egyptian kings. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ which meant that he ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners. His other title, ‘High Priest of Every Temple’, meant that Pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.

Since Pharaoh had absolute power in Egypt, he was used to getting his own way. No one told Pharaoh what to do. That is why he ignored Moses’ commands to let the Israelites go. He was going to do what he wanted when he wanted, and he wasn’t about to give up the Israelites who had been their slaves for 400 years. His pride and arrogance made him susceptible to the hardening of his heart!

Pharaoh’s biggest problem was that he believed his own hype. He actually believed that he was a god! He actually believed that he was in control of his life. He actually believed that he was the sovereign ruler of his nation and his people! His ego and selfishness blinded him to God’s truth.

Many people struggle with this same spiritual disease today. Now I don’t know very many people that have the audacity to call themselves a god, but they tend to believe their own hype. They think that they are actually in control of their lives. They are so selfish that they act like their desires are the only ones that count!

How about you? Do you have a Pharaoh-sized ego? Do you actually believe that you are in control of your life? When you make decisions, do you think about how they will affect others? When we have a God-complex, God has a way of reminding us that he is the only one in charge!

Pharaoh Hardens His Heart (7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34)

When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh in Exodus 7, they displayed the Lord’s miraculous power when Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it transformed into a snake. In this famous episode, Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing by their secret arts, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. And in Exodus 7:13, it says that Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them.

Since Pharaoh hardened his heart, God sent adversity on Pharaoh in the form of ten plagues. The purpose of these plagues was to show God’s power over the false gods of Egypt and to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Unfortunately, Pharaoh responded negatively to every one of the plagues. Throughout the first five plagues and the seventh plague, we see the same pattern: Pharaoh is obstinate toward Moses’ warning, God sends the plague, Pharaoh appears to repent and let the Israelites go, and he changes his mind and makes a conscious decision to harden his heart toward God and his representatives.

This pattern is highlighted in the seventh plague, the plague of hail in Exodus 9:13-35. Pharaoh refused to comply with God’s command, so Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and the Lord sent the most vicious thunder storm in the history of Egypt. Huge balls of ice fell from the sky and killed both men and animals, and it beat down the crops and stripped the trees.

The devastation was so severe that it caused Pharaoh to confess, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” (Exodus 9:27-28) But after Moses prayed and the Lord stopped the storm, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts and would not let the Israelites go. (Exodus 9:34-35)

I doubt if anyone here remembers the early 1980’s rock band Quarterflash. The band only stayed together for a few years and they were really only had one hit on the radio. Even though you probably don’t remember the band, you would recognize their one-hit-wonder “I’m Gonna Harden My Heart.”

Cryin’ on the corner
Waitin’ in the rain
I swear I’ll never ever wait again
You gave me a word
But words for you are lies

Darlin’ in my wildest dreams
I never thought I’d go
But it’s time to let you know
All of my life

I’ve been waitin’ in the rain
I’ve been waitin’ for a feelin’ that never ever came
It feels so close
But always disappears

I’m gonna harden my heart
I’m gonna swallow my tears
I’m gonna turn and leave you here…..

This song is about a woman leaving her man and staying bitter toward him.

Unfortunately, it describes decisions that many people make in their lives every day. Somebody hurts them with their words or actions, and they respond with anger, stubbornness, and bitterness. And instead of working through the problem, they break off the relationship and harden their heart toward them.

What is even more unfortunate than this is that many people do the same thing to God! When something bad happens to them or their prayer doesn’t get answered the way they want, they become frustrated with God and withdraw from him. When life doesn’t turn out the way they want, they become very self-centered, cut off relationship with God and harden their hearts toward him.

Pharaoh represents the pattern that many people fall into today. They refuse to listen to God or obey him. They pretend like he doesn’t exist and don’t take his word seriously. Then God sends one or more of his servants to speak his word to them. But their pride and selfishness causes them to dismiss it. Then God brings some adversity into their lives to open their ears. They become interested in God for a while, but then they harden their hearts toward him again.

Where are you in this pattern today? Are you listening to God’s word? Are you taking him seriously from the beginning? Is he speaking to you through someone else? Is he using someone to confront you? How are you responding to his truth? Has he brought some adversity into your life to open your ears? How are you responding? Is your heart getting harder or softer?

God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart (9:12, 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8)

Plagues 1-5 and 7 very clearly place the blame on Pharaoh for hardening his heart toward God, but we find a very different and interesting picture in plagues 6, 8, 9, and 10. At the end of each of these plagues, the text says “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, just like he said.”

We especially see this in the sixth plague, the plague of boils. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of soot from one of the furnaces and tossed it into the air. The Lord spread this dust all over Egypt and it caused festering boils to break out on people and animal throughout the land. Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t even attempt to duplicate this because the boils affected them so severely. Then in Exodus 9:12, it says, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”

God was very patient with Pharaoh and gave him plenty of opportunities to repent, and in the end, God simply gave him what he already wanted. Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. Despite the evidence of the signs and miracles, he persisted in defying God. So, basically, God seconds Pharaoh’s motion to harden his heart.

This phrase raises the question for us, “Who is responsible for Pharaoh’s hard heart, Pharaoh or God?” If God is the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, how can he hold Pharaoh responsible for his actions? This question gets at the heart of the theological paradox between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.

God’s sovereignty always trumps man’s free will. If God wants anyone to do anything, he has the power to make them do it. If God wanted Pharaoh to repent, he would have. But God chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart to display his great glory. Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

Martin Luther explained the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will this way, “If God did not bless, not one hair, not a solitary wisp of straw, would grow; but there would be an end of everything. At the same time God wants me to take this stance: I would have nothing if I did not plow and sow. God does not want to have success come without work, and yet I am not to achieve it by my work. He does not want me to sit at home, to loaf, to commit matters to God, and to wait till a fried chicken flies into my mouth. That would be tempting God.”

This should cause us great concern and give us great comfort at the same time. On one hand, God holds us morally responsible for every decision we make, including every sin. On the other hand, he has the power to bring good even out of our poor and sinful decisions.

The character of Pharaoh and the story of the 10 plagues on Egypt should cause us to take a look at our own hearts today. Have you been hardening your heart toward some person in your life? Have you been hardening your heart against God for some reason?

The only remedy for a hard heart is grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered and died on the cross for our hard hearts. Jesus wants to give us a heart transplant. When we repent from our sins, he replaces our hard and sinful hearts with his own heart!

Are you in need of a heart transplant today? The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a donor. He is ready to give us a new heart today! Will you accept his offer?