7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. (Judges 3)
Othniel. He may not be very well known to many, but I find him an interesting character: he is the first mentioned Judge in this book. So far in our journey through the Old Testament we have seen God take the people of Israel and set them out on this journey to this land He will entrust to them. He givesad them rules to live by and blessings to receive. But they turn away in fear and disobedience, and end up wandering in the wilderness for forty years, after which God has them regroup and enter the land under the leadership of Joshua. In the book of Judges, the people are somewhat settled in the land, controlling most areas, but they have become complacent, forgetful and disobedient, experiencing only part of the blessings God had in store. Over and over again they became entrenched in this cycle of sin, each time the ruts getting deeper. They would forget that this was God's land and they were set aside to be His people. They would fall into the idolatry of the local "gods", and the immorality that included; God would allow them to suffer the consequences of their choices until they would finally call out to Him in despair to deliver them, and in His mercy and covenantal faithfulness He would, sending some Judge to lead them out of bondage to their oppressors. At the core of this cycle was this other theme in Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel: everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25) It was a time of self-centeredness and self-fulfillment, just like our culture today. So what Good can we find in the time of the Judges? First, there is a lot of Crying Out to God, and that is never a bad thing. Indeed, it is something we need to be doing in greater earnest today. Secondly, we see a Constant Remnant of faithful people, even in a time of apostasy and corruption. Othniel was the younger brother of Caleb, the faithful sidekick of Joshua. Caleb's influence in Othniel's life is obvious, preparing him to accept the challenge. Thirdly, and most importantly, we see in the Judges the Covenantal faithfulness of God to hear, to answer, to forgive, despite our tendency to forget, mess up, and do it all over again. So, look inside - read about a judge or two; maybe re-enact one of the accounts. Look around you. Where are the ruts? Who do you see that is a constant encouragement and example to you? Where and how do you see the constant faithfulness of God? Take a pic and post it, email or text it. Cry out to God to thank Him for His faithfulness and those He uses to encourage you, and ask for His forgiveness if appropriate, and to help you depend on Him more today.
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