Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Judges 3:12-31.

Israel again thinks that idolatry will lead to prosperity and happiness, but the LORD shows them otherwise quite graphically. He delivers His people into the hand of the Moabite king Eglon, who has made himself fat on the tribute of Israel. After the people cry out in repentance, the LORD sends His chosen deliverer, Ehud. Unexpectedly, he is left-handed, perhaps even crippled in his right hand. Yet Ehud uses this to his advantage, hiding his sword from easy detection and gaining a private audience with Eglon by his non-threatening appearance. Exacting the LORD’s judgement, Ehud brings Eglon to a grotesque and humiliating death. This filthy scene provides a picture of where our sin always leads. The LORD gives His people victory over all of Moab and provides rest for His people for eighty years, as Shamgar also defeats the Philistines. The rest given by the LORD throughout the book of Judges is the picture of where simple trust in the LORD leads: the salvation won for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Rebellion and Rescue” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Judges. This book is characterized by a familiar. As the generations after Joshua forget the LORD and what He has done for Israel, they fall into idolatry. The LORD gives them over into the hands of their enemies in order to bring them to their senses. When they cry out to Him in repentance, He sends a judge to rescue them and give them rest for a time, until they relapse into idolatry once more. In this cycle, we see a picture of our own Christian life. Daily, the old Adam in us is drowned in contrition and repentance, and the new man emerges in Baptismal forgiveness to live in righteousness and purity before God forever.