Judges 3:4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
Did your parents ever teach you hard lessons? I don’t know about you, but there were many times in my boyhood that Mom and Dad allowed me to experience problems. They gave me a job that was tough or they allowed me to go through a problem that I had made for myself. It is a sad thing when someone is pampered their whole life through and then are confronted with problems which they are not equipped to handle because they never had that practice or teaching growing up.
In Judges 3 God is teaching His children, the children of Israel, as they come into the land of Canaan. The Bible says in Judges 3:1-4, “Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them…to teach them war…to know whether they [Israel] would hearken.” So, Judges 3 is basically the story of God’s teaching Israel how to fight and how to faith, how to handle problems and how to trust Him for them. The rest of the book is a collection of stories about judges that Israel had, and it is very obvious that God was teaching and testing Israel with these judges and with the problems and the Canaanites that were left in the land.
For instance, the Bible says in verse 9, “And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.” So, here was a man who had been taught by his family, Caleb perhaps, how to trust God and how to go possess what was before him, how to handle giants and how to handle problems. He in turn was used of God to be a deliverer, to teach Israel how to handle problems and how to trust God.
Later, in verse 16 it talks about Ehud. Verse 16 tells us that he made himself a dagger with two edges. What is the significance of that? Well, making a dagger is something that had to be learned. Why would one make a dagger? It was to confront the problems that were going on in their land. Ehud made a dagger, and he made a plan. Then, he rallied the troops. He was God’s deliverer against the oppression of Israel’s enemies.
Again, in verse 31 you read about Shamgar. The Bible says that he “slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.” The Bible does not say whether this was over time or at one time. It doesn’t say whether he led a peasant army or if this was one instance. In any case, he was a deliverer and he defeated six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. An ox goad is not made for the problem for which it was used, but this was something that Shamgar, and by extention the people he was leading in Israel, learned. God was teaching them to fight, and at the same time God was testing them to know whether or not they would trust Him.
You find a cycle here that is well documented. Israel sins; God sends judgment; Israel cries; God sends a deliverer; there is peace. Now I don’t think that you are going to be facing Philistines today or that you will be using an ox goad to go against any of your obstacles or challenges, but sometimes God allows problems to teach us to fight and to test our faith in Him. So, remember that every day, whatever your problems, God is teaching and testing you.