Shadows of a Savior
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Judges. We’re calling this series Broken Saviors, and it’s about how everybody needs a savior at some point. Sometimes we face situations beyond our control, and we need a savior to save us. The problem is we often turn to things that aren’t a real savior; they’re a broken savior.
For example, some of us turn to money thinking money will save us, solve our problems, and buy us happiness in life. But when the market tanks, we lose our money, or we lose our health, we realize it’s a broken savior. Some of us turn to relationships thinking a relationship will save us, solve our loneliness problems, and carry the weight of our burdens in life. But the people we turn to can’t carry the full weight of our burdens, and they can’t always be there for us since they have their own problems they’re dealing with, which means they’re a broken savior too. There are all kinds of things we turn to as saviors, and they can provide us with some relief for a little while. Money and relationships can provide us with some relief for a little while, but eventually they’ll all prove to be broken saviors in our lives. Eventually they’ll all prove to be shadows of the real Savior we need, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Judges 3 and get into it. If you’re new to the bible, just open the bible to the middle and keep turning left until you find the book of Judges. We’ll be in Judges Ch. 3:1-31. The title of the message for those of you taking notes is Shadows of a Savior. The big idea of the message is the saviors we seek, are only shadows of the real Savior we need...The saviors we seek, are only shadows of the real Savior we need...
Here’s your context. The book of Judges records some of the historical events that took place when Israel entered the promised land. After Moses helped free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, his apprentice Joshua led them into the promised land to live and reflect God in those territories. But in Ch’s 1-2 we learned that after Joshua dies, the Israelites start being unfaithful to God. So God disciplines them for being unfaithful, they go through hardship, but God is moved with pity for them. So he raises up some judges, some leaders to save them, but all of them end up being broken saviors. They end up being only shadows of the real Savior. Let’s check it out.
Judges 3:1-31 states, “These are the nations the Lord left in order to test Israel...3 These nations included the five rulers of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites... 4 The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands he had given their ancestors through Moses.” Last week we learned in ch’s 1-2 that the Israelites weren’t being faithful to the Lord. So the Lord disciplined them by allowing several hostile people groups to remain in the promised land. Here in ch. 3 we’re learning one of the reasons the Lord does this is to test Israel. It’s to test their faith to see if they’ll remain faithful to him, but they fail the test.
Vs. 7, “The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God, and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim,, and the Israelites served him eight years.” They failed the test...They failed the test and didn’t remain faithful to the Lord...The text says instead of remaining faithful to the Lord, they forgot the Lord! They started worshiping other gods, and so the Lord paused their fruitfulness to refine and grow their faithfulness. He allowed them to be sold to another king, to another nation for 8 years, until they finally cry out to the Lord for help.
Vs. 9, “The Israelites cried out to the Lord. So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. 11 Then the land had peace for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.” Okay so notice the Israelites finally cry out to the Lord, and the Lord steps in to save them. He raises up a deliverer, a man named Othniel. He’s the 1st judge in the book of Judges, and he’s a good judge who’s filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He faithfully serves the Lord and delivers Israel from this other king and nation, allowing Israel to enjoy peace for 40 years. They enjoy peace from physical oppression, but also from their self-inflicted spiritual oppression that came from worshiping other gods. But that peace doesn’t last, because Othniel doesn’t last. Othniel was a good judge, a good deliverer, a good savior, but he was a broken savior. He was a broken savior, because he eventually died like the text says, leaving Israel searching for another savior again. So what we’re learning is even the good saviors, the good things we turn to, can only provide us with temporary relief. They’re broken saviors, that’ll eventually leave us searching for other saviors again. What Israel needs and what we need is a real savior that never dies. Othniel dies, and the Israelites start searching for another savior. Instead of seeking the Lord as their savior, they forget the Lord, and start turning to other gods as their savior.
Vs. 12, “The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He gave King Eglon of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 13 After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms. 14 The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.” So they turn away from the Lord again, and now they’re facing an alliance of enemies. The Lord allows Israel to be defeated, and he hands them over to King Eglon for eighteen years. This is worse than the first time, because it’s a decade longer than the first time. But just like the last time, the Israelites eventually come to their senses and cry out to the Lord for help.
Vs. 15, “Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.” The Lord again responds to their cries by raising up a deliverer named Ehud. He’s the 2nd judge in the book of Judges, and he’s considered a good judge too. The text says he’s a left-handed judge, which doesn’t mean much to us today. But it would have surprised the people back then, because they viewed the right hand as a symbol of power and the left hand as weak. So they viewed left-handed people as weak and handicapped, as did many other cultures throughout history. For example, the Latin word for left is sinister, which also means evil. The French word for left is gauche, which means awkward. The English word left comes from an Old English word that means weak. Of course none of these stereotypes are true about left-handed people, but they’re also not true about Ehud either. Ehud wasn’t a weak and evil judge; he was a brave and good judge, who God sent to judge King Eglon, and to deliver Israel from the king’s evil oppression. He courageously offered to bring a tribute to the king, so he could sneak in and kill the evil oppressive king. What follows is the oppressive king’s judgment day, and Israel’s deliverance day.
Vs. 16, “Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes 17 and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man.” This detail about the king being an extremely fat man, isn’t body shaming. In fact there are several possible reasons we’re given this detail. The 1stis a physical reason that helped Ehud kill the king. If you noticed in vs. 16 it says Ehud strapped the sword to his right thigh under his clothes. It was so he could pull it out with his left hand, which is something the king wouldn’t have expected. Since he was an extremely fat man, he didn’t have the physical agility to defend against Ehud’s surprise attack. So the 1st reason for this detail is a physical reason, but the 2nd is a symbolic reason. In ancient civilizations people viewed extreme obesity as a sign of wealth and power. It meant they had enough wealth and power to provide and overindulge in their abundance. In this context, it’s most likely describing the king as a wealthy and powerful man, who was overindulging by living off the oppressive tributes of people suffering like the Israelites.
Vs. 18, “When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it...19 and he said, ‘King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.’ The king said, ‘Silence!’ and all his attendants left him. 20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, ‘I have a message from God for you,’ and the king stood up from his throne. 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 22 Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed over it, so that Ehud didn’t withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.” The CSB bible gives us a less graphic translation of the original Hebrew manuscripts stating the waste came out. But the ESV gives us a more accurate and graphic translation stating the dung came out, or the feces came out. It’s a humiliating death for this wealthy and powerful oppressive king, who never expected a weak left-handed man could kill him. He sent his security out because he had no fear of weak left-handed Ehud, but Ehud defeated him in a humiliating and unexpected way. The implication is God has the power to humiliate even the wealthy and powerful. God has the power to use unexpected people, in unexpected ways, to deliver his people. It’s setting the stage for an even greater deliverer, an even greater savior, who will eventually come to deliver us in an unexpected way, which is the cross. But at this point God uses the left-handed savior Ehud, and in vs. 23-27 Ehud escapes, returns home, and gathers the Israelites to fight against the Moabite army.
Vs. 28, “He told them, ‘Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.’ So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and didn’t allow anyone to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. 30 Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.” So Ehud was faithful to the Lord and helped deliver Israel from this oppressive king and nation. He helped them enjoy peace for eighty years, which was 40 years longer than the peace Israel enjoyed with Othniel. But once again, this peace doesn’t last forever. It’s because Ehud is a broken savior too. Just like Othniel, Ehud eventually dies, leaving Israel searching for another savior again. So God sends them another savior in vs. 31.
Vs. 31, “After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.” So Shamgar becomes the 3rd judge in the book of Judges. He’s considered a good judge too, because he delivers the Israelites from the Philistines. The Philistines were a hostile threat to Israel because of their advanced weapons and military experience, but Shamgar defeated them with a cattle prod. The implication is God intervened to give Shamgar the victory. But once again, the victory is only temporary. It’s because Shamgar’s a broken savior who eventually dies like Othniel and Ehud, leaving Israel searching for another savior again. As we continue reading the book of Judges, we’ll see a continual cycle of Sin → Struggle → Salvation. We’ll see Israel sins, struggles, cries out to the Lord for salvation, and the Lord delivers them. This continual cycle they went through is the same cycle every human goes through. We’re all sinning, struggling, and searching for a savior to save us. The problem is we’re often searching for salvation in the wrong places. At one point the famous music artist Drake, was seeking sex as a savior. In an interview Drake said, “There was a point where I felt I needed to keep the company of a different woman every night. I was trying to fill a void. But in the 15 seconds after sex, I knew it wasn’t working…The next day, I’d convince myself to do it again...But it wasn’t working.” It’s because sex was a broken savior...At one point Katy Perry was seeking fame as a savior. In 2019 she posted on Instagram, “100 million digital singles, and still insecure.” What this reveals is fame didn’t make her feel secure! It’s because it was a broken savior. “100 million digital singles, but still insecure.”
My point is, just like Drake, Perry, and the Israelites, we’re often turning to things like sex, fame, money, relationships, politicians, marijuana, alcohol, and other things hoping they’ll save us from our struggles, instead of turning to God in our struggles. But it’s all broken saviors, it’s all shadows of the real savior we need, which is Jesus. In fact this is what Charlie Kirk pointed to! I know a lot of the news media focuses on him being a conservative political activist, but he also pointed people to trust Jesus as their real Savior, not a politician. Kayleigh McEnany said, “We talk about left and right, and Charlie pointed right. But more than that, Charlie pointed up, to Jesus Christ.” In fact Kirk recently posted this on his X account, “Jesus defeated death, so you can live!” You know when he posted that?...He posted it 4 days before he died...He said, Jesus defeated death, so you can live!”...Kirk wasn’t perfect, but he knew the perfect Savior. He knew Jesus is the real Savior, not a politician...You can read an article on our website that our Executive Pastor wrote about this tragic event. It’s a very tragic event, and I go from feeling sad and angry, to feeling faithful and hopeful over Jesus defeating death, like Charlie Kirk said.
This tragic event is a reminder that we’re still living in a Judges 3 period of history, where there’s a continual cycle of sin, struggle, and a need for a savior. Judges 3 teaches us our broken saviors can give us temporary peace, but they can’t give us the eternal peace Jesus can give us. Jesus is the real savior we need, because he meets humanity's greatest need, which isn’t to have a peaceful life on earth!...It’s to have a peaceful relationship with God, before we leave this earth!... The good news of the gospel is that Jesus came to die the death we deserved to die for our sins, so we could enjoy a peaceful and joyful eternal relationship with God, instead of eternal suffering and separation from God. Jesus is the real savior we need, because he came to give us not temporary relief, but eternal relief in heaven with him where we’ll be finally free from all sin, suffering, sadness, and death forever. Unlike all the other judges, Jesus rose from the dead to prove his peace is the only peace that’ll last forever. It’s because he’s an eternal Savior, not a broken savior.
The big idea of the message is the saviors we seek, are only shadows of the real Savior we need...All the other broken saviors we seek, are only shadows of the real savior we need, which is Jesus...But what about you? What are some broken saviors you’ve been turning to recently for temporary relief?...What are some shadows you’ve been chasing, instead of turning to Jesus as your real Savior?...If you’re a skeptic, the reason your broken saviors can’t ever give you the peace you’re searching for, is because they’re all just shadows of the real savior you need. So stop turning to broken saviors, stop chasing shadows, and turn to Jesus as your real Savior. Instead of waiting years like the Israelites did, cry out to God today, and turn to Jesus as your real Savior...
If you’re a believer, have you been chasing broken saviors like Israel?...Have you been chasing shadows more than Jesus?...Why settle for broken saviors and shadows, when you have Jesus as your real Savior?...As a believer you’re probably not seeking sex and fame as your savior like Drake and Katy Perry. But your peace and joy in life can be affected when you forget Jesus, in the trials, the tragic news, and the hustle of daily life. Like the Israelites we can forget Jesus, and turn to other things. But we can break that cycle by reminding ourselves of our great need for Jesus daily. Being here on Sundays is so important, because it reminds us to refocus our hearts on worshiping Jesus. It reminds us that the other saviors we seek, are only shadows of the real Savior we need. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.”