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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Adam Ramdin

The Left-Handed

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven Lord we thank you for this opportunity we have this morning to be gathered here together and I pray Lord as we open your word that your Holy Spirit may descend upon each 1 of us.

Speak to each 1 of our hearts, Lord, in an individual way with the message you would have for us this morning.

And Lord, I pray most importantly that you would speak through me.

What does Bill Clinton have in common with Adolf Hitler?

They share the same thing in common with George Bush and Fidel Castro.

They share the same thing in common with Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci and Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg.

And Angelina Jolie, Matt Dillon, Pele, Barack Obama, John McCain, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon.

In fact 7 US presidents have been left-handed.

Ronald Reagan was 1, Ford and a couple of others as well.

This morning's message is going to be about being left handed.

If you will, turn on your Bibles, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 24.

The Bible reads here, for our comely parts have no need, but God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to the part which lacked.

The Bible says God gives more honor, not to the part which is plentiful, but to the part which lacks.

Now in Romans chapter 15 and verse 4 the Bible tells us there that whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have what?

So whatever is written in the Bible the Bible says is there for 3 reasons.

To give us hope, to give us patience, to give us comfort.

That as we look at our life and situation today, we can draw lessons from the stories in the Bible.

The Bible stories are not just there for us to read to our children when they go to bed at night, for us to have something to talk about Daniel and the lions there?

The Bible says they're there for the purpose to give us patience, comfort and hope today.

Turn if you will back to the book of Judges And it's here in the book of Judges that we're going to base our message this morning in Judges chapter 3.

Now you know the history of the book of Judges is a history of the children of Israel as they go through a constant roller coaster ride in their Christian experience.

A judge comes along and he delivers Israel from their captors and everything goes well as long as the judge is alive.

And then the judge dies, they go back into sin, they go back into captivity and then after 10, 20, 30, 40 years They cry to God and God says, okay, I'll deliver you.

He gives them another judge who delivers the children of Israel and the cycle just seems to go on and on and on.

In Judges chapter 2 and verse 18 it says, and when the Lord raised up judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of the enemies, out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.

And verse 19 says, and it came to pass that when the judge was dead, that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers in following after God's to serve them.

We have a constant cycle 22 21 of up and down, up and down, up and down.

Now many of the judges we know well, Samson.

We know him well as being 1 of the judges in Israel who had a checkered life himself.

22 But this morning I'd like us to take a look at the judge which Is in chapter 3 judge is chapter 3 and in verses 1 through 2 verse 11 You have the first captivity of the children of Israel and the judge who comes, who delivers Israel, is Ophniel the son of Canaan.

32 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD.

33 And the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of God.

And here we have the Moabite king who now comes against the children of Israel.

Now you know the history of the Moabites.

The Moabites were the descendants of Lot, but it wasn't all too kosher.

And they were kind of second cousins, I guess you'd say, of the Israelites, but they were the type of family relative that no 1 wanted to admit they had.

The Moabites or the Ammonites as well, same thing.

And here you have the children of Israel for the first time in the history being captive to someone that they're related to that they wish they weren't, the Moabites, who come from Lot and his daughter And that's where the Moabites come from.

And so it was very embarrassing for a star to be in captive to the Moabites.

But reading on the Bible says, verse 13, And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, And went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

And the children of Israel served Eglon King of Moab 18 years.

And then they get tired of serving the King of Moab.

And the Bible says in verse 15, But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer.

28 Ehud the son of Jireh, a Benjamite, a man what?

Left-handed, and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Egon king of Moab.

29 Now you know in the Bible Nothing is put there by coincidence.

Nothing is put there just because the author had extra ink in his quiver and just wanted to write something else.

Everything is in there for a specific reason.

And so when we're told his name, that's a reason.

When we're told what tribe he comes from, there's a reason for that.

And then when we're told he's left-handed, there's a reason for that as well.

Why should it matter to us today in the year 2007 whether he held a sword in his right hand or he held a sword in his left hand?

The Bible specifically writes so that he was a left-handed man.

And as you read through the story, you realize that this 1 detail is crucial to the success of the mission.

Othniel, the son of Cain, as the judge before him, He raised up a whole army to defeat their, the people who were oppressing them.

And after assassinating the King, he then raised up an army as we read through read down The Bible says in verse 16, but he had made a dagger which had 2 edges of a cubit about 1 foot long length and he did gird it under his clothes on his right thigh.

The Bible says they went into the king and we come down, let's come down to verse 20, and Ehud came unto them And as he was sitting in the summer parlor, which he had for himself alone, Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee.

And Ehud, the Bible says, put forth his left hand, took the dagger from where?

His right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

And the haft went in around the blade and closed around it.

And as you read down the Bible says he escaped, closed the doors and he escaped.

And after he had escaped he raised up an army, blew a trumpet and Israel gathered together, united and they came and defeated the Moabites.

And the land had rest I believe 60 years.

But it all started with a man who was left-handed and from the tribe of Benjamin.

And those 2 specific details I'm going to focus on for the next few minutes because I believe they are vital to the success of this mission which Ehud does.

Now the Bible says he's from the tribe of Benjamin.

The tribe of Benjamin would have been the tribe which was located closest to the Moabites thus they would have experienced more of the persecution maybe people come in and raiding their towns and so on than any of the tribe and so it was probably natural that that tribe was the 1 that was most indignant against the oppression.

Now the tribe of Benjamin was the smallest tribe, we know that.

When God came to pick King Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, What did the other tribes say?

They said, how can God overpass Reuben and Judah and go down to little Benjamin?

There's a hierarchy here God and don't you understand it?

Benjamin was the smallest tribe, but not only that, we know Benjamin was the youngest brother.

And those of you who are the youngest children know all that that comes with when you're the youngest in your family.

You grow up having to run around your brothers and sisters, Do what they ask you to do until you reach an age where you can stand on your own 2 feet.

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The Left-Handed

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