Transcript
In your Bibles will you turn with me to the book of Judges chapter 1 and verse 16. The book of Judges chapter 1 and verse 16. We are in the book of Judges in the Old Testament, chapter 1, beginning to read at verse 16.
Now the children of the Kenites, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south near Arad. And they went and dwelt among the people. And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.
The beast has scaly skin and bat-like wings. It attacks animals at night and it sucks the blood out of its victims. Its name is chupacabras, which means goat sucker. The stories about the chupacabras began over two years ago in Puerto Rico. They were picked up by a Hispanic Miami-based network that broadcasts all over the Americas. After Univision picked this up, reports began to come in about the chupacabras from Central America, from South America, even from Miami and from various other cities in this country and from South Texas itself.
In May of last year the chupacabras story struck Mexico like a hurricane. Early in that month of last year two farm workers who worked on a farm one hundred sixty miles west of Ciudad Juarez woke up one morning to discover that someone or something had killed three fowls and their nanny goat. Now one of the two farm workers is twenty-three-year-old Dingle Connell and the other is sixty-one-year-old Jose Garcia. They suspected the work of the chupacabras. And so they waited up that night armed with a .22 caliber rifle and a flashlight.
About two a.m. at night the animals got very nervous. And so the two men rushed out of their hut. Garcia shined a flashlight into the farmyard and his flashlight picked up a creature that was perched on the back of a calf. It looked like a small dinosaur with wings. Mr. Connell pointed his rifle and fired. And the beast jumped into some bushes. He reloaded and fired again but the beast had disappeared.
The next morning the two men went to Columbus, the nearest city to the farm where they worked, to make a police report. Police subcommandant E. Upholding Nam Ortega thought it was a joke at first. But then he took the trip with two of his officers out to the farm and he changed his mind. Later he said to the media, I’m fifty-one years old and I’ve lived here my life and I’ve never seen anything like this.
The body of the nanny goat was already rotting in the scorching desert sun, so it was not possible to examine its wounds. But the calf had survived and it had two puncture marks on its shoulder. Six fowls, three from the first night and three from the second night, each had puncture marks either on the shoulder or on the neck. The two farmhands were nervous and they requested weapons. But as Subcommandant E. Ortega later told the media, We couldn’t do that. But he says, I don’t go anywhere now without my weapon. And he tapped a pistol that was tucked in under his belt.
And then Ortega added this. He says, May God take care of us. I’m scared.
Now it’s quite possible that there is such a creature as a chupacabras. And if there is I want to assure you I hope I never meet it. But we really do not need a chupacabras or any other kind of earthly creature to bring us to the place where we are tempted to say, May God take care of me. I’m scared.
You see as Christians the enemies that we confront are far more dangerous than the chupacabras. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. And because we have genuine enemies who are very powerful indeed, it is well for us to know how to confront them.
And that brings me to the subject that I want to discuss with you this morning. And the subject is the enemy has iron chariots. And as you’ve already guessed that is also the title of my message to you this morning. The enemy has iron chariots.
Now everyone in this audience this morning is able to remember the one-hundred-day war better known as the Gulf War. Because from the beginning of the aerial bombardment of Iraq to the end of hostilities it was one hundred days. And when that war was over most of us were extremely proud of the performance of our armed forces and proud of the victory that they had won.
But in the years that have followed the Gulf War some of the luster of that victory has kind of worn off. For one thing Saddam Hussein is still in power in Baghdad and he is capable of causing trouble from time to time. For another an interesting day had happened just last week. The CIA admitted for the first time that they failed to pass on intelligence to the military services about a storage facility where the Iraqis were storing chemical weapons.
And when that storage facility was blown up somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty thousand American troops were exposed to these chemicals. And that may very well be the source of the so-called Gulf War syndrome from which many of our service people have been suffering. And we have learned in our own lifetime that sometimes victory is not as great as it seems. Sometimes victory is not as great as it seems.
And that’s the way it was back in the days of the judges about which we have just been reading a few minutes ago. You see up to this point in our study of Judges we have nothing but victory after victory after victory after victory. And we have watched the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon defeat the Canaanites and the Perizzites and kill ten thousand men at a city called Bezek. We have watched them capture Jerusalem and fight with the Canaanites who are in the mountains and in the south and in the lowland.
We have watched them capture the city of Hebron and the city of Kirjath Sepher which Caleb gave to his son-in-law Othniel. And there has been nothing to this point except unrelieved victory, victory after victory.
And it isn’t surprising, is it, that in the very first verse of our passage today we discover that the tribe of the Kenites, who were not part of Israel, they were the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the Kenites decided that they want to go with the tribe of Judah. They want to settle down into the land that Judah has conquered. It seems obvious, doesn’t it, that the Kenites were impressed by the victories that God had wrought through the tribe of Judah. And they probably felt that if they lived in the midst of a tribe like that they would have enhanced security and safety.
And in moving in with the tribe of Judah they were paying to that tribe a high compliment. And they have holes here to say this, isn’t it wonderful when a Christian man or a Christian woman or perhaps a Christian church experiences the power and victory of God in such a way that unsaved people who do not know the Lord are attracted to us?
One of the finest compliments that a Christian can ever receive is to have an unsaved person come to them and say, Look, I’ve been watching you and it’s obvious that you have something in your life that I don’t have. And I’d like to get your prayers or I would like to get your counsel. That is a very, very high compliment indeed.
It is said that there was a cemetery somewhere and a great stone that marked the grave of a little girl. And describing that gravestone was one of the best compliments you will find in any graveyard anywhere in the world. The inscription said, A child of whom her playmates said it was easier to be good when she was with us.
You know I’m wondering if there’s anybody who knows you who is unsaved and who will feel that it is actually easier to be good when they’re with you than when they’re not with you. Do you have people in your life that are attracted to Jesus Christ our Lord by the work that God is doing for you? Or do unsaved people watch you and say, Well if that’s what Christianity is about I don’t need it. I don’t need it.
So obviously the Kenites were attracted to the tribe of Judah by the work that God was doing through Judah. And isn’t it impressive that Judah’s victories continued? Because the next thing we read is that they capture a city of the Canaanites called Zephath. From following God’s commandments they destroy the city and now its name is called Hormah, which means destruction.
And the next thing we read is that they capture the city of Gaza with its territory and the city of Ashkelon with its territory and the city of Ekron with its territory. But wait a minute. Hold it right here. A red warning flag goes up.
This, according to Jewish tradition, the book of Judges was written by the prophet Samuel who was the last of the judges and who was also the man who anointed Israel’s first king. And do you realize that by the time of the days of Samuel Judah no longer controlled Gaza. He no longer controlled Ashkelon. He no longer controlled Ekron. And those cities had become centers of power for an alien race called the Philistines who were the bitter and powerful enemies of the children of Israel.
And the victories which Judah won here were only temporary victories. And with this red warning flag floating over our passage we come to something in this text, my friends, that I think is shocking. Something that I think is very, very astounding indeed.
Because you see in the very next verse this is what we read. We read, The Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the inhabitants of the mountains. But they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland because they had chariots of iron.
I say, What? Say what? Do you catch the absolute disharmony in those statements? The inner contradiction of that verse? On the one hand we’re told that the Lord, the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, was with Judah. And on the other hand we’re told that Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland because they had chariots of iron.
There it is, my friends. There it is. The enemy has iron chariots.
So what’s the problem? Did the Lord say to Judah, Look Judah, I’ve led you to victory at Bezek. I’ve led you to victory at Jerusalem. I’ve led you to victory at Hebron. And I’ve led you to victory at Kirjath Sepher. But this is as far as we can go because these people have iron chariots and I can’t do anything more for you. Was that the problem? Of course not. Of course not.
Iron chariots are not a problem to the Almighty God. That they were a problem to Judah. Am I mistaken here or do we find ourselves looking in a mirror and seeing our own reflection?
What about that typical husband or difficult wife that you have to live with? You ever say in your heart, There’s no hope. They will never change. Nothing can be done? Or how about that wayward child of yours that seems so far away from God? Do you ever say in your heart, There’s no hope. They are too hard-hearted. They’ll never come back to God. There’s nothing that can be done?
Well how about that problem, that personal problem of yours that you have struggled with and it has haunted you for years? You ever say in your heart, There’s no hope. That problem will never be solved. There’s nothing that can be done?
Listen to me. If you’ve ever said anything like that in your heart, do you know what you have discovered? Do you know what you have discovered? You have discovered that the enemy has iron chariots. And even though God is not at all impressed with our iron chariots, you are. You are. You are.
Eugene Fields was once regarded as perhaps the greatest of American newspaper columnists. And during one particularly dark and depressing period of his life he walked into his editor’s office one morning and he said to his editor, There will be no column today. I’m quitting.
His editor studied him for a minute and then the editor braced himself and he said very casually, Gene, he said, I’ve got a printer downstairs. Three months ago his wife passed away and this morning his three children are down with scarlet fever. And he’s not quitting.
And my friends Eugene Fields did not quit.
It is said that a sole survivor of a shipwreck was once cast onto an island that was totally uninhabited. After a period of time he was able to manage to build himself a hut. And in this hut he stored the few meager belongings that he had been able to salvage from the shipwreck. Every single day he prayed to God for deliverance. And every day he scanned the horizon of the ocean to see if he could catch sight of a ship which he might somehow signal so that it might come and rescue him.
One day he left the hut to go on a little hunting journey for food. When he came back to his horror his hut was on fire. And the hut burned down with all of the meager belongings that it contained. It seemed that the very worst thing had happened. But in a few hours a ship arrived at the island and he was rescued.
And guess what the captain of the ship said to him? The captain said, We saw your smoke signal.
Now listen to me my Christian friends. When the iron chariots of the enemy appear on the battlefield of your life just remember this. God has already seen your smoke signal. He has already heard your cry. And with God on your side it is always too soon to quit.
So there they were, an entire tribe baffled by a bunch of iron chariots. But the next thing that we read is a very impressive contrast to that. You see in the last verse of our passage today we are told that they gave Hebron to Caleb as Moses had said. And then we were told that Caleb expelled from Hebron the three sons of the giant whose name was Anak.
Do you recall that years before this Caleb had been part of a twelve-man spying party which Moses had sent into the Promised Land to size it up and to evaluate it? And when the spies came back ten of them said, Yes it’s a wonderful land but there are giants there and we can’t handle that. We dare not invade for there. But two of those twelve, Caleb was one, Joshua was the other, said, No, no, no. God can give us victory over the giants. He can lead us into that land.
And because Caleb had followed the Lord with all his heart and believed in his power, God promised through Moses that Caleb would receive the territory in which the city of Hebron was located. And now God’s promise is fulfilled. And when Hebron came into Caleb’s possession he still wasn’t afraid of giants. He still wasn’t afraid of giants. And he drove out the three huge sons of Anak.
Do you see the contrast here? Do you see it? The iron chariots seemed too strong for the whole tribe. And the sons of the giant are too small and too weak to resist a man of faith like Caleb.
Now listen closely. If you’re a Christian this morning the reason and the only reason that you are a Christian is because you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins. You have believed in him for the free gift of everlasting life. Jesus said, Most assuredly I say to you, he that believes in Me has everlasting life.
Now if you have believed in Jesus Christ the most important thing you ever believed in him for, your own eternal salvation, if you have believed in him so that then you can believe in him when your pathway is rocked by giants, then you can believe in him even when the enemy has iron chariots.
Paul Harvey told to his radio audience this very astounding story. During World War Two an American B-29 bomber took off from Guam on its bombing mission. Its target was the Japanese city of Kokura. And when the B-29 arrived over the city of Kokura it discovered that there was a cloud that blotted out the sight of Kokura. And so the bomber began to circle above the cloud waiting for the clouds to move away.
The bomber circled for thirty minutes, for forty-five minutes, for fifty-five minutes. And now the fuel was growing dangerously low. And so reluctantly the crew decided that they had to pass up their primary target. And with one last look behind them they headed for their secondary target.
Now their secondary target, when they got over it, was perfectly clear. The sky was free of all clouds. The B-29 bomber dropped its payload and headed back to Guam.
Weeks later an American officer received information from military intelligence that made his blood run cold. He found out from military intelligence that thousands of Allied prisoners and the largest concentration of Americans that was in Japanese hands had been moved the week before the scheduled bombing run to the city of Kokura. And Kokura was now virtually like a prison camp.
The cloud had prevented the bombing. And when the officer got this information he breathed the words, Thank God. Thank God for the cloud. And as a result of the cloud, my friends, hundreds of Americans survived the war.
But listen to this. Listen to this. The secondary target for the B-29 bomber was the Japanese city of Nagasaki. And the payload which had been destined for Kokura was the world’s second atomic bomb.
And dear Christian friends, thank God for the clouds that sometimes cover our lives. Thank God for the giants that sometimes block our path. Well thank God that the enemy has iron chariots. Because God for you allows these things to bring us to deliverance and victory.
And what we need to do is to trust him to do it.
V is for victory. Sing it out. It’s a glorious word. V is the victory. It is ours through Christ our Lord. Some days may seem dark and drear. In Christ there waves no fear. For we have victory, victory in Christ.
Shall we pray?
How much we thank you, Father, not only that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who saves us when we trust in him, but he is also the one who leads us to victory. Teach us to depend on him in all the difficult things of our life and to discover for ourselves what he can do. We ask this in Christ’s name. Amen.