Now turning to Judges chapter 10, I want to read just the opening verses of the chapter. Verse 1, And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola, the son of Pua, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died and was buried in Shamir. And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass-colts, and they had thirty cities which they called Havoth-Jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Chemond, So this afternoon I want to bring to your attention two men that are referred to as judges, Tola and Jair, and they are unknown men who made a great difference for the Lord. Now so far in our study in the book of Judges, we've looked at the judges that God has set up, appointed in the land to be a blessing to his people. We've looked at the ministries in service of the likes of Othniel and Ehud and Shamgar and Deborah and Gideon. With the exception of Shamgar, all of these led the people of Israel to outstanding military victory. Shamgar had his own personal victories but the others led the whole nation to victory. Shamgar then is considered to be one of the minor judges and there are six of them in total. There's Shamgar in Judges chapter 3, we've got Tola and Jair here in chapter 10 and then in chapter 12 we are told of Ibzan and Elon and Abdan. And the reason that these men are referred to as minor judges is because they weren't considered to be great military leaders like Deborah and Gideon. These were simply men who helped to maintain the peace in the nation of Israel. And so while they may not have been great and mighty in military exploits, they're nonetheless just as important to the nation of Israel as those other judges that give them victory over their enemies. And so this afternoon, as we continue on to look at the judges of Israel, we're going to consider the lives of two of these so-called minor judges, Tola and Jair. Now we've read the full account of their lives in ministry in the opening five verses of Judges chapter 10, and it might seem that the Bible has very little to say about these two men and their lives and their deeds, but I believe that there are lessons for us here nonetheless. The first thing that I note and I hope to share with you is this, that we don't have to be well known to make a difference for the glory of God. We know about Gideon, we've heard about Deborah, and we know about some of the other judges by their exploits and their great deeds. But here are two men who served the Lord in their lifetime. Tola served as a judge for 23 years and Jair for 22, so they have quite a long and lengthy service for the Savior We don't have to be well known in order to serve the Lord. The Lord delights in using the unknown servant to help his people, to glorify his name, to build his kingdom. And I want you to see that if God can use Tola and Jair, then he can use the likes of you and I also, if we're only willing to make ourselves available to him. And so as the Lord gives At Liberty this afternoon, we're going to talk about these unknown men who made a difference. So I want to leave with you certain principles that I believe are revealed in the lives of these two servants. The first thing I draw your attention to is verse one. And we're going to talk about the mess that they inherited. They inherited quite a mess. were told that after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Pua. Now who was Abimelech? Now his story is found in Judges chapter 9. Abimelech is actually a son of Gideon by a concubine of his. Gideon had numerous wives and concubines and this was one of his sons. And after the death of Gideon, Abimelech finds himself as an outcast to his family, and he is effectively banished by his 70 half-brothers. And yet he's not happy about that, and he determines within himself that he will one day rule over Israel. And he convinces his mother's people, the people of Shechem, to support him in his quest to become the king of Israel. And after a conference amongst themselves, the men of Shechem agreed and decided to help Abimelech in his quest. We're told that they give him 70 pieces of silver and with that money he raises an army of mercenaries, a group of thugs that will help him achieve his goal. Having raised his soldiers, he goes then back to his father's house where he kills 69 of his 70 half-brothers, one of them managing to escape. After this, the men of Shechem declared Abimelech to be their king, and after anointing him, he ruled as their king for three years. But of course, things didn't work out as he expected. The men of Shechem eventually turn upon Abimelech, and there's a war between them and the followers of Abimelech. And in the midst of a battle, an attack upon the walls of Thebes, Abimelech comes too close to the wall, and a woman upon the wall throws down a piece of a millstone, and it hits him on the head. Knowing that he's dying, Abimelech calls one of his young men to him and asks him to kill him with his sword, so that it might not be said that Abimelech died by the hands of a woman. And so by the time Abimelech is dead, the nation of Israel is left in tatters from a vicious civil war. Military upheaval isn't the only problem that they're facing. We're told that after Gideon died, that the people of Israel turned their backs once again upon the Lord and gave themselves over to the worship of the Canaanite fertility God, Baal, once again. And as a result of all of these problems, the nation is in a mess. And this is the time and the opportunity that was inherited by Tola and Jer for their service for the Lord. And there are some important principles that we see in light of this. And the chief one being this, that no matter how bad it has descended to in the land of Israel, the departure of the people from God, the upheaval, the national unrest and all of the problems, God still has a remnant people. Never forget that. As bad as things were on the land, a nation at war with itself, the majority of the people forsaking God and following after the idols of the day, in the midst of that time, God still has a faithful remnant. That's a lesson that we see all through the scriptures. You can think forward a couple of books in your Bible And think of the story of Elijah who finds himself in the valley of depression and he's come to believe that he is the only person left in the country that was living for God and seeking to do that which was right. And he soon found out the Lord reminded him. that he was part of a bigger remnant than he supposed, that more than just himself, God reminded him that he had yet 7,000 that had not bowed the knee unto Baal. God has a remnant people. And it's good to remind ourselves of that, that in the day in which we're living, with all of its increasing immorality and the rampant wickedness that we see around us, that God still has a faithful people who love him and who serve him and who live for him. There are still people that have a prayer closet and get alone each day with God and pray for his blessing upon themselves and upon his church and upon the land. God still is a remnant people who believe the Bible and read it and uphold it as being the very Word of God. There are still those who are seeking to serve the Savior, telling a lost world about the Lord Jesus Christ and how He can deliver them from their sins and the judgments of God. God still is a people who love to sing about Him and testify about Him and tell others about Him. While this remnant might not be the majority, they're still seeking to live their lives for the glory of God. God always has a remnant people. And I hope that we are part of it. Those who are remaining faithful to him while everything and everyone else seems to be departed from him. May we be part of that faithful remnant. Now there's something else serving God is not always easy, but it's always the right thing to do. And I say that because it couldn't have been easy for Tola and Zeir to have dealt with the problems left behind by Abimelech, to deal with the idolatry in the nation. There's never been an easy day in which to serve the Lord. The ministry that God has called us to is one of reconciliation, which means by necessity that there are two parties at least that are in disagreement with one another. It's never an easy day in which to minister for the Lord, but they ministered nonetheless, and we learn from their example. It may not be easy to walk in the old paths when everyone around us is looking for something new, but if it's the right thing to do, God will give us the grace and the help to do it. It's not always easy to live for the Lord when those around us are living for the things of the world and of the flesh. But again, God will give us the strength and the grace to do that which is right. It's not always easy to stand fast upon the word of God while others around us are forsaking it and going the ways of the society about us. But it's the right thing to do and God will give grace. These are lessons we learn from the lives of Tola and Zeher. God has a remnant people. Whom if they serve Him, they will find that it may not be easy, but it's the right thing to do. The fact is we can make a choice to live for God, to do things God's way, to believe what God has said, no matter what anyone else says or does. Let the rest of the world live whatever way they please. Our duty is not to look to them, but to look unto Him. who is the author and the finisher of our faith and to run with patience the race that he sets before us. And it may not be a smooth course. It may be like the obstacle courses that we see from time to time with hurdles and jumps and pits to avoid and dangers before us, but he will help us. And just like the days of Toland's heir, our world's in a mess. I don't think anyone would argue with that. And we can lay the blame wherever we might like. We can blame the government. We can blame society. We can blame contemporary churches. We can blame one another. Or we can look in the mirror and realize that perhaps we are part of the problem else. That the people of God we are partially to blame for the condition of the world around us. Because we've ceased to do the right thing and we've stood silent while the world has embraced that which is wrong and evil. And as the remnant of God's people, we have to be prepared to stand up and to stand fast for the things that belong to God. Because if we fail to take our stand for what is important today, we shouldn't complain when it's taken away completely tomorrow. This was a mess that was inherited by Tola and Jair. And in the midst of that mess, I want you to notice the ministry that they performed. As I've said already, these were not great military leaders. They don't have a record or a campaign attributed to them. They're not the commander of great armies. They may not have left a legacy of great spiritual achievements, but what they did accomplish deserves our consideration. Because what they did still challenges us today. So what did they do? Well, they helped maintain the peace of the land for almost 50 years between them. A nation that was split apart by war and rebellion and pagan worship, they managed to hold together to stop it from fracturing into a thousand little pieces. That's no small feat. There may have been no attacks from the outside, but they helped prevent the nation from being ripped apart from the inside. Theirs was a ministry of peace in a time of great turmoil. These are men that helped to preserve the heritage of the nation. They ministered to the faithful remnant in Israel and when the time came, when that fearing remnant needed to be encouraged and needed committed leadership, God chose Tola and Jair. And they did in their day what we are called to do in our day. They acted like salt. We read a little while ago from Matthew chapter five, the Lord Jesus said unto his people in verse 13 of that chapter, that they are to be the salt of the earth. That's exactly what Paul and Jair did. They were a salt to the earth. Now in the days in which our Savior was speaking, salt was often more valuable than money itself. In fact, the ancient Romans used to give their soldiers their pay in salt rather than in coin. The word we use today, salary, comes from the Roman word, the Latin word salarium, which speaks of the soldier being paid in salt. And you've maybe heard the expression, someone who doesn't do a good day's work, that they're not worth their salt. It comes from that practice of paying the worker in salt. So the Lord Jesus said that his people are to be the salt of the earth. And he uses that metaphor to teach his disciples about the influence that his people will have as they live and work and labor unto the grace of God and the place that God has put. So in what way was Tola and Jair and how are we to be like salt? Well, salt has, first of all, a preserving influence. It wards off rot and decay. There was a time when you would rub salt into your meat in an effort to preserve it in the days before refrigeration, such as we enjoy today. So you would salt the meats to stop the meats from going off. You might think of the biblical principle of fine concerning that, Back in Genesis chapter 19 when God reveals to Abraham that he's about to destroy the wicked cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham prays with the Lord asking that if there be a certain number of righteous people in the city that they might be preserved. And he negotiates with God right down to ten righteous people. There are ten righteous men in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord said that he wouldn't destroy them. Ten righteous men would have had a preserving influence in the midst of a corrupt and wicked and rotting city. I think the same thing's true today. I'm convinced that it's the prayers and the lifestyle and the presence of salty Christians that do more to preserve this nation than any military or any tank or aircraft or ship. It's the righteousness of God's children and that I believe withholds the judgment of God on many occasions from falling upon this land and many others like it. Proverbs 14 and verse 34 reminds us that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Our lives as Christians should be powerful and purified withholding the rot and the decay in society. As salt we also want to have a penetrating influence. Salt will penetrate and infiltrate everything and anything that it touches. It's a pretty aggressive substance. Take a little spoonful of salt and pour it into a bucket of water and very soon it will have affected every part of that bucket of water. You'll not be able to take a drink from the top or the bottom or the sides of it without the effect of the salt making itself known. It penetrates. As we've been going through the book of Acts, you'll have noticed the effect of the New Testament church, that how even in terms of persecution, when they were scattered out of Jerusalem and across the provinces, that we're told that they were scattered abroad and they went everywhere preaching the word. They penetrated other parts of society. And just like assault we have been called by the Lord to be an active force in the world around us. We are to have a penetrating influence. Every area of our life should be impacted by the gospel. Our home life, our work life, the things that we do for relaxation or enjoyment, every area of our life should be affected by the gospel and therefore the more people that we come in contact with will be affected by it also. a purifying influence, a penetrating influence. We can also talk about the cleansing ability of salt. In 2 Kings 2, verse 19, we read of Elisha cleansing the waters of Jericho with salt. In ancient times, newborn babies were washed with salt in order to cleanse their bodies and to give a firmness to their skin. Salt was used to cleanse a wound. We as Christians are to have a purifying effect upon the world around us. The world ought to behave differently when a child of God walks in upon it. Don't be offended if that group of people at your approach stop talking when you come around if it's because you're a Christian. You're having a purifying influence upon their conversation. That can only be a good thing. Salt is a purifying aspect. It's worth noting that every meat offering that was made in the Old Testament was made with salt. And so it is with our lives that we are to offer to the Lord as a living sacrifice. May our lives be a salty sacrifice for the Lord. What else do we know about salt? It has a pleasing influence. It brings out the best in some foods. Salt blends and adds flavors to our food. In fact, there are some foods that are better off not eating at all unless you have a little bit of salt to save it. We should add a flavor to the world around us. Like salt, we are to live our lives so that we bring out the best. And those around us are influences for good. We encourage others to be better. That's what our Savior did time and time again. That's what you and I are supposed to do, to have a positive influence for good. Let me point out another thing about salt. It has a poisoning influence. Salt kills some things. If you ever pour salt upon a slug, you'll soon see that the two don't mix very well. Pour salt upon your lawn and your grass will begin to die. Too much salt in your diet is not good for your blood pressure. It has a poisoning influence. If you go back into Judges chapter 9 and verse 45, you find that Abimelech was part of his battle strategy when he took the city, that he sowed the city with salt. That was an effort to prevent the ground around the city from ever being used again to grow crops and harvest. He literally killed their fields with salt. By the same token, when true Christianity is sown in the lives of God's people, our lives will be changed. Sin will have to go. The gospel changes lives. The Lord Jesus Christ and his presence in the life of a Christian is poison to sin. The old things pass away. The old life of sin has to go. It's put to death with Christ and a new life begins in him. One last thing to say about salt before we move on. It has a promoting influence also. It creates thirst. You eat something that's too salty, you're running the rest of the evening looking for glasses of water to quench your thirst. Salt promotes thirst. May we as Christians have a salty influence upon those around us. May we promote a thirst for the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the Saviour who said that out of our bellies would flow rivers of living water. May we be able to quench the thirst of those around us by telling them of the Saviour. When we live as Christians ought to live, when we take the call of the Saviour seriously, When we do those things that are well-pleasing in His sight, and when others around us take note of those things and become desirous of the blessing of God such as we have, may we create a thirst in them for the things of God. May they look at our lives and say, that's what I want my life to be like. So Tola and Ger carried a very important ministry in Israel. God used them to touch a nation, to maintain the peace. He used them for his glory. That's the mark of a successful ministry. And by the same token, if we can simply glorify God, If we can live for his praise, if we can pass on to the next generation a faithful worship of the Lord, then our lives and our service will have been successful. And I pray that we will indeed be salty Christians. So we've seen the mess that they inherited and the ministry that they performed. I want you to think lastly about the message that they preached. They served, as I said, almost 50 years between them. They didn't lead an army. They didn't build a city. They didn't write any books. What they did was far more important. They stood for God in an evil day. And though their lives have very little recorded about them, they still managed to speak to us today. And again, I want to point you out some of the things we can learn about the message that they preached, because there's a lesson in their names. The name Tola, for instance, means crimson worm, crimson worm. It's a reference to the caucasus worm that's found in oak trees. It was taken and it was crushed. And it produced a very vibrant red dye that was used to dye pieces of clothing. It was the dye that was used to make certain of the parts of the tabernacle that required that red crimson dye. And so his name comes from the Hebrew word Tala, which means to be clothed in scarlet. It's the same word that we find used in Psalm 24 in verse 6 where we have a reference to the Saviour where he says that I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. It's a foretelling of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would be bruised by God and release that crimson flow of his own precious blood, so that when we are washed in the precious blood of the lap, that we are made ready for the temple of God, for the service and worship of the most high. The name Pua. They're told his father was Pua. Hua means light. So he's the son of light. When he put his names together, it's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tolo is a man who through humble service and self-surrender became a savior to Israel. He reminds us of the Savior who is the true light of the world, who came to be the crimson worm crushed under the heel of God in judgment for our sins. Clothed in the scarlet of our unrighteousness, he gave his life for the sins of the world. He reminds us of our Savior who humbled himself that he might save lost sinners from their sins. What about Jair? His name means the enlightener, the one who enlightens. He reminds us again of our savior who's referred to as the son, the S-U-N, of righteousness in Malachi 4 in verse 2, who's described in John's gospel as the light of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who enlightens us. He reveals the Father to us. Without him we remain in darkness and ignorance. Now we know something about J.R. that he is a wealthy man. He has 30 sons and to those sons he gives 30 donkeys. He is able to give to each of his sons his own city. I don't think the word actually means city, as we understand it, but his own hamlet, his own village. And this, he reminds us again of the Lord Jesus, who owns everything, who shares everything with us. Romans 8 and 17 says, and if children then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with them, that we may also be glorified together. Jair is associated with these donkeys that he gives to his sons. The donkey, of course, was an animal associated with peace. The horse, associated with war. Jair is a man of peace. In a world filled with trouble and turmoil, he reminds us of our Savior, who was the Prince of Peace. He of course rode into Jerusalem upon the back of a donkey before his crucifixion. God raised up Jair to bring peace to a nation. He raised up our Savior to bring peace to our souls and to reconcile us to the Lord. Jair had his sons, who were then the ambassadors of peace, as he judged in the nation of Israel. We're told that they have 30 cities which are called Havoth Jair onto this day. Havoth Jair means places of enlightenment, villages of enlightenment, if you like. The Lord Jesus said that we are his ambassadors. We are to bring his peace and his salvation to the entire world. Everywhere we go, we are to share the enlightenment that God has made known to us. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's name be reconciled to God. These are the lessons that we take from their lives. We don't have to be famous. to make a difference. We don't have to be well-known in order to have an impact for God. We don't have to have our names in lights in order to be of use to the Savior. He knows who we are, He knows where we are, and He has plans for us. He has things that He wishes us to accomplish. He has given us tasks that I believe that only we can do for Him. and it's our duty to serve him where he places us. We don't have to be known to be of use to the Lord. We don't have to accomplish great and mighty things to live an extraordinary life. There's nothing extraordinary listed about the lives of Tola and Jair. There's no great miracles attached to them or some great service, just a life of faithfulness. You don't have to be famous to be of use to the Lord. In fact, sometimes I think it's better not to be. We simply do what he asks us to do and our lives can still be extraordinary in God's eyes if we live for him, if we faithfully serve him. If we follow him in our lives and in our families and we seek to honour him in the world around us and tell others about our saviour, that is an extraordinary life. So we take encouragement that we don't have to be famous, we don't have to do notable achievements to be a blessing to the Lord. that he can help us even make the best out of bad situations. As I said, they inherited a country full of trouble, yet God gave them the ability to hold the nation together for 50 years. There will be times of crisis that will come our way as we walk with the Lord, and I believe the Lord has designed them for us. found them perfectly and brought them about in His own will, because His goal is to make us more like His Son, the Lord Jesus. I believe that in those times of difficulty, He will give us the grace that we need. And not only will we be able to stand, but I believe it's His purpose to cause us to thrive. I read an article this afternoon, and those of you with green thumbs can correct me later on if I'm wrong, but it was with regards to growing roses, that after the pruning that you come and you crush the little pieces where the next batch of leaves are to come from because they say that it's the bruising that stimulates the growth. and the bruising in our life is where the Lord stimulates the growth for his glory. So never let us forget that God is honoured by a faithful, consistent life, by men and by women who stood for him and with him, who followed him fully, that were found faithful in the things that he gave them to do. So that's where I want to leave. That's where I want to encourage. To keep living for the Lord when things are difficult around you. To keep serving Him even in the lean times. To keep following Him even though others are falling away. To keep living for Him even when it seems we're being attacked from every side. To keep serving Him even when it's not popular to do so. Those are the things God blesses. that faithful life will bring about the statement that we most want to hear from the lips of our Savior. Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee a ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. And I believe that when we hear those words from the lips of our Savior, it will make everything worthwhile. May the Lord help us, bless us, and make us like Tola and Jay, our humble servants, who did great things for the Lord. Amen.