loader from loading.io

Othniel: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary God | Judges 3:9-11

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Release Date: 09/10/2025

When Men Don’t Step Up, God Provides a Leader | Judges 4:4–5 show art When Men Don’t Step Up, God Provides a Leader | Judges 4:4–5

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is : Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. —  What happens when men shrink back from the leadership God has called them to? In the middle of Israel’s chaos, God raises an unexpected...

info_outline
When Old Sins Come Knocking Again | Judges 4:1–3 show art When Old Sins Come Knocking Again | Judges 4:1–3

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is : And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years....

info_outline
One Verse. One Man. One Massive Impact. | Judges 3:31 show art One Verse. One Man. One Massive Impact. | Judges 3:31

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is  After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. —  Can one person really make a difference? Shamgar barely gets a verse. No long backstory. No detailed battle plan. Just a man with an oxgoad—a farmer’s tool, not a warrior’s weapon. Yet with it, he struck down 600 Philistines and saved Israel. That’s it. No fanfare....

info_outline
One Man’s Faith Sparks a Nation’s Victory | Judges 3:24–30 show art One Man’s Faith Sparks a Nation’s Victory | Judges 3:24–30

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is  When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they...

info_outline
Ehud: God’s Unlikely Hero with an Unlikely Plan | Judges 3:12-23 show art Ehud: God’s Unlikely Hero with an Unlikely Plan | Judges 3:12-23

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is  And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen...

info_outline
Othniel: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary God | Judges 3:9-11 show art Othniel: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary God | Judges 3:9-11

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here:  Our text today is  But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. So the land had rest...

info_outline
Forgetting God Leads to Chains | Judges 3:7–8 show art Forgetting God Leads to Chains | Judges 3:7–8

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible in Project23. Read more here:  Our text today is  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. —  What happens when God lets you have the...

info_outline
The Slow Fade of Compromise | Judges 3:5–6 show art The Slow Fade of Compromise | Judges 3:5–6

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to Andrew Nippert from Woodbury, MN. Thank you for your partnership with us through Project23. Your commitment is helping deliver God’s Word with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is . So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they...

info_outline
Why Does God Leave Battles Unfought? | Judges 3:1-4 show art Why Does God Leave Battles Unfought? | Judges 3:1-4

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to Stan Jackson from Farmington, MO. Thank you for your partnership with us through . Your commitment is helping deliver God’s Word with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is . Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those...

info_outline
Faith That Fails—And What Comes Next | Judges 2:19-23 show art Faith That Fails—And What Comes Next | Judges 2:19-23

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible on video over the next 23 years. Read more about it here:  Our text today is : But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, 'Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Support our mission to teach every verse of the Bible. Read more here: Project23

Our text today is Judges 3:9-11

But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. — Judges 3:9-11

What happens when God’s Spirit fills an ordinary man?

Israel cried out. And God answered—not with an army, but with a man.

Othniel wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t famous. He was Caleb’s younger brother, living in the shadow of a great warrior. Yet when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, everything changed.

Notice the shift:

  1. Israel cried.
  2. God raised.
  3. The Spirit empowered.
  4. Victory came.
  5. Peace followed.

This is God’s pattern. He takes an ordinary man, fills him with his Spirit, and uses him to deliver his people.

Never underestimate what God can do through you when his Spirit fills you. You don’t need the perfect résumé, the loudest voice, or the sharpest skills. What you need is surrender to God’s Spirit.

The battles you face aren’t won by sheer grit but by God’s Spirit working through you. Othniel’s story reminds us: victory doesn’t rest on the size of the man, but on the strength of the God in the man.

ASK THIS:

  1. When was the last time I cried out to God for deliverance instead of trying to fix things myself?
  2. Do I believe God’s Spirit can work powerfully through me right now?
  3. What keeps me from full surrender to God’s Spirit?
  4. Where in my life do I need to step forward in faith like Othniel?

DO THIS:

Today, pray specifically for the Spirit of the Lord to empower you in one area where you feel weak—and then take one step of faith into that battle.

PRAY THIS:

Holy Spirit, fill me today. Use me, like you used Othniel, to bring your victory and your peace where I cannot on my own. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Same God."