Oh for a heart like Achsah’s, seeking all that the Giver of every good and perfect gift has for us.
If these judges are also “saviors,” in what way does Othniel picture our Lord? The link should be obvious. Kirjath Sepher means “City of the Book,” and our Lord first came to reclaim the Scriptures as God’s Word, taking it back from scribal commentaries to the pure word, from the letter to the spirit of it. He would often say, “You have heard that it was said…But I tell you…” (Mt 5:38-39). He asked His Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Jn 17:17). But there was a greater purpose in His coming than His battle for the Book. He battled for a Bride! Enter Achsah. Her name means “anklet,” and she reminds me of the lady from Banbury Cross in my nursery rhymes: “She shall have music wherever she goes.” But Achsah was no wilting flower of womanhood. She was a chip off the old block! While some might fear the locals, she wants all that God has for her. Notice, “she urged [Othniel] to ask her father for a field” (Jdg 1:14), but once she receives her request, “land in the South [or Negev]” (v 15), which is good soil but dry, she returns for more. It’s water she needs. “And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs” (v 15). You know, our hearts were like that when God saved us: good soil, full of potential, but dry. We need His water supply. And what does water portray? The upper spring? “Jesus…cried out, saying, ‘He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit” (Jn 7:37-39). And the other spring? Here’s some bride talk: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word” (Eph 5:25-26). Aren’t we well looked after by our Father and our Bridegroom?