Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord

Date: June 8, 2022 Scripture: Judges 2:6-3:6

Theme: Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord

Introduction: So far we’ve considered what has been referred to as the political introduction in Jdg 1 wherein we see the Lord providing initial success to His people in the conquering of the Promised Land concluding with the defeat of the people at several junctures because of their disobedience in not completely conquering the land. This defeat was not because the Lord was not with them but because of their choice not to obey the Lord.

Jdg 2 begins with the Lord rebuking the people for their disobedience and the people responding with weeping.

Notice what the people named the place were they met the Lord: Bo-chim. It means weeping. While people can weep for a lot of reasons, the context indicates that it was for anything but something good. They were weeping over the message that they just received from the Lord: the Israelited would be troubled by the people whom the Lord would allow to remain in the land. In other words, God is remaining faithful to His covenant with the people but the people on account of their disobedience are not going to experience the fullness of the blessings that the Lord promised.

What does this look like for God’s people, the Church today? Defeat in our lives on account of our choices to sin robs us of our joy.

Jdg 2 continues another aspect of what has been referred to as the introduction of this book in introducing the spiritual foundation for defeat in the nation of Israel: forsaking the Lord, Whom they did not know, by embracing what they did know in the evil of idolatry.

Keep in mind that this is not referring to total ignorance in the sense that they had no knowledge of the Lord. Instead, it’s referring to knowing the Lord relationally as specifically demonstrated by the fact that they were ignorant of the Lord’s working in their nation. In other words, they did not know the Lord in the way that their previous generation knew the Lord.

Further, the passage uses the term ‘forsook’ to describe their treatment of the Lord. To forsake something implies an intentional choice on the part of the one doing the forsaking - I believe that we probably have a concrete picture in our minds of what this looks like that needs no elaboration.

Lest we think that we are incapable of the same, Paul aptly reminds us that greed is idolatry (Col 3:5). What is greed? Greed is an attitude that wants everything for oneself motivated by the belief that one deserves what they want. How do we see this surface in our day?

This overview of what we have considered now brings us to v. 14 wherein I hope to conclude our study tonight with 3:6. Tonight, I want for us to consider: Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord.

Transition: Let’s consider first the reason to Repent and Obey …

Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord because of His attitude towards sin (Jdg 2:14-15).

How is the Lord’s attitude characterized here? (Jdg 2:14)

Burning anger

Wildly hot and not easily extinguished

You would think that the Israelites would have known better given their experiences with God’s anger in the past.

Num 11:1 [complaining about hardships in wanderings]

Num 11:10, 18-20 [complaining about manna]

Num 32 [wilderness wandering generation prevented from going into Promised Land]

They were even warned! Deuteronomy 6:15 “for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.”

Because God is both holy and just, His anger against sin is the correct response!

We cannot forget that God’s anger against sin is set against the backdrop of His incredible graciousness to His people (deliverance from slavery, guidance in the wilderness, conquest)

We should want to avoid sin as it arouses God’s anger.

We don’t want to anger God not simply because of His great power but also because of His great love - this is why Jesus died!

We need the Spirit working through the Word to help us avoid sin and to sorrowfully repent when we have sinned.

What was the result of the Lord’s burning anger?

He gave them into the hands of plunderers

Notice the sovereignty of the Lord.

These individuals did not act outside of God’s control to harass the people of the Lord.

The Lord is the One responsible for this on account of the people’s sin.

Plunderers just take all that they can get, leaving victims to live off of the meager remains or what the plunderers didn’t want.

The people forsook the Lord for a false god that promised to give them plenty - Baal.

Instead, their idolatry led them into poverty and want.

In other words, the lure of sin always seems to promise high satisfaction that it can’t deliver on and leaves us worse off in the end (illus. Cotton candy).

Not only were they left without resources but they were defenseless against their enemies.

The image here recalls that of a merchant delivering goods over to another.

The people, on account of their sin, have now removed themselves from God’s protecting power and He has no choice but to hand them over to their enemies on account of His righteousness.

Since they were defenseless, their defeat is sure.

Between the plunderers and enemies, how would we summarize Israel’s defeat?

Through people.

This is significant because God could have used other means, even the weather.

However, if the Lord were to have used the weather, the people would have been tempted to think that they need to appease Baal since he was the storm god who brought a bountiful harvest.

Instead, the Lord uses people, made in His image, to demonstrate His control over human affairs.

How is the Hand of the Lord described here? (Jdg 2:15)

Against the people for evil.

This is not evil in the sense of sin as found in Jdg 2:11.

Instead, the next line helps us to understand its context better: ‘severely distressed’.

This phrase carries with it the idea of restriction, even the emotional reaction that comes when one is confined.

Hence, the evil referenced here is the harm associated with the restrictions that the Lord placed on the people wherever they went.

The phrase ‘wherever they went’ is remarkable.

It alludes to the Lord’s omnipresence in being everywhere.

However, this negative sense calls attention to how disaster befell them at every turn.

The intent of this ‘harm’ was to distress the Israelites in accordance with what God had promised in His Word as associated with the use of the remaining nations (discipline)

We can understand this for in Hebrews, we’re told that the Lord disciplines sin in His children in demonstration of their genuine relation to Him.

Thus, when you or I sin and the Lord disciplines us, it’s a good thing because we see God’s faithfulness to His Word and our status as God’s child is affirmed in addition to the opportunity to grow in holiness before the Lord.

Hence, the purpose of the Lord bringing harm to His people that would distress them is in response to their sin and rooted in God’s faithfulness to His Word

On another level in the life of the believer, the Lord uses the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God to prompt us to repent with sorrow over our sin.

This is all about the repentance of God’s people in the face of sin.

Notice also, Who does this verse imply is actually Israel’s enemy?

The Lord.

He’s their enemy because they have sinned against Him.

However, His graciousness is abundantly on display as He warned them previously (Dt 28:15-68).

Transition:

Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord Who Delivers (Jdg 2:16-19)

Who is the One responsible for raising up the ‘judges’? Jdg 2:16-17

The Lord (Jdg 2:16, 18).

Therefore, Who is the One who actually provides the deliverance?

The Lord

Where do we read in the first 5 books about God’s provision of the judges?

Nowhere!

In other words, this is a marvelous demonstration of God’s mercy and grace.

God is required to punish sin on account of His righteousness.

But He freely demonstrates His great grace as He chooses.

In fact, we read about what motivated the Lord to do this (Jdg 2:18)

He pitied them on account of their groaning (sin hurts!).

Thus, the Lord was emotionally moved to action on behalf of His errant people.

What do we learn about these judges based on these verses?

They were equipped by the Lord to provide military victory for the people (Jdg 2:16, 18).

They provided some level of spiritual instruction to the people as implied by the response of the Israelites in ‘not listening’ (Jdg 2:17).

The Lord was with these judges through the Spirit, thus further confirming that the victory belonged to the Lord (Judges 2:18).

How did the people respond to the judges? (Jdg 2:17, 19)

They turned back to their unfaithfulness to the Lord in idolatry. (Jdg 2:17)

They did so eagerly (Jdg 2:17)

They did so in willful defiance against God’s Word (Jdg 2:17)

You see, this further points out that while they were not as acquainted with God’s ways as the previous generation, they had God’s Word to provide for them the standard as to how to live.

Instead, they defiantly rejected God’s Word.

They grew worse in their unfaithfulness to the Lord in idolatry. (Jdg 2:19)

This verse in particular summarizes for us how the people increasingly grow worse in their departure from the Lord.

Summarizing for us how a life of sin only tends towards an increase in sin.

Transition: What we have just surveyed is what has often been referred to as the Judges’ Cycle of Israel’s Sin and God’s Deliverance: 1) Israel forsakes the Lord in idolatry, 2) The Lord delivers His people to punishment 3) Israel groans/repents under the oppression 4) The Lord compassionately delivers His people through a judge that He, the Lord, raises up 5) Israel experiences peace as long as the judge is alive before starting the cycle again. Tragically, we don’t see any lasting, positive change in the people. Instead, they will only get worse. Keep in mind that even Judges will express some variability with this in demonstrating just how depraved the people eventually become. What can we as the Church, the people of God learn from the judges’ cycle of sin and deliverance? We need to humbly repent of sin that the Lord points out to us by the Spirit through His Word and seek the Lord to produce holiness in our lives as we obey His Word. This growth in holiness is something that the Lord has promised to produce in us and, as 1 Th 5:24 reminds us He is faithful!

Repent and Obey the Only Sovereign Lord Who Tests (Jdg 2:20-3:6)

What 2 purposes does God outline for the testing referenced? (Jdg 2:20-3:2)

Obedience

This presupposes that there’s a standard to obey.

In other words, that the people have God’s Word!

Thus, the problem is not the people’s ignorance of God’s Law.

Instead, it concerned their heart - their willingness to obey God’s Law.

Warfare education

This is not simply learning the craft of war.

Instead, it’s learning to rely on the Lord as their deliverer to fight for them.

You see, their success in battle never depended on their skill.

Instead, it always depended on their obedience to the Lord.

Similarly, our success in doing what the Lord has called us to do depends on our faithfulness to obey the Lord.

What’s intent behind God’s tests?

To reveal character.

Every test is an opportunity.

To obey God in the power of the Spirit.

To repent in the face sin.

To reveal you don’t know the Lord because of your persistence in sin.

Instead of setting up His people for failure, the people had an opportunity to rely on the Lord, as do we.

The recounting of the peoples in v. 3 reflects how the Lord provided an opportunity to be faithful in every direction surrounding Israel. (Jdg 3:3-4)

The Philistines, to the southwest, are mentioned first given how they will factor significantly with the last judges: Samson, Eli and Samuel.

The Sidonians to the northwest.

The Hivites to the northeast.

The Canaanites to the southeast.

Every direction presented an opportunity to be faithful.

Unfortunately, the people proved unfaithful in 3 ways. (Jdg 3:5-6)

They lived among the Canaanites.

Not simply for practical reasons in being neighbors.

They were doing life with them, being exposed to their sinful practices and, ultimately, engaging in the same (illus).

They intermarried with the Canaanites.

This is strictly about how, in marriage, one adopts practices and behaviors associated with their spouse (Carrie)

The Lord warned them about this already in Deuteronomy 7.

These actions culminated in practicing their idolatry.

Conclusion: What we see in Israel is the attempt to peacefully coexist with the world that then leads to compromise on obedience to God’s Word. This does not mean isolation from the world. We can’t do that! Instead, this means strict allegiance to the Lord and His Word in the power of the Spirit. We need to rely on the Lord in the face of temptation to obey or, when we sin, to sorrowfully repent. If you are finding that you are doing neither in the face of temptation, then you need to seriously evaluate your heart to determine if you know the Lord Jesus as your savior. If you have questions, let’s look at God’s Word.