Judges: A Few Good Men . . . and Women

Welcome and Recap:

Good morning and welcome; I’m excited to be back with you all today. This morning, we continue the Story of Israel. Last week, Chaplain Hornbaker covered the conquest of the Holy Land with you; today, we move into a new chapter, the young nation of Israel taking form. We see what their fledgling theocracy looked like, its governance, and how that worked out in theory and practice.

Intro:

So, I said theocracy; I’d like to unpack that a bit. When we think of the word judge, perhaps this unique environment provides us with a certain context I want to dispel, at least somewhat. The judges did have some role in ruling and making decisions between disgruntled people and parties, but their primary function that we see in Scripture is relieving oppression. There were priests in the time of the judges in ancient Israel. The priests were responsible for performing religious rituals and sacrifices, providing spiritual guidance to the people, and interpreting the law. The priests were members of the Levite tribe, which was set apart by God to serve in the priesthood, descendants along with Aaron, who were responsible for the upkeep of the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that housed the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence among the Israelites. What’s important here is that separation. There was trouble even in ancient times when one person or branch usurped the power or responsibilities of the other.

So, the Judges, in the course of maintaining law and order, sometimes had to deal with cases that involved religious matters, such as idolatry or blasphemy, but only because they were also laws. So, they would enforce religious laws too, but in the course of relieving oppression. What does that look like? Think of all of the conditional clauses, those blessings or curses in the form of if/then statements in Deuteronomy, particularly in chapter 28; the nation of Israel on the hillside overlooking the Promised Land when they rededicated themselves to the Lord as His covenant people before taking possession of the Holy Land.

1a “If you fully obey the Lord your God…” 9 “If you keep the commands of the Lord your God…” 13b “If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them…” 10 “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.” 11 “The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.”

58 “If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.” 64 “Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.”

Deuteronomy 11:36-22 outlines blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. In this way, judges dealt with oppression. Think of Moses dealing with God’s wrath, acting as their intermediary. In this way, the judges delivered relief from oppression, God’s oppression. This is the rational link to their role as military leaders.

Recall the appointments of Moses and Joshua. In the same way, the judges were not hereditary leaders but appointed by God and recognized by the people as leaders with divine authority. Think of it much like how, at least in Army promotions, we say, “not based on performance, but assessed potential.” Let’s take Gideon for example, his calling delivered by an angel, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:12) [Motion doubt and looking around as if to be uncertain] You see, Gideon was a thresher, they were charged with separating the chaff from the wheat, which is language rich with symbolism that will be used later, regardless, he was neither mighty nor valorous. While that doesn’t surprise us, now, on this side of history, but in his time, before David, before Jesus, these types of callings they’ve only really followed hereditary lines and also, typically, the oldest, unless an heir has precluded themselves, such as Cain and Esau, and half of Jacob’s sons. That’s why it is so striking to those in our series experiencing it firsthand because it’s not what they expected. Isaiah 55:8 reads, “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” We know that on this side of history, but for Israel, Isaiah hasn’t prophesized yet. Not until the exilic period, that’s—by biblical historian estimates, 900 years after where we are in history right now at the beginning of the period of the Judges.

Transition:

All of this is the continuation of the one upper storyline. What God does in the upper story here is the same thing as He was doing in the upper story in the book of Joshua and the Gospels, yet also an interweaving of the lower stories, telling it through our history, involving His people.

Our lower stories convey levels of truth. Though not necessarily untrue, they’re one-dimensional—myopic, limited in their ability to capture anything completely. The version of you that exists in your head is the only place that ‘you’ exists. Everyone else brings context which informs their perspective, absent of omnipotence—we each lack foreknowledge of each other’s intention and fill in blanks. My perspective of me, yours of me, each only having their existence in their own place. The more data, the better the resolution of that picture, but they do not ever reach perfect clarity.

In the same way, the Gospels we have, don’t contradict each other, don’t hear me saying that they do—but they don’t, in a strict sense, necessarily agree. They each provide a comprehensive account of Jesus’ life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection. The narratives explore a series of events in a relatively linear story. Each character introduced ties into the same events, though portrayed in various ways. Each account was told from a different perspective, and all true. Each of the four features perspective from portraying Jesus as the Promised Messiah, the Heir of David, Son of Man, or the LORD. All have roots in the Old Testament and point in one way or another to the theme of fulfillment and the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Each perspective has a unique purpose and has to do with the identity of its author and intended audience. Consider a mug shot, are not each side and profile all of one person? They are all different, though. Our stories inform our perspectives, which in turn form our assumptions. They help us judge between things.

Scripture:

Though topically, we cover all of judges today, the point can really be summarized in its last verse, Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.”

Exposition:

Doing what was right in their own eyes was the Israelites’ posture before they entered their inheritance (Deut 12:8), certainly not the posture expected of them after they entered their inheritance and established themselves in the land. This is a far cry from Joshua 24:15 “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

The point is, doing whatever seems right to us is an intentional parallel. Unfortunately, it parallels doing evil in the eyes of God. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the etymology of the term ‘sin,’ an ancient Greek archery term meaning to have missed the mark; a near miss is still a miss. And ‘repent,’ used by the Greek military to ‘rear-march,’ or whatever our other services use to turn around and march the other way in fewer words.

Illustration:

This reminds me of a time I was driving South on I-95. It was a route I had traveled before; still, I wasn’t nearly as familiar with it as I would become in the following years. Nevertheless, I was on a strict timeline, and about 15 miles past the I-20 exchange, I realized that I didn’t recognize my surroundings anymore. I wasn’t where I should be. I had never been where I found myself. I was aware that I was east of where I needed to be, so instead of backtracking 15 miles up the interstate where, in my rationale, I would have been traveling in the wrong direction, I finally decided to simply go in the direction I knew I needed to go. “At least I wouldn’t lose time,” is how I saw it in my mind. Well, I ended up going through about 15 small towns, and after not less than an hour, I decided to go the opposite way that I figured I needed to in order to take the road which was the shortest distance back to the interstate; what I should have done in the first place. This is symbolic of repentance, my hard-headedness in this situation versus hard-heartedness, though perhaps the two are related.

Application:

Old Testament Theologian Lawson Younger points out that nowhere in Judges do the commandments of Moses appear. “In a sense, Judges is the antithesis to Joshua. In Joshua, the Israelites attempt to Hebraize Canaan,” convert the Canaanites for God, “in Judges, they Canaanize themselves.”

Transition:

My hope today is that we explore the central theme in the Book of Judges primarily through the events surrounding the Judge Sampson. Through it, the goal is that we get from it the importance of remaining faithful to God in the midst of challenging times. Through examining the consequences of disobedience, the power of faith and courage, and the promise of redemption, we will be encouraged to deepen our relationship with God and find strength and hope in the face of adversity. By learning from the experiences of the Israelites and applying these lessons to our own lives, we can grow in our faith and become more faithful and effective servants of God.

Overview:

As a brief overview on our way to our focus on the last judge in the book of Judges, there were 16 total; 14 here and two more in 1 Samuel before the institution of the monarchy. Most importantly, and kind of the theme of the book, is that when everyone did whatever seemed right to him, it was evil to God. It describes a time of political instability, social disorder, and religious apostasy in which the Israelites repeatedly turned away from God and suffered as a consequence.

The Lord would then raise up judges who, as I said before, would act as an intermediary and military commanders, helping to relieve their oppression and reinstitute worship of God, thereby saving them from the power of their invaders, but they wouldn’t listen to the judges, not for long anyway... So, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them just as he had promised and had sworn to them. So, they suffered greatly when they would prostitute themselves to other gods bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in relative obedience to the Lord’s commands. Over and over again, we see the phrase, “they did not do as their fathers did.” So, whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with them and saved His people from the power of their enemies. While the judge was still alive, the Lord was moved to compassion and mercy whenever they groaned, called out to him, or cried out to him because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.

Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their stubborn and proud ways. So, the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

Transition:

As I said, we are not going to cover them all this morning. We’re going to look primarily at Samson. What you need to understand is that there is a progression or, rather, a digression because it’s negative. But there is this cycle in the book of judges. Let’s see if you can pick it out in Judges 2:11 “Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.” 3:7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. So on and so forth in 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1…

Narrative:

Then there was Samson. Samson had a special gift from God. He was blessed with great strength. In chapter 14:5-6 he fought a lion with his bare hands. Trouble begins for him because of his romantic whims. In verse 2 of chapter 14, Samson tells his mother and father to “get her for me as a wife.” They respond in verse 3 with an appeal, “can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?” In verse 3, he responds, “get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” I want to point out that verse 4 has a note about this being from the Lord. We skipped over a whole part about him being a Nazarite, an Angel gave his parents explicit instructions; its in chapter 13; suffice to say, Samson was essentially a magui; he came with a book of rules, and if he eats after midnight or gets wet: gremlins.

I kid a little, but according to their covenant at that time, in accordance with His promise He had sworn to the Israelites, the Lord was also the bringer of disaster upon them. So, in verse 4, the Philistine woman, she’s from God alright, because, in verse 8, he defiles himself, becoming a gremlin! So, this isn’t from God good, this is from God bad…

Application:

Samson is doing whatever seems right to him, Canaanizing himself. And we sometimes do this, right? We live, or perhaps drive according to what seems right, but to who? You see, the opposite of submitting and following after Christ is not devil worship. Its apathy, its indifference, appreciating added value but being unwilling to commit, reaping the benefits of being God’s chosen people but unwilling to shoulder a part of the burden. John Stuart Mill is credited with uttering the famous words, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” In the case of Israel, however, partial obedience is disobedience.

Interpretation:

Now, eating honey from bees gathered on a carcass seems pretty far out there to me, but it seems like he didn’t think twice, so I have no way of knowing, but my guess, and if anyone here’s familiar with the Nazarite way, I’m betting you’d agree here, that he had probably played pretty fast and loose with the rule book before.

Samson had a couple lovers, but it’s uncertain if he was ever married; his wedding in chapter 14 is interrupted in verse 20 after she deceived him and he incurred a debt of 30 garments. His story is covered in chapters 14-16, in which there are lots of disputes between him and the Philistines.

At this point, in a change of sorts, he is at least no longer consorting with the enemy. Instead, he finds 30 Philistine men and verse 19 and kills them. Why? Because he is trying to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines? Unfortunately, no, Samson is a sore loser. He’s betrayed by his wife-to-be and kills them to pay off his bet. He doesn’t want their lives so much as their clothes. He kills innocents to pay off the guilty. Murder and larceny. His motives are not to deliver Israel from the Philistines or even to bring judgment on them. It only serves his purposes. This is another reason I wanted to distance our projections of what a judge is today and this expression of judgment. This is a time defined by everyone doing whatever seems right to themselves.

Scripture:

Look with me at chapter 15

9 The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi. 10 So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us?” They replied, “We have come to tie Samson up and pay him back for what he did to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he answered. 12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.” 13 “No,” they said, “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So, they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock.

Transition:

There is this cycle that takes place. The first thing is that the people sin; that’s number one. Second, God judges, their enemies coming and conquering them. That’s where we are in this story, the Philistines are in control; third, the people repent. The fourth is that God raises up a judge. Fifth is, the people are liberated, and sixth, the judge dies. Sin, servitude, supplication and salvation. It repeats itself every time in Judges. It’s painful to read. Samson is the last Judge, so it’s happened 13 times by the time we get to his story.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “now without faith, it is impossible to please God since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

So, when you cry out to the Lord, He listens. He listens, and He answers because if you draw near to Him, you first have to believe that he exists; you have faith.

Narrative:

Their enemy had been ruling over them, the people were being obedient, the Israelites did what was lawful and got Samson, but the Philistines raided Lehi. And what, for one man’s transgression of a conquered people? This angers the Lord.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and the ropes that were on his arms and wrists became like burnt flax and fell off. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it.

This is where the story makes a differentiation, an important one. If you think the judge is the hero, the judges aren’t the heroes. God’s the hero every single time.

In chapter 16, Samson finds Delilah and boy, does he know how to pick them. While Samson was madly in love with her, Delilah only pretended to love Samson because the Philistines promised her money if she discovered what made Samson so strong.

So, Delilah tried to trick Samson into telling the secret of his strength. Samson knew he should not reveal his secret to anyone, so he tried to trick Delilah too. First, he said to her that being tied with new leather straps would weaken him enough to be captured.

The Philistines tried. It didn’t work. Samson broke the leather straps as if they were made of air. Delilah tried again, “if you really love me, you will tell me your secret,” she said. Samson made up another story. “I’ll lose my power if someone ties me with new ropes.” While Samson slept, Delilah tied him up. Again, the Philistines tried to capture him, but Samson snapped the ropes like tiny threads. Delilah really wanted that money, so she said, “if you love me, tell me your secret.” Samson could not stand her nagging anymore; really, it says that in verse 16, so he finally gives in and tells Delilah the secret of his strength. “It’s my hair. It’s never been cut. If someone shaved my head, I would lose my strength and become as weak as any other man.”

Delilah waited for Samson to fall asleep, and then she cut his hair. This time, when the Philistines came, Samson couldn’t fight them off. In verse 21, the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes.

Interpretation:

I said there’s a differentiation between the judge and the hero, that the hero of this story is God. Remember our theme verse, Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.”

Only once, briefly in chapter 10, did Israel call for God to do to them as was good in his eyes, verse 15. Here, Samson had his eyes gouged out so that he could not determine what was good. Israel was walking in moral darkness, doing what was right in their own eyes. Even at the end, in verse 28, Samson calls out to the Lord, “Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

His desire is to restore his own flawed vision. Because he doesn’t have eyes, the Lord is going to use him. He was, after all, consecrated to God at birth. But God doesn’t allow him to receive the glory. Sampson was a hulk of a man with a voracious appetite for all things bad. And God used him to destroy the Philistines, but not before letting him become a sideshow attraction and a whipping boy. God showed himself strong to take care of the Philistines because God was taking care of what he had promised to do. It wasn’t about Sampson. God listened and answered Israel’s prayer. He restored Samson’s strength, and as he pushed on the pillars with all his might, the temple came crashing down. All the Philistines were killed, along with Samson.

Application:

The book of Judges makes something abundantly clear: when we do whatever seems right to us, it is evil in the eyes of God. We know this to be true experientially, and of course, anytime we attempt to do something without God, it doesn’t work. Despite the Israelites’ many failures, in spite of our own today, God continues to show grace and mercy; it’s why we have this story. We can find comfort and hope in this reminder of God’s unending love and forgiveness.

The cycle of disobedience, suffering, and redemption; the Israelites’ repeated failures to follow God’s commands and their resulting anguish is not just a cautionary tale but also points forward to the ultimate redemption that Christ brings through His death and resurrection, freeing us from the power of sin and death.

Not just in His death, but in His earthly ministry, there is restoration, not just spiritual and symbolic. 11 times throughout Scripture, it has been said, in some form or fashion, “they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear.” In John 9:39, Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see.” As recorded in both Mark 7 and Matthew 15, Jesus heals the blind and deaf.

Point:

Sin leads to servitude, but supplication leads to salvation.

Allusion to Illustration:

My insistence that I need only go west rather than turning around was my own insistence on what was right in my own eyes. I had no idea what I was doing in the grand scheme of things. It was nothing other than an insistence on not backtracking, thinking it was a waste of precious time. Though I could see, I did not perceive.

The eventual decision to head north was symbolic of submission. With which came love and grace, course correction and protection. Judgeship.

Just as I found refuge and comfort in submission and that marching command of ‘repentance,’ so too can we find refuge and comfort in God’s love and grace. No matter how lost we may feel, we can always turn to God and find our way back to the path of righteousness. We can always find our way with the help of our faith when we submit to doing right in God’s sight.

Challenge:

So, as we prepare to go out today, I challenge each of you to examine your own life for areas where maybe you’re not actively disobedient but also not being completely obedient to God. What is God putting on your heart in the way of behaviors or attitudes that perhaps we can submit to prayer and repentance? In what ways are we relying on our own sight and not God’s.

Secondly, as we seek to affix our sight to God and on his ways, to cultivate a deeper relationship with God, commit ourselves through prayer, studying His Word, and building up the body of believers, His Church, wherever we find ourselves. In this way, we develop faith and submit to trusting in God’s promises and relying on His strength rather than our own.

I believe this will lead to a real desire within the hearts of His followers to look for opportunities to serve others and act as leaders in our communities, seeking to bring about positive change and embody the values of God’s kingdom.