Judges 1 The Cycle Recognizing/breaking the cycle of a defeated life

Life Cycle of a Pest

We had a basement in Kansas. Great thing. Mostly. We had our family den, TV room and bedroom and a massive storage area down there. Easy to heat, cool. Quiet. Only one problem. Brown recluse spiders. We regularly encountered them. You wouldn’t want to lay your clothes on the floor. On occasion we would even find them on the stairway up from the basement. And they would not give an inch. They would run at you from cover, causing you to jump back if you had bare feet. The question was, How to get rid of them? Insecticide would only kill them if you sprayed it right on them. And in the jumble of cardboard boxes in the storage room, they would nest and emerge to cause terror.

We discovered that to get rid of them, or at least to bring them under control you need to understand their life cycle.

The brown recluse spider spins a loose, irregular web of very sticky, off-white to grayish threads. This web serves as the spider's daytime retreat, and it often is constructed in an undisturbed corner. This spider roams at night searching for insect prey. Recent research indicates that the brown recluse spider is largely a scavenger, preferring dead insects. Mature males also roam in search of females. Adult brown recluse spiders often live about one to two years. They can survive long periods of time (about 6 months) without food or water.

Brown recluse spiders generally occupy dark, undisturbed sites, and they can occur indoors or outdoors. In favorable habitats, their populations are usually dense. They thrive in human-altered environments. Indoors, they may be found in attics, basements, crawl spaces, cellars, closets, and ductwork or registers. They may seek shelter in storage boxes, shoes, clothing, folded linens, and behind furniture. Don’t deal with them – they will continue to wreck havoc.

Only way to get rid of them, break their life cycle. Clean up the mess. Put the boxes on shelves. Spray to keep their source of food (other bugs) to a minimum. Keep the floors swept and bug free.

And so we finally, brought them under control. Never totally gone. Waiting for us to let up so they could dominate again. But as long as were diligent, we remained the victor.

So it is with the sin defeated life. One must break its life cycle. Understand what causes it to flourish. And ruthlessly bring it under control.

We see this worked out in the life of Israel. After the years of victory under Joshua, Israel repeatedly goes through a cycle of defeat. Let’s look at what occurred and why so that we can avoid this life cycle of disaster in our own lives.

I. Recognizing/Breaking the Cycle: Blessing

A. The place of blessing

(ESV) Judges 1 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek.

1. God had established them in the new land thru the leadership of Joshua

2. Continue to go forward in this new life

B. In the midst of battles

(ESV) Judges 1 5 They … defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. …

8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it … 9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron … 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath … 18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

1. Not that there are not obstacles – necessary to engage – hard work ahead

C. Victory in Him

(ESV) Judges 1 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, …

1. Struggles – yes / blessings – yes

2. Enabled by God they had victory

3.

II. Breaking the Cycle: Self focus

A. Not walking with Him

(ESV) Judges 2 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generationafter them who did not know the Lord or the workthat he had done for Israel.

1. I need for continued engagement with God. This group did not walk with Him

B. Self deluded

1. Focus was on self

2. Forget what He has done and go your own way

(ESV) Deuteronomy 8 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,

3. Take credit for what He has done

(ESV) Deuteronomy 8 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

C. No diligence to obey

(ESV) Judges 1 19 he (Judah) could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. … 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, … 27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, … 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, …

30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol …

31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, …

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath,

so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. …

1. See the consistent failures that emerge

2. Need ruthless obedience – can’t compromise

3. Make no allowance for sin to enter

4. Do what He commands

5. Result that the enemy remained / lived among them

III. Breaking the Cycle: Struggle

A. Began to lose the victory

(ESV) Judges 1 34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

1. Sin now sets the parameters – can’t continue to grow

B. Loss of His empowerment

(ESV) Judges 2 1 Now the angel of the Lord … said, “I brought you up from Egypt … 2 … But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

1. The Lord withholds His empowerment – seek to live in the mess that is not taken care of

IV. Breaking the Cycle: Sin

A. Abandon Him

(ESV) Judges 2 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them outof the land of Egypt. ...

1. Influence leads them to abandon the God who had saved them

B. Look for substitutes for Him

(ESV) Judges 2 12 … They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. …

1. Still needing a god – the look elsewhere

C. Give way to sin

(ESV) Judges 2 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lordand served the Baals. 12 ... And they provoked the Lord to anger.

1. Lifestyle aligns with new gods – sin replaces what God desires

V. Breaking the Cycle: Devastation

A. The Lord’s opposition

(ESV) Judges 2 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them overto plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against themfor harm,

1. The Lord stands against them – cannot succeed

B. Slavery

(ESV) Judges 2 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.

1. Became enslaved

C. Heartache

(ESV) Judges 2 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lordwas against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

1. Personal/national distress

VI. Breaking the Cycle: Return

A. Turned to the Lord

(ESV) Judges 3 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, …

1. Distress led to crying out to the Lord

B. The Lord has mercy

(ESV) Judges 2 18 ... For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.

1. The Lord cares / hears

C. Delivered

(ESV) Judges 3 9 … the Lord raised up a delivererfor the people of Israel, who saved them, …

1. The Lord brings a deliverer

2. Point to Christ

D. Blessings were renewed

(ESV) Judges 2 18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved themfrom the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.

1. Restored blessing

E. Returned to self focused ways

(ESV) Judges 2 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned backand 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.

1. When pain ceased, the people turned away