The Conquest...

Judges  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  50:27
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Welcome/Prayer
If you haven’t already please find the book of Judges...
It’s the seventh book in our bibles, it follows the book of Joshua and precedes the book of Ruth, which precedes 1 Samuel in the pew Bible it’s on page ( ) and if completely lost please reference the table of contents at the front of your bibles
Our passage this morning is Judges 1.1-2.5 - and as a reminder the main passage, typically, will no longer be provided on the screen… but verses that I read outside of the main passage will be provided for you
This will allow you to become familiar with where we are at in Scripture while keeping the main passage in front of at all times during the message… helping you to follow along more effectively
Now, we have a lot of ground to cover this morning… before we get to our text I want to provide some background to the book, a brief little introduction to what we are about to encounter over the next four to five months
Let’s begin by considering the title of the book...
Why ‘Judges’?
No one, specifically, is actually called a judge except Yahweh in Judges 11.27
Judges 11:27 ESV
27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
However, in Judges 2.16-19 we get a general association of people to the word, for example v. 16 - Jdg 2.16
Judges 2:16 ESV
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
Deborah is the only one described in the book as serving in any possible kind of judicial capacity
The “judges” in this book act more like delivers/saviors, than judges as we typically understand the English usage of the word
Now, who exactly are these judges/saviors/delivers? Who are these men and women that will dot the landscape of this book?
Well.... they’re not who you might expect for Israel
They are often lacking in their characteristics as good Israelites
Ehud, being left-handed would have been seen as handicapped.
Deborah was a woman
Gideon was shy and doubted God, and ends up making an idol
Barak was a coward, certainly not a man’s man
Samson was a disgrace and a loner
Jephthah was an outlaw of sorts and one who makes a foolish vow
But— they all had God
However, none of them were able to provide what the people truly needed… spiritual reform… these judges were only able to save them from physical threats and oppression
If anything, the judges, some of them at least, compounded the people’s idolatry and syncretism
Syncretism is the blending of more than one religious belief system
Samuel is the only exception, and that is probably why he is not included in this book even though the time of Samuel and the time of Judges overlaps… though it is possible that Samuel might the author of the book.
The book though isn’t so much to highlight these men and women… as much as it is to highlight the faithfulness of God despite the unfaithfulness of His people
Thus, the spiritual condition of Israel is the focus - The line— “The people of Israel did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, they forgot Yahweh, and served the Baals and the Asherahs” - is repeated seven times
At the end of the book we get the refrain “And there was no king” starting in chapter 17
Now, what about the dating of the book? When was the final form written or completed?
Exact dating is difficult, especially since we don’t know who wrote or compiled the final form... but we can get a general idea
The book must have been written after the events of the book - one example to support this is Jdg 1.11
Judges 1:11 ESV
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.
Other examples include Jdg 1.23, 3.1-2, 19.10, 20.27-28
Such language spans the whole of the book and not just a portion. And for your information the events recorded in Judges begin in early 14th century BC and go until about 1050 BC...
Another dating source is the refrain “In those days there was no king in Israel” Stated in Judges 17.6, 18.1, 19.1, and the final verse of the book, Judges 21.25
Judges 17:6 ESV
6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
This statement presumes Israel currently has a king at the time of writing - so it’s reasonable to think that it was written during the time of Israel’s monarch
But when exactly during the monarch?
That’s a mystery and many have their thoughts… it could possibly be before David... Jdg 1.21
Judges 1:21 ESV
21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
Though we may not be able to answer the question of when the book was written or who wrote the book… we can answer and tackle another question...
And it is the most basic of questions...
That is— on this side of the resurrection, as members of the New Covenant looking back upon this book, what value does it have for us?
And the answer to that question will be found in detail in the coming months
We do this while keeping in mind Rom 15.4
Romans 15:4 ESV
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
And as such we must understand that we come to this book not seeking lessons on morality… like Aesop’s Fables
We come seeking God, His holiness… His truth for us…
And His focus ought to be our focus, which isn’t our morality… but our holiness
For without holiness, regardless of morality, we cannot be in right relationship with the Father
But with holiness, we can be… for if we have holiness, we have Christ, for without Christ, we cannot have holiness…
So, in the end we come seeking Christ…
Before we begin our passage this morning I want to share one more thing about the book… I came across an excellent paragraph about the relevance of the book of Judges for the church today in Daniel Block’s commentary...
“Earlier it was mentioned that the central theme of the Book of Judges is the Canaanization of Israel. Herein lies the key to the relevance of this ancient composition for North American Christianity, for like the Israelites of the settlement period, we have largely forgotten the covenant Lord and have come to take for granted his gracious redemptive work on our behalf. Like the ancient Israelites we too are being squeezed into the mold of the pagan world around us. Evidences of the “Canaanization” of the church are everywhere: our preoccupation with material prosperity, which turns Christianity into a fertility religion;our syncretistic and aberrant forms of worship; our refusal to obey the Lord’s call to separation from the world; our divisiveness and competitiveness; our moral compromises, as a result of which Christians and non-Christians are often indistinguishable; our [male] exploitation and abuse of women and children; our reluctance to answer the Lord’s call to service, and when we finally go, our propensity to displace “Thy kingdom come” with “My kingdom come”; our eagerness to fight the Lord’s battles with the world’s resources and strategies; our willingness to stand up and defend perpetrators of evil instead of justice. These and many other lessons will be drawn from the leaves of this fascinating book as we proceed.”
Without further ado… let’s turn to our passage and begin our journey through Judges
Obviously, our passage is somewhat lengthy… and that will happen from time to time as we go through this book...
So, some Sundays we will read the passage, and others the passage will be summarized...
With historical narrative we must be careful not to make much of historical details, when they are simply that.
Not every hair is meant to be split, not every detail is meant to point to something beyond itself, some times the detail is just a detail.
It’s life, it’s the event recorded, the context to the point being made.
The details in historical narratives are often place markers; like stones marking a path…
How do we know the difference? One way, is common sense, or simple logic and reasoning, by considering the context and thrust of the passage.
Another is to consider if it’s been used by an apostle or God elsewhere in Scripture to illustrate a truth not immediately evident.
For this morning, I will summarize most of the passage instead of reading it in its entirety… the verses in chapter 2 I will read, but chapter I will sum up
So, hopefully, you have Judges 1 open in front of you, I’ll make verse references as I summarize so that you can follow along with the actual text if needed
Chapter 1 provides for us the historical context of the book of Judges… it’s not meant to be an exhaustive history on the conquest of the promised land but rather a summary
You can find more details in Joshua 13-19
What follows in chapter 1 is similar to what one would find in an ancient Assyrian inscription about their military campaigns.
A summary of the events ordered by geography and not chronology...
The author of Judges starts with Judah and Simeon, goes south and works his way around… this isn’t necessarily the order of when the events occurred, but again this isn’t the author’s focus
His goal right now is to set the table for what follows and to give us the setting of what is to come...
He starts this off in v. 1 by noting the death of Joshua
Just as the first line of the book of Joshua notes the death of Moses, the first line of the book of Judges notes the death of Joshua..
The intent here to is to delineate the period of Joshua from the period of Judges
The author then moves quickly into the action...
The people of Israel inquire of Yahweh who should go first to fight...
And Yahweh answers that Judah should… and the land has been given into Judah’s hand
In response to this, Judah asks his brother tribe, Simeon to come along...
Now, why might Judah ask Simeon?
Simeon’s inheritance was in the midst of Judah’s - Josh 19.1
Joshua 19:1 ESV
1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.
The first battle they get into the fight the Canaanites and Perizzites — defeating 10,000 of them at Bezek
Bezek is near Jerusalem
Their presumed leader, or at least the most notable one, Adoni-bezek flees (v. 6)
But they catch him and cut off his thumbs and big toes… making him no longer a threat...
Apparently, this treatment towards enemies, was common, or at least common to Adoni-bezek for he makes the comments that how he has treated his enemies, he himself has been treated by God
He is then taken to Jerusalem and dies there.
Now, in v. 8, the very next verse we’re told that Judah fought Jerusalem, captured it, and burned it… a few things to consider here...
Jerusalem doesn’t getting fully conquered until the time of David
Also, Jerusalem falls into Benjamite territory, not Judah’s… and we read later that the Benjamites were unable to push the Jebusites out… what’s going on here?
Jerusalem is a border city between Benjamin and Judah… and it’s possible that what was burned here was a Jebusite fortress on the southern hill of Jerusalem… and not the stronger citadel in the northern portion of Jerusalem… the account of this battle in Josh 15.63 notes that Judah was not able to drive out the Jebusites...
Thus after having burned the fortress and moving on, the Jebusites moved back in… and thus held it for several more centuries.
The author then turns his attention to the land in the south, the Negeb…
There Judah moves to Hebron (19 miles SSW of Jerusalem), which was formerly known as Kiriath-arba - the city of four
And there they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai
From Nu 13.22 (don’t read) we learn that these men they defeated were descendants of Anak.
Numbers 13:22 ESV
22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
That is they are Anakites, men of great size as Num 13.33 informs us
Numbers 13:33 ESV
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
From there they go to Debir, formerly known as Kiriath-sepher — city of books/records— 11 miles SW of Hebron
Then in v. 12-15 we get the account of Caleb offering his daughter, Achsah as a wife to whoever will capture the “City of Books”
And Othneil, Caleb’s nephew, and one of the judges we’ll read about, captures the city and is given the Caleb’s daughter
Then in v. 16, we read of the Kenites — non-Israelites, descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, settling with the people in the Negeb near Arad.
The conquest continues for Judah, along with Simeon… and they conquer Zephath — rename it Hormah
They move on to take Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron
Then they take the hill country for Yahweh was with Judah...
But… they couldn’t drive out the Canaanites in the plains, because of their chariots of iron
Then we’re told of Benjamin not being able to drive out the Jebusites and how the Jebusites live with the tribe of Benjamin to this day....
And then in v. 22-26 we get a the story of Joseph conquered Bethel… first it’s noted that Yahweh was with them
And then we’re told how a spy helped them conquer the city and how that man went to live with the Hitties and named a new city Luz… after the city he helped get conquered...
Then in v. 27-36 the author picks up the pace...
He sums up the rest of the conquest but you’ll notice that in v. 27-30… the author mentions how the Canaanites were not driven completely out… rather they “persisted in that land” or that “the Canaanites lived among them”
Then in 31-36 the author shows a progression of greater failure...
In v. 32, the “Asherites lived among the Canaanites- not the other way around
Then the same for Naphtali in v. 33
And it’s even worse for the Danites in v. 34 with the Amorites… the Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country.
So, as the author closes out this chapter he does so by highlight the failure of the people of Israel in being faithful to the command of God to conquer the promised land...
Now, how does God respond to this? After telling them to go forth and conquer, for He is with them? Let’s read Judges 2.1-2
Judges 2:1–2 ESV
1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?
This covenant instruction can be found in Dt 7.1-11
Deuteronomy 7:1–11 ESV
1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. 6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
So, what will God do then?
Judges 2:3–5 ESV
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.” 4 As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
A few things here to note about this final portion - 2.1-5...
Is this angel of Yahweh a theophany? A special manifestation of God Himself?
Or is he a messenger? A divinely appointed envoy of sorts? Or some one else?
It’s possible this could be a prophet, but no prophet is identified and it would be an unusual way to identify a prophet.
It appears by all counts to be some sort of heavenly being… it could possibly be the commander of the army of Yahweh that Joshua met at Gilgal in Joshua 5.13-15, prior to conquering Jericho
It makes sense if we think that God wants to remind His people how all of this started back at Jericho...
If this angel was a theophany, why would He not come from Shiloh?
Remember, in Joshua, the ark of the covenant gets moved to Shiloh… so why would He come from Gilgal… but if this is the angel who commands the Lord’s armies… then it could make sense
But the focus isn’t on the angel, but what the messenger says… more accurately, what God says, either Himself if it’s a theophany or through His messenger if it’s not...
But before we consider the implications… let’s address the location of this event— Bochim
Bochim is most likely another name for Bethel
Bochim means the place of weeping, a connection that the LXX makes explicitly in Judges 2.1
Judges 2:1 LES
1 An angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, to Bethel and to the house of Israel; and he said to them, “The Lord says this, ‘I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I swore to your fathers, and I said, “I will never break my covenant, which is with you forever.
And when we think of the place of weeping if we go back to Genesis 35.8 we read of Deborah being buried under an oak below Bethel called “oak of weeping”
Genesis 35:8 ESV
8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.
Let us now consider God’s judgment...
Due to Israel being unwilling to wholly and fully rely upon Yahweh
Even though Yahweh had delivered them from bondage… an act that God graciously did on their behalf… and made a very gracious covenant with them, which they broke...
God left the idols, to be snares, as judgment, as discipline.
Thus, they will miss out on blessing, but God will continue to be faithful and He will continue to deliver His people...
For the thorns and snares are left for a purpose— to hopefully bring God’s people back to Him… they are the discipline of a loving God.
We ought to ponder why did the people fail in their conquest? Why did they not complete it?
Was it too hard?
Did they find it to be unreasonable or unnecessary?
Did they believe the people in the land before them were decent people, not worthy of destruction?
Or did they simply enjoy the other gods more?
After all the other gods allowed for rampant sexual promiscuity
They allowed for the eating of unclean foods that are rather delicious and yummy
They even allow for other gods… none of this one god only nonsense… but one of toleration and acceptance
Plus, these gods allowed the people to intermarry… for the men to marry the beautiful women of the land....
What should have been a total conquest of a land judged by God… turned out to be a compromise...
Instead of transforming the world by the will of God, the will of God was forsaken and God’s people were transformed by the idols of the world
Due to such unfaithfulness their idols will remain as judgment to be thorns and snares that will lead to some very difficult times… robbing them of the blessing they are called to have as God’s people...
For us, this is a warning...
What have we allowed to remain in our lives that God has told us to either flee from or to conquer?
Have we allowed sexual immorality to remain?
Have we failed to put off the old man or to die to self?
If so, why? When God has been clear, when God has delivered us from the bondage of sin by the blood of the Passover Lamb?
Do we find it too hard?
Are we tired from the fight?
Getting unequally yoked with that man or woman after being single for so long doesn’t seem such a big deal...
After all, he/she loves you… and you’ll believe that as if God doesn’t love you, or that the love God has for you wouldn’t dare involve being single..
Do we think God is unreasonable? Too ancient, archaic, or patriarchal?
Do we not see the necessity of it? The need for holiness and sanctification?
Especially, since the other churches and other believers, like the other tribes, tolerate such idols...
Idols like sexual immorality in the forms of homosexuality, co-habitating before marriage, or enjoying sexual activity outside of the confines of marriage?
Or other idols such as self in the form of laziness, transgenderism, and gluttony
Or have we grown comfortable with what we have?
After all, we used to be oppressed, we used to be in bondage, what we have is great… why press harder? Why must we go the full nine yards? Aren’t we being excessive?
Isn’t it enough to keep them, in bondage… sure they’re not destroyed… but they serve us… not the other way around...
Or perhaps it’s simply we haven’t given ourselves wholly to Christ?
Our sexual desire causes us to pause… and pursue other things, other gods, that grant us permission… that grant us “freedom” to do as we please… and to pretend we have freedom to sin as our appetites crave...
Regardless of the reason… what are we to do if we find ourselves guilty of idolatry and unbelief?
Guilty of compromising our faith? Or even tempted to compromise on our faithfulness?
Cry out to God — look to Him...
As we will see in the coming weeks— time and time again we see the people of God when they are caught in their sin by God, and can no longer withstand His discipline, they cry out to Him for deliverance, for saving
And each time God hears their cries and He raises up for them a deliverer, a savior
And He has done such a thing for you… Just as He raised up judges for the people of Israel, He has raised up a man, that whoever would trust in Him would be saved from their sins, their guilt and their shame… not for a time, but for all time
God, the Judge, has given us His Son, and to His Son He has given all authority on matters of salvation...
Thus, if you feel yourself convicted this hour, cry out to Christ… cry out to Him for your salvation, for your forgiveness… and He will hear you, and He will deliver you
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