Breaking the Cycle

INTRO

Good morning Church who is excited to be in the house of the lord this morning?! AMEN AMEN AMEN!

Im Jed Church

And I am not only excited to be in the house of the lord but I am also excited to be bringing the word this morning

EASTER EGG HUNT

Welcome To New Anthem

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Shoutout to everyone here this morning

Lots of coffee cups with it being daylight savings today

PREFACE

Today we are continuing in the series - Unveiled: Wars & Redemption

We will be moving on to Judges Chapter 10.

You are probably going to see some similarity to last weeks message.

That is because of a recurring theme in the book…

It is a cycle of disobedience, distress, repentance, and ultimately God's merciful deliverance.

I want to lay out the different parts of this cycle.

Here is the 6 parts

SIN CYCLE OF JUDGES

Israel serves the Lord.

Israel falls into sin and idolatry.

Israel is oppressed by its enemies.

Israel cries out to the Lord.

God raises up a Judge.

Israel is delivered.

We are going to look at how the Israelites once again fell into this cycle

And we will see the importance of repentance and the limitless mercy of our God this morning.

So lets dive into the scripture.

READ SCRIPTURE

Judges 10:6–16 (ESV)

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

We won’t get to it today but following chapter 10

In the next chapters we see God raise up a new judge and deliver Israel from the hands of their enemies.

With that will you pray with me this morning

PRAY

Pray over service and message

After make a joke about asking them to leave in the music whole reading the scripture so any mistake or mispronunciations would sound more spiritual.

CONTEXT

So some extra context for us

We read that Israel is worshipping all these false gods of other nations

If we had a map we would see that all of those nations are Israel’s neighbors in practically every direction

And when the Israelites came to this land God had commanded them to conquer all the surrounding people so this wouldn’t be an issue

but they didn’t.

Now becuase they didn’t, they have falling into temptation or influence

And now we see the cycle starting over again.

STORY

Can you think if a time that you made a bad decision and had to face the consequences of it just like the Israelites?

I definitely can

And like many stories about bad decisions mine starts with Applebees.

There is two things you need to no about me

I can not pass up a good deal

I am a really fast eater

Applebees used to have $12 bottomless wings

they aren’t even good but its a good deal

you would get 6 at a time but i told them double it for efficiency

and remember this is all about the most bang for my buck so i’m not stopping when i’m full, i’m stopping when there is no more chicken.

I would destroy dozen after dozen

But as you can imagine this would come back to haunt me

FREE STYLE

Just like the Israelites, i never learned and I kept going back time and time again until they discontinued it.

And the worst part is they recently brought it back and I have done it again twice, inly now is $15 so in my mind i need to eat even more to get the same value from it

boy math

But the point is, I had to face and accept the consequences of my action

The first thing we see from this passage in Judges is

POINT ONE — There is always a consequence to sin.

Look back at verse 6-9

Judges 10:6–9 (ESV)

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

The people of Israel once again find themselves faced with the consequences of idolatry and disobedience.

They have forsaken God, turning to false gods and engaging in practices contrary to God's commandments.

And here is something interesting to note

In every instance in the whole Bible people don’t just forsake God and then worship nothing

No they always worship something else.

We were literally created to worship something.

It is hardwired into us as humans

Even atheist worship something - that could be science or their ”free will nothing maters view of the world,” etc.

So there is always something that you will be worshiping.

So the question for us is what are we worshiping other than God?

Here is the scary thing, we can come to church on a Sunday but still be worshiping another god 6 days a week.

You might be worshiping God on Sunday but putting your hope in your political candidate during the week.

DIG IN HERE

Relying on your sinful addiction to cheer you up AND BRING YOU JOY.

Trying to find your peace in the bottom of a bottle.

Putting all you trust and sense of security in your career

And before we know it there things have a higher place in our lives than God does.

that is where we prioritize our time, thats the first thing we turn to, thats where we go for answers.

Just becuase these things don’t have stupid names Ashtaroth and Baal

doesn't mean that they haven’t become gods over our lives.

In reality those things are no different than the gods Israel was worshiping

Just like the Israelites had to face the consequences of creating those idols in their lives we too face those consequences.

As we continue through this chapter we will see what must be done about this.

But I want you to really analyze your life and find any false gods or idols you have made.

So you can begin the process of turning away from it and putt God back into the rightful place in your life.

So the Israelites have fallen away from God and His commandments

They have heard about these other gods and idols that they could worship and the things they might be able to do for them

They think that sounds pretty nice and choose them over God

God is like, if you want to worship those gods and be like those people then fine here the are.

Those nations start taking over.

And Just like Pastor John said last week, God brought about momentary devastation to bring about desperation

This is exactly what we see happening to the Israelite's here.

They turned to idols and disobeyed God

So now God has allowed their enemies to prevail against them to set the on the right track again.

Because there is always a consequence to sin.

We see this truth re-iterated in the book of Romans

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We need to be vigilant against the lure of idolatry and disobedience.

Just like the Israelites we are surrounded by temptations.

We are surrounded by so many temptations and pressures to sin.

The consequences of sin are severe, and we must strive to align our lives with God's Word.

Luckily there is a solution.

There is something we can do to fix what we have done

When we turn our backs on God and try to preface Him with something else.

Which leads us to our next point

POINT TWO — There is always Response to repentance.

In their distress, the Israelites cry out to the Lord for deliverance.

Judges 10:10–15 (ESV)

And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.”

The Israelites start by just confessing their sin

We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”

God responds and He’s like “ i’m glad you see that now, but you need to cut that out.

This keeps happening and you keep serving other gods AGAIN after I save you.

And I want to point this out because I think this is a trap we can fall into so easily.

We need to make sure we are not just going to God when we need rescue.

“you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods;”

God is like, we have been here before and after i saved you the last time you stopped talking to me and served other gods.

To be honest I have had to check myself so many times

I have found myself in seasons where I start praying less and less and before i know it the only time i talk to God is when I need to be rescued.

“God i really need you to open this door”

“God I don’t know how i’m going to pay this bill”

“God my relationship is falling apart”

“God I Just lost my job”

And then i don’t even have the decency to keep up on my relationship with him after he answers my prayers.

Its like i would be content if God was just a get out of jail free card that i could always have in my back pocked for “emergencies”

And have you ever had a friend like that?

I have and they are the worst.

It is so hurtful.

And yet I would guess if we were all honest with ourselves we have done that to God.

This is what we are seeing that the Israelite have done.

But despite how awful they have treated God.

He sees their sincerity and his heart mourns over their suffering.

We see the sincerity of their repentance, and God responds to their cry.

That is the most comforting thing we can read in scripture

isn’t it so amazing that we serve the same God?

And he responds to our repentance as well?!

They say: “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.”

They humbled themselves and admitted their wrong doings

I love how it is put in 2nd Chronicles

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Repentance is not merely acknowledging wrong doing but turning away from sin and seeking God with a full and honest heart.

God, in His faithfulness, responds to genuine repentance with mercy and deliverance.

Like 2nd Chronicles says, we need to humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways.

When we repent in this way God will always respond to us.

And lastly the final part of their cycle and the final thing we need to remember this morning.

POINT THREE — There is always mercy to the obedient.

Despite Israel's repeated cycles of disobedience, God's mercy remains steadfast. Judges 10:16 captures the essence of God's compassion.

Judges 10:15–16 (ESV)

And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

This was a multi step process.

They first acknowledged what they had done AND what they deserved.

THEN with full conviction they asked for forgiveness.

Don’t miss that— “ full conviction”

We cant be half hearted when it comes to God. (RE-READ SECTIONS BOLDED)

They were honest — They admitted their wrong doing and confessed it to God.

They followed through and abandoned the false god and returned to only serving the one true God

they didn’t just pray the prayer and then keep on doing the same thing

NO the REPENTED

When we do both of these and are obedient to God.

He is faithful to us and shows His mercy and grace to us.

Ephesians chapter 2 reinforces this truth

Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Christ is the greatest news ever.

He is the best thing before and since sliced bread.

He makes this whole cycle so much easier.

We no longer need God to raise up a Judge and wait for a whole process so that we can be delivered

All we have to do is repent of our sins and respond obediently to Christs mercy.

Which he has so freely given to us

EXPAND HERE?

We need to respond to God's mercy with faithful obedience.

Instead of falling into the cycle of disobedience, distress, and repentance, short term obedience and then back to disobedience.

The Israelites repeatedly lived in this cycle,

Instead we need to choose a life marked by continual obedience to God's Word

And be guided by His unwavering love and mercy.

AMEN?!

CLOSING

After looking at Judges 10 we have seen the vital role repentance plays in our relationship with God

My prayer for you this week is this

That you would turn away from sin,

Cry out to the Lord in sincere repentance,

And embrace His mercy.

God's desire is for us to walk in faithful obedience, experiencing the abundant life He offers through Christ.

May His mercy and grace guide our hearts and actions.

Amen?

Prayer — OR — Alter call

Command and own the prayer at end

Prayer team will be available

Benediction closing