Untitled Sermon (13)

The Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf’

Most of us remember the story of the youngster who would cry out ‘Wolf’ whenever he desired attention. This became such a part of the communities life that when the boy truly saw a dangerous wolf about to attack no one listened.

How many times has Israel responded to the oppression of an enemy by ‘repenting?’

And how many times has God raised up deliverers and/or judges who either fight battles or bring some sort of relief?

Judges 10 is worth pondering because Israel ‘repents.’

God’s response is Judges 10:14

Judges 10:14 (HCSB)

Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your oppression.”

45 years of ?

The first few verses summarize the role of two men about whom not much is known.

Judges 10:1 (HCSB)

After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo became judge and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

Tola, son of Puah, grandson of Dodd (you can;t make these names up!) is described by three words.

A. he ‘rose to deliver’ Israel

There is no indication of God calling him or empowering him. There is also no indication of a particular enemy from which Israel needed deliverance. Perhaps after the chaotic ‘kingship’ of Abimelech, Tola served as a calming influence,

B. he ‘judged’ Israel from his home

To ‘judge’ could suggest a role of preserving the peace.

C. he served 23 years.

Tola is the only one of the judges that have a genealogy going back to a grandparent. This may indicate a family of some importance.

Judges 10:3–4 (HCSB)

The next judge is Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel 22 years. He had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys. They had 30 towns in Gilead, which are called Jair’s Villages to this day.

The significance of Jair is the number of his sons - 30! The fact they rode donkeys suggests that they didn’t use theses animals for plowing or other hard labor. Each son apparently was responsible for his own ‘city.’

He ‘judged’ for 22 years.

A Dilemma

Judges 10:6 (HCSB)

Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned Yahweh and did not worship Him.

Numerous times in these pages we read of Israel abandoning God, of Israel choosing to worship the gods and goddesses of the people whom they were supposed to drive out of the land.

In this instance our author piles on the accusations:

they did was was evil

they worshiped…(7 different gods and goddesses are identified)

they abandoned Yahweh

they did not worship Him

One author reminds us

Judges, Ruth ((1) The Marks of Israel’s Canaanization (10:6))

the seven-member list corresponds to the list of Canaanite nations in Deut 7:1 and in so doing highlights the total spiritual corruption of the nation.

A Heartfelt Cry?

Judges 10:15–16 (HCSB)

But the Israelites said, “We have sinned. Deal with us as You see fit; only deliver us today!” So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the Lord…

The people’s cry certainly sounds legitimate. Their actions appear to back up their request for relief.

And yet…

The second part of vs 15 -

“Deal with us as You see fit; only deliver us today.”

One writer paraphrases these words like this:

They prayed, in essence, “Thy will be done—as long as it includes you saving us today.

Lawson G. Stone, “Judges,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, ed. Philip W. Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012), 333.

After Abimelech’s death Israel experienced 45 years of peace. Neither of those periods of time have any reference to God’s activity in raising up leaders. The indication of Scripture is that both Tola and Jair came from families of significance and importance.

There is also no notice of Israel’s spiritual condition during these 45 years.

The decades between the death of Abimilech and the rise of Jephthah (who we will meet next Sunday) is marked by silence.

There is no mention of Israel acknowledging their oppression. There is no repentance, no obvious change of heart and life.

The prayer Israel offered in vs 15-16 is a self-centered, impassioned prayer assigning God His task.

What does this prayer reveal about Israel?

What can we learn by pausing at this passage?

Real Repentance Goes Deep

Even a quick review of the accounts recorded in Judges illustrate a people whose heart is not often in the right place.

When oppression becomes overwhelming, when circumstances are no longer bearable then God’s people appeal to Him.

Real repentance begins not with being overwhelmed. Rather, genuine repentance starts with an honest assessment of how one became overwhelmed!

In the era of the Judges Israel’s oppression was generally at the hand of God!

“The Israelites did what was evil…The Israelites again did what was evil…The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD….

After generations of these experiences Israel assumed that God would respond as He had in the past.

All they needed to do was ask.

Not this time.

Instead of dealing with the heart of the issue, Israel was simply trying to avoid the consequences of their choices.

To deal with the heart of the issue would require significant change, a return to a pattern of life of total and absolute surrender to the words and ways of God.

Genuine Prayer Requires Honesty

God sees through the petition of His people. They seek relief without change.

Honesty would require them to confront the depth of the idolatry they allowed to exist in their midst.

Seven different gods and goddesses were being worshiped.

Recall the words of Moses to the generation preparing to take the Promised Land:

Deuteronomy 29:18 (HCSB)

Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

Honesty would require Israel to admit they had allowed the roots of idolatry to grow deep.

Acknowledging Answered Prayer

We might look at this exchange an accuse God of failing to answer the prayer of His people.

He did answer:

Judges 10:11–14 (HCSB)

The Lord said to the Israelites, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to Me, did I not deliver you from their power? But you have abandoned Me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your oppression.”

God answered their prayer. It wasn’t to their liking, but He FLECT their prayer.

When we pray God answers. If we don’t receive the answer we want, don’t accuse God of silence!

Trust God’s Heart-even when you don’t see His hand

Listen to the last phrase of Judges 10:16:

Judges 10:16 (HCSB)

…He became weary of Israel’s misery.

God has not given up on His people. There are hard days ahead. There are challenges to come.

REFLECT AND RESPOND

A number of us gathered here yesterday and some weeded the flower beds.

My favorite tool used to be a weedeater. Cut the weeds off at ground level.

But weeds treated that way grow back.

So I tried ‘Roundup’ and discovered it killed the weeds - AND EVERYTHING ELSE GROWING!

The only answer: pulling the weeds out by the roots.

It is hard labor.

Real repentance requires pulling out ‘weeds’ by the roots. Some of our ‘weeds’ are deeply entrenched preferences - for styles of music, for levels of comfort, for a convenient faith.

Pulling those ‘weeds’ is hard. But real repentance calls for hard work.

Prayer - an honest conversation of God - means listening as well as talking.

God answers prayer. Too often we are too distracted to hear. And when He answers we are more prone to argue.

Genuine prayer always begins with submission. To speak to God means we have come to recognize that apart from what Jesus has done for us we have no rights whatsoever.

In the era of the Judges, God’s people depended on the nature of God. In our era, we still depend on the nature of God, though we have that nature made clear in Jesus.

Like the people living in the era of Judges we are prone to find ourselves in a world of hurt and trouble before we think to seek after God.

We can live differently.

We can choose to do the hard work of genuine repentance. When we find ourselves in a bind, instead of blaming God let’s be honest and acknowledge our own role!

We can slow down -

We can listen more than we speak-

We can trust God - His promises are certain in Jesus -

through a relationship with Jesus we can know God’s presence, God’s purpose, and God’s power -

And we can live in that relationship every moment of every day.