“Don’t Forget About the Work of the Lord!”

For the last several years I have gotten up super early on Easter to think about how many people so easily awake to forget about Jesus and what He has done for us. Our society has not helped with this over the years. It is so easy to put things on our schedule on Sunday’s or just to sleep in on a Sunday because we have worked so hard throughout the week. So, I want to ask are we a generation that has forgotten about the Lord? I want to draw your attention this morning to an Old Testament passage from Judges chapter 2 to make us aware of the fact that we can so easily forget the Lord and the work He has done for us. If not careful loved ones we can so easily forget about what Jesus has done for us on the cross and we forget to take time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus over death, sin and Satan. And so today this Easter Sunday I am forever great-full for the greatest sacrifice that has ever been given for mankind.

Judges 2:10–17 ESV

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 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. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. 16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.

1. There was a generation who remembered the Lord.

Verse 17 here reminds us that their fathers walked with God and obeyed God’s commandments.

Judges 2:10 ESV

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

What verse 10 tells us here is that there was a time during the generation of Joshua where people knew God, and what He had done for Israel. This actually builds off the promise that God had given to the leader before Joshua who was Moses. We see this in Exodus chapter 6. Listen to just a few verses here of chapter 6.

Exodus 6:7–8 ESV

7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”

What God had done for this earlier generation was to take them out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt and to show them constantly His mighty and wonderful works, as the nation of Israel made their way to the Promise Land. During their journey over and over again God showed this people His provision, His miracles and ultimately His salvation. I want you to understand this today because so often we hear today about previous generations who lived for the Lord. We hear stories told like this. My grandma was a godly woman who prayed for me and brought me to church and taught me to love God. My father in law told me that if I wanted to date his daughter I had to come to church and thankfully I did because this is where I heard about the love of God and His forgiveness. The generations that have gone before us, and not all, but many had a love for God and a desire to follow Him and tell their children and grandchildren about God just like Israel did at one time. This generation remembered the Lord and His works.

2. There was a generation who forgot about God and did not follow Him.

Judges 2:11–13 ESV

11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

Joshua’s generation, as long as it lasted continued to bear witness of all of God’s great and wonderful acts, but eventually Joshua dies and this generation of people is replaced by a new generation of people who are ignorant of what God has done. They did not know God’s actions and His provisions and so they began to live how they wanted. They did what was right in their own eyes. There is actually this theme that runs throughout the book of Judges as we see this theme mentioned in chapter 17 and then again in chapter 21.

Judges 17:6 ESV

6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

“EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES”

This is how many people live today! Church, a generation that does not continue to teach it’s children who God is and what He has done will eventually lose its children to a false religion or no religion at all. Sadly, this is where we find ourselves at today. We are a society that has forgotten about God and many live however they desire seeing nothing wrong with their ungodly behavior. I hear many people say today well as long as someones behavior doesn’t hurt me or bother me this person can live and do whatever they would like. NO! We should not be worried that someones behavior or sin hurts us, we should be more concerned that our sin or someone else’s sin hurts God. Why? Because someday we will all stand before God and give an account for how we have lived. We should be fearful of a holy God. Our sin hurts God almighty and our sin separates us from a holy and righteous God. There were two distinct ways that we see here how Israel forgot their God.

-The people abandoned the Lord. (verse 12,13) What we see here is that by serving Baal they abandoned God. When we go back to Joshua’s time we see that he had given them the consequences of what would happen if they forgot to worship God and Him only.

Joshua 24:20 ESV

20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

When you go back to the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses in Exodus chapter 20 we see that the first commandment is not to worship or have any other gods, because God is a jealous God. So, we see God’s standard and what happens when we disobey this standard. In contrast to Israel the Canaanites worshiped many gods. And now Israel was doing the same.

-They went after other gods. (verse 12)

In verses 12 and 13 we see that they served the Baals and Ashtaroth. And again in verse 12 we see that they bowed down to these gods.

The two gods mentioned here in verse 13 are Baal and Astarte or in the plural Ashtaroth. These two deities are often shown as challenging the Israelites exclusive worship of Yahweh. Who was Baal? Baal was a storm god and so many believed that he was essential for fertility in the Land. Astarte was the goddess of war, and so the worship of this god was a key for success in battle. These two false gods were believed to be essential for survival, and for a people dependent on the changes in ancient agricultural production to lean on a god like this. So, the temptation here was to worship these Canaanite gods. Clearly the people had forgotten about the Lord their God, they abandoned Him. May this be a stern warning for us not to forget God.

3. The consequences of forgetting the Lord.

Judges 2:14–15 ESV

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. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

If you forget to watch how fast you drive the consequences most likely is that you will receive a costly ticket. As we see here from our text this type of behavior and chasing after other gods has now led to the anger of the Lord. This infuriated God. This means that God was grieved and yet also burning with anger. This divine anger leads to divine action. God hands Israel over to the plunderers and we see in verse 14. These plunderers eventually brought Israel’s downfall as we read in 2 Kings 17.

My point here is that God’s response to Israel’s sin is just and yet controlled. The punishment fits the crime. The punishment that God hands out here was in keeping with the warnings that had already been given out as we read about in Joshua 24. And so not only is the consequence of Israel’s sin that the the Lord’s anger is against Israel and they they are plundered, but notice the end of verse 15. Israel is in terrible distress. The CSB version tells us that Israel suffered greatly. Church this is the consequence of our sin when we forget about God and chase after other gods, we will suffer greatly! Look around our world today. More people are stressed out than ever. More people are dealing with worry, anxiety, depression than ever. More people are confused, irritated, angry than ever before. Families, schools and our country are falling apart. Why? Because we have forgotten God, we have abandoned God. Everyone is living how they think they should live and meanwhile we are in terrible distress. But there is hope today. Notice what happened for Israel in verse 16.

4. God remembered Israel and provided salvation.

Judges 2:16–17 ESV

16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.

As we move to verse 16 we see God’s compassion. Something unexpected has happened. Yahweh raised up judges for His people. God’s salvation comes in the form of raising up judges for His people. These judges like Sampson, Gideon and others would come to settle disputes and help to be leaders for the people of Israel. We see this specifically when Samuel appears to dispense justice, and also as a spiritual leader for the people. But these judges and eventually the kings of Israel were only temporary deliverers.

Let me remind us of another judge and king lest we too forget. However, this judge is perfect just and righteous in every way. The judge that I want to remind us of helps us to see that He too came to deliver and save His people from their sin. Jesus came to give us a clear conscience. This is something that throughout the Old Testament was constantly an issue. It was an issue with Old Testament sacrifices and priests, it was an issue with Old Testament judges and even kings, but through the blood of Christ church are sins can be washed and cleansed forever. How can this happen? When Jesus died on the cross we also know that He rose triumphantly out of the tomb. Look at John chapter 20 with me. John 20 verse 11.

John 20:11–18 ESV

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Marry announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” Jesus has risen from the dead. We need to be reminded of this life changing news again and again lest we too forget. So, here we are in the modern age. We have so many things at our fingertips. We are in the age of science, the Internet, organ transplants, instant messaging, cell phones, and AI. However our problem is still the same as always. Many people have forgotten God and their conscience condemns them. Many people carry around guilt, shame and embarrassment because they have sinned and forgotten God. They have chased after other gods. They don’t feel good enough to come to God. But why is this? We as a people are defiled by pride, bitterness, lust, envy, jealousy, apathy and fear. The bible calls of these things dead works. These are all dead works because there is no spiritual life that come from these things. They all lead to death and that is why these things make us feel hopeless in our consciences. The only answer in these days is the same as in all other times. The Blood of Christ. Whey your conscience rises up and condemns you, where will you turn? Will you turn to your own ways, to your own pleasures and more false gods or will you turn to Jesus? I urge you today to turn to Christ if you have never surrendered your life to Christ turn to Him. Jesus is the only just judge and cleansing agent that can give your conscience relief in life and peace in death.

If you are here today and you have never trusted Christ or surrendered your life to Him don’t forget that He loves you and can forgive you of your sin. If you are here today and you are running from God, don’t forget He wants you to come home and you can be forgiven. If you are here today and love the Lord don’t forget to tell others about His goodness.