Spiritual Adultery

Introduction:

I hope no one in here has experienced the PAIN OF ADULTERY, but statistics show there probably are some folks here, and some folks you know, that have had a spouse be unfaithful to them in some way.

For those of us that have never experienced this pain, I hope and pray that none of us will ever experience this pain.

But there is ONE among us today that has experienced this pain. As a matter of fact they have experienced the pain of adultery OVER and OVER and OVER again...

God Himself. Listen to the pain in His voice...

Jeremiah 3:20 ESV

Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.’ ”

Isaiah 1:21 CSB

The faithful town— what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now, murderers!

Ezekiel 16:30 ESV

“How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute,

Ezekiel 16:32 ESV

Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

How does this happen in a marriage? How does this happen in one’s relationship with God? Casting Crowns put it this way in their song “SLOW FADE...”

It's a slow fade When you give yourself away It's a slow fade When black and white have turned to grey And thoughts invade, choices made A price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day It's a slow fade It's a slow fade

And that’s what it is both physically and spiritually. It’s a...

Slow Fade (2:6-10)

Judges 2:6–10 NKJV

And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land. So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

While vv. 6-10 may seem to happen in rapid succession, it actually covers about two generations. It seems that the generation that lived while Joshua was alive was faithful to the Lord, and even the generation that lived after Joshua passed off the scene, even though they didn’t get rid of the Canaanites as they were told seemed to be faithful to the Lord in a lot of areas, but the NEXT generation didn’t KNOW the LORD neither did they KNOW the things that He had done for them!

As one commentary notes, this passage gives us a CONTRAST between the ERA OF FAITHFULNESS and a NEW, FAITHLESS GENERATION!

One generation HAD SEEN God at work first hand. They KNEW Him personally and experientially.

The generation spoken of in this text didn’t even ACKNOWLEDGE Him!

Was this as a result of a failure of the parents to IMPRESS upon their children the FAITH, was it as a result of the CANAANITE influence we spoke of last week or a combination of both?

While we do not know for sure WHY this was the case, the concept does not imply they were IGNORANT of God and what He had done, but rather WILLFUL UNBELIEF

This leads me to think that the REFUSAL to remove the Canaanites not only affected that generation, but also affected the GENERATIONS to come!

Daniel Block notes:

When people lose sight of God’s grace, they lose sight of God and the sense of any obligation to him. All that follows in the book is a consequence of Israel’s loss of memory.

Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary (The Death of Joshua (2:6–10))

But each generation must enter into its own living religious experience; it cannot continue in the spiritual strength of its past heroes.

When God is neglected...

The Spiritual Vacuum Will be Filled (2:11-15)

Judges 2:11–15 NKJV

Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

Those verses SUM UP the Book of Judges...

It began with them FORGETTING and it led to them FORSAKING!

There are a couple of important things I really want you to pay attention to in vv. 12-13...

They ABANDONED the Lord (note vv. 12, 13), the God of THEIR fathers

They WENT AFTER other gods, (NOTICE) from among the gods of the PEOPLES AROUND THEM (CANAANITE GODS) (vv. 12-13)

The word ABANDON in the Hebrew means…TO FORSAKE OR LEAVE BEHIND

Instead of PURSUING the God who had PURSUED them and DELIVERED their forefathers, they ABANDONED Him and substituted Him for a LIFELESS god.

Not only that but the worship of these Canaanite “gods” included what one commentary calls, “THE MOST DEBASING IMMORALITY IMAGINABLE.”

It’s also interesting that of the definitions for “Baalim” in the plural form can mean “HUSBANDS” goes further to point to the METAPHOR of adultery.

Notice Jeremiah 3:6

Jeremiah 3:6 ESV

The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?

They did what so many people do today…THEY DEMONSTRATED THE HUMAN TENDENCY TO SEEK FULFILLMENT OUTSIDE OF GOD!

This CYCLE DEMONSTRATES A CONTINUAL RELAPSE!

Joseph Excell says...

Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (Vers. 11–15)

God was angry with Israel because He loved them, and desired their love, for their own good...Victory for us in all the good fight of life depends on our cleaving to Him, and forsaking all other.

As a result God sold them into slavery...

God was outraged and rightly so, but in the midst of His holy outrage...

God’s Mercy & Grace Remain Available (2:16-23)

Notice Judges 2:16-23

Judges 2:16–23 NKJV

Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of 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 oppressed them and harassed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way. Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

Notice God’s response to their unfaithfulness. Yes, he allows them to be disciplined, but in this midst of His judgment, He raises up judges to demonstrate His MERCY AND GRACE! They had been UNFAITHFUL, yet His FAITHFUL LOVE AND MERCY remain!

Victor Hamilton said:

God graciously and continually raised up judges to rectify the situation, not because of any repentance from the people, but because of the kind of God he is

Notice again

Judges 2:18 (ESV)

Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from 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.

Immediately after the judge passed off the scene they went right back to their SPIRITUAL ADULTERY!

THEY KEPT GOING BACK TO THE VERY THING THAT WAS DESTROYING THEM!

They went right back to the “LOVERS” who had tortured them, afflicted them, consumed them…THIS IS THE PICTURE OF ADDICTION!

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE REFUSES TO DRIVE THE “CANAANITES” OUT OF THEIR LIVES!

Because they refused to drive the Canaanites out...

The Thorn Remains (3:1-6)

God had told them that if they didn’t drive them out, He wasn’t going to do it FOR them, although He was willing to ENABLE and HELP THEM to do what needed to be done.

Notice Judges 3:1-6

Judges 3:1–6 ESV

Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

As a result of their rebellion, THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN SOME REALLY HARD LESSONS, THE HARD WAY!

Sadly it doesn’t seem they learned those lessons...

Not only did they become COMFORTABLE with the Canaanites they chose to MARRY them and give their CHILDREN in marriage to them, and continued to commit SPIRITUAL ADULTERY!

Applications

God is Faithful to Us, Even When His Children are not Faithful to Him

In the book of Hosea, God uses the story of a faithful husband and an unfaithful wife to illustrate His relationship with the nation of Israel. He remains committed even when they are unfaithful, showing the depth of His love and the pain caused by their spiritual adultery. This powerful illustration encourages us to turn back to God's unfailing love.

God Loves His Children Too Much to Let Them Continue in Rebellion, Without Discipline

Christ and Christ Alone is the Answer to Freedom From Spiritual Bondage

The greatest enemy Israel had was ITSELF. The greatest enemy I have is my FLESH. The greatest enemy you have is your FLESH!

Only Christ and the power of the HOLY SPIRIT can deliver us from the wretched people that we are by nature!

Compromise with the Canaanites only Leads to Further Enslavement

Revelation 2:1–7 ESV

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Remember

Repent

Return

Illustration of old man and wife in pickup truck

Who MOVED? You or God?

James 4:8 NKJV

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.