Judges: A Nation in Apostasy
Notes
Transcript
I. Introduction/Context Recap
I. Introduction/Context Recap
Recap of Previous Books:
Pentateuch: GOD ESTABLISHES PEOPLE — GIVES PROMISE (ABRAHAM)
Joshua: GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISE
JUDGMENT of CANAANITE SIN (400 YRS of MERCY/DELAYED JUDGMENT)
💡 Theological Focus: GOD GAVE THEM the LAND...💡
CONTRAST—SPIES FEAR (NUMBERS 13)
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Joshua’s End: MUCH LAND = CONQUERED...
MORE WORK to BE DONE **SEE P.P. PIC**
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Joshua’s Charge:
DOUBTED PEOPLE’S FAITHFULNESS
RENEWED COVENANT @ SHECHEM
Joshua 24:15 (ESV)
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
REMEMBER: LORD = YHWH,, GOD’S PERSONAL NAME!💡
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Transition:
JUDGES PICKS UP AFTER JOSHUA W/ SOME RECAP— JOSHUA’S DEATH = RECOUNTED in BOTH…
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II. Overview of Judges
II. Overview of Judges
JUDGES = ONE of MOST TROUBLING BOOKS in BIBLE.😬
Testimony: YOUNG BELIEVER—SHOCKED W/ WHAT’S in GOD’S WORD.
RAW PICTURE of SIN/DEPTHS of GODLESSNESS in ISRAEL...
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Helpful Note: Scripture’s Dual Nature:💡
Prescriptive: Commands to follow (e.g., “Do this”).
Descriptive: Historical accounts (e.g., “This happened”).
1 Corinthians 10:11 (ESV)
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
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ALL SCRIPTURE = GOD-BREATHED & PROFITABLE...
**SOMETIMES WE LEARN WHAT NOT TO DO!!**
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Judges’ Background:
Judges’ Background:
NAMED AFTER 12 MILITARY LEADERS (JUDGES) **See P.P. PICs**
CONNECTS JOSHUA & SAMUEL/LAST JUDGE
Authorship: JEWISH TRADITION — SAMUEL
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Key Themes:
Key Themes:
Canaanization of Israel (SCHOLAR, JOHN WALTON): ISRAEL ADOPTS the SINFUL CULTURE of the surrounding nations.
EXODUS,, GETTING ISRAEL OUT of EGYPT
LEVITICUS,, GETTING EGYPT OUT of ISRAEL…
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JOSHUA—GOING INTO LAND/CONQUEST
JUDGES—CUSTOMS of LAND GOING INTO ISRAEL
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Cycle of Sin: **SEE P.P. PIC**
SIN—PUNISHMENT—SORROW—DELIVERANCE & RELAPSE
✨ISRAEL — THEOCRACY—RULED BY GOD✨
WITHOUT a KEY-LEADER,, ISRAEL FAILED to FOLLOW YAHWEH...
Focus, Moral Decay: JUDGES RECOUNTS WHAT PEOPLE LIVING UNDER THEIR OWN TRUTH RESULTS IN...
Need for a Righteous King: Points to Christ as the ultimate King.
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III. Structure
III. Structure
Structure of Judges: **see P.P.**
Judges 1:1–3:6: The continuing conquest and Israel’s disobedience.
Judges 3:7–16:31: Stories of the judges and their deliverance.
Judges 17–21: Epilogue showcasing Israel’s religious and moral degeneration.
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IV. Teaching Texts
IV. Teaching Texts
A. Judges 1:1–3:6 - The Continuing Conquest and Failure
A. Judges 1:1–3:6 - The Continuing Conquest and Failure
Judges 1:1–7 (ESV)
1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.
4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek.
5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
Reference, Daniel Block: JUDGES BEGINS on GREAT NOTE!
(Q) What do the PEOPLE DO in V1?? INQUIRE of the LORD (YHWH)
(V2) GOD SAYS “JUDAH GOES FIRST...
=> & WHAT ELSE??/PROMISE?? “I HAVE GIVEN...”
(Q) WHAT’S the RESULT? (V4) YHWH GAVE!
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Problem:
YES,, JUDGMENT UPON SIN (ABONI-BEZEK)
BUT in CANAANITE WAY
GOD SAID DESTROY—NOT CUT OFF THUMBS & TOES...
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Transition: INITIAL SUCCESS WILL CONTINUE...
READ: V8-10
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Judges 1:8–10 (ESV)
8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.
10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
MORE INITIAL SUCCESS—ALTHOUGH JERUSALEM NOT FULLY HELD
Background: LATER,, DAVID WOULD TAKE JERUSALEM
WEAK/TEMPORARY CONTROL DURING THIS TIME...
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Transition:
NEVERTHELESS…INITIAL CONTROL WENT WELL...
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Judges 1:11–21 (ESV)
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.
12 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.”
13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people.
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.
20 And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.
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.
SOME of THIS = RECAPPING from JOSHUA
✨ Focus: STILL OVERALL an INITIAL SUCCESS...
Reason: (v19) YHWH was WITH JUDAH!
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Problem: (V19) IRON-CHARIOTS HELD THEM UP for a TIME
Further Problem: BENJAMIN UNSUCCESSFUL in JERUSALEM
Explanation: EITHER GOING BACK & FORTH,, OR ONE REFERS to MILITARY OUTPOST & OTHER = CITY.
GOD NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY—JUST THAT IT WOULD BE DOABLE!💡
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Transition:: OVERALL THINGS GOING SMOOTH...
READ.V22-26
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Judges 1:22–26 (ESV)
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.)
24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”
25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
Theological Focus: (V22) AGAIN—SUCCESS = ATTRIBUTED to GOD’S PRESENCE W/ PEOPLE of ISRAEL!💡
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Transition: BUT WE’RE GOING to ENCOUNTER SOME PROBLEMS...
READ V27-36
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Judges 1:27–36 (ESV)
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,
32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.
35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.
36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
**NOTE REPETITION of FAILURE to “DRIVE OUT”
COEXISTENCE W/ CANAANITES...
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Illustration: REMEMBER, LAST WK.: WATER DISPLACEMENT
ISRAEL WAS SUPPOSED to RID the LAND of CANAANITES & THEIR RELIGION
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Transition: ISRAEL’S PASSIVITY BROUGHT CONSEQUENCES
READ: CH.2, V.1-5
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Judges 2:1–5 (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?
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.
ANGEL of the LORD= YHWH HIMSELF/POSS. PRE-INCARNATE CHRIST.
Recounted Blessing: GOD BROUGHT THEM from EGYPT/SLAVERY!
Promised Blessing: NEVER BREAKING COVENANT...
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People’s Response: BROKE COVENANT W/ YHWH—COVENANT W/ PEOPLES...
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Consequence: GOD NO LONGER DRIVE THEM OUT— PROBLEM😬
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Transition: WE’RE NOW GOING to SEE a FLASH-BACK to JOSHUA’S END...
READ: V6-10
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Judges 2:6–10 (ESV)
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land.
7 And 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 work that the Lord had done for Israel.
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years.
9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
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.
THINGS WENT WELL for JOSHUA & HIS GENERATION...
Problem: A NEW GENERATION AROSE—DIDN’T KNOW YHWH or HIS ACTS!!
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Deuteronomy 6:4–15 (ESV)📜
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build,
11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,
12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—
15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
PROSPERITY = GREAT THREAT to SPIRITUALITY...💡
THEY FAILED to PASS it ON…GOT COMFORTABLE!
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Exhort here: HOW INTENTIONAL ARE WE WITH NEXT GENERATION??
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Transition:
THEIR FAILURE to PASS ON KNOWLEDGE of YHWH, BECOMES INCREDIBLY CLEAR,, QUICKLY...
READ. V11-15
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Judges 2:11–15 (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.
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.
GENERATION FORGOT YHWH—IMMEDIATELY SERVED OTHER gods...
Background:
BA’AL — CHIEF GOD of CANAANITES
STORMS/FERTILITY— THOUGHT to BRING RAIN (PROVIDE for LAND)
ASHTAROTH/ASTARTE— WIFE of BA’AL—FERTILITY goddess...
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God’s Response:
HE GAVE THEM OVER (V14A)
HE SOLD THEM (V14B)
**JUST as HE FOUGHT FOR THEM B4—NOW HE FOUGHT AGAINST THEM!
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Transition:
WE’LL SEE the JUDGES CYCLE BEGIN...
READ. V16-23...
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Judges 2:16–23 (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.
18 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.
19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice,
21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died,
22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.”
23 So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
**REF, AGAIN P.P. PIC. —CYCLE**
Theological Focus: GOD = STILL ONE in CONTROL. 💡
HE GAVE THEM OVER
HE SOLD THEM.
(V16) HE RAISED UP JUDGES/LEADERS
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(V17) Response?? THEY WHORED AFTER OTHER gods EVEN MORE!
CONSIDER YHWH’S COVENANTAL LOVE for ISRAEL = SIMILAR to MARRIAGE!
😮THEY WERE CHEATING on HIM!😮
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WHY??
1. CANAAN = MORE ADVANCED CULTURE
Quote, ESV Study Bible: “· To a recently freed slave people, accustomed to the hardships of life in the wilderness, the cosmopolitanism and material wealth of Late-Bronze-Age Canaan, with its large urban centers, could not have failed to impress. The Canaanites were clearly superior to the Israelites on many levels: art, literature, architecture, trade, political organization, and more. It is not difficult to see how the Israelites would have been tempted by the elaborate Canaanite religious system, which ostensibly supported—and even provided—all of this”
2. BA’AL WORSHIP & OTHERS = LOTS of SEX
CULT PROSTITUTES
NUM. CH. 25—PEOPLE LURED to BA’AL WORSHIP BY SEXUAL IMMORALITY/INVITATION
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MORE ADVANCED & SEEMINGLY BETTER LIFE...
Connection: SOUND RELEVANT???
HOW OFTEN ARE RELIGIOUS VIEWS SEEN as OUTDATED??
ENJOY LIFE
HEDONISM
SEXUAL REVOLUTION
DO WHATEVER SEEMS RIGHT to YOU!
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ISRAEL’S PROBLEM: LACK of LOVE for YHWH
LOVE for YHWH PRECLUDES ALL OTHERS...
📜📜Scriptural Support: WHAT DID JOSEPH (SON of JACOB) SAY W/ POTIPHAR’S WIFE?? HOW COULD I SIN AGAINST GOD!
A TRUE LOVE for GOD = SOLUTION to TEMPTATION TOWARDS WORLDLINESS/IDOLATRY...👣
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the FAILURE of the CONQUEST = NOT TECHNOLOGICAL,, BUT COVENANTAL....
THEY BROKE COVENANT—GOD NO LONGER HELPS...
(V22) GOD LEAVES NATIONS—TEST ISRAEL
Illustration: ADAM’S FAITHFULNESS to EVE WASN’T SPECIAL...
ISRAEL NOW HAD the CHANCE to PROVE: LOVE for YHWH???
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Transition:
WE’LL SEE TEST MORE in CH. 3…VS. 1-7
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Judges 3:1–7 (ESV)
1 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.
7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
NATIONS LEFT for TEST— WILL ISRAEL LOVE GOD??
(V2) LEARNING WAR— WILL THEY COMPLETE the CONQUEST??
Quote: One scholar has said, “This generation needs to learn that they have been called to a holy war, that Yahweh is the commander-in-chief, and that the enemy is to be totally exterminated.”
WOULD THEY FULFILL GOD’S OBJECTIVE?? OR GET COMFORTABLE/COMPLACENT...🤔
**THEY GOT COMPLACENT**
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(V7) FORGOT YAHWEH!!
Background: DEUTERONOMY: REMEMBER! REMEMBER! REMEMBER!📜
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Transition: NOW…STAGE = SET.
JUDGES COME on the SCENE...
CYCLE BEGINS...
**NOT GOING OVER THEM—ENCOURAGE, READ...
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B. Judges 3:7–16:31 - The Judges **See P.P. List**
B. Judges 3:7–16:31 - The Judges **See P.P. List**
Key Observations:
JUDGES WERE PRIMARILY DEFENSIVE FIGURES… ISRAEL to CONQUER LAND BARELY HOLDS ONTO IT!
REF. P.P. VERSUS SAUL’S KINGDOM!!
MANY HAD SIGNIFICANT FLAWS...
GIDEON:
TORE DOWN FATHER’S ALTAR to BA’AL...
LATER BUILT HIS OWN ALTAR
JEPHTHAH—DELIVERS ISRAEL.
PROB: SACRIFICES DAUGHTER
SAMSON—KILLS LOTS of PHILISTINES
BREAKS EVERY PART of NAZARITE VOW— INTERMARRIAGE & PROSTITUTES W/ PHILISTINES
EACH TIME—GOD WAS the ULTIMATE DELIVERER—USING HUMAN BEINGS…
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Transition: DOWNWARD CYCLE CONTINUES— EPILOGUE
**WORST TIME in ISRAEL’S HISTORY...
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C. Judges 17–21 - Epilogue: Increasing Decay
C. Judges 17–21 - Epilogue: Increasing Decay
Judges 17:1–6: Privatization of worship
MICAH STEALS, LIES, RESTORES—FASHIONS IDOL
PRIVATE SHRINE, HOUSEHOLD gods...
ORDAINED OWN PRIEST
😬😬**CONTRAST W/ LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD/SERIOUS!!**
Judges 17:6 (ESV)
6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
EVERYONE LIVED BY THEIR OWN TRUTH...
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MICAH HIRES a LEVITE as PRIEST
Judges 18:1 (ESV)
1 In those days there was no king in Israel.
TRIBE of DAN—MASSACRE,, ALSO ABDUCT PRIEST & IDOLS...
SET UP IDOL for THEIR OWN WORSHIP (V30-31)...
✨Focus: GREAT RELIGIOUS DEGENERATION
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Transition:
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CH.19-21: EVEN GREATER,, MORAL DEGENERATION
MAN W/ CONCUBINE GOES to GET HER & BRING HER HOME...
SPENDS NIGHT in GIBEAH
MEN BUST on DOOR—BEGGING to HAVE SEX W/ VISITING MAN
MAN’S CONCUBINE is GANG-RAPED & MURDERED
MAN CUTS HER UP AND MAILS HER BODY AROUND ISRAEL
ISRAEL GOES to WAR W/ BENJAMIN—DESTROYING MANY
REMAINDER of BENJAMIN PLUNDERS NEIGHBORING TOWNS for WIVES....
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Closing Refrain:
Judges 21:25 (ESV)
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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Transition: WILD BOOK—WHAT DOES it HAVE FOR US TODAY?
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VI. Takeaways for Today (4)
VI. Takeaways for Today (4)
1. WE NEED GOD’S LEADERSHIP
WE NEED GOD’S LAW
WE NEED GOD’S KING—CHRIST
**A PEOPLE LIVING BY THEIR OWN TRUTH...
...HAVE NO BOTTOM to the DEPTHS of SIN**
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THE PEOPLE of GOD—IN the WORLD, NOT of IT...
ISRAEL-TO BE a HOLY NATION/KINGDOM of PRIESTS
GOT COMPLACENT—BECAME LIKE CANAAN...
Reflection: WONDER @ CANAANIZATION of the CHURCH?
HOW MUCH DO OUR LIVES, FAMILIES, CHURCHES…REFLECT CHRIST MORE THAN CULTURE??
OUR LOVE for GOD — OUGHT to DISTINGUISH US— EXCLUSIVE & ONLY LOVE!!
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GOD’S GRACE = TOO GREAT to LEAVE US in SIN...
GOD CHASTENS HIS SONS...
📜📜Hebrews 12:6 (ESV)
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
GOD’S GRACE BROUGHT BOTH DISCIPLINE & DELIVERANCE
SOMETIMES HARDSHIP DRAWS US BACK to HIM
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IMPORTANCE of NEXT GENERATION...
A GENERATION AROSE THAT DIDN’T KNOW YHWH or HIS ACTS...
HOW INTENTIONAL ARE WE as a PEOPLE W/ NEXT GENERATION?
SPECIFICALLY in OUR FAMILIES…
ONE GENERATION MAKES CHURCH OPTIONAL
NEXT GENERATION SHOWS UP 2X a YEAR
NEXT GENERATION LOST
Joshua 24:15 (ESV)
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
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Closing thoughts/Questions??
Close in Prayer!
