The Cycle of Sin

Theme: The next generation forgot the LORD, and Israel entered a spiraling cycle of sin—yet God’s mercy raised deliverers. Key Verse: Judges 2:19 — “When the judge was dead, they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers…”

Quick Recap (from last week, Judg 2:1–5)

God Himself (the Angel of the LORD) rebuked Israel for covenant-breaking and altar-tolerating. The people wept and sacrificed at Bochim — but their sorrow didn’t mature into repentance. Lesson: tears without transformation change nothing.

Introduction (historical setup)

After WWII, Churchill warned that an “Iron Curtain” would fall if vigilance waned. He was right: nations that tasted freedom slipped back into bondage. That’s Judges: under Joshua there was faithfulness; then the next generation forgot—and bondage returned. Big idea: Past victories never guarantee future faithfulness. Each generation must know the LORD.

1) Faithfulness Under Joshua → A Lost Generation (vv. 6–10)

Exposition

vv. 6–9 — Under Joshua and the elders, Israel served the LORD.

Guzik: “Servant of the LORD” is a rare, weighty title (Moses, David). Joshua’s legacy is seen in the people’s godliness.

Phillips (Holman): The “flashback” reminds us the root problem wasn’t politics or geography—it was forgetting God. The first generation knew His works; they’d seen them firsthand.

Stone (notes): Judges alters Joshua’s wording: from “knew” to “had seen,” highlighting eyewitness experience of God’s mighty acts.

v. 10 — “Another generation arose who did not know the LORD nor His works.”

Phillips: God has no grandchildren. There was a breakdown in Deut 6 discipleship: priests and fathers failed to teach; the next generation embraced spiritual amnesia.

Stone (notes): “Another” emphasizes different in character, not just later. “Know” (yadaʿ) = covenantal acknowledgment; they refused the LORD’s claim.

Lessons

Faith must be personally owned and intentionally passed on.

If we don’t catechize, the culture will.

Discussion

What practices help us obey Deut 6 at home and in church?

Where do you see “spiritual amnesia” today?

2) Apostasy & Anger: From Serving Yahweh to Serving Baal (vv. 11–15)

Exposition

vv. 11–13 — “They did evil… served the Baals… and the Ashtoreths; they forsook the LORD.”

Guzik: People prefer gods they can control—idols conform to our desires.

Baal: weather/agriculture → wealth (plural “Baals” = localized forms). “Baal” also means “husband/owner” — Israel took another “husband.”

Ashtoreth: sex/fertility cults, ritual prostitution (Cundall).

Phillips: Evil here is intentional covenant violation. They traded Creator for created things (Rom 1:25). Worship became spiritual adultery.

Stone (notes): “Did evil in the LORD’s eyes” frames the whole era, not isolated lapses. The heart issue is the First Commandment.

vv. 14–15 — The LORD’s anger burned; He sold them to raiders. His hand was against them.

Guzik: This fulfilled Lev 26/Deut 28. Under the Old Covenant, curses followed disobedience. (We are under a better covenant; but consequences still come.)

b. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them: The purpose of all this was so that when Israel was greatly distressed, they would turn their hearts back to LORD. God’s goal wasn’t punishment in itself, but repentance.

i. Therefore, we should see this as a manifestation of God’s love for Israel instead of His hate. The worst judgment God can bring upon a person is to leave them alone, to stop trying to bring them to repentance.

ii. We see the same principle in the relationship between parents and children. Though children often wish their parents would just leave them alone, it is really their worst fear that no one would love them enough to correct them. The mid 1990s told the story of a woman named Shannon Wilsey who was a well-known actress in pornographic films. As a 23-year-old woman she made a lot of movies and a lot of money; yet she put a gun to her head and killed her self. Though a success by some standards, the detective investigating her death said, “I think her whole life caused this suicide.” Shannon bragged about doing crazy things, yet she told a close friend that she wished her mother would have stopped her. The friend said, “She felt bad because her mother didn’t say anything about her being in the [pornography] business.” After her suicide, an unmailed letter was found where she described about what she wished her dad would have done. “Where were you when I was dating rock star Gregg Allman when he was twenty-five years older than me? Where were you when I was on heroin? Where were you when I started doing porno movies?” The dad said he would have been there had she only asked.

Phillips: God’s discipline aims at repentance, not destruction; the worst judgment is when He leaves us alone.

Stone (notes): “Raiders” may echo Egyptian “Shasu” brigands; chaos marked the age.

Lessons

Idolatry is never “alongside Yahweh”; it is forsaking Yahweh.

Discipline is love in action; God opposes His people when they oppose His covenant.

Discussion

What are today’s Baals (wealth, security) and Ashtoreths (pleasure, approval)?

How does God’s anger reveal His love?

3) Mercy in the Middle: Judges Raised, People Resisting (vv. 16–18)

Exposition

v. 16 — “Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges…”

Guzik: “Nevertheless” = sheer grace; deliverers came though undeserved.

Stone (notes): “Raised up” marks clear divine origin (esp. Othniel/Ehud).

v. 17 — They would not listen; they “played the harlot.”

Guzik/Trapp: They wanted military help without spiritual leadership. “Harlotry” = stubborn, costly pursuit of idols.

Stone (notes): The book is ambivalent about the judges’ spiritual impact; the people’s hearts remained wayward.

v. 18 — The LORD was with the judge and moved to pity at their groaning.

Phillips: God’s emotions range from anger to compassion; like a Father, He steps in.

Stone (notes): Deliverance is rooted in Yahweh’s pity, not Israel’s merits.

Lessons

God’s compassion outruns our rebellion.

Temporary relief isn’t the same as renewed hearts.

Discussion

How do the judges foreshadow Christ, our once-for-all Deliverer?

Why does God’s pity matter alongside His wrath?

4) The Downward Spiral & Divine Test (vv. 19–23; 3:1–6 preview)

Exposition

v. 19 — After each judge died, they became more corrupt.

Phillips: The cycle descends a slope; not flat loops but worsening spirals.

Guzik: New Covenant believers have the Spirit within; we need not repeat this pattern.

vv. 20–21 — “This nation has violated My covenant… I will no longer drive out the nations.”

Guzik/Trapp: “This nation” (not “My”) signals relational distance. The severest discipline? God lets them have what they want.

Stone (notes): Rare direct speech from Yahweh; covenant language is unusual in Judges — its appearance marks the seriousness.

v. 22 — God left nations “to test Israel.”

Stone (notes): Same verb as Gen 22:1; here, to expose obedience.

3:1–4 (preview): Also pedagogical — to teach the new generation “the wars of Canaan” (not just combat, but total fidelity to Yahweh).

3:5–6 (summary preview): They lived among, intermarried with, and served the gods of the nations — the threefold failure.

Lessons

God may leave tests in place to form obedience and reveal hearts.

The choice is clear: live among & like the nations, or live holy unto the LORD.

Discussion

What “tests” has God left in your life to teach obedience?

How do we avoid “sanctification by relocation” (Meyer)—taking the same heart problems to new places?

Applications (pulling the threads)

Pass it on: Build rhythms (family worship, testimony-sharing, Scripture memory) so the next generation knows the LORD.

Name your idols: Identify where wealth, comfort, sex, approval, control rival Christ. Tear down the altars.

Seek true repentance: Don’t settle for Bochim tears — seek transformation (Joel 2:13; 2 Cor 7:10).

Embrace God’s tests: See them as mercy to train and prove your obedience.

Closing Illustration & Charge

After a generation of remarkable sacrifice, the young American nation slowly drifted from that spirit — within decades, deep division erupted into civil war. One generation’s victory didn’t preserve the next.

That’s Judges. Under Joshua, faith flourished. The next generation forgot. The cycle began. Charge: Don’t live on borrowed faith. Don’t rely on yesterday’s victories. Remember the LORD, repent fully, and pass faith on. Only Jesus, the true Deliverer, breaks the cycle—for good.