Judges 2

LOST: The Book of Judges

Judges 2

INTRODUCTION

[Greeting]

This week we start a new study called LOST through the book of Judges. There was an old parable of a man who was about to shoot a bear. The bear said, “Wait! What do you want?” The hunter said, “I want a fur coat for the winter.” The bear said, “And I want a full stomach. Let’s compromise.” Later, the bear got up and walked away—alone. He had his full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat.

This is essentially of what we’ll see in the Book of Judges is a progression of compromise in God’s people. My hope in our series this semester is that you would be aware of your own walk with the Lord and be careful to walk faithfully with Jesus Christ.

So, turn in your Bibles to Judges 2:1-15 and let’s stand and read together.

SERMON

The book of Judges is about the steady decline and compromise of God’s people because they wanted to trust themselves instead of trusting what God said. We can sum it the whole book in Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The book of Judges helps us answer the question “What happens when God’s people stop obeying God.”

Tonight we’ll three important spiritual realities that should give us pause to consider the condition of your heart. Here is where we’re going tonight and what I want you to see.

Be Confronted with Hard Truths

Commemorate what God Has Done

Avoid the Calamity of Choosing Sin

In looking at these hope is that we’d come away knowing that When God’s people forget what He has done, we will replace Him with easy compromise.

1. Be Confronted with Hard Truths (2:1-5)

In verses 1-5 we see that God confronts his people. Listen to what God says in Judges 2:1–3 “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, 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? 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.””

There are a couple of important elements here. First, in verse 1 we see that the “Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim.” is the one delivering the message. Both scholars and theologians agree there is a high possibility that this is the pre-incarnate Christ - meaning that before Jesus Christ was born of Mary many believe we see him here and in other places in the old testament. We don’t know for sure but I lean towards that this is Jesus because we see that this angel of the Lord is speaking in first person.

Next, look at what God says to the Israelites. He says “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, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’

What we’re seeing here is that God draws their attention back to the covenant and His own faithfulness that He made to them. God reminds them of how he parted the red sea and delivered them from the Egyptians and then, how He kept his promise to being responsible for bringing them to location and place that he promised in Genesis. God also reminds them of their side of the covenant and being His people which was to “ make no covenant with the inhabitants “ and that that they “shall break down their altars.’” the conclusion of what happened is next is that they did “not obeyed my [God’s] voice”

What we’re looking at is the typical reality of many of the lives of God’s people, where God has kept His word fully but we are the ones who are unfaithful and are going away from God. The resounding message here is that God will always keep his word on all accounts! This is good news fro you and I as God’s people...until it isn’t.

Look with me at Judges 2:3 “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.”” God is covenant keeping God, meaning that no matter what God will keep His word - even when you and I don’t. 2 Timothy 2:13 “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” we didn't read this together but look with at at Joshua 23:12–13 where we see the covenant that God made. “For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.” God is simply keeping his Word In verse 3 and we see that God is Just, in that he keeps His word at all time. Many Christians have read this and think that God is unfair or he changing His Word but really God holding to his Word.

My dad was good at keeping his word. There was a time my dad promised me that he would give me a certain amount of “lick” depending on how many conduct marks I got. I ended up with 300 licks - even to the point where he answered the phone and ahd a conversation then went back to whooping me. In this instance, we see my dad was taking after our heavenly father in being just.

Here’s point I’m wanting to make for us - we need to be comfortable in being confronted with the truth. When was the last time you read God’s word and you were convinced that you were the problem and not your situation. a healthy view of self is that we are subject and cause for our own spiritual issues. If you want to grow in life and in your journey with Christ - you have to come to a place where you are ok being confronted with the truth, from God’s people and especially God’s Word!

The response of Israel should be mimicked for anytime we are faced with our sin problem - which is to weep (“bochim”)

2. Commemorate what God Has Done (2:6-10)

Second, I want us to see the need to remember all that God has done that would drive us forward in faithfulness towards God. Notice the contrast in verses 6-10. In v.6 Joshua dispersed God’s people to where they needed to go - which was their own land that God promised. v.7 we see God’s people follow in obedience to what God has said through Joshua. In contrast, we see in verse 8-9, that now Joshua has died in his own land and inheritance but in verse 10 we see that the next generation did not continue to follow God but lived in disobedience. The difference between the two different generations after Joshua died was their faithfulness and obedience to God.

The point here is that we see the beginning of the rest of the downward spiral of God’s people. We see it in Judges 2:10 “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” Notice that the beginning of the cycle of sin and compromise began with a generation not knowing God!

I think it’s important see here that what we’re not seeing here is that they didn’t know the name of God or the history of it’s people but the idea here is that there was a generation of God’s people that didn’t know God personally and for themselves. It’s the difference between knowing about Michael Jordan and knowing Michael Jordan. It’s the difference of knowing that Gabe is our student associate and knowing that Gabe really loved 5 daughters donuts [show donut video]. It’s also the difference between knowing that Alex is a student ministry resident and knowing that Alex works at Starbucks [show picture].

The point here is that when a whole generation does not know God experientially, meaning they don’t know God for themselves it’s the beginning of the Cycle of Sin that we will see in just a moment. When we think about it - how many of us just know about God but don’t know God for ourselves. How many of us come to church week in and week out and we struggle to know the basics of the gospel and out faith but say we’re Christians. For many of us we still stuck responding to the question of what is the gospel by saying it’s “the good news”! While simple information does not mean there transformation but we should be further along - but in all honesty I believe you aren’t fully at fault. The generation above you ought to have taught you the things of God and that’s how in Judges 2 we see a whole generation that didn’t know God.

It’s important that we ask and consider for a second how a whole generation left behind another generation who doesn’t know the Lord. My take is a 2 word sentence…No Discipleship.

Here is what the people in Judges 2 would have known. They would have know about something called the Shema which God gave in Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Discipleship and discipling someone is the act of doing deliberate spiritual good to someone else follow Christ. God’s people failed in this area. As New Testament Christians today we are not commissioned and called to be good athletes or even faithful church attenders. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you….”

2 Timothy 2:2 “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Our life begins to decline the moment God’s people fail to disciple others to remember the works and know who God is.

3. Calamity (2:11-15)

What we see in verses 11-15 is that the decision to live in disobedience to God from the Israelites causes them their own undoing. I think this portion of the text is the most rich with reality!

We see a few things here worth pointing out. First we see that the Israelites abandoned God and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (but they did what was right in their in their own eyes).

Verse 12-13 show us how they did what was evil in the sight of God. The premise is that “They went after other gods,”. The evil done here is that they broke their allegiance to God and had an affair with other god’s. This is so rich with meaning and application but I also think its important that we see that they gods they served were not random but we gods of the very people God, Yahweh, commanded they drive out.

The meaning and application drawn here is that first, what we think may be good can be evil in the fight of God. Many of us live this right here where we think something is good but it turns out it’s not what God would have you to do. Consider the choices that you have make and why you make the decision you make. The simplest way to do what is right in the eyes of God is to simply obey.

Next, we see that God never abandons us but we choose to abondaon God through disobedience and sin. God is the same distance away from us from the moment we got saved as he is today. we run, we abandoned him, and we run into the arms of convenience, comfortable living, peer-approval, only demonstrating to be lovers of self and not lovers of God!

Let this be a word to you tonight - stop running and turn to God!

Now, what is God’s response to you and I when continue to chase after everything and are committed to doing what is right in your own eyes. Judges 2:14–15 “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them.

The response of God is that I wont stand in the way of what you faithfully demonstrated that you want - despite my guidance. The Israelites were receiving the full weight of the covenant that God made with them. God gave them over to what they really want to do.

A sign of God’s love and ercy is that you get what you don’t deserve and a sign of God’s just wrath is that you get what you do deserve. We see here that God allowed them to continue in their sin and rebellion. Heaven is where God is and Hell is where He isn't.

CONCLUSION

We’ll end at the last sentence of verse 15 that says “And they were in terrible distress.” The chose to run away from God and God gave them what they wanted and we see the result of what they wanted.

The distress may seem to give us the indication they were sad or mad or even depressed but our english language doesn’t do this justice - the idea here is that they were in great and terrible bondage.

This is it he story of the God’s people in Judges and the story of God’s people in here - that you’ve chosen to live life in what was right in your own eyes and that has led you to be in great bondage, called sin that entangles us and prevents us from getting up and going back to God.

The message of Judges, which means rescuer and deliverer, is that God is our deliverer.

Heads bowed and eyes closed - what is the Lord speaking to you in this moment?

[band come up]