Imitating the enemy

Judges 2:1–13 NKJV

1 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and 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 tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ” 4 So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. 6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land. 7 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. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 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. 13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

The book of Judges begins with a series of victories and defeats that took place after the death of Joshua.

To find who Joshua is; we need to look back to the book of Exodus chapter 3 to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 34.

In time frame the bible focuses on the ministry of Moses.

He was God’s chosen servant to lead the nation of Israel.

But when Moses died a new servant came on the scene and took to the place of Moses and this is where Joshua really comes on the scene.

God spent many years preparing Joshua for this calling.

He was born into slavery in Egypt and was given the name Hoshea which means salvation.

Moses later changed his name to Joshua.

Joshua belonged to the tribe of Ephraim and was the first born of Nun.

While in Egypt; Joshua saw all the signs and wonders that God performed

and Joshua knew that Jehovah was a God of power who would care for people.

Joshua saw the Lord open the red sea and then close the waters and drown the pursuing Egyptian army.

Joshua was a man of faith and who knew the Lord and trusted Him to do wonders for His people.

Joshua led the people of Israel to follow after God

But in this story we fast forward, to after the death of this great leader

He died at 110 years old.

They buried him in the mountains of Ephraim; on the north side of mount gassh

When all that generations were gathered to their fathers.

In other words; when that generation died off

the bible tells us that a new generation arose that did not know the Lord and the works that He had done

11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; which were false gods

12 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.

13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Tonight

I want to preach to you on the subject;

Imitating the Enemy

The first thing I want us to look at is this:

1 The Danger in Imitating the enemy

In this day of when society contains people of opposing beliefs and lifestyles

It is easy to get confused and even start thinking that tolerance is the same as approval.

tolerance is the act of tolerating something that differs in belief or in practice.

tolerance is the act of tolerating something that differs in belief or in practice.

Approval- is an act or instance of approving something

let me give you an example;

We tolerate the “sinful lifestyle” because it is the world we live in

However although we tolerate it

We don’t approve of it, nor do we act upon it.

In democracy; which we are a part of

the law gives people the freedom to worship as they please.

And we must exercise patience and tolerance with those who believe and practice things that God has condemned in His word.

;

Romans 13:1 NKJV

1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

In other words; we don’t have the power or authority to go around eliminating people because they believe different than we do

However;

We do have the obligation before God to maintain a separate walk so we don’t become defiled by those who disagree with us

You and i must seek by prayer, by witness and by persuasion to win those to Christ who have not yet trusted in Him

The Jews eventually became so accustomed to the sinful ways of their pagan neighbors that eventually their ways didn’t seem sinful anymore.

The Jews became interested in the way that they worshipped that they started to live like their enemies.

What you and I need to understand today is that;\

The first step away from the Lord is “friendship with the world.

which leads us to becoming stained by the things of the world

which then leads to us falling in love with the world.

and gradually we become conformed to the patterns of the world.

Paul said in

Romans 12:1-

Romans 12:1–2 NKJV

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The danger is that if we are not careful; We can easily be conformed to this world if we are not careful

There is a fine line between tolerance and approval

We tolerate because we live in this world

We don’t approve because we are not of this world

This world is not our home

We are just pilgrims that are passing through.

And on this journey we are to affect this world; not let the world affect us.

Judges 2:12 NKJV

12 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.

There is not a thing you and I can do to avoid the world we live in

All the filth and wickedness

those that wont nothing to do with God.

A world that in many ways is like Sodom and Gomorrah

Friend say what you want to

But judgement will come to this earth

And those that “Imitate the enemy: will feel the wrath of God’s judgement.

to imitate the enemy is to approve of the things of this world.

and in doing so

1. there is a danger

2. in doing so there is disobedience

It is believed that in vs one that the angel of the Lord that came up from Gilgal; was the Lord Himself

and the fact that God Himself came to give the message shows how serious things had become in Israel.

The tabernacle was originally located at Gilgal

and it was there that the men of Israel were circumcised and rolled away the reproach of Egypt.

It was also there that the Lord appeared to Joshua and assured him of victory as he began his campaign to conquer Canaan

To Joshua; the angel of the Lord brought a message of encouragement;

but to the new generation described in the book of Judges, He brought a message of punishment

The Lord had kept his covenant with Israel

The

Not even one word of His promises had failed Israel

But he had asked them to keep their covenant with Him by obeying HIs law and destroying the Canaanite religious system

Which meant to destroy their altars, their temples, and their Idols.

But Israel

the new generation disobeyed the Lord

and they not only spared the Canaanites and their godless religious system

But they began to follow the enemy’s lifestyle.

They began to imitate the enemy.

The nation of Israel found themselves enslaved to one pagan nation after another

That same sin will conquer our lives.

The nation of Israel found themselves enslaved to one pagan nation after another

and the Lord kept His word

He chastened the people.

They were a people that imitated the enemy

and because of this

It brought danger to their lives

It brought disobedience to their lives

It caused them to obey the enemy

When you and I fail to conquer the sin in our lives

That same sin will conquer our lives.

They forgot what the Lord had done

they forsook what the Lord had said

They forfeited what the Lord had promised

they failed to learn from what the Lord did

Judges 2:13-

Judges 2:13–15 NKJV

13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 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. 15 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.

They played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them

the bible tells us they did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way

and the bible tells us that the Lord was hot against Israel and

because they had transgressed His covenant and not heeded to His voice

that He was no longer going to drive out those that come against them

Our generation is transgressing against the covenant of God

Our generation is not heeded to His voice

Our generation is disobedient

They have forsook what the Lord had said.

Our generation is forfeiting the Lords promise

We are failing to learn from what the Lord did,.

It’s time we wake up

It’s time we get ready for battle,

Although we live in this world

We were called to come out a be separate from this world.

There is a battle that is in front of us and as it stands we are loosing this battle.

some off you have conformed to this world so much that you have accepted or have approved the very things that go against the word of God.

We live in a fleshly body but we are in a spiritual battle

A battle that cannot be fought with the weapons of this world

Paul said in:

2 Corinthians 2:3–6 NKJV

3 And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. 5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,

2 Corinthians 10:3–6 NKJV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

2 Corinthians 2:

You might would say that I’m not ready to go into battle

Friend you better get ready.

The enemy is no respecter of age.

He’ll do everything can to get you to imitate him

You are in a battle and you better well learn how to fight now.

When God goes to war He goes to win and He will usually will choose the most unlikely soldier and hand them the most unusual weapon

and He will accomplish great things through them

God gave a man by the name of Shamgar an ox goad

and he killed 600 men in battle

not to mention Samson who slaughtered 1000 men with the jaw bone of a donkey.

and David slew the philistine giant “Goliath” with a stone and a sling.

As long as you are in this world

You will be involved in a spiritual battle against the enemy of your soul.

and God is still looking for men and women who have what it takes to win........................

The enemy has set out to cause you to imitate him.

But I’m convinced that there are those of this generation that who are willing to take a stand.