A Covenant-keeping God!
Judges • Sermon • Submitted
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· 25 viewsGod keeps His part of the covenant of redemption even when *we* abandon *Him*
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Who’s Conquering the Canaanites?
Who’s Conquering the Canaanites?
“The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.
“But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.
Deu 7:
“I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
“I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.
“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
Ex 23:27-30
What were to be the Lord’s responsibilities in the conquest of Canaan?
esponsibility and role in the conquest of Canaan?
He would …
Terrorize and drive out the inhabitants of the land
Deliver these enemies of Israel into the hands of the Israelites
Deu 7:17-
“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’
you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
“He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.
“The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.
“You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.
Deu 7:24-
“Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.
Ex 23:
“You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.
“But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.
Ex 23:
“I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
“You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
“They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Ex 23:31-
And what were the Israelites’ responsibilities in the conquest of Canaan?
The Israelites were to …
Remember how God had done mighty miracles to deliver them out of Egypt
Utterly destroy anything associated with idolatry, even the gold and the silver
Have nothing whatever to do with the gods of the Canaanites
And they were to …
Worship, serve and obey only the Lord (Jehovah)
Completely drive out the inhabitants of the land
And What Did Israel *Do* in Canaan?
And What Did Israel *Do* in Canaan?
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. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
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.
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, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
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.
The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 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.
Judges 1:27-35
The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;
and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
Judges 3:5-7
Instead, the Israelites
Instead, the Israelites
The LORD Warns of Consequences
The LORD Warns of Consequences
Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?
“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’ ”
When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Judges 2:1-
Whose fault was it, that God now decided not to drive the Canaanites out of the land?
Now that the Israelites were worshipping idols instead of God, how would the Israelites be affected if the Lord still continued to drive out the inhabitants of the land?
How would His continued intervention shape their picture and understanding of Him?
Of themselves?
Of the pagan culture and pagan worship they were indulging in?
They would think that He …
and that they themselves …
and that these idols could / had …
Influence of Godly Leaders
Influence of Godly Leaders
The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.
And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Judges 2:7
According to , what distinguished the Israelite God-fearing parents from their children?
The word translated as “know” does not mean mere intellectual assent to a truth. It means knowing through experience, and here it means experiencing a relationship with God. The children did not have a continuing, vibrant relationship with the Lord.
What are some of the elements that make for a living, vibrant relationship with someone else?
How does that translate into having a relationship with God?
Foreword to The Sanguma Tree by Simon Liversidge
What was God Doing??
What was God Doing??
Judges 2:11-
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,
and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger.
So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
Then the Lord was incensed at Israel, and He handed them over to foes who plundered them. He surrendered them to their enemies on all sides, and they could no longer hold their own against their enemies. In all their campaigns, the hand of the Lord was against them to their undoing, as the Lord had declared and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were in great distress.
Judges 2:14-
Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them.
Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers.
Judges 2:
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.
Judges 2:
Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord … saved them from the hand of their enemies … For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning …
But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.
Judges 2:19
So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice,
I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,
in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it as their fathers did, or not.”
Judges 2:20
Why was God angry?
Why was God angry?
What did the Lord dislike so much about His people’s worshipping idols instead of worshipping Him?
Choosing another god leads to …
Choosing another god leads to …
Damaged self-worth, damaged relationships, guilt / shame
Fear of death
Separation from the One Who loves us
Why were the Israelites being tested – who actually needed to know whether they would “keep the way of the LORD”? What did they need to understand?
Why were the Israelites being tested – who actually needed to know whether they would “keep the way of the LORD”?
Our God is like a parent … Our son, becoming homeless, living on the street?
What difference could it make, for them to know whether the Israelites would “keep the way of the LORD”?
Our God is like a parent … Our son, becoming homeless, living on the street?