Chasing Normal - Judges 2:11-19

Introduction

It’s time that reveals the truth. Did you mean your wedding vows? Time reveals. Are you really a friend others can count on? Time reveals.

This is certainly true of our faith in Jesus. Time reveals where we really stand, who we really are, whether or not we actually love him. Many of his parables make this point. You'll remember the parable of the Sower. Some of the seed falls on rocky ground. The seed sprouts up quickly but then withers away just as quickly. Other seed falls among the thorny soil, but the thorns choked out the seed, and they eventually all die off. But then, some seed falls on good soil and it produces again and again. What’s the point? Time will tell who the disciples of Jesus really are. Suffering will tell. Endurance will tell. I wonder if COVID might be a sifting. Many are worried that people will not come back to church, but I tell you those in whom Jesus’ seed has found good soil, those who love Christ, they will return. Time will tell.

God’s Word

This is the thought that should be in our minds as we turn from Joshua to Judges.

Joshua 24:21 ‘We will serve the LORD.’ Time will tell. The renewal of the covenant at Shechem leaves us hanging as to what will happen next. Will they actually serve the LORD and the LORD only?

It’s Joshua 24:21 we’re supposed to have in our minds when we read Judges 2:11: ‘And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.’

This is the thrust of Judges. This phrase occurs 12 times in the first 13 chapters of the book. Time was revealing what was really in Israel’s heart and who they really were. But, it’s time that reveals God’s character, too. Judges is a revelation of what we do and how God responds (headline).

We chase “normal.”

"I just want to be normal” — I must’ve said that to my parents 1000 times when I was a teenager. Grades — ACT — College prep — Clothes. It’s another way of say, “I don’t want to be left out.” Most of us fear above all else not being ‘normal’ however we see it. Normal is comfortable. Normal is safe. That’s why most pursue normal lives, not extraordinary ones. It’s in our hearts to be safe and to belong and blend. And, it’s this pursuit of normal that brings such harsh words to describe Israel. It’s Israel’s pursuit of being normal that God calls evil in verse 11. V. 12-13 elaborate on what He means.

Judges 2:12-13And 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. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

They wanted what the other nations had. They wanted to be like Canaan. Sinai = God calls them to monotheism. The very first incidence of monotheism in the history of the world. A radical concept and an uncomfortable one. What all am I missing out on? Who am I making angry? (Deut 6 - The LORD is one)

NORMAL IS SLAVERY But, God’s call was is a call to freedom. Remember back to the renewal of the covenant in Josh 24. It was a call of singular focus instead of trying to appease every god you happen across. It was a calling to know the God of gods, the Lord of Lords, the One to whom they all answered. It’s not redividing your pie chart to encompass every ‘normal’ thing you’re supposed to have. It was an invitation to have such a special relationship with Him that every nation would see how blessed they were and be blessed by them.

God chose them to be special, but they just wanted to be normal. Israel conquered Canaan’s cities, but Canaan conquered Israel’s heart. Is there any wonder why the Lord was so provoked to anger? This is us, y’all. God has called us out in Christ to be special, but we’re settling for normal. How does light blend in with darkness?

Why do we want normal so badly though? Look at what normal is. Normal is living for gods that don’t love you. Normal is ‘abandoning’ the Eternal, living God for wooden, lifeless gods. V. 12 Three descriptions of God coming after them, and three descriptions of them going after gods. “LORD” = covenant; God of their fathers = promises fulfilled they now enjoyed; brought them out of Egypt = brought out their families, but they’d be slaves today if He hadn’t. The pic of them following a processional of a pagan priest holding the idol. It shows devotion/passion/zeal/SUBJECTION. Pointing out how dead these gods were. (show pics of the gods so everyone can see how immobile they are) You have to go to them, while you have a God who has come to you.

You need to realize that chasing dead gods is normal. Matthew 7: Most people have entered the wide gate and are on the wide path that lead to death. What we witness in the Canaanization of Israel is the very same thing we’re witnessing in the secularization of the church: It’s the saved, chosen, living people of God blending in with death. It’s wanting what everyone else has and trying to think like everyone else thinks. It’s trying to reconcile two incompatible worldviews. We can’t see sexuality and gender roles and abortion and money and evolution the same way. To seek to reconcile them is trying to blend death with life.

You can’t follow Jesus and still satisfy all of the dead gods. The point to Israel is that if you want to go after the others, you have to leave YHWH. He’s jealous. He’s all-encompassing. Canaanization is nothing more than compartmentalization. So long as God gets a slice (of whatever size - draw) of the pie then God is pleased with us. That’s normal.

But, the Bible doesn’t conceive of your heart as a pie to be divided. It says that your heart is a sacrifice to be offered. My job and my family and my marriage and my health and my golf game are not pieces of a pie of which God gets some. That is, I don’t seek satisfaction in those things. Those things left alone are just dead gods. Rather, those are all avenues by which my heart can express, demonstrate, and magnify the complete satisfaction that I have in god. You see, to merely include God in your life is to fundamentally misunderstand him. He’s to great for that. He’s a consuming fire. It’s to sell his glory so short that it’s abandonment. But, when you offer him your life, when you stop chasing normal and start chasing Jesus, you enter into the dimension of the divine. It’s abnormal. It’s supernatural. It’s special.

Normal is slavery.

“And he sold them into the hand.” The worst news in the world is that God is going to give you over to your own heart.

God saves you from normal.

cycle of Judges/saved

V. 12 Three descriptions of God coming after them, and three descriptions of them going after gods. “LORD” = covenant; God of their fathers = promises fulfilled they now enjoyed; brought them out of Egypt = brought out their families, but they’d be slaves today if He hadn’t. “bowed down to them” “went after” “served the Baals and the Ashtaroth” What do these terms refer to? They refer to subjugation. They were enslaving themselves by trying to appease all of these different gods. The pic of them following a processional of a pagan priest holding the idol. It shows devotion/passion/zeal/SUBJECTION. Pointing out how dead these gods were. (show pics of the gods so everyone can see how immobile they are) You have to go to them, while you have a God who has come to you. Notice the language that is used.

They were re-enslaving themselves to the masters they’d just been delivered from. They were returning to what felt normal, but Normal is living for gods that don’t love you. Normal is ‘abandoning’ the Eternal, living God for wooden, lifeless illusions.

“And they provoked the LORD to anger.” It says that the LORD was angry. And, no doubt, the anger of the LORD may not sit well with some of you. But, the anger of God is wonderful. It means He really loves. Who loves you more parents who discipline you when you show destructive behavior or parents who are indifferent as you destroy your life? A husband who shrugs off an affair, or a husband who is angry that his wife has pursued another man? God is not indifferent to his children. God is not indifferent to your rebellion. He loves you. He’s called you to be his special, set apart people. He has delivered you from slavery. He’s not okay with you going back.