There is a Judge

Intro: On October 3rd, 1994, the Supreme Court of the US started its 1994-95 session. According to the New York Times, the court’s legal business for that first day could be summed up with one word, no. In their first day, the Supreme Court dismissed over 1,600 cases.

The Issue - 10:6-9

If you know anything about the book of Judges, then you know it has a cyclical nature to its story. In fact, I take that idea a step further and say it has a spiraling nature.

Deut. 30:15-19 “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”

However, throughout the book of Judges, we see the people of God test the word of God. Read 10:6-9

Follow the spiral with me:

They declared their allegiance.

They brought on the anger of the Lord.

The result was severe bondage.

Before we dismiss these Israelites as if we have nothing in common with them, Let us define idolatry according to the Biblical standard:

Eph. 5:5 “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

Col. 3:5 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

Ex. 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

So is the issue of covetousness found in the house of God today? Is it found within Highland Park this morning?

I’ve seen the god of the money.

I’ve seen the god of inclusivity

I’ve seen the god of education

I’ve seen the god of entertainment

I’ve seen the god of excuse

I’ve seen the god of tradition

There’s an issue in the house of God this morning, and it is the coveting of God’s people for the things of the world.

Before you get angry with me, let us remember three things:

You’ve declared your allegiance

You are living under the anger of God.

You are living in bondage to this world.

The Judge - 11:27-28

When the people repent and return back to the Lord, God raises up a deliverer.

Jephthah’s name means, “Whom God sets free!”

Jephthah is for certain not the best judge of Israel, but the deliverance that the Lord brought through him was so great that his name is listed in the Hall of faith in Heb. 11.

Jephthah’s argument runs along two lines:

Ammon is in the wrong and not Israel.

The Lord will judge between the two people groups:

Psalm 75:7 “But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another.”

Genesis 18:25 “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Judges 11:27 “Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the Lord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”

Jephthah knew that if victory was going to come, then the Judge must rule in their favor!

Notice this, the Ammonites did not pack up and go home. v. 28

The Sentence - 11:29

When the Spirit moved, Jephthah moved.

Many of us treat the Spirit as if we leave under the OT.

In the NT, the Spirit continually abides with His people.

1 Cor. 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

So, the Spirit seeks to continually move in your life. The question is are you filled with the Spirit or are you quenching the Spirit?

Jephthah passed over until he passed into or through.

Ex. 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.”

Conclusion: William Gladstone, was a four time prime minister in England. He is famous for saying, “Justice delayed is Justice denied.”