Pt. 8, The Biblical Story - The Judges

 
A Few Good Men and Women Pt. 8, The Biblical Story - Judges 2-4; 6-8; 13-16 By Pastor Dan Kennedy © February 23, 2014 www.pastorkennedy.com A Sad Cycle Have you and I ever struggled with old habits and an up and down cycle of an inadequate relationship with God? Israel, throughout the Old Testament, was a picture of the same. Israel’s up and down rest, rebellion, repentance and restoration in her relationship with God, revealed this Sad Cycle throughout her history, which finally cost her the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, with the loss of the Promised Land, for the past two thousand years. The establishment of Israel as a nation was miraculous when it was reinstated in 1948, but even today the Promised Land has not been fully resolved. 1. Success (rest) 2. Security (relaxed) 3. Sin (rebellion) 4. Slavery (repression) 5. Supplication (repentance) 6. Salvation (restoration) 7. Success, (rest) once more Judges 2:10–23 (ESV) 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. [God often allows our struggles, battles and conflicts to reveal His continuing work in our lives and to give us a greater awareness of His Presence…to reveal our faith in Him! Those who do not go through trials and spiritual battles tend to forget God, assuming their easy life is natural and a benefit because of who they are. These more easily succumb to the power of the world, flesh and devil.] Israel’s Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And 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. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. 18 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. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. Why did God Allow those who glorified evil to Stay in the Land? Judges 3:1–6 Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. 2 Corinthians 6:14 (Remember Paul’s instruction to believers in Christ?) 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Israel’s Cycle and Israel’s Judges In Israel’s up and down cycle, God sent them “Judges”, when they cried out to God for deliverance. The Judges led them to deliverance from their oppressors and were to call the nation back to repentance to follow God. • Othniel (Judges 3:7-11) Judges 3:7–9 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother…. • Ehud (Judges 3:12-30) Judges 3:12–15 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab…. • Shamgar (Judges 3:31) • Deborah (Judges 4-5) Judges 4:1–3 4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years…. o Jaban, king of Canaan and his army’s commander, Sisera, with 900 chariots of iron: 900 iron chariots are imposing unless God throws their commanders into confusion; and, He sends an earthquake, and a horrific rainstorm turning into a flood by the river Kishon. Even the greatest iron chariots tend to bog down in mud! (Judges 5:4, 21) o Sisera was killed, not by a great warrior, but by the hand of a woman, Jael, a relative of Moses’ father-in-law (Judges 4:11-24). • Gideon (Judges 6-8) Judges 6:1–8 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery…. a. Why does God often use weak and uncertain people like Gideon to do his work? b. If you ever feel uncertain about your gifts and abilities, how could the story of Gideon encourage and strengthen you? • Tola and Jair (Judges 10:1-5) • Jephthah (Judges 10:6-12:7) Judges 10:6–11 6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. 7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. 10 And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? • Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (Judges 12:8-15) • Sampson (Judges 13-16) Judges 13:1 The Birth of Samson 13 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years…. What was the root cause of Sampson’s fall? What was the result? The gods of the Old Testament World: The Baals and the Asheroth You will notice in reading the Old Testament, that the gods most worshipped by the heathen of the land, were fertility gods: the Baals and the Asheroth. The Baals were known to be “gods of thunder”…who brought rain, crops and fertility. [It is interesting that Elijah asked the priests of Baal to ask their god – the “god of thunder”, at the end of a three year drought, to prove Baal’s power by fire. And they failed to do so (1 Kings 18). A much needed thunderstorm, prayed for by Elijah, followed the confrontation (and the false prophet’s death).] The Asheroth was a female fertility god. Worshipping these gods brought “sacred” prostitution and indecent sexual acts, declared to be inherent in their worship. God forbade such practices and destroyed nations because of their spiraling gross abuse, perversion, STDs and generational sins which to God were abominations. Intermarriage and interrelationships with those who worshipped these gods destroyed the very fiber of God’s relationship with His people, and destroyed the stability, honorable love and faithfulness of their homes and society. Skewed Marriages Freedom from sexual restraint can be tantalizing and mesmerizing to all humans since we all have a depraved, sinful nature. Faithful and monogamous relationships are honorable before God because the marriage relationship is the closest human example of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:23, 32). Sin abhorrently (and purposely) skews marriage as God’s primary earthly representation of oneness with Himself. Unprecedented levels of graphic child abuse, spousal abuse and family abuse…in the home, the church, the community, and the government have repulsively corrupted and distorted what God has meant to be honorable, safe and beautiful, with noteworthy integrity. Those who have experienced the turmoil of such distortions have difficulty perceiving integrity in fathers, mothers and leaders, exampled from God the Father, Christ the Head of the Bride, or the glorious Church (the Bride), without severely clouded perspectives and sometimes desperately painful memories. Skewed Language The most common vulgar curse and swear words are consistently those, which either denigrate God, or the intimate relationship of a husband and wife. Why should these words alone bring such perverse fulfillment to the carnal soul? Is it because what they represent is so precious? 21st Century Idol Worship... In the Twenty-first Century we may not immorally and spiritually prostrate ourselves before images made of wood or stone, as was the case in the Old Testament, but we have many more vivid avenues to prostrate our soul with the gods of our modern world. Through the media of TV, movies, immoral novels, books, internet, smart phones, etc., etc. - (I’m not saying smart phones, etc., are evil! But anything can be destructive if we use it corruptly!) We can adulterize ourselves in immorality and perversion many, many ways in our modern and advanced world... breaking down and destroying the integrity of our heart and conscience - superseding what God has given to us legitimately in a faithful and honorable marriage. Matthew 5:28 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Corrupted Hearts If our heart continues to fantasize immorality, we open ourselves to a host of sensual and diverse spiritistic forces intent on domination of our spirit. This can lead us to indulge and immerse ourselves even further in an ever-deepening cauldron of perversion and growing host of abusive habits. We are then more and more separated from a holy and honorable relationship with God. This can cause acute desperation that may never be fully and honestly fulfilled, unless there is repentance toward God, cleansing by the Blood of the Lamb and transformation by the Spirit of the Living God. Israel destroyed their relationship with God when each person did what was right in his or her own eyes (Deut. 12:8; Judges 21:25), to fulfill the passion of their own wicked heart and to finally, through their own kings, to see their Promised Land, Temple and homeland destroyed and taken from them for Millennia. 2 Chronicles 33:9 (see v. 1-9) 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel. Serving “other gods” The “success” and debauchery of serving and “bowing down” to the world’s gods always includes: • A Lapse of Moral Values or the Requirement of Legalistic Works: Compromising Moral values (for whatever pleasure we choose), or required adherence to a strict legalistic religious code. o You can often tell the lopsided traits offered by a “god” of this world. It either has little or no moral values, Or conversely it has strict legalistic rules… leaching us to a religion of “works”. These do not deal with the issues of the heart…only with those things that look good on the outside and/or feels good on the inside. It is full of “politically correct values” to make one look good in front of others, Or “touchy feely” emotional dynamics which gives full permission, “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die”. These do not strive to keep one’s heart…one’s relationship right with God; they only strive to keep one’s image before others. • The Love of Money: Successful accumulation of money and material goods (by any means). • Loyalty Manipulation: Loyalty to those who we feel makes us meaningful, instead of loyalty, primarily to God. This is often seen in family religious traditions… “Our whole family has been __________ in our religion for generations.” An emphasis on traditional religion, not “a personal (Biblical) relationship” with God (through Christ). 2 Corinthians 5:10 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Why Does the Human Heart Struggle with God? What makes the human heart follow the corruptness of the world around us more than follow that which we know it right and honorable in the sight of God? Some of which we discussed in the previous message: 1. We are born with depraved nature. Jeremiah 17:9 9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Romans 3:10–12 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Our depraved nature always wants more and more depravity to have a “high” that doesn’t diminish. Desire and fulfillment as created by God and that faithfully honors God and each other, has the most complete and lasting fulfillment. Romans 1:21–32 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 2. We are born into a world clearly controlled by the kingdom of darkness. Acts 26:18 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Matthew 4:16 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Colossians 1:13 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 3. Our true battle is not with other humans (flesh and blood) in this world, but with powerful spiritual forces, which have aligned themselves as the ultimate enemies against God and His Heavenly Kingdom. Ephesians 6:12–13 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. These things war against our spiritual walk with God and causes the following: • We want others to accept us. o This is aptly called “peer pressure”. • We don’t want to look bad. o We call this, “Being concerned for our image”. • It gets uncomfortable when we confront others in their sin, so we either try to overlook it or somehow accept it. o We sometimes call this “tolerance”. • We want to look successful to those around us. o This also has to do with our pride… “Being concerned how our accomplishments are seen”. • Our deceitful human heart, when not guarded by the power of the Holy Spirit, will easily join in to that which leads to debauchery around us, because we naturally go with the impressions of our feelings and flesh, more than seeking to obey God. o Eve was tempted and deceived by Satan to eat what looked good, and what could make her wise regarding good and evil, like God (Gen. 3:6). o Adam was not deceived, but he could not restrain himself from willingly joining in with what the closest – and the only person in his life had already partaken. And this was in a perfect world. • When left to ourselves, if we do not rely on His Holy Spirit, and cry out for God’s protection and keeping, we can easily be deceived and slip back into the old life of sin and self-serving pride and any associated debauchery. • God always sends us promptings and cautions from His Holy Spirit, the encouragement from His Word, and/or Godly folks around us to remind us of His right and good way, to lead us closer to Him and to keep us from evil. Romans 7:21–23 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Conclusion • What reasons can you give for why the Israelites kept repeating their downward cycle of sin? What are steps in that cycle? Success (rest), Security (relaxed), Sin (rebellion), Slavery (repression), Supplication (repentance), Salvation (restoration) …Success • What are the strongest temptations that you face? • How do you fight such temptations? “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:12–15 http://www.pastorkennedy.comshapeimage_1_link_0