This is a part of a sermon series on the book of Judges. You can watch more here.
Sermon Manuscript
The world likes to think of humanity as basically decent people, deep down. In fact, the world suggests if you go deep enough with education, upbringing, economic opportunities then the world will be a better place.
The only problem is, “What do you do with reality?” We are more educated than ever in history. We have more economic opportunities than ever in history. And we love the idea of people being good, decent people but we also love the idea of cameras recording everything we do.
We still see people lashing out at others at the grocery store. We still see people struggling in romantic relationships. We still see wars between countries and wars between friends. Even in my life, I find some of the darkest thoughts enter into my head and I am like, “Where did that come from?”
We have a bridal store next door that has been closed for months, so that there are tons of these wedding dresses just sitting in the store and the other day I found myself thinking, “I could probably steal those wedding dresses.”
I don’t need a wedding dress but our walls connect. I could cut through those walls. I could take those wedding dresses. I probably spent 45 seconds thinking about how I could steal a wedding dress.
Just so you know, I didn’t steal any wedding dresses but in the book of Judges, we get to drill down into the heart of the people to see patterns in humanity that are still applicable for today. Let’s look at verses 10-11:
Judges 2:10-11, “10 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.”11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,
If you are new to Scripture there is Genesis 1, in the beginning God creates everything. Everything is great. Adam and Eve are in the garden. Everyone is naked. It’s great!
Then, we see our sin show up in Genesis 3, so that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph is just chaos. Joseph gets sold into slavery, ends up in Egypt, and eventually Moses leads Israel out of Egypt but then they have to wander in the wilderness.
Then, Joshua, the book we just studied, the Lord raises up Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land, and for like a minute there is blessing and goodness, but as soon as Joshua dies a generation grows up that “did not know the Lord.” Do you see that in verse 10?
The word “know” in the original language is “yada” and it means “intimate knowledge.” Write that in your notes, “intimate knowledge.” Listen to me, this is so important. This generation had “informational knowledge” about the Lord but they didn’t have “intimate knowledge” about the Lord. Does that make sense?
We just finished studying Joshua this summer and in Joshua 4 we see the Lord lead Israel to set up “stones of remembrance.” Do you remember this? These “stones of remembrance” were there so that every time the children of Israel would see these stones the fathers of Israel would be able to say, “See these rocks, these are reminders of the Lord’s goodness and favor in our life.” These fathers had “intimate knowledge” of the Lord.
These fathers were there when the Red Sea was parted. These fathers were there when the walls from Jericho fell. These fathers were there when giant hail stones were raining down on their enemy. These fathers had “intimate knowledge” as they followed the Lord, but there is a difference between “intimate knowledge” about the Lord and “information knowledge” of the Lord. Right?
Over the next 12 months our church in Austin is invited to put a little rock for every way we are able to participate in Immovable as a church family. You can go to this QR to catch up, but every time we read the bible, every time we demonstrate a risky faith, every time we call out God’s goodness, we are invited to put a pebble in the jar, so that over time we want to see jars all over our church filled with these little rocks.
But these little rocks are just “informational” reminders and it’s great to have “informational” reminders but these little rocks don’t save us! It’s great to show up to worship on a Sunday morning but if we’re not careful, this could just become a transfer of “information” about my “intimate knowledge” of the Lord.
God’s Word invites us to know Him personally. It’s what sets the God of Scripture apart from any other faith system in the world. It isn’t religion. It isn’t information. It’s personal. It’s warm. It’s intimate.
If you hear nothing else, please know the God of Scripture is inviting us to know Him. Walk with Him. It begins through faith in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and return. It is by grace. It isn’t earned. It is a gift to receive. Look at verses 12-13:
Judges 2:12-13, “12 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. 13 So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.”
In verse 10 the sons of Israel did not know the Lord, and in verse 11 the sons of Israel do evil in the sight of the Lord, so that in verses 12-13 we see the people of Israel didn’t just stop following the Lord but they also started following the “gods of the Canaanite people.” Do you see that in verse 13?
Listen to me, you need to know, when we turn from the Lord we don’t turn to nothing. Sometimes people will walk away from the Lord and say something like, “I am just going to do my own thing.” No, you’re not. We are all created to worship something or someone, so in the absence of worshipping the God of Heaven and Earth, we will turn to worship something else.
Practically, it probably isn’t a one-time decision for someone where we reject the Lord but many decisions over a period of time where our relationship with God becomes cold, distant, impersonal, habitual, and we turn from the Lord. Does that make sense?
In verse 13 we see the people of Israel turn to worship the Baal and the Ashtaroth. Circle those words at the end of verse 13. The “Baal” and the “Ashtaroth” were the gods of the Canaanite people.
The Baal were the Canaanite gods of fertility, agriculture, and homes and the Ashtaroth is the Canaanite god of love and war, so that in verses 12-13 we see the people of Israel turning away from the Lord’s provision and protection over their life to worship their careers, their possessions, their comforts, security and safety, and it would have included religious acts of sexual immorality and human sacrifice of the Canaanite people.
This isn’t the idea of a people who were tempted or distracted by one thing one time but a people who were turning to the habits and patterns of the Canaanite people, so that it was becoming a part of their life. Does that make sense?
It’s possible we might read verses 12-13 and think, “Oh, these ancient people were just worshipping made up gods but we’re educated today so we don’t have to worry about those things.” Yeah, we do!
In our culture today, we might not have fancy names for gods like “Baal” and “Ashtaroth” but we are all worshipping something.
Even if people describe themselves as atheistic, agnostic or spiritually indifferent, it doesn’t matter because we are all bow down before the altar of physical appearances.
We worship money as we sacrifice ourselves and others to make more. We worship political leaders, because we can’t imagine life without them. We worship our children; their success, their decisions, their safety.
And we know what we worship these things because when those ideas, people or things are going great, we’re great and when those things are struggling, we are panicking, it’s because our security, safety, hopes and dreams are in those things. It’s called idolatry. Look at verse 14:
Judges 2:14, “14 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.”
In verse 14 we see “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel” and there might be some of us here this morning who see the response of the Lord as mean or an overreaction, or old-fashioned angry God in the Old Testament.
But you need to know “the anger of the Lord” doesn’t burn against Israel because He’s grumpy but because He is merciful. Write that down. Let me let that sink in for a second. The Lord knows anytime we give our life to anything else besides Him it is going to let us down. Does that make since?
When we worship our careers, romance, politics, money, children we put our hope and dreams in those things, but none of those things are lasting and secure.
It’s why we are always fearful and anxious that we might lose things. We stay up late working on those things. We lose sleep worrying about those things.
These are the things that hold our hopes and our dreams and yet we are the ones who are desperately trying to keep those things propped up, so that we can hold on to our hopes and our dreams. Do you see the cycle?
Therefore, when the “Lord’s anger” burns against Israel it isn’t because He’s being mean but because He’s being merciful. He’s wanting to save or rescue Israel from this endless cycle. It’s His mercy!
If the Lord wanted He could just walk away. If He wanted to be mean He could just be indifferent. But because of His love for His people His anger will burn, He will bring judgment, not to be mean, but so that the hearts of the people are softened and they turn back to Him.
This is the gospel. He knows what we need. He created us. He knows the things of this world will let us down. He’s gracious. He knows we are easily distracted. He’s patient. This is why Jesus is so important.
Jesus is so gracious and patient He takes on flesh as an infant. He becomes accessible and available to all people. Jesus lives the perfect life. Jesus makes a way for us to know Him through the cross.
It is through the cross Jesus takes our sin. It is through faith Jesus gives us His righteousness, so that our foundation, our safety, our security, our hopes and dreams are in Him for eternity.
It is only Jesus who can say, “Worship Me, I will make you stronger.” Drink of Me and you will never thirst. Eat of Me and you will never hunger, so that we don’t have to prop Him up but that He is the One holding us up for eternity. If you have yet to trust in Jesus. Don’t leave here today without Him. Look at verse 15:
Judges 2:15, “15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.”
You need to see there is a pattern unfolding in Judges chapter 2 that is going to be repeated over and over throughout Judges, and I think we can still see this pattern in our spiritual lives today.
#1 First, we will see a description of the people turning from the Lord, worshipping other gods. Again, remember, this isn’t one and done. This isn’t falling into temptation. This is a habit and pattern of someone’s life taking place over and over so that they have embraced those patterns.
As a result, we will see #2 where the Lord allows Israel to be oppressed through some type of judgment that we will see described in multiple ways throughout the book of Judges.
Listen, at this point, when we are in this place we typically want God to just love us and forgive our rebellion, but He knows in these moments we are willingly and habitually giving our lives to lesser things, hurtful things, so there are consequences.
Usually at this point when we think of God’s judgment we think a lightning bolt is going to strike us down but He typically works through circumstances in life getting more difficult.
This isn’t always a 1-1 correlation but often times we will see financial loss, physical pain, relational conflict and it’s because in these moments the Lord is trying to get our attention to draw us back to Himself.
In addition, it isn’t always 1-1 but during these moments we will also see spiritual fog, loss of confidence, confused thinking, lack of clarity, because we were walking in wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit but now we are choosing to live life in our own strength, which exposes our limitations.
It isn’t uncommon for people to turn to patterns of addiction with alcohol, substance, sex, food, shopping, busyness; because in these moments we are trying to hold up life on our own and it’s exhausting.
This is why in the book of James we see physical sickness being referenced to spiritual sickness, because sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes our physical ailments are because we have turned from the Lord and we are carrying the “overwhelming weight of life” on our shoulders, so that our physical bodies collapse under that weight and crying out for help.
Again, this isn’t because the Lord is mean. It is the mercy of the Lord to draw us back to Himself. This is why in verse 15 we see the people are “severely distressed.” Do you see that in verse 15? That’s the idea behind God’s judgment.
Galatians 6, “Do not be deceived God is not mocked: A man reaps what he sows.” Therefore, when we turn away from the Lord, and we turn to sin, we are sowing death and darkness, and one day there will be a harvest of consequences.
It isn’t to be mean. It isn’t because God is indifferent. It is the kindness of the Lord leading us to repentance. It’s almost as if the Lord is saying, “Do you like the taste of death and darkness apart from Me?” Here, let me pull back the curtain of death and darkness, so that our hearts are softened and we turn back to Him. That’s the hope of #3.
When we turn away from sin and turn to the Lord it is called “repentance.” The only thing sin can do is provide death, darkness, and despair, therefore, the consequences exist to get our attention and lead us back to Him with repentance.
In our non-denominational church in Austin we love repentance. Every time we look at God’s Word we want to see an opportunity for repentance. At the end of every sermon on Sunday morning we want to see how God’s Word is pointing us to repentance, so that we have this honest thought at the depths of our soul, “Oh yeah, we don’t have to wallow in death and darkness, we can turn to Jesus, Jesus is so much better.”
It is through the cross that we see Jesus arms are open wide. It is through the resurrection that Jesus’ offers life. It is through the righteousness of Christ that we are empowered to walk in the light. It’s called repentance!
Listen to me, when we started our passage we talked about “intimate knowledge” of God being more important than “informational knowledge of God.” Repentance is the best way for us to keep a warm, intimate, personal, and meaningful relationship with God.
Repentance is reminding us of our need for God. Repentance isn’t talking about what God has done in our life 5-10 years ago, but repentance is talking about what God is doing in our life today. Look at verse 16:
Judges 2:16, “16 Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them.
#4 in our cycle is the Lord raising up a deliverer to bring rescue for the people, so that in verse 16 we see this pattern of the Lord raising up judges that is going to be repeated over and over throughout the book of Judges.
Remember, when you see this word “judges” we’re not talking about legal judges like Judge Judy but spiritual leaders, so that under their leadership there will be peace for Israel, but eventually that “judge” will die and the cycle will start over. Look at verse 17:
Judges 2:17, “17 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.”
Sometimes people say, “Old Testament God is full of wrath!” Are you kidding? How much patience do you have on Mo-Pac! We are full of wrath. One person doesn’t change lanes the way we want, as fast as we want and we just about lose it! Or, those moments when people turn as slow as possible into the parking lot. Do you know those people? Get in already!
But the God of Scripture is full of grace. Over and over we see His patience. Over and over we see Israel turning from the Lord and over and over the Lord is gracious and patient. He would have every right to walk away. He would have every right to rain down fire balls from heaven but He doesn’t.
In the same way, I hope we see how these same patterns show up in our life and I hope we see how gracious and patient the Lord is with us.
I am guessing there are times we think to ourselves, “Surely the Lord is tired of my failures?” Surely the Lord thinks to Himself, “I am done with these people?” Surely the Lord must be disappointed?”
But, in the book of Judges, in the Old Testament, we are going to see the Lord bringing rescue over and over and over. He doesn’t walk away. He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t turn His back. But, instead He brings rescue and it is because He’s full of grace and patience.
Do you know that? Don’t misunderstand. It isn’t grace to do what we want and He will bless our rebellion. In His grace He will bring judgment but it isn’t judgment to be mean but judgment to soften our hearts and draw us back to Himself. Look at verses 18-20:
Judges 2:18-19, “18 When the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered 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 oppressed and afflicted them. 19 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.”
In verse 19 we see this phrase “more corruptly than their fathers” as a reminder that we aren’t just fighting for our spiritual walk with the Lord but we are fighting for generations to come, so that it isn’t just a cycle that plateaus but a cycle with a downward trend for us and generations to come. Does that make sense? Let’s jump over to verses 5-6 in Judges chapter 3:
Judges 3:5-6, “5 The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; 6 and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”
At the end of chapter 2 we see Israel continuing to turn from the Lord, so that in Judges 3 we see Israel continuing to turn deeper and deeper away from the Lord, so that the book of Judges could end in chapter 3 but the book of Judges makes the assumption that we need to see this pattern in humanity over and over, so that we not only learn about Israel but we are also learning about how easy it is for our hearts to go astray from the Lord.
There are going to be seasons in our life where we think to ourselves, “I am doing great!” Maybe you are in one of those places right now! Praise God! It isn’t uncommon for us in those great seasons to get spiritually lazy.
We get overconfident. We get distracted. We get lazy. We cut corners. In time we end up falling into sinful patterns.
Listen to me, that isn’t a problem! The Lord knows we are going to get distracted with sin, so in those moments we want to repent quickly.
We don’t have to go through step 2. We can skip right to repentance in step 3. But many times, we want to try to figure things out on our own, our hearts get stubborn, we don’t want to turn to the Lord, so that the Lord has to bring judgment to soften our hearts toward repentance, so that we will go through this cycle over and over and over.
This is what makes Jesus so important. In Christ, we might go through this cycle but we are going through this cycle in His grip. Does that make sense? We are going through this cycle in His care.
Throughout the book of Judges, we will see judges come and go but Jesus is the Ultimate Rescuer. Jesus doesn’t have ups and downs. Jesus already death and conquered death. Jesus’ grip is secure, so that as we go through these cycles we are going through these cycles with Him, and when we know Him, when our relationship with Him is intimate and warm it makes all the difference.
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
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