Failure Through Compromise.

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1. Richard Nixion said, "I did some of the big things rather well, but I screwed up terribly on what was a little thing." He was referring to Watergate, a small-time, bungled break-in.

2. Compromise is like that, it seems like such a small insignificant thing, but like small unseen termites, it can slowly eat away at the foundation until the house falls.

3. Failure through Compromise.

I. First, the Gradual road to Compromise. 1:1-10

Judges 1:1-10 (NKJV)

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, "Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?"

2 And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand."

3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory." And Simeon went with him.

4 Then Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 And Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me." Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.

9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland.

10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

A. First, the Contact with the Lord. 1:1-2

1. A Principle - no one is irreplacable.

Joshua was a great man of God (Josh. 24:31) but like Moses he dies and yet the plan of God continues on.

"Sometime, when you're feeling important,

Sometime, when your ego's in full bloom,

Sometime, when you take it for granted,

You're the best qualified in the room,

Sometime, when you feel that your going,

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow this simple instructions,

And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put you hand in it, up to the wrist,

Pull it out, andthe hole that's remaining,

Is a measure of how you'll be missed.

You may splash all you please when you enter,

You can stir up the water galore,

But stop, and you'll find in a minute,

That it looks quite the same as before.

The moral in this quaint example

Is do just the best that you can,

Be proud of yourself, but remember

There is no indispensable, boy, girl, woman or man!"

2. The Prayer.

Thsi shows they began right, we should always begin by seeking God's will.

James 1:5 (NKJV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

G.T Shedd, "Prayer is intercourse with God, and God is the Being in whom the creatures live and move. To stop praying, therefore is to break the connection that is established between the feeble and dependent worm of the dust, and the Almighty One."

3. The Promise.

Send Judah, I have given this land into his hand. God's instructions are very simple and clear

They began in good fashion, they make Contact with the Lord. But it's not how we begin that's the key, but how we Continue and end. Gal.3:1-3; 5:1,7

On several occassions I have had trouble starting my car, and discovered that the battery cables were not making a good contact. It's not good enough for them to make contact once, there needs to be a continual contact maintained.

B. Next, there was the Compromise.

1. The Rebellion. 3

Something is wrong here. God did not say, "Go get Simeon and fight them." It's a small compromise, frankly unnoticed by most commentaries. But notice God never recognizes Simeon. vv. 4,19

"Loyalty and love arent usually washed away in the torrent of a sudden flash flood. Instead, they erode little by little, trickling in rivulets down to the sea of indifference as one little compromise is met by another. You may not even notice it's happening." [Swindoll]