Turn to bibles…Judges 1-2:5
Started a new series in the book of Judges. The Book of Judges begins with a series of victories and defeats that took place “After the death of Joshua”. The boundary lines for the twelve tribes had been determined years before (Josh. 13–22), but the people hadn’t fully claimed their inheritance by defeating and dislodging the entrenched inhabitants of the land. When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed” (Josh. 13:1, NKJV). The people of Israel owned all the land, but they didn’t possess all of it; and therefore they couldn’t enjoy all of it. I think there are a lot of Christians like that. God has given them their inheritance, He’s blessed them with abundant, victorious life…but they’re not enjoying all that they possess. They’re still bogged down with the sins, the attitudes, the actions and the emotional scars of the past. So if you’re a believer this morning, it’s time to clear out all the old inhabitants and old habits from our lives.
Now, the reason Israel was told to move in and move out every other people group, wasn’t because of some kind of ethnic cleansing or holy war. It wasn’t vengeance, or imperialist economic conquest that that God wanted them to possess the land…it was for spiritual reasons. The land had to be cleared, so Israel wouldn’t fall under their pagan religious influence. God was protecting the nation of Israel, so they could give birth to the Messiah, Jesus. Unless Jesus was born, there’s no hope for any of us. It’s really about the salvation of mankind. Unless Canaan was cleansed of it’s idols, Israel would never remain faithful to God. The same is true of us. Unless our idols are removed, we’ll never remain faithful to God.
God wanted Israel to take the entire land of Canaan, but instead of clearing out ALL of the idols, they only cleared out some of them and lived with rest. They didn’t fully obey God, but they didn’t fully reject Him either. They were ½ Hearted, and as we’re going to see…they would grow to hate it! I think that’s where a lot of people are today. They’re not really rejecting God, but they’re really not “all in” either. But halfway discipleship has never been acceptable to God. He wants ALL of our lives, not just some of it. He wants Lordship over EVERY area…not just the parts we want to give Him.
So Judges chapter 1 tracks the successes and failures of 9 of the Tribes of Israel as they attempt to implement God’s commands. In Josh.1:3,4 God promises that He’s already given them the land…BUT there’s a catch…they have to agree to develop a close and humble walk with Him.
God says in Josh.1:7,8…“be careful to obey all the law…meditate on it” In otherwords, victory and rest come as a result of being dependent, obedient people of God. So they start out pretty good. They ask for God’s guidance. Vs.1… The Israelites asked the LORD, “Which tribe should go first to attack the Canaanites?” Who’s gonna engage the enemy 1st God? vs.2… The LORD answered, “Judah, for I have given them victory over the land.” Ok… the tribe of Judah is up to bat first. They that responsibility, but almost immediately they fail to obey. READ Vs. 3…
Have you ever walked in to a room after hearing a big crash and found two of your kids standing there over a broken vase or TV (etc.) and when you ask them ”What happened?” What do they say? “I don’t know!” They know they’re in trouble, so immediately they want to cover themselves. When you ask each one separately what happened, you get two totally different stories don’t you? Well, that’s what’s happening here. In Judges 1 we’re going to hear the story of what happened…from the ISRAELITES point of view. But later on in Judges 2…we’re going to find out what REALLY happened from GOD’s point of view!
Israel’s version of the story is full of excuses and reasons why they failed, …how “hard” it was to carry out God’s commands. I call them, “Excuses For Defeat” and the 1st one is found right here. It’s the
1. The Common Sense Excuse
Now, any military general knows that before you go out to battle, you have to size up the enemy. You have to figure out how many of them there are, compared to how many troops you have. You have to find out what their weaponry is, and decide whether you can counter what they have. It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? So Judah is sizing up the enemy and they decide …”Whoa, we’re gonna need some help!” and so they ask their neighboring tribe (the Simeonites) for backup. Sounds like a good plan…except for one thing…God never told them to ask for help. He told them to start the fighting themselves. In fact, HE was all the help they needed! He actually told them in vs.2 …that it was a slam dunk. He says,“Judah, I have given you victory over the land.” How much more clear can that be? But NOOOO that wasn’t enough…they wanted some additional assurance.
Listen: When we face problems and temptations and challenges of all kinds, the bible says in Romans 8:31…“If God is for us, who can be against us?” You’d think that would be all the guarantee we need, but what do we do? We do the “human” thing. We pad our bets by manipulating and finagling. We look for assurances from other sources, (money is a big one). If we have enough finances in the bank we think we’re safe.
No wonder we’re not experiencing victories in our spiritual lives. I’m convinced that the failure of many Christians to overcome and drive out “the enemies” in their lives, is due to the fact that we’re only doing what we think is possible, instead of what God thinks is possible. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Paul’s talking about overcoming and conquering the enemies of our souls not with our measly human weapons but with God’s all powerful weapons. Things like prayer, faith, perseverance, trust, love. If we try to do God’s work in man’s way…we’re eventually going to fail. That’s because God’s work done in God’s way is the only way to yield God’s results.
Now even though they disobeyed his commands, God allows them to achieve some initial victories, but it’s not going to last. READ vs.4-7 with me. So they push out the Canaanites and the Perizzites (along with the Stalagtites and the Stalagmites, just kidding) and capture their King, named Adoni-Bezek. Immediately they cut off his thumbs and big toes. OUCH! Now before you feel too much sympathy for him…realize that by his own confession, He’d already done that to the 70 Kings he’d defeated. So he admits he got what was coming to him. Now why would you cut off a kings thumbs and big toes? For one very simple reason…without thumbs you could never fight with a sword again, and without toes, you have to crawl around, unable to escape. You’d be neutralized as an enemy & reduced to a beggar living on scraps and leftovers. It kind of illustrates what happens to anybody who gets caught by our enemy (Satan)…unable to fight, defeated, disillusioned, depressed. We’re no longer a threat to him. But it’s not the life that God has planned for those who trust and follow Him.
In vs.8-10 the Israelites continue to tell their story…READ. Sounds good huh? From their pt. of view they’re doing pretty good (in their own power). But even though they win a few battles, they fail to win the war! We do the same thing. Let’s admit it, we can accomplish some pretty impressive things using our own gifts and talents. We can even convince ourselves that God is with us, helping us. I mean, look at how successful we are! God MUST be with us, right?
But eventually, you come up against an enemy, a problem, a trial that won’t budge and you can’t defeat it, no matter how good you are. It’s bigger than you! You don’t have the gifts or the understanding or the stamina, or the charisma you need. We haven’t just met our match, we’ve met our superior! And so in vs.19…Judah meets their match and they beat them.
READ vs.19. According to that vs., why did they fail to drive out the people living on the plains? Because they had iron chariots! Iron chariots were the tanks, the aircraft carriers of their day! If you had iron chariots…you were invincible. See, when you fight your battles with conventional worldly weapons…Satan’s always going to have a bigger, better weapon.
• If you lie to get your way…you’re going to eventually run into a bigger, better liar.
• If you use intimidation and power to move up the ladder at work…somebody with a stronger personality and better connections is going to squash you!
• Manipulators and controllers always run into better manipulators and controllers.
• If you use charisma and charm to get your way…eventually someone with more charisma and more charm will out do you.
Now, in direct contrast to their miserable defeat, in vs. 20 we read…READ. So, the whole tribe of Judah wasn’t able to defeat the people living on the plains, but Caleb and his family were able to drive out the descendants of Anak. Remember Caleb? Caleb was one of the 2 spies that gave a good report 40 years prior when Israel was trying to enter the promised land the 1st time. And now here he is…(as feisty and fiery as ever), still defeating God’s enemies! In case you didn’t know, the descendants of Anak were giants!
But a little old man namedCaleb and his family were able to defeat them. It’s amazing what God can do in your life when you’re faithful to Him! See, it’s not a lack of faith that keeps us from enjoying God’s victories in our lives…it’s our lack of faith in HIS strength! Human common sense would say…”Trust in yourself! Believe in yourself! Do whatever it takes to get ahead. , defend yourself at all costs!” But common sense has it’s limits. It may work for awhile, but eventually you’re going to have to put your trust in God’s strength, God’s wisdom, God’s promises…or you’ll go down swinging!
Now, from this point on…it gets ugly! The list of failures gets longer and longer…The tribe of Benjamen is next, and they fail in vs.21…READ. In Vs.22-26 The tribe of Joseph seems to have victory, (the bible even tells us that the Lord was with them), but when they walked away from His plan, He walked away from them. In fact, the only way they won is because they were willing to make compromises with their enemies. They told a guy, “If you’ll get us into your town, we’ll spare you and your family.” It’s what I call …
2. The Compromise Excuse (for not having victory)
The temptation to compromise with the world is greater than ever. Instead of standing for truth, we accept the idea that there are “many” truths. “Well, you do what’s true for you, and I’ll do what’s true for me!” It’s called “pluralism”. A pluralistic philosophy of life believes anything goes. Nothings wrong and nothings really right. When we compromise with the world, we can never have victory in our lives over sin because we won’t even admit there IS sin anymore! Over time, the Jews became so accustomed to the godless ways of their pagan neighbors they didn’t seem sinful any more! They became so interested in their gods, that they started to live like them.
That’s what’s happening to many Christians today! The bible tells us in James 4:4, that the 1st step away from the Lord is “friendship with the world”. That doesn’t mean you don’t have any non-Christian friends, it means that you agree with the beliefs and values of your non-Christian friends. The next step after that according to I John 2:15 is that you begin to “love the world”. You actually love living for yourself more than you love living for God.
Once we start to “love the world”, Romans 12:2 tells us that we become “conformed to this world”. In otherwords, you can’t tell the difference between the way you live and the way the world lives. Basically, if you were accused in a court of law of being a Christian, they couldn’t find any evidence in your speech, or actions to convict you! The biggest danger of being “conformed to the world” is that it leads to being, “condemned WITH the world”( I Cor.11:32). Like Lots wife we look back…unwilling to give up what the world offers. But listen, when you live for the world, you die with the world! You can never be a conquering Christian if you’ve already become a compromised Christian!
In vs. 27,28 Manasseh fails to drive out the inhabitants living in it’s land…READ. Instead of driving them out, they choose to turn them into slave labor. Why would they do that? Because it made economic sense. It requires less effort to enslave them to drive them out. I call this…
2. The Convenience Excuse
Many times we don’t have victory over our problems and habits because we decide it’s easier to live with them than to overcome them. We just give up and stop trying. We try to co-exist with our sinful habits…thinking that we can keep them in check. But before long what we thought was our slave…is now our master! If you don’t believe me, just ask the millions of people addicted to drugs, alcohol and porn. today.
Finally in vs. 29-36, the tribes of Benjamin, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan all fail to route the enemies living in their tribal territories. In fact, the Canaanites chase the tribe of Dan out of the plains into the mountains! Proof positive, Israel wasn’t walking by faith and trusting God to give them victory. But in their minds, all of their defeats had plausible reasons I mean, “How do you expect us to drive out iron chariots God?” They had their own “spin” on why they weren’t experiencing victory. So what’s your excuse?
What’s keeping you from overcoming your biggest enemies? As we read it from their perspective, we almost become sympathetic...”Poor little Israelites, so mistreated, life is so tough…”
Afterall, they did the best they could didn’t they? But suddenly in chapter 2:1, God shocks us with HIS assessment of the situation. We’ve heard enough of how they rationalized their defeat, now it’s time to hear what God has to say. Judges 2:1 starts out…”. The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim.” Now, most scholars would agree that the “angel of the Lord” (Yahweh), isn’t just an angel (which would be powerful enough) but that this is a “theophany”. Do you know what a “theophany” is? It’s an appearance of the second Person of the Trinity in visible and bodily form before the Incarnation. In otherwords, it’s Jesus before His birth as a baby. You say, how can that be?
Well, you have to remember,Jesus didn’t come into existence the moment He was born to Mary. No, the bible says that He existed before time. That He “Was God and was with God in the beginning, that through Him all things were created.” –John 1:1-2. So here’s Jesus showing up in the O.T. Besides, no one would have the authority to say what He was going to say but Jesus Himself. ///// Notice He “went up from Gilgal”… Gilgal was a town on the other side of the Jordan River But why Gilgal? Because Josh.5:9 tells us that the people made a covenant with God in Gilgal. God said…”Today, I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Gilgal means “to roll”. It was embarrassing to be slaves. And so it was at Gilgal that their embarrassment was ‘rolled away’ and it was revealed who they truly were. The people of God! At Gilgal God forgave their sin and they entered into a relationship with them. So when angel comes from Gilgal, it’s a reminder of His covenant with them. See, our God is a covenant making, covenant KEEPING God. When we come to Christ and ask Him to be our Savior, our sin-bearer, our protector and Lord…we’re entering into “covenant” with Him. The word “testament” actually means “covenant”. So the New Testament is the NEW COVENANT based on God’s grace, His mercy…not His laws. So the moment you’re saved is your Gilgal! It’s the place where God forgives you, rolls away your shame and guilt, and establishes a relationship with you.
• It’s the place where we start a new life of winning instead of losing.
• It’s where Jesus comes to us and says, from now on, you’re going to be an overcomer!
That’s His part. But we have a part too. When you enter into a covenant relationship with God, it means you’re saying that no one (or no thing) will be my source, my strength, my protector or my God…other than God Himself. So when I turn to other things, (my own wisdom, my money or any other source to bring satisfaction, meaning into my life…in effect, I’m breaking covenant with God. See once God makes a covenant with a person, He doesn’t forget it. We might, but He doesn’t! He promises to bless, protect and fight for us…but He expects something in return…our obedience. And He doesn’t take kindly to us making a covenant with someone or something else, while we’re still in covenant with Him. Sometimes we need reminded that God is our provider & security. So when we fail to go to Him, and instead seek out other gods for security (material things, jobs, persons)…He gets upset! So Jesus says to the Israelites in vs. 1,2 READ… He’s lit. saying, “What in the world have you done?”
Israel upset God by making covenants with the people of the land, despite already being in covenant with God! It was nothing less than betrayal! “I brought you up out of Egypt for the purpose of overcoming your enemies, not co-habiting with them!” So when we excuses for not overcoming our sins, God says, “No excuses, no treaties with your enemies, no coexisting with your sin…because you have MY power to overcome those issues”.
According to the Israelites account in 1:19, “we were unable”, but in 2:2 …. God says, No you weren’t! You say you “could not” but “ I “ say, “You WOULD not”. What Israel thought were good reasons, God saw as flimsy excuses. We need to ask ourselves, In what areas am I saying, “I can’t” but God is saying, “You can’t because you won’t!” The bible promises in I Cor.10:13 that, “God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear” i.e. God will never put us in a position where we can’t obey Him. There are all kinds of things in our lives that we think we can’t do, when in reality, we’re refusing to trust.
The 3 biggest “I cant’s” we tell ourselves are…
1. I can’t forgive
2. I can’t tell the truth and…
3. I can’t resist….
1. I can’t forgive…
What God commands, He always empowers. So when we say we can’t forgive that person for what they did, or for what they said…what we’re really saying is that we’re unwilling to let go of our anger & our bitterness. We’re refusing to give up our right to get even.
Then we tell ourselves…
2. I can’t tell the truth…
If I did…It would destroy them, or it would destroy me. We had a lady who attended our church one time who got in trouble at her work and was confronted about it by her boss. For her to tell the truth about what happened would mean that she’d lose her job. But instead of doing that and trusting God with the results…she lied! We say, I can’t…but God says…You won’t, because you’re not trusting Me. “I can’t tell the truth to that person...it would hurt their feelings.” But the bible says in Eph.4:15,25, “Speak the truth in love”. So when we say we can’t tell them the truth… what we really mean is…”If I tell them, they may not like me anymore…or give me what I want from them. I won’t risk that cost…so I’d rather disobey.
Then we deceive ourselves by saying…
3. I can’t resist…
I can’t resist over-eating, drinking, cussing, etc. It’s true…sin has addictive power…and we may not be able by sheer will-power to stop doing something ourselves, but we can admit our problem, we can humble ourselves and we can ask for help. According to I Cor.10:13…God ALWAYS gives a way of escape from our temptations and sin. There’s no such thing as a sin or worry that’s irresistible.
What we see as weakness, God sees as a failure to remember.
• Remember who He is and what He’s promised.
• Remember that we’re in a covenant relationship with Him.
When Jesus comes up from Gilgal, He comes with the message, “I am the the God who rescues! I brought you up from Egypt! Remember?” I will never break my covenant promises with you.”
Finally, in Judges 2:3-5 God lays out the consequences of their failure to trust Him. Listen, there are ALWAYS consequences for failing to trust God with our issues. READ Judges 2:3-5. Whatever we fail to conquer in our lives, become “thorns”. They make us miserable. They rob us of our joy. They’re always sticking us, hindering us from living the full, free life of God. Then God says, “their gods will be a snare to you”. Do you know what idolatry is? It’s taking a good thing and turning it into the ultimate source of security, identity and power. Our society’s real good at that…taking our hobbies, our outdoor sports, our jobs, even our kids…and turning them into idols. But idols are snares…they trap us! Our job becomes so important that we sacrifice our family, our friendships, and our health at altar of career. It’s become an idol. If our children become our source, our idols…when they’re having trouble…we worry incessantly about them and it robs our joy. It’s possible to be so surrounded by thorns and snares…that there’s a constant temptation to compromise in our relationship to God.
I was listening to a song by Matthew West this week called, “Strong Enough”. The premise is that I’m not strong enough to fight my battles by myself. Comes out of a verse in Phil.4:13 that says, “I can do all things through Christ who makes me strong.” The Israelites were out of their league. So are you! So am I! We can’t defeat our enemies by ourselves, in our own strength. So instead of making excuses, we need to admit our weakness. When we get to the point of giving up, hit rock bottom…reach up! See, my strength doesn’t have to be enough. That’s worldly thinking. God’s way is for me to “give up” so that Christ’s strength in me will take over. WE win by surrendering. So when you’re at the end of yourself...that’s a good thing! Don’t resort to your own way of doing things. That guarantees defeat. I mean, whoever told you that you had try and do this Christian thing in your own power? God is saying, “I’ll give you victory…but you have to humble yourself, obey my commands and trust me.” God wants to give you victory over every area of your life today. But half-hearted commitment and obedience will never give you the strength you need to conquer you enemies.
He wants all of you. Will you give that to Him? To hold back only brings thorns and snares. Will you trust Him to be your God this morning?
