Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
THE JOURNAL OF THE JUDGES
I. Introduction to the cycles of sin 1:1-3:6
II. Journal of the Seven Cycles of Sin 3:7-16:31
SIN – SLAVERY – SUPPLICATION – SALVATION – SILENCE
A. Cycle 1 – Othniel (God is powerful) 3:7-11
B. Cycle 2 – Ehud & Shamgar 3:12-31
C. Cycle 3 – Deborah and Barak 4:1-5:31
D. Cycle 4 -- Gideon 6
E. Cycle #5 Tola/Jair 8:33-10:5
F. Cycle #6 Jephthah 10:6-12:13
G. Cycle #7 Samson 13:1-16:23
III. Consequences of Independence from God 17:1-21:25
A. Idolatry 17:1-18:31
1. A dysfunctional family 17:1-6
The story of Micah (who is like Yahweh). Tribe of Ephraim.
Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD." Judges 17:1-2
Micah ripped off his mother’s good silver. Micah’s mother got angry and pronounced a curse on the perpetrator.
The son, unwilling to face a curse, fesses up to the crime. What do you think was going on in Micah’s mind?
The mother tried to recall the curse by offering a blessing.
Next, Micah returned the silver. The mother had an idol made out of some of it. Micah added some additional gods to the household shrine. Micah assumed the authority to consecrate a priest to intercede. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. Judges 17:5
Why make your son the priest? What in the world is happening here? The same thing that happens when we refuse to follow God’s ways. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6
The scary thing is that these actions were considered good decisions in their minds. What is driving their behavior?
What justifications might they have offered? What about us today? In what ways do we do what is right in our own eyes and use our own reasoning to justify our behavior?
This guy established his own religion. He had no authority to consecrate a priest. There was to be no temples or shrines other than that established by God. How close was he to “church”. Why not worship at Shiloh?
What about us?
We may not form images of stone or wood but we may craft of God of our own mind in keeping without or own desires.
2. A lazy, greedy priest 17:7-13
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place." Micah then said to him, "Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance." So the Levite went in. The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest."
What’s with the priest? Why did he leave Judah? What is he up to? What was his motivation?
What was Micah’s main drive and concern in all this? He wanted a religion that promised prosperity. He was counting on God prospering him.
3. A disobedient tribe 18:1-31
Dan had been assigned a territory by God but failed to possess it. What would have prevented them from possessing the territory? They sought the blessing of God through a priest whose motives were less than admirable. A wandering tribe consults a wandering priest. They end up buying off the priest with a better deal.
They slaughtered an innocent peace loving people outside the area of destruction. They continue in idolatry for generations to come.
B. Immorality 19
1. An unfaithful wife
Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. Judges 19:1-2
2. A persistent husband
Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father's house, and when the girl's father saw him, he was glad to meet him. His father-in-law, the girl's father, detained him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; and the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Sustain yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go." So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl's father said to the man, "Please be willing to spend the night, and let your heart be merry." Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. On the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl's father said, "Please sustain yourself, and wait until afternoon"; so both of them ate. When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Behold now, the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Lo, the day is coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go home." Judges 19:3-9
3. A dangerous journey 19:10-21
4. A despicable night 19:22-27
5. A graphic message 19:29-30
C. Anarchy 20-21
1. Justice resisted 20:1-48
2. A desperate attempt to survive 21:1-24
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 21:25
