FAILING TO FOLLOW FULLY
Judges 2:1-6
INTRODUCTION: God had led Israel through the wilderness and to the land of promise. He instructed them to take possession of the land and serve Him in the land. Israel however was very inconsistent in their walk with God often being disobedient, rebellious, and idolatrous. Because they were disobedient the Lord addresses the Israelites with a message concerning their failure to follow the Lord fully. The truths of this message are as true to the believer today as they were to Israel in Joshua’s day.
I. God’s Faithfulness – Verse 1
A. "And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you."
B. Three Great Truths of the Covenant Relationship of Israel
1. Deliverance.
· Deuteronomy 26:8-9 "And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey."
2. Abundance
· Leviticus 25:38 "I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God."
3. Faithfulness
· Deuteronomy 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"
C. Three Great Truths of the Covenant Relationship of the Believer
1. Deliverance
a. Proverbs 5:22 speaks of our enslavement to sin when it states that the unbeliever is "… Holden (caught up) with the cords of his sins."
b. 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;"
2. Abundance.
a. John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
b. Psalms 36:7-9 "How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."
3. Faithfulness
a. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil."
b. “When God calls a man, he does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do, love one day, and hate another; or as princes, who make their subjects favorites, and afterwards throw them into prison. This is the blessedness of a saint; his condition admits of no alternation. God’s call is founded upon his decree, and his decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out his people’s sins, but not their names.” – Thomas Watson (C. 1557-1592)
c. 2 Timothy 2:13 "If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself."
d. God’s decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saints’ perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder. Thomas Watson (C. 1557-1592)
4. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Never forget the three whats. What from? Believers are redeemed from hell and destruction. What by? By the precious blood of Christ. What to? To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that will not fade away.” – The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)
II. God’s Command – Verse 2a "And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars:"
A. Conquest and Separation
1. Numbers 33:51-52 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:"
2. Israel was to be victorious over the influence and power of the heathen nations. The Israelites were to drive out all the enemies who opposed God and His people. They were to live lives in the Promised Land that were set apart to serve God.
3. They were to destroy all the idols and false worship that the heathen nations practiced.
4. They were to take possession of the promised land and settle it without fearing the enemies who would confront them. This was to be their inheritance.
5. They were not to make any league, alliance, or confederacy with the inhabitants of the land.
B. Christians are called to be separated victors.
1. God’s people are to live lives of separation, holy lives, totally set apart to God.
a. 2 Corinthians 7:1 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
b. 1 Peter 1:15-16 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16 ] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
2. He or she is to root out the world and its influence in their lives.
a. Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
b. A farmer went each week to the Farmers’ Market to sell, among other things, the cottage cheese and apple butter made on his farm. He carried these in two large tubs, from which he ladled the cottage cheese or apple butter into smaller containers the customers brought. One day he got to the market and discovered he’d forgotten one ladle. He felt he had no choice but to use the one for both products. Before long he couldn’t tell which was which. – Beth Landers, Waterloo, Ontario. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2.
3. He is to stand for God without fear.
a. God wants you to be a victor--not a victim.
b. Romans 6:17 declares, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
c. Romans 8:37 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
4. He is not to embrace the evil of the unbelievers in this world.
a. 2 Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"
b. Ephesians 5:11 "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
III. The People’s Compromise – Verse 2b “And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?”
A. Failure to fully follow God’s command
1. Nine times in the first chapter of Judges we find the statement that the Israelites failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land as God commanded them.
2. Numbers 21:2-3 "And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah."
3. In their disobedience Israel was guilty of breaking their covenant with God. They compromised with the sinful lifestyle of the world and actually became participators in the false worship of the surrounding nations.
4. Judges 2:12-13 "And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth."
B. Failure to fully follow God’s Commands by Compromising and Conforming is disobedience and is a breech of the believer’s covenant with God.
1. The standard of practical holy living has been so low among Christians that very often the person who tries to practice spiritual disciplines in everyday life is looked upon with disapproval by a large portion of the Church. And for the most part, the followers of Jesus Christ are satisfied with a life so conformed to the world, and so like it in almost every respect, that to a casual observer, there is no difference between the Christian and the pagan. - Hannah Whitall Smith in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 11.
2. James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
3. Christians are lured to view the world as the world views itself--uncritically and without a basis for understanding. Many of us find ourselves "getting along by going along." And the Christian community slowly, imperceptibly "moves two inches a year toward total decline."
4. Compromise is always wrong when it means sacrificing truth or holiness
IV. The Consequence of Failing to Follow Fully – Verse 3 "Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you."
A. Sin has it’s consequences
1. Numbers 33:55 "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
2. Colossians 3:5-6 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: [6 ] For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"
3. Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives."
B. Conflict and Snares
1. Compromise is always costly--and sometimes fatal.
2. Judges 2:14-15 "And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed."
3. Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
4. When sin is let in as a beggar, it remains in as a tyrant. The Arabs have a fable of a miller who one day was startled by a camel’s nose thrust in the window of the room where he was sleeping. "It is very cold outside," said the camel, "I only want to get my nose in." The nose was let in, then the neck, and finally the whole body. Presently the miller began to be extremely inconvenienced at the ungainly companion he had obtained in a room certainly not big enough for both. "If you are inconvenienced, you may leave," said the camel. "As for myself, I shall stay where I am." There are many such camels knocking at the human heart. A single worldly custom becomes the nose of the camel, and it is not long before the entire body follows. The Christian then finds his heart occupied by a vice which a little while before peeped in so meekly. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers) .
5. Running the "ninety-five-yard dash" is pointless. It’s the last five yards that brings the victory.
