Introduction to Judges
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we are going to begin a new series of messages, it has been a while since we have done an Old Testament book, so we are going to go through two books in this series, the book of Judges and the book of Ruth. As I have begun reading Judges and Ruth and have begun studying Judges, I have been amazed at the parallels that can be drawn from Judges with our own world and our own society, it is not a pretty picture. Judges is a book full of violence, sadly it is a book about the people of God behaving dreadfully over and over and suffering the consequences for their sinful, evil behavior. Judges begins with a trust in God and then quickly turns to God’s people abandoning God for the idols of the nations around them, from the strong leadership of Moses and then Joshua to total anarchy, but in the midst of all this chaos there is the presence of God who intervenes time after time to pull the people He has called His own back from the brink of extinction, but after each time God intervenes and saves them the chaos returns and there is a continual spiral downward that goes from bad to worse. One phrase that we will see several times in the book of Judges is that in those days there was no king in Israel and because of this anarchy reigned, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. They had forgotten that God was their king and there was an unspoken hope for a king who would be able to bring some order out of the chaos. There was a longing that one day this might all be over, and they could look back at the days of the judges as an awful, dreadful dream from which they had finally awakened. But the book does not end that way, they are still amid the nightmare, but then we come to Ruth, this little book which takes place during the time of the judges is a message of redemption. There is some pain in this book, but that pain quickly turns to restoration and blessing. It is a moving from the chaos to calm. Judges ends with the faint hope for a king, Ruth ends with the birth of a baby in Bethlehem who would be the grandfather of king David, which leads us to the New Testament and the birth of another baby in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary, David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the greater redemption that is found in the glorious Gospel of God’s grace for us in Christ. Judges by itself is depressing but coupled with Ruth it is full of hope. I look forward to what we will learn through these two books. Neither book names its author but many believe, and I agree that it was written by Samuel most likely during the reign of Saul but before the reign of David. Dating when Judges and Ruth took place in history is difficult, but a conservative date is from about 1350 B.C. to 1050 B.C.
This morning we will not get into the book of Judges, but by way of introduction I want to look at a couple of passages in Deuteronomy and one passage in Joshua that really leads up to the opening of Judges so we understand what took place before Judges began and we can begin to see this downward spiral beginning not long after the death of Joshua and the elders of Israel that served with him. Please stand as I pray and then we will get into the first passage of Scripture.
--PRAY--
FIRST SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bible to our first passage of Scripture this morning, Deuteronomy 6:1-19 and follow along while I read.
Deuteronomy 6:1-19,
“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.” (Deuteronomy 6:1–19, NASB95)[1]
OBEY GOD AND PROSPER (Deuteronomy 6:1-19)
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, out of slavery, He did so with great power and mighty miracles. At Mount Sinai God made a covenant with the people of Israel and He gave them His Law and they were to follow Him and obey His commandments. They agreed to this and said they would follow Him and obey His commandments and He would be their God and they would be His people. But they struggled to obey the Lord even though they had seen the mighty miracles He had done in Egypt; they had seen how He had parted the Red Sea so that they could pass through on dry ground and then watched as it came crashing down on the Egyptian army as they tried to follow them through the sea. They had seen God turn the bitter water of Mara to sweet, and they had seen God cause water to gush from a rock and each morning they got up and collected Manna that sustained them for the 40 years that they wandered through the wilderness. They saw how God provided and cared for them for all those years. In Deuteronomy 6 they have arrived at the Jordon, and they are about to cross over to take possession of the land that God had promised to their forefathers. In this chapter Moses begins to prepare them for this task, he begins to prepare them for his departure because he will not be leading them into the land, he begins to prepare them for Joshua to be their leader and the one who will go ahead of them and lead them in the conquest and possession of the land of promise.
Moses does this by telling them again what is required of them as God’s people and if they do what is required of them, he writes in the first three verses that their lives will be prolonged, they will multiple greatly, and it will go well with them in the land promised to them by God, the land flowing with milk and honey. They were required to do the commandments and statutes of the Lord that He gave to Moses to teach them.
Moses goes on in verses 4-9 to explain how they are to carry out these commands and statutes and how they are to remember them and teach them to the next generation so that they do them and teach them to their children. He writes that it begins with loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength. If you do not love the Lord, why would you keep His commands? Next Moses writes that you are to talk about God’s Law, teaching it diligently to your children, you should do this always, when you sit in your house, when you walk in the way, when you lay down to sleep and when you rise the next morning. Moses says to bind them as a sign on your hand and on your forehead, in other words, know them, know them in your mind and do them with your hands, let your children learn by example. Moses also writes that they should be written on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, always keeping God’s Law before you.
Then Moses warns the Israelites not to forget God when they become comfortable in the land living in cities they did not build and houses that are filled with all good things that they did not fill, and vineyards and orchards that they did not plant but that they eat from and are satisfied. When you possess all this do not forget the Lord and all that He has done for you bringing you out of Egypt and into this land and giving it to you as He promised. He alone you are to worship, He alone is to be your God, if you turn to the gods of the nations around you this will stir God’s anger against you. Do not test the Lord, Moses writes, instead diligently keep His commandments and you will prosper in the good land that the Lord your God is giving you, you will drive out all the enemies from before you and you will inhabit the land. Moses in this passage gives the people the requirements as God’s covenant people that will assure success and prosperity in the land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey.
SECOND SCRIPTURE:
In our second passage of Scripture, we are in the same setting as in Deuteronomy 6, Moses is still speaking to the people of Israel preparing them to go in and possess the land of promise. Turn to Deuteronomy 7:1-11 where Moses further warns the people concerning failing to follow God’s Law. Listen as I read.
Deuteronomy 7:1-11,
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.” (Deuteronomy 7:1–11, NASB95)[2]
DISOBEDIENCE AND JUDGMENT (Deuteronomy 7:1-11)
Moses goes on to warn the people of what will happen if they do not utterly destroy the nations in the land which they are going to possess. He warns what will happen if Israel intermarries with them, they will lead the people astray and cause them to turn from God and to worship idols. He tells them not only to destroy the people but to also completely destroy their pagan altars, smashing their sacred pillars, cutting down their Asherim, and burning with fire their graven images so that they will not be tempted to use them and worship them. These seven nations greater and more powerful than them God promises to deliver into their hands, and they are to destroy them, they are not to make a covenant with them nor to show any favor to them.
God through Moses reminds the people of Israel that they are a holy people to the Lord their God. This word “holy” means “set apart,” God has set them apart to be His people, chosen to be a people for His own possession, a people chosen to fulfill God’s purposes. Moses reminds them that the Lord loved them and was fulfilling the oath He had made to their forefathers by bringing them into the land and giving it into their hand. Moses reminds them that the Lord is faithful and keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to the end, but he also reminds them that He repays those who hate Him. Moses warns them to keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments which he gave them, and to do them.
The people of Israel are about to cross over the Jordon and possess the land God had promised to give them. Moses prepares them for that by reminding them that they are the covenant people of God and as such they must fear and love and worship the Lord God only. Moses is preparing them for his departure and preparing them for a new leader who will lead them into the land. He is preparing them for the battles ahead of them and the need to keep their focus on the Lord and to teach the next generation the same so that they too can experience God’s faithfulness and lovingkindness by staying true to Him. Deuteronomy ends with Joshua being commissioned as the new leader of Israel and the death of Moses. Joshua opens with Joshua leading the people of Israel. Through his leadership they successfully took possession the land breaking the hold of the nations that were in the land. They were resting in their possession at the end of Joshua, but the work was not done there were still many inhabitants in the land that needed to be removed for them to enjoy their full inheritance.
THIRD SCRIPTURE:
In our third and final Scripture we turn to the end of Joshua where Joshua gives his farewell address and then charges the people again to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth. Turn in your Bibles to Joshua 24:14-28 and follow along as I read.
Joshua 24:14-28,
“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The people answered and said, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.’ Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.’ The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord.’ Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’ ‘Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ The people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice.’ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. Joshua said to all the people, ‘Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.’ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.” (Joshua 24:14–28, NASB95)[3]
THE COVENANT RENEWED (Joshua 24:14-28)
In this passage Joshua was about to pass from the scene, he had served the Lord and led the people in successfully conquering the land. Before he dies which is recorded in this same chapter, he commands the people to fear and serve the Lord. They repeatedly in this passage promise Joshua that they will serve the Lord. Joshua warns them that if they do not, if they turn from God and sin and serve foreign gods, then God will turn and do harm to them and consume them even after He had done good to them.
The people promise to love, fear and serve the Lord and with Joshua they renew the covenant made with God at Mt. Sinai. A commemorative stone was set up by the tabernacle as a reminder to the people of their renewed covenant with God, as a witness against them. Then they were dismissed to go to their inheritance. The closing verses of Joshua record his death and burial and the first verse of Judges opens with “Now it came about after the death of Joshua…” (Judges 1:1a, NASB95)[4] picking up right where Joshua left off. Suddenly Israel finds herself without a leader after having the strong leadership of Moses and then Joshua. The Israelites realize that there is still much work to be done to take complete possession of their inheritance and we will begin to look at how this goes next week and begin to examine why it goes as it did.
CONCLUSION:
As we begin to look at the book of Judges, we will find that with God they could have taken the whole land and possessed it for themselves, that was what was promised. They had in faith crossed the Jordon and under the leadership of Joshua had begun to take the land but when he died, they began to falter. In the beginning Israel tolerated the enemy, then they taxed the enemy or pressed them into servitude, then they began to mix with the enemy, living among them, and in the end, they surrendered to the enemy as they pushed back and put Israel into servitude. What led to this? A loss of focus, they forgot the renewed covenant and were ensnared in the false religions of those around them that they did not completely destroy or drive out. God used those nations to punish the Israelites for their sin. As we will see it was only when God sent deliverers or judges empowered by Him that the Israelites found victory.
As believers we must be careful of this same thing, we must keep our focus on God and obeying His Word. We must beware of settling down with sin, this may begin with tolerating what is happening in the world and soon we find ourselves mixing with the world and trying to blend our Christianity with the world and in the end, we will surrender to the world. When we do this, we miss the blessing of complete dedication and complete victory which is found in complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Paul’s words to us in Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, NASB95)[5]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.