Spirit of Unfaithfulness

Thank you to Peter for leading the service so far, and Gary and Fiona for leading our singing.

We aren't many gathered this evening, but it's been good to join our voices to praise our God.

My name is David Reimer. It's my privilege to be preaching this evening.

And if you're visiting this morning, evening even, I did get up a little while ago.

If you're visiting this evening, this is our third sermon in the series on Judges,

but it's still an introductory sermon. This is our third introductory sermon on Judges.

So although you might have missed something, you haven't missed a lot yet, and you'll see how that's the case.

In fact, Judges, the book of Judges, has two introductions.

And we started off with an overview of the book as a whole, so it's still an introductory material.

So if you've got your Bibles with you, please open them up to the book of Judges,

or swipe to the book of Judges, however you read your Bible.

If you're using the Pew Bible, it's on page 243.

And the chapter divisions don't quite coincide with the section divisions here.

So we start at Judges 2, verse 6, and we'll be reading, as Peter said, into chapter 3, finishing at 3, verse 6.

Judges 2:6

So let me then read God's word for us, and please do follow along.

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, or if I just tweak that slightly,

sorry to pause already as we've just begun,

so Joshua dismissed the Israelites.

You'll see why I've tweaked that in just a few minutes.

So Joshua dismissed the Israelites.

They each went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.

The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua,

and of the elders who outlived him,

and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110,

and they buried him in the land of his inheritance,

at Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

After that, whole generation had been gathered to their fathers.

Another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.

They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt.

They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them.

They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

In his anger against Israel, the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them.

He sold them to their enemies all around whom they were no longer able to resist.

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them,

just as he had sworn to them.

They were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

Yet they would not listen to their judges, but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them.

Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked,

the way of obedience to the Lord's commands.

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them,

he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived.

For the Lord had compassion on them,

as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

But when the judge died,

the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers following other gods

and serving and worshipping them.

They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel and said,

Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers

and has not listened to me,

I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

I will use them to test Israel

and see whether they will keep the ways of the Lord

and walk in it as their forefathers did.

The Lord had allowed those nations to remain.

He did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites

who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan.

He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites

who had not previous battle experience.

The five rulers of the Philistines,

all the Canaanites, the Sidonians,

and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains,

from Mount Bel-Hermon to Lebo-Hermath,

they were left to test the Israelites

to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands

which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites,

Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,

Hivites, and Jebusites.

They took their daughters in marriage

and gave their own daughters to their sons

and served their gods.

As we come to look at this section of God's Word,

let's pause to pray.

Gracious God and Heavenly Father,

we pray now that you would speak,

for we, your servants, are listening.

Help and strengthen us by your Spirit

to be careful how we listen.

And grant us not only to hear,

but to receive your Word.

We pray in Jesus' name,

who is the Living Word.

Amen.

Well, as I mentioned a few moments ago,

seems a long time ago now,

we've been through quite a lot

reading this chapter already.

Here we are with yet another introduction

to the book of Judges.

And I thought it would be helpful,

while we're still settling in,

just to have a couple of comments

by way of preface to the introduction.

So we're not even at the sermon introduction yet.

First of all,

I thought it would be helpful

just to locate us again

in where we are in the Bible's story arc.

When we're here in the book of Judges,

just where are we in the story

of God's actions with God's people?

Well, in one sense,

the story runs from Genesis to Revelation,

but we'll narrow it down just a little bit.

And our story,

the story arc that we're interested in,

really starts at the book of Exodus,

when Moses leads the people of Israel

out of Egypt.

And it comes to rest.

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,

Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

First and second Samuel.

First and second Kings.

The story comes to rest, if you like,

at the end of Second Kings.

And it goes something like this.

You see, Moses lead the people of Israel

out of Egypt.

They leave Egypt and are wandering

and have this period,

a kind of confused period,

in which a state is formed,

a nation is formed.

Thinking around the 13th century BC here.

And from that point,

they enter into the land

and eventually achieve kingship.

And if you think,

you know your kings,

King David,

this is a date and number

I can remember fairly easily,

David.

And the year,

1000.

That's one with three zeros after it.

Easy to remember.

That's a marker

for the king in Israel,

the monarchy of Israel.

His son builds a temple.

And as the biblical historian tells us,

from the time of Solomon's

building the temple,

there is a steady decline.

Decline.

It's this people who were formed

and came into the land

now start to go wrong.

Eventually,

that nation is dissolved.

They leave the land,

are taken into captivity in Babylon.

And the last thing we read,

might surprise us

if we don't know this storyline very well,

is that the last refugees of Israel

go to Egypt.

Egypt.

It's the end of 2 Kings 25.

So we have this story of out of Egypt,

into the land,

to this great moment of the dedication of the temple.

As the,

then,

things go wrong,

the state dissolves,

out of the land,

and back to Egypt.

So,

we're interested in that period

of slightly chaotic

and confused state formation

as the people of Israel

are making their way

into the land.

You can see it corresponds

in some ways

to that period of chaos

and confusion

as Israel is dissolved

and loses its national identity

again at the end

of this story.

So,

about,

that's about four centuries later.

So,

here we are then

at this period

when the people of Israel

are entering

the land

that has been promised

to their fathers,

promised to Abraham.

So,

that's one thing.

I hope that

very brief survey

of that long story

helps to locate

where we are

in the book of Judges.

And the second

comment by way of preface

is this.

Those of you

who were here

last week

were helped

greatly

by what Neil

had to say

about thinking

through this

difficult issue

of genocide.

You know,

in the books

of Joshua

and Judges together,

this is one of the places

where we feel

some tension

with what's happening

through God

and God's people

on the pages

of Scripture.

And I'd like to add

just a couple more

comments as we think

about this.

More probably

having to do

with Joshua

where the problem's

a little more acute

than Judges.

But the two

quick comments

are this.

First of all,

it isn't genocide

in any case.

This is just

bad history.

The term genocide

might surprise us

again to know

this comes from

1944.

It was a response

to the terrible

experiences

of the Second World War

and the Holocaust

in particular.

In 1948,

the United Nations

put together

its convention

on the prevention

and punishment

of the crime

of genocide.

And with its

understanding

of what genocide is,

it just doesn't fit

what's going on

in Joshua

and Judges.

It doesn't fit

at all,

conform to the character

of what happened

in the Holocaust.

That's one comment.

And the second one

is this.

Especially when we

look at Joshua

that sets up

what we see

in Judges,

we need to notice

something that might

surprise us

if we have this

sort of simple

idea in our heads

that, oh,

isn't Joshua

about genocide?

Because the first

thing we notice

very early in the book,

in fact,

obedient Canaanites

live.

Well, that doesn't

happen in a genocide.

Rahab,

who's in Jericho,

she's a Canaanite,

she lives.

The Gibeonites,

who are part of the

cities of Canaan,

they live.

Obedient Canaanites

live.

And yet,

disobedient Israelites

die.

When Israel has

disobeyed,

they go up

to fight.

It's the first time

Israelite lives

are lost.

Then Achan,

the disobedient

Israelite,

loses his life

together with his

family.

Disobedient Israelites

die.

So it makes clear

why this isn't

about genocide then.

It's rather about

divine judgment

and the relationship

of every nation

under heaven

to the one

true

and living God.

So with those

couple of comments

by way of preface

in mind,

we come to our

introduction

to this third

sermon

in the series

on Judges.

Perhaps

a multi-introduction

seems a little

less odd

when we realize,

as I mentioned

a moment ago,

that the book

of Judges

has these

two introductions

and in fact,

the book of Joshua

has two conclusions

and the book

of Judges

has two conclusions.

So there's a

certain symmetry

here.

And then we do

well to consider,

well, why?

What's the relationship

of these two

introductions

to each other

and how do they

relate to the

conclusions

that we see

in the book

of Joshua?

Well, the two

introductions

do two quite

different jobs.

The first

introduction,

as we saw

last week,

puts Israel's

story in the

foreground.

If you like,

this is the

historian's

introduction.

And the second

introduction,

the one we

look at this

evening,

2 verse 6

to 3 verse 6,

puts Israel's

God in the

foreground.

If you like,

this is the

theologian's

introduction.

Chapter 1,

primarily

historical.

Chapter 2,

primarily

theological.

There's a

couple more

features that

would be useful

to pick up

about the

stories of

chapter 1

and into

chapter 2

that help

us to dig

into the

theology of

chapter 2.

Judah does

well to take

the initiative

at the beginning

of chapter 1,

and Neil pointed

this out last

week.

But on closer

inspection,

just as the

book gets

going,

we think,

oh,

it's going

well.

Well,

is it really?

they punish

Adonai Bezek,

the Canaanite

king,

by cutting off

his thumbs

and toes.

And it might

look like

poetic justice

because that's

what Adonai Bezek

did to other

kings,

but that's

just to act

the way a

Canaanite

acts.

Israelites

don't name

their captives.

This is just

not what

Israelites do.

And already,

Judah is starting

to look a little

bit Canaanite.

And one more

observation that

leads us directly

into our passage

this evening,

and it's why I

tweaked our text

just slightly

at 2,

verse 6.

Joshua is

alive.

So maybe a

little bit mind

bending if we

think that Joshua

dies at the end

of Joshua 24,

the preceding

chapter,

the preceding

book.

But I think

we're,

most of us

in the room

used to the

idea that we

can press the

pause button,

rewind a little

bit,

and then pick

up the story

again from a

little bit

before.

And that's

exactly what

is going on

with the

narration of

the opening

of Judges.

And that

as we read

through chapter

1 attentively

and into

chapter 2,

we're actually

in the period

when Joshua's

alive.

Caleb and

the springs,

that's when

Joshua's

alive in

Joshua 14.

And we have

the various

notices about

Manasseh,

that's from

Joshua 17.

And we have

the notice

about Ephraim,

that's from

Joshua 16.

And we

realize that

our theologian

slash historian

is wanting

to bring

these two

stories of

Joshua and

Judges

together.

together.

And that's

the thought

then that

should be

in our

minds as

we begin

our journey

into Judges

Judges 2:6

2 verse 6.

So keep

your Bible

open and

bear in mind

that we're

thinking about

Israel,

God's covenant

people.

And as our

passage begins

then, Joshua

is alive and

well.

The passage

falls into

three parts

and what I'll

do is take

a few minutes

on each of

the three parts

and then have

some reflection

on the story

as a whole

at the end,

well, towards

the end.

So the three

sections are

these if you're

just wanting

to get a

sense of where

we're going.

In 2 verse 6

to 10, we

see an

exchange take

place.

2 verses

11 to

19, we

see Israel

exposed.

And from

2 verse 20,

to 3 verse 6,

we see

Israel

examined.

So there's

an exchange,

there's exposure,

and there's

an examination.

So first of

all, 2

verses 6

to 10,

the exchange.

Well, this is

the story of

three generations

and perhaps you

picked them up

as we read.

Joshua's

lifetime and

the elders who

outlived him

and then verse

10, after that

whole generation

had been

gathered,

another generation

who grew up

who knew

neither the

Lord nor

what he

had done

for Israel.

So we've

got three

generations,

Joshua

generation,

the next

generation,

the elders

who outlived

him, and

then their

children,

the

grandchildren

of the

wilderness

generation

in verse

10, the

next generation

who grew up.

And what

happens in

the space

of three

generations

then?

The Lord

is forgotten.

Now there's

analogy to

this in

modern immigrant

studies.

An immigrant

myself, this

is not a

native Scottish

accent you're

listening to

right now,

but at least

I move from

an English

speaking country

to an

English speaking

country.

For those

who move

from a

non-English

speaking country

into an

English speaking

country,

it is a

very, very

strong pattern.

First

generation

immigrants

learn to

use English

to a degree,

but remain

dominant in

their native

language.

Second

generation

immigrants

typically

are bilingual

and speak

either tongue

well.

Third

generation

immigrants

typically,

a very

high percentage,

become

monolingual

in the

language of

the new

country.

In an

English speaking

country,

monolingual

in English.

It only

takes three

generations

for that

heritage

language to

be forgotten.

That's very

much like

what we see

here in

verses 6

to 10.

As Israel

moved into

the promised

land, it

only took

three

generations

for the

Lord to

be forgotten.

We see a

failure here

then on the

part of

that

generation

that

succeeded

Joshua

to pass

on the

tradition.

It reminded

me of a

Paul Oakley

song that

I heard

years ago

and came

back to

mind.

It's from

a song

called

Revival

Sounds,

if any of

you want

to Google

it later.

No more

messing

around,

it's time

for taking

the ground.

Not his

finest moment

as a

poet.

No more

messing

around,

it's time

for taking

the ground.

Wake

up,

wake

up Joshua

generation.

Well,

Oakley's

call to

the Joshua

generation

to wake

up makes

a lot

more sense

to me

now than

it did

in 1998.

We have

the sense,

I think,

when we read

scriptures,

that it's

the generation

that left

Egypt that

was the

unfaithful,

sinful

generation.

And so

it was,

they died

in the

wilderness.

But the

next generation

had their

own failure,

their failure

to pass

on the

tradition

to their

children.

It was

while they

were in

the wilderness

that they

failed to

do what

Moses

instructed

them.

In

Deuteronomy

32,

Moses taught

a song to

Israel so

that they

would remember

the ways

of the

Lord.

And he

finished

teaching

them this

song,

the end

of

Deuteronomy

32,

with these

words and

picking it

up at

verse 45.

When

Moses finished

reciting all

these words

to Israel,

all Israel,

he said

to them,

take to

heart all

the words

I have

solemnly

declared to

you this

day,

so that

you may

command your

children to

obey carefully

all the

words of

this law.

They are

not just

idle words

for you,

they are

your life.

By them

you will

live long

in the

land you

are crossing

the Jordan

to possess.

But Moses'

expectation

that contentment

and prosperity

in their new

land would

lead to

spiritual

complacency

and eventually

to apostasy,

to abandoning

their God,

God, sadly

that came

to pass.

Sadly

too, it

fulfilled

Joshua's

expectation.

Joshua 24

describes how

Joshua put

the question

to the

gathered

people.

Choose

this day

whom you

will serve.

As for me

and my

house,

we will

serve the

Lord.

When the

people echoed

this choice,

yeah, we'll

serve the

Lord too.

Joshua came

out with

something quite

startling,

perhaps one

of the most

depressing

verses in

the whole

Bible.

Joshua said,

you are

not able

to serve

the Lord

for he

is a

holy God.

He is a

jealous God.

If you

forsake the

Lord, he

will turn

and do you

harm.

And that's

precisely what

our passage is

reflecting on

this evening

as this

theologian

from Israel

makes sense

of what's

happening

between God

and God's

people.

And with

this, we

then pass

into our

middle section

where we

see the

hard theological

work being

done in

verses 11

to 19.

There is

here, having

had an

exchange of

the God of

Israel for

the God of

the nations,

we have

Israel

exposed.

so these

verses 11

to 19

give us

the theological

heart.

What is it

true to say

about God

in this

passage?

And in a

nutshell, it's

this.

The Lord,

being a

holy and

jealous God,

just saw in

Joshua 24,

fulfills his

word to his

people.

evil.

It's

precisely the

way our

passage puts

it.

So that's

the theological

understanding.

God is

faithful to

his word.

And there

comes with

it something

we might

call anthropology.

That is

something true

about human

beings,

something true

about us.

And that

is that the

people were

consistently

inclined towards

evil and

sank more

and more

deeply.

into those

ways.

So what we

see in these

verses then is

a sadly

consistent

people and

a completely

consistent

God.

God is

holy and

cannot tolerate

idolatry.

But on the

other hand,

God is a

covenant God,

cannot

abandon

his people.

So God

acts in two

ways here,

two sides of

the same coin

really.

God

and if you

follow along

in verses

12 to

15,

you can

see Israel

did,

the Lord

did,

Israel

did,

the Lord

did.

And in

verses 12

to 15,

he hands

them then

over to

their desires,

just like

the exchanges

of Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

when people

exchange the

truth about

God for a

lie and

they're handed

over to

their desires.

so here,

Israel decides

that it

prefers Canaanite

gods and

Canaanite

ways.

And so

they're exposed

to Canaanite

gods and

Canaanite

ways.

It's important

to see this

because the

lesson that we

take from

this isn't

that God

punishes bad

people.

The lesson

we take

from this

is that

the failure

of the

covenant

partner here

is respected.

As one

commentator

put it,

what appears

to be

divine punishment

in an

active sense

is actually

the people's

experience

of the

destructive

effects

of their

own

selfish

choices.

It leads

us to reflect

on the nature

then of

God's love.

Where is

God's love

in this

kind of

respect?

Well,

it isn't

just warm

acceptance.

rather,

put it

this way,

God loves

you so

much that

he will

make you

fit to

stand in

his presence.

He loves

you that

much.

Without

holiness,

no one

will see

the Lord,

says in

Hebrews.

So in

this sense,

God's love

isn't quite

like our

love.

love.

We see

someone

beautiful,

we fall

in love.

But God

looked at

us and

saw something

quite hostile,

something quite

repugnant.

And God's

transforming work

will make us

beautiful.

That's quite

different.

So God's

love will

make you fit

to stand in

his presence.

God's work

does a

work of

transformation

to make me

fit for his

presence and

to know his

pleasure.

And so

idolatry must

be excluded.

Anything

rival to

God must

be excluded.

So these

verses show

us that God's

judgments

are intended

for this,

to have the

capacity to

equip his

people for

holiness.

holiness.

That's one

side of the

coin.

We turn it

over in

verses 16

to 19.

And again

we see

something else.

The Lord

raised up

judges who

saved them

out of the

hands of

their raiders.

So the

Lord raises

up deliverers

from their

oppressors.

But just

as the

Israelites

repudiated

God's

ways,

so they

repudiate

the

deliverers.

Verse 17,

they would

not listen

to their

judges.

So they

repudiate the

judges and

what happens

in shunning

the deliverer

that God

sends?

People

sink even

lower.

Now it's

sometimes said

that the

passage we're

looking at

this evening

gives us a

template,

a pattern

for the

stories of

the judges

that follow

through the

book.

But it

isn't quite

so.

We see

that pattern

most clearly

next week

when we see

the first

judge,

Othniel.

That's the

sort of

template

judge.

So why

do I say

that this

isn't the

template for

the book

here?

Well,

there's

certain

things

missing

that,

in fact,

Graham

pointed us

to a

couple

weeks ago.

In this

stark

theological

evaluation

of this

God and

this

people

at this

moment,

there's

no

repentance.

You might

have noticed

this last

week at

the beginning

of chapter

two,

when they're

weeping

and crying

at

bochim,

there's

no

repentance.

When God,

the Lord,

raises up a

judge in

verse 16,

there's no

repentance.

God's

action to

raise the

judge is

his own

divine

initiative.

And to

sign it

has to

be said

of God's

sheer

grace.

The

people's

actions

expose

them to

enemies,

invite the

enemy into

their lives.

God's

action

brings a

savior,

which offers

a space

for repentance

and return.

But in

fact,

that's the

second thing

that isn't

in our

passage.

There is

no period

of peace,

as we'll

see as

we move

through some

of the

stories in

weeks to

come.

There's

only a

relentless

descent into

a settled

existence away

from the

living God.

And the

third thing

we don't

have in

our passage

that we

see frequently

throughout the

stories to

follow is

there is no

spirit of

God at

work who

will act to

empower the

deliverers.

God's

So in

our

middle

section

here,

the

theological

heart of

the

passage,

we see

a

consistent

people

drifting

away

from the

living

God.

And we

see a

consistent

God who

is holy,

exposing his

people to

the pain

that may

turn them

back to

himself,

but also

sending them

saviors.

If only

they will

listen.

Which brings

us then to

the third

section,

which starts

in verse

20 and

runs through

to the

end of

our

passage at

3,

verse 6.

The end

result is

that God

determines to

use Israel's

enemies to

drive his

people to

himself.

Or rather,

put it slightly

differently,

to use Israel's

enemies to

test Israel,

to examine

them, to

see which

way they

will walk

in.

And sadly,

it's a

failed test.

Well,

this represents

another sign

of grace,

really.

The oppressors

are the

enemies that

the people

have, in a

sense, chosen

for themselves

to their

own harm,

but become

in God's

hands the

agents to

turn the

people back

to God.

This isn't

an isolated

example of

this in

Scripture.

It starts

in the

garden with

Adam and

Eve being

tested to

see which

way they

will walk.

It's

echoed in

the prayer

of the

psalmist.

Search me,

O God,

know my

heart, try

me, know

my thoughts

to see if

there be any

grievous way

in me.

Lead me in

the way

everlasting.

Or even,

as Jesus

said to his

disciples, as

he said to

Peter in

Luke 22,

Simon,

Simon,

Satan has

asked to

sift all of

you with

wheat.

But I

prayed for

you,

Simon,

that your

faith may

not fail.

This is the

way God

works with

his people.

And there

is our

passage as

a whole.

And if we

stand back

for a

moment, I

want you to

notice just

a few

verses in

particular.

There's a

certain way

in which the

notion of

service

frames the

passage.

look at

2,

verse 7.

As the

passage begins,

the people

served the

Lord.

And that's

where we

start.

It's okay.

But then as

we've seen,

there's this

exchange, and

the exchange

comes at

2,

verse 11.

The

Israelite

served the

Baals.

And then as

we work into

this exchange,

it gets worse

in verse 13.

They served

not only

Baal,

but also

the

Ashtoreths.

And then

go down to

the end of

this section

at verse

19.

Their ways

became even

more corrupt

than their

fathers,

following other

gods,

serving and

worshipping

them, in

fact, the

gods of the

nations now.

Until in

the last

verse we

read,

they took

their daughters

in marriage,

gave their

own daughters

to their

sons,

Canaanites,

Hittites,

Amorites,

Perizzites,

Hivites,

and Jebusites,

and served

their god.

They start

serving the

Lord.

The Lord's

serving the

Lord is

replaced by

serving Baal.

To serving

Baal is added

serving Ashtoreth.

Then they're

serving the

gods of the

nations,

and by the

time we get

to 3,

verse 6,

their service

is just

indiscriminate,

and the

Israelites are

indistinguishable

from the

Canaanites.

We often

think of

the Exodus

in terms

of freedom,

great Scottish

word too,

the freedom,

Israel being

set free

from slavery

to the

Egyptians.

But if some

have pointed

out, that's

a bit of a

misreading of

what's going

on in

Exodus.

The Exodus

is all about

this.

Who will

Israel serve?

Will Israel

serve Pharaoh,

or will

Israel serve

the Lord?

Once put

it in those

terms, I'm

sorry, but

Bob Dylan

came to

mind.

A 1979

album,

Slow Train

Coming,

included the

Grammy Award

winning song,

you gotta

serve somebody.

And a

remarkable lyric

which covers

the vast

majority of

people on

the planet,

includes this

verse repeated

over and over

again.

You're gonna

have to serve

somebody.

Yes, indeed,

you're gonna

have to serve

somebody.

well, it

may be the

devil, or

it may be

the Lord, but

you're gonna

have to serve

somebody.

That's

Judges 2

in a nutshell.

And perhaps

you're here this

evening,

recognizing

in this

living and

true God,

the one to

whom you owe

your life,

and your

allegiance.

And you're

beginning to

sense in

the pleasures

of the world

around you

snares that

separate you

from God.

You wonder

how you can

stop being a

slave to

sin to

serve this

awesome and

life-giving

God.

Well, our

passage,

perhaps quietly,

but still

insistently,

points forward

to God's

gracious

provision of

a Savior

for his

people,

and in

Jesus,

he has

provided the

ultimate and

only Savior

for every

nation on

planet Earth.

Jesus bore

the punishment

for our

wrong choices

so we

could share

in his new

life,

living by

his strength

in the

friendship of

God.

This

captures

something of

your thoughts

this evening.

I'd love to

talk with you

after the

service,

prayer together

so that you

too can

know God's

grace at

work in

your own

life.

Well, as

we begin to

wind down

then, three

things to

reflect on

that arise

from the

passage of

the whole.

I think if we

had an

agenda, this

would be the

matters arising

section,

which usually is

at the beginning

of the agenda,

but we are

towards the

end.

the first

matter arising

is this.

The notion

that God

tests us,

tests Israel,

tests Adam

and Eve,

tests Peter,

might seem a

bit unfair.

Unfair that

our choices,

good and bad,

have consequences.

It might seem