JUDGES The Outcast

Groundhog Day is an obscure tradition in North America.

It's in little parts of North America.

It's not right across North America.

It was popularized by the 1993 movie which starred Bill Murray.

It's celebrated on the 2nd of February when the groundhog,

which is really just this furry creature thing,

comes out of its hole from hibernation.

And if the animal sees a shadow, that is if the weather is sunny,

it goes back into its hole because there's six more weeks of winter weather to come.

If not, apparently spring's coming early.

No scientific fact to it, but a good reason for a party, I suspect.

Now, Groundhog Day also describes a situation

in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events

to reappear again and again and again in exactly the same way.

And that's what you feel when you put up the book of Judges

and as you read through it, it's like, oh, here we go again.

We're back into the same cycle again.

And that's what we're going to see as we launch into Judges.

We have this depressing and this familiar cycle in chapter 10, verse 6.

Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord

and they served the Baals and the Ashtoreths

and the gods of Aram and the gods of Sidon,

the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites

and the gods of the Philistines.

So again, we have this picture of idolatry and slavery with Israel.

The Baals and the Ashtoreths, they were the gods of the native Canaanites.

This is the land in which they're in.

And so this is their native gods, their idols.

But notice there are other idols, other gods that are mentioned here as well.

Notice that it says the gods of Aram, they weren't, these are not part of Canaan.

This is Aram, they're up to the northwest.

Sidon, they're up to the north.

Moab and Ammon are to the east.

And then the Philistines are to the south.

And all of these nations belonged outside of Canaan,

but they came into Canaan to oppress the Israelites.

Now, if you've been listening all the way through this series,

then you will remember that in chapter 3, way back then,

we saw that Othniel, remember him?

He helped Israel out of its bind with the king of Aram.

Ehud, we all remember him because he's the guy stuck the sword in the fat guy.

He was against the Ammonites and the Moabites.

And Shamgar, we just went straight over him.

He only got one verse, really, so we just missed him.

He helped Israel against the Philistines.

And in chapter 5, it was Deborah against the Canaanites.

So what we get here is that every time Israel worshipped the idols of a nation,

that nation ended up oppressing Israel.

And this time, it's the God of the Ammonites and the Philistines.

Verse 7 tells us that this is the consequence of them worshipping their gods.

He, that's God, became angry with them.

He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites.

This is the key idea here.

Idolatry leads to enslavement.

And enslavement leads to idolatry.

Now, that doesn't seem logical.

Let's unpack that.

That does not seem logical.

You would think that once a nation like Israel was oppressed by these other nations,

Israel would hate the gods of the nations who they were worshipping that led them into slavery.

They'd wake up one day and go, oh, we hate those gods.

They've not been good to us.

But that's not the case.

The Ammonites had oppressed Israel in chapter 3, verse 13.

And here is Israel serving their gods, which in turn leads to enslavement to the Ammonites once again.

Despite their pain and their misery, Israel continued to worship the same idols that brought them the pain and the misery.

It makes no sense.

It is so easy to sit back here and look at the futility of Israel's behaviour.

What's wrong with you guys?

I wonder whether we can see ours in the same way.

Let me remind you of our definition of idolatry.

You'll find it right there in the little, you know, fine print at the bottom of your service outline.

Idolatry is taking a good aspect of creation, a gift from God, marriage, days at the beach, business, family, money,

and turning it into the ultimate source of security, comfort, identity and power.

It's taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing.

I've given you a chart there on idolatry and a whole different bits of idolatry.

Ripped it straight out of Tim Keller and his book, Gospel Driven Life.

It's really helpful.

The point here is that our hearts still assure us that when an idol leads to slavery and misery,

that we seem to think that we need more of that idol.

For instance, imagine someone who seeks value and purpose in relationship.

That's where their real sense of worth is, is when they feel loved by someone else.

And they live that out by sacrificing everything in order to get into a marriage.

And that marriage fails.

What happens then?

What normally happens, what we see in our world,

is that they think that what I need now is another relationship.

But what I need is a better relationship than the last one.

But I need another relationship.

And so the cycle repeats.

Again and again and again.

We don't seem to ever think that the issue is, in fact, idol worship.

Our behavior tells us that the issue is not our worship of idols,

but that we are not worshiping the idol enough.

And that is Israel's behavior here.

Verse 7 tells us that God, in his settled anger at idolatry,

sold them into the hands of their enemies.

That's a very strong phrase.

In fact, it's the strongest phrase so far of God's dealing with his people in the book of Judges.

You see, when you sell a car to another person,

it means that that new owner can do with it what they want to do with it.

It's theirs.

They can do with it.

You know, you might have caught it gertie or whatever.

You know, no longer does that apply.

It might have been your child, you know, extra member.

You might have treated really well and washed it and polished.

Once they get it, it's theirs.

They can drive it into another car if they want.

They can do whatever they want.

You no longer own it.

Now, we know from the history of God dealing with these rebellious people

that this doesn't mean that God had abandoned them or canceled his promises to them.

It does mean that he stopped protecting them

so that the things that they chose to serve began to dominate them.

And in fact, in Romans chapter 1, verses 23 to 25,

Romans 1:23–25

is a passage that really has the same idea.

It speaks of people who exchange the glory of the immortal God

for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles.

That is, it's a description of idolatry.

Reject a God, create our own gods.

And what was the result?

The very next verse, Romans 1, 24,

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts.

He let them do it.

He abandoned them to their desires.

And the phrase desires of the heart means to have an overwhelming desire,

drive, an uncontrollable and therefore an enslaving desire.

For God to give them over means that he has allowed the things

for which they have put their hope,

things for which are not God,

to become the ruling powers of their lives.

And in fact, Romans 1 describes all of humanity.

Once God gave them over because of their idolatry in Romans 1, 24,

what's the next thing that happens?

Romans 25, 1, 25,

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie

and they worshipped and served created things rather than the creator.

The judgment for idolatry is more idolatry.

Idolatry and slavery go hand in hand.

Idolatry leads to slavery and slavery to idolatry.

Let's take money for an example.

God says to us,

If you live for money instead of me,

then money will rule your life.

Money will control your life.

It will control your heart.

It will control your emotions.

It will enslave you.

And what you think is the answer to that solution

is I just need to have a bit more

and then it won't control me.

Then I will have freedom if I have a bit more

and then a bit more and a bit more.

Then I'll have freedom.

Idolatry leads to enslavement

and enslavement to more idolatry.

Or popularity.

If you want to live for popularity instead of me,

God says,

then popular came

and social media lacks

will rule you and control you.

And there has been some awful scenarios in recently

in the media where we've seen

that people have been controlled

by social media likes.

Even death.

God says,

If you want another God besides me,

go ahead.

Let's see how merciful it is to you,

how effective it is at saving you

and guiding you

and enlightening you

and affirming you.

It will control you

and it will make you sacrifice everything for it

and it will make you miserable.

Idolatry and slavery go hand in hand.

And so in verse 8,

it tells us that Israel's oppression

was the worst oppression to date.

And the sad thing here is

that the way Israel treated their idols

was the way they treated their God as well.

They treated God like one of their idols.

Worst oppression yet,

the Philistines,

the Ammonites,

it says,

shattered and crushed them.

For 18 years,

they oppressed all the Israelites

on the east side of the Jordan

in Gilead,

the land of the Amorites.

And again,

Israel cries out to God.

Verse 10,

We have sinned against you,

forsaking our God

and serving the Baals.

And what we see here

is that God doesn't immediately forgive them

or He doesn't jump in

and solve their problem.

In chapter 6,

when the people cry out to God,

He sent them a really stern warning.

And here,

the warning's a little bit harder as well.

They have consistently

turned their backs on God

and He has consistently saved them.

And this time,

we get the crushing line

in verse 13.

I will no longer save you.

Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen.

Let them save you

when you're in trouble.

Despite a confession of sin,

God has heard this song

and this dance before.

Israel's sin,

as we've seen,

as judges progresses

and we'll see the next couple of weeks,

Israel's sin is not so much a cycle

as it is a plunge.

It's like a ball gathering momentum.

It's just a plunge.

And it is a sheer tragedy

when people become so accustomed

to the mercy of God

that they end up despising it.

Even,

and especially,

in the act of seeking His mercy.

They just despise His mercy.

Again,

here,

Israel is sorry

for the consequence

of their sin

rather than the sin itself.

They are turning

from idolatry

in idolatrous ways.

They are treating God

like this great,

warm,

vending machine

in the sky

into which you need

to just drop a token or two,

one or two tokens of repentance

and He will spit out

the thing that I really want

which is relief

from my troubles.

That's what I really want.

I want relief.

How often do we treat God

like that?

I remember doing this so much

before I was a Christian

and especially whenever I knew

that I was going to need help.

So exam times,

you know,

exams are coming up

and so in those moments,

pray to God.

Sorry,

I've been rejecting you

a bit lately

but if you can help me here,

you know,

it's going to be different

beyond this.

So it's like treating God

like this vending machine,

throwing some repentance,

acknowledgement,

haven't been kicking

the goals lately

but you help me in this exam

and then we'll be fine.

So help me pass this exam

and I'd walk out of there

and I would pass the exam

most of the time

and I'd go,

man,

I studied,

you know,

I just ignored God

and I had this sense

that when I did that,

for some strange reason,

I thought God was on my side

in that exam room

but not on anyone else's side.

The rest of the pagans,

I bet you they didn't think

about praying to God,

you know,

helping with the exam

so I've got a leg up here.

I've definitely got a leg up

over the rest of these people

because God's on my side.

I remember the time

that my attitude

struck home to me

was that I was always

trying to manipulate God

to get on my side

when it was when I

was actually a Christian

and I was at Bible college

and I remember

sitting down for an exam

and praying a similar thing,

God help me with the exam here

and then looking around,

God's on everyone's side here.

That's no help to me.

I really should have studied.

And Israel's here

trying to push the right buttons,

trying to make the right sacrifices

in order to get God,

to manipulate God,

to exert power for them.

And God wants to shatter

those false views

that have been crafted of him.

He's not a Baal.

He's not an Asherah pole.

Israel just assumed

that whenever things got bad,

they'd always just put the right things

in the slot machine

and they'd get God back.

Now Israel seems to get their point.

They're requesting verse 15

is different than verse 10.

Have a look at it.

We have sinned.

Do with us

whatever you think best.

But please rescue us now.

Now that shows

at least an element

of a change of heart.

Before they were focused

on their condition,

on their comfort.

Now they admit

that God is under

no obligation whatsoever

to solve their problem for them.

It's like they're saying to God,

we want you

even if it means

we will keep suffering.

Although we'd rather not.

It is much more

a sign of real faith.

You see,

if we say to God,

I want you

because I want

or I need you

to give me

this particular thing,

whatever it is,

we reveal

that that particular thing,

whatever it is,

is our

ultimate

God.

Our ultimate hope.

Our ultimate sense of security.

God, you exist

to give me

this stuff.

That means that

this stuff

is more important

than God.

That's idolatry.

Things like God,

your job is to make me

happy.

God,

your job is to

give me a family.

God,

your job is to make

the current family

I got better

than what it is.

When we say that,

we're saying,

God,

you exist

to exert

your power

to give me

what I want.

That's idolatry.

God's

God,

God,

God,

God,

God,

and so God

responds to his people

with mercy in verse 16.

He now

acts to save

Israel.

The Ammonite

and the Israelite camps are drawn up for battle.

The men of Gilead search for the person

who's going to lead them into the battle

and beyond the battle in verse 18.

And we're introduced to him in chapter 11, verse 1.

The new judge is now coming to the fore.

It says here, Jephna, the Gileadite, was a mighty warrior.

His father was Gilead.

His mother was a prostitute.

Gilead's wife also bore him sons.

And when they were grown up,

they drove Jephna away.

You're not going to get any inheritance in our family,

they said, because you're the son of another woman.

So Jephna fled from his brothers

and settled in the land of Tob,

where a gang of scoundrels gather around him

and followed him.

Now there's a, if you like, an unsurprising

and at the same time surprising choice of a judge

with Jephna.

Jephna, like Gideon before him,

is described as a mighty warrior.

It seems like brawling and stuff's his thing.

On the other hand,

he's the illegitimate son of a prostitute.

He's been driven out from his home,

most likely as a young person by his half-brothers.

And then he's out there living in the wilderness

and he surrounds himself with a band of robbers.

Jephna, as it turns out,

is into organized crime

and he's the crime boss.

And so he's the natural choice.

He's a complete outcast.

He's a criminal from a broken home.

And despite all of that,

God chooses him to be the saviour.

And the leaders of Gilead go to him,

but Jephna was not so easily convinced.

Verse 7,

Didn't you hate me?

Aren't you the same guys who hate me?

You drove me out from my father's house.

Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble?

Does that at all sound familiar?

There are so many similarities here

between the way Israel has treated their God

and the way that they are treating their judge,

their leader.

And so what Jephna wants to do here

is he, before he does anything,

before he picks up any sword,

he resets the relationship

between the leader of God's people,

the judge, and the people.

Verse 8,

The elders of Gilead said to him,

Nevertheless, we are turning to you now.

Come with us to fight the Ammonites

and you will be head over all of us

who live in Gilead.

Then Jephna clarifies the point in verse 9.

Jephna answered,

Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites

and the Lord gives them to me.

Suppose we win.

Will I really be your head?

And the elders of Gilead replied,

The Lord is our witness.

You will certainly do as,

we will certainly do as you say.

In other words,

as we've seen already in this series,

rescue and rule are inseparable.

If I'm your saviour,

I am also your ruler.

If you look to an idol

to be your saviour and your hope,

it will rule you.

You don't ask it to,

it will,

because salvation

and rule go together.

If you look to God

as your saviour and your hope,

he will rule you.

And all of these judges

point us ultimately

to the greatest judge,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

The way people treat Jesus

is the way that they are treating God.

It is impossible

to respect God

or to truly repent

without acknowledging

Jesus' rule over your life.

It's impossible.

As I said earlier in this series,

Jesus cannot be your rescuer

if he isn't your ruler.

And so,

here in the text,

the battle lines are drawn up,

but Jephthah doesn't go up

to war immediately.

Turns out that this guy

who's the crime boss

actually happens

with some negotiation skills.

And so,

his first option here

is to go for a peaceful resolution.

Who would have thought?

The Ammonites

neither respond nor retreat.

So,

diplomacy is exhausted,

war is inevitable.

And once the spirit of the Lord

came on Jephthah

in verse 29,

the outcome is certain.

The victory is won

before swords are even drawn.

And then there's something

terrible happens.

As Jephthah advances

to meet the army,

he makes this vow to God

in verse 30.

If you give the Ammonites

into my hands,

whatever comes out

the door of my house

to meet me

when I return in triumph

from the Ammonites

will be the Lord's.

and I will sacrifice it

as a burnt offering.

The Lord gives him his victory.

He returns home

as a victorious judge of Israel.

What should now follow

is the celebration

of the victory

and a time of peace.

But instead,

we have verse 34.

When Jephthah returned

to his home in Mizpah,

who should come out

to meet him

but his daughter

dancing to the sound

of timbrels.

She was an only child

except for her.

He had neither son

nor daughter.

And when he saw her,

he tore his clothes

and he cried,

Oh no!

My daughter!

You have brought me down

and I am devastated.

I have made a vow

to the Lord

that I cannot break.

He is distraught

and yet at the same time

he kind of hard blames

his daughter for it.

And his daughter

remarkably insists

that he keeps his vow to God.

After two months of mourning

with her friends,

she comes back

and Jephthah keeps his vow

and he sacrifices her.

It's a terrible story.

In fact,

it's the worst so far

in this terrible

section of Israel's history.

It's going to get worse

in the next two weeks

but up to now

this is the worst.

And there is at least

three big questions here.

What did Jephthah

actually promise

in his vow?

Why did he promise it?

And why did he keep

the promise?

Firstly,

some people have thought

that he just promised

to sacrifice

anything that came out

the door

and he was anticipating

an animal sacrifice.

He was expecting

the family dog

to run out

or maybe the cat

or something like that.

And there are,

and I'm not going to go

into all the details

of this

but there's a multitude

of reasons

as to why

that's not the case.

They range from it

being unlikely

that animals

were first of all

even allowed

in the homes

through to

if that was

what he was thinking

then he would never

have been distraught

by his daughter

coming out.

He would have been

waiting for the first

animal to come out.

The reality is

Jephthah promised

to make a human

sacrifice to God

if he was victorious.

That was his promise.

It was a human sacrifice.

He was probably hoping

for a servant

rather than his daughter.

Secondly,

why did he make

that promise?

Deuteronomy 12

says that human sacrifice

is a detestable thing

to God.

Jephthah would have

known that.

God is so clear on it.

Jephthah had

clearly been

deeply desensitized

to the violence

and the atrocities

of the pagan cultures

that surrounded him

and that he was

participating in.

He's obviously

become desensitized.

It's such an awful

example

of how

believers

in the one true God

who profess

faith in him

hold to some

truth

but allowed

the world

to squeeze

them into

their own

mold.

It's such an awful

example of

churches right

throughout our world

who have the word

of God

who knows what

God's word said

and yet

allow the world

and its priorities

to squeeze the scriptures

out.

these days

it's more likely

as the church

as Christians

we're more likely

to allow worldly

attitudes to sex

and money

come in

and live

alongside

biblical truth.

in his culture

it was different.

But Jephna

wasn't just

impacted by

the moral codes

that surrounded him

he was also

impacted by

their

idolatrous

works

righteousness.

Human sacrifice

is how

all those

gods

that surrounded

Canaan

human sacrifice

is how they

would buy off

their pagan gods.

It's how

it's the tokens

that they would

put in

to the vending

machine

to give God

to give them

what they wanted.

Jephna

thought

Israel's

God

needed to be

impressed

he needed

to be bought

he needed

to be controlled

through a lavish

gift

of human

sacrifice.

And the

tragedy

is

God

had already

decided

to save

his sinful

people

before he

even made

the vow

to God.

He'd already

decided to use

Jephna

as

his

savior.

So why

did he go

through with it?

this is

probably

the more

difficult

thing

to look

at

or to

answer

it's

hard

to know

but

except to

say that

he had

no concept

of the

God of

grace.

He

sees

God

in the

same

way

as

the

nations

around

them

as

all

the

other

pagan

gods

and

idols

he

sees

the

true

living

God

in

exactly

the

same

way

a

being

whose

favor

has

to

be

earned

through

flattery

and

lavish

sacrifices

and

that's

why

in

this

moment

he

can't

just

break

down

and

he's

distraught

he doesn't

just drop

on his

knees

and confess

his

error

and

repent

and save

his

daughter

it's

because

he

simply

doesn't

trust

this

God

that's

why

he

goes

through

with

it

because

he's

trapped

by

his

mistrust

of

this

God

it's

like

he

believes

that

if

he

doesn't

go

through

with

it

if

he

doesn't

strike

his

daughter

down

this

God

will

strike

him

down

and

this

has

been

the

problem

for

every

human

being

ever

since

Adam

and

Eve

it's

our

problem

in

the

garden

of

Eden

the

very

first

line

that

comes

out

of

the

serpent's

mountain

Genesis

3

is to

cause

human

beings

to

disbelieve

that God

has their

best

interests

at

heart

you

cannot

trust

this

God

and

ever

since

then

the

default

position

of

our

heart

the

wiring

is

to

feel

like

we

have

to

control

God

that

we

have

to

pay

God

that

we

have

to

deserve

God

that

we

have

to

do

something

to

put

something

in

the

vending

machine

to

spit

out

for

us

what

we

want

from

God

our

default

is

never

simply

to

trust

God

to

love

and

to

bless

us

we

instead

turn

from

him

to

other

things

turn

from

him

to

other

things

for

the

acceptance

of

the

love

that

we

crave

it

is

always

worth

asking

ourselves

the

questions

in

what

ways

would

I

live

differently

more

radically

more

restfully

if I

really

really

believe

that

God

was

completely

committed

to me

to

love

me

to

bless

me

and

to

work

what

is

best

for

me

how

would

that

impact

everything

the

way

I

live

if

I

truly

believe

death

to

my

heart

that

that

was

true

the

Bible

makes

it so

clear

that

this

God

is

for

us

and

so

this

episode

is

tragic

in

fact

the

great

victory

against

the

enemy

is

even

barely

mentioned

it's

overshadowed

by the

tragedy

of the

loss

of

Jephna's

daughter

this

victory

is like

a

it's

a

flawed

victory

it's

an

imperfect

salvation

instead

of

dancing

in the

streets

it's

like

there's

this

dark

cloud

this

doesn't

feel

like

a

salvation

it's

an

imperfect

salvation

by an

imperfect

savior

and so

it won't

last

it's

not

worth

celebrating

but it

should

well

in us

a sense

of

where is

the

true

salvation

where is

the

perfect

salvation

where is

the one

that's

worth

celebrating

and if

we want

a

perfect

salvation

we have

to look

beyond

Jephna

to one

that is

greater

than he

the

imperfect

savior

Jephna

points us

to the

perfect

savior

Jesus

Jephna

didn't

rise

to be

judged

despite

his

rejection

and his

suffering

he is

fitted

for

his

role

as the

judge

of

Israel

through

his

rejection

and his

suffering

and in

this he is

a pale

shadow

of the

greatest

savior

Jesus

John

1 11

tells us

that Jesus

came to

that which

was his

own

but his

own

did not

receive

him

this is

the Jesus

who spent

his time

in the

wilderness

and was

tempted in

every way

but was

without

sin

according to

Hebrews

4 15

he was

rejected

and unlike

Jephna

lived a

holy

righteous

life

a life

of

perfection

and both

his

rejection

and his

perfection

prepared him

for his

ultimate

act of

weakness

a criminal

death

on a

cross

the death

of a

criminal

on a

cross

and it

also

qualified

him

for

his

greatest

victory

the

great

victory

where

he

bore

our

sin

as

the

human

sacrifice

through

his

death

so that

he could

give

his

people

his

righteousness

and lead

them

into

peace

you

see

Jesus

the

son

of

God

is

the

great

savior

who

chose

to

offer

his

life

as

a

sacrifice

for

the

sin

of

the

world

he

wasn't

trapped

into

it

wasn't

surprised

by it

his

dad

didn't

all of a

sudden

pop

it

on

him

and

go

well

okay

he

chose

it

it

was

his

plan

to

pay

for

the

sin

of

humanity

and

turn

God's

anger

away

from

us

his

sacrifice

was

once

for

all

time

for

all

people

that's

why

we

celebrate

that's

why

we

sing

what

we

sing

and

because

of

this

sacrifice

there

is

only

one

sacrifice

that

God

requires

of

you

and

me

he's

not

the

great

vending

machine

it's

the

self

sacrifice

of

offering

God

lordship

over

every

area

of

our

life

because

with

salvation

comes

rule

and

this

is

not

done

to

secure

his

favour

we

don't

offer

him

lordship

he

doesn't

take

it's

not

it's

not

to

secure

his

favour

Jesus

has

already

secured

the

favour

of

God

for

us

our

sacrifice

is

in

response

to

him

Romans

12

1

calls

us

to

deal

with

our

idols

when

it

says

I

urge

you

brothers

and

sisters

in

view

of

God's

mercy

because

of

his

mercy

to

offer

your

bodies

as

living

sacrifices

holy

and

pleasing

to

God

this

is

your

true

and

proper

worship

do

not

conform

to

the

pattern

of

this

world

Jesus

perfect

sacrifice

results

in his

perfect

rule

he

can

be

trusted

his

rule

is

the

only

rule

that

is

not

oppressive

Matthew

11

28

it's

Jesus

who

says

to

us

come

to

me

all

who

are

weary

and

burdened

and

I

will

give

you

rest

take

my

yoke

upon

you

and

learn

from

me

for

I

am

gentle

and

humble

at

heart

and

you

will

find

rest

for

your

souls

for

my

yoke

is

easy

and

my

burden

is

light