JUDGES Half Heated Discipleship

Now I think certainly our society, but Christians generally have a problem with the book of

Judges.

It is so earthly, so puzzling, so primitive, so violent.

Judges could be described as despicable people doing deplorable things.

That's a summary of the book of Judges, despicable people doing deplorable things.

It records a history of murder, assassination and massacres, of immorality, lawlessness and

unfaithfulness.

And one way to deal with embarrassing books of the Bible is simply to ignore it.

Just, you know, let's just preach on the Gospels or something like that.

But it's difficult to do with Judges because it contains some of the Bible's most recognisable

leaders and most flawed people.

Samson, Gideon, Deborah.

I mean, these are the great Sunday school stories.

They revolve around these characters.

And so with characters who are so colorful and so flawed and so dramatic, it is easy, I think,

to miss the actual intention of the book of Judges and just pluck the characters out and

just do a character study instead.

And totally miss the point of Judges.

Judges.

This book is revelation from God about God.

That's what it is.

And it is pure gospel.

Pure gospel.

Judges is about the God of mercy and long-suffering patience who continually works in and through

and for his people.

And what's more, he does it despite the constant resistance of God's people against his purposes.

God relentlessly offers his grace to people who neither deserve it nor seek it and don't even

appreciate it when they're being saved by it.

List all the heroes you like in the book of Judges, but there is only one.

And that's God himself.

He is the only hero in this book.

It is God who consistently rescues Israel from the stupidity of their decisions and the mess

that they have created for themselves.

The 12 human judges who we'll start to look at next week, or the saviors in this book, point

us to the great saviour.

Through all of their flaws and their strengths, we see our need for our saviour.

And so we need to read this book with a great deal of humility.

So the first thing we need to do is fit judges in the Bible.

Where does it fit?

Where does it fit in God's unfolding plan of salvation?

God has rescued his people from Egypt.

He's promised them that he's taking them to the promised land.

And the very first verse of this book and the last verse puts it within its historical setting.

It covers the period from the death of Joshua and the end of the exodus from Egypt period

to, at the end of the book, the very last phrase says, very last sentence,

is that in those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did as they saw fit in their own eyes.

And so it's the period between the leadership of Moses and Joshua to David and Solomon.

It's a period of something like 200 to 400 years.

And the question at the very first verse of Judges really is asking the question,

well, who's going to lead us now?

Who's our leader now?

Joshua's dead.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone want to lead?

Anyone?

Anyone?

What we are introduced to in the verses of Judges section by section is 12 judges, 12 rulers.

They are not leaders per se, but rescuers.

They are redeemers and saviors.

They're the people that God raises up to pull his people once again out of oppression and slavery because of their disobedience.

And as we look into the very first verses, there is one vital lesson that we learn.

In all of those verses I just read, there is one vital lesson.

One main point.

It's not so much a list of Palestinian places that aren't on the tourist route nowadays.

There's much more to it than that.

And to understand this lesson that we've just read out, we need to effectively look over our shoulders to understand what Judges 1 is all about.

We're going to look back.

Which is what, in fact, the very first verse of Judges does for us.

It encourages us to look back.

It says, after the death of Joshua.

Joshua was one of only two men.

One of only two men.

Two men.

In the whole generation that had been rescued from Egypt who had remained faithful in trusting God's promises to bring his people from Egypt into the promised land.

Two men.

That's it.

And the book of Joshua, one book before Judges, charts God's work in and through his people to keep his promises to them, to take them to the promised land.

To bring them into the land, to defeat their enemies and to begin to give them blessing and rest in their new home.

It teaches us that because God always keeps his promises, God's people can bravely obey him and worship him.

And this is the book.

Joshua is the book that provides the background for the book of Judges.

In fact, it is the book that provides the yardstick, if you like.

The measuring tool by which we measure the progress and the success of the taking of the promised land in the book of Judges.

So let's, you've got your Bibles in front of you, but let's turn back to the beginning of Joshua to see what God called his people to do.

What is his specific mission for his people having rescued them out of slavery in Egypt?

So Joshua, this is God speaking to Joshua as he takes up the reins as the leader of God's people after the death of Moses.

So Joshua chapter 1, verse 5 to start with,

Joshua 1:5

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Be strong, very courageous.

Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.

Do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go.

Keep this book of the law always on your lips.

Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid.

Do not be discouraged.

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

So in verses 7 and 8, God reminds Israel that their military advances into the promised land will be accompanied by a close and humble and obedient walk with God.

Victory and rest in the promised land will come because they are dependent and obedient people of faith in the promises of God.

They will not achieve victory and rest for themselves.

And so the book of Joshua records the beginning of the campaign to take the promised land.

And the purpose for driving out the Canaanites to conquer the promised land, it was not vengeance.

It was not economic gain, but it was spiritual.

It wasn't vengeance.

It wasn't for economic gain, which is why they were not to take any plunder.

They weren't to have any slaves.

They weren't to enslave the people.

They are to be removed so that Israel didn't fall under the influence of their gods.

By the time we get to the end of Joshua's life, there is still so much more to be done.

You can see that at the end of the book of Joshua.

Much of the land still needs to be settled.

And God's call on his people, both then and now, is to combine a trust in his promises with courage, with bravery, with risk.

True Christian discipleship is risk-taking and it is radical because true disciples rely on God to keep his promises to bless them

and not on their own instincts, not on their own plans, not on their own insurance policies.

And so with the mission and the purpose of God clear for his people,

we are now ready to launch into Judges chapter 1 and see how they go at trusting in the promises of God

Judges 1 · chapter mention

to be with them and to give them victory and rest.

And we arrive at verse 3 and Judas failed already.

Who's to go up first?

Judah.

What did Judah do?

Turn to the Simeonites.

Hey guys, you guys want to come with us?

It would be a whole lot easier taking the land if we did it together.

Now that makes sense from a military perspective.

But they didn't trust God for the victory.

And yet despite this, verse 4, God graciously grants them victory in spite of their disobedience.

Judah continues to take its inheritance in verses 8 to 11 and then again in verses 17 to 18.

And in between those victories, there's this little story in verses 12 to 16,

which we get a glimpse.

In amongst all of this, there is a glimpse of one faithful, obedient family.

Caleb's family.

Surprise, surprise.

And what they do here is they demonstrate the covenant faithfulness and courageous obedience to God

that all Israel should have.

Caleb, Othniel, who will be introduced to soon, and in particular Aksar,

reveal wholehearted discipleship.

They believe in the promises of God and keep grasping for more.

And they are a rebuke.

This woman here is a rebuke.

Caleb's daughter is a rebuke to all of Israel.

Now if the chapter ended in verse 18,

you would kind of go, it's mostly encouraging, kind of.

You know, until you get to verse 19.

The Lord was with the men of Judah,

but they were unable to drive the people from the plains

because they had chariots fitted with iron.

Now if you did not know what God had said to his people through Joshua,

the book of Joshua,

there would be plausible reasons why the Israelites didn't succeed in their military campaign.

We don't have chariots.

They've got chariots.

We've got guns.

They've got tanks.

There's a reason for this.

So why not just be sensible about it?

Why not just be sensible about this and compromise and negotiate a treaty?

It was half-hearted obedience.

And unfortunately, it was contagious.

When you read through the rest of chapter 1,

it kind of reads like a collection of press releases from Israel

with their advancement,

each tribe's advancement into the land,

and their own spin on how they're going with it.

Benjamin fails to dislodge the Jebusites in verse 21.

The tribe of Judah makes a covenant with a Canaanite in verses 22 to 26.

Can you see the failures when you read Joshua and what they've done here?

Manasseh fails to drive out various inhabitants,

but they become strong enough eventually to exploit them as forced labor.

In verses 27 and 28,

Ephraim allows Canaanites to live among them in verse 29.

Zebulun opts for forced labor in verse 30.

Asher doesn't simply allow the Canaanites to live amongst them.

They choose to live amongst the Canaanites in verses 31 and 32,

as does Naphtali in verse 33.

Dan advances nowhere.

It says they become confined to the hill country in verse 34.

And the slap in the face here,

it says in verses 35 and 36,

that the Amorites have got more tenacity,

more bravery than God's own people.

Chapter 1 gives us the facts.

But at the beginning of chapter 2,

what happens is we get heaven's explanation.

It starts with,

the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochum and said,

that's a really significant point.

It's easy to miss.

This is not just another destination issue.

Not just another Palestinian village.

Angel happened to be there and thought,

oh, I better go over there.

In Joshua chapter 5,

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

it was at Gilgal that Israel made a covenant with God.

We will remain obedient to you and we will exclude all others.

This was the place where God had forgiven their sin.

He had bound them to himself as his people

and entered into relationship with them by grace.

He had motivated,

sorry,

that covenant was motivated only by his own loving kindness towards his people.

And so God's assessment of his people's performance in verse 2

is in fact devastating.

You have disobeyed me.

Now Israel disobeyed God through what they had done.

They in fact made a covenant with the people of Canaan despite being told not to.

They enforced labor when they're told not to.

They cohabited in Canaan when they were told not to.

But Israel also disobeyed God through what they had failed to do.

They failed to break down the altars of their gods.

The purpose of this campaign was to cleanse Canaan of its idols to get rid of every idol god.

Because there is only one god worthy of worship and total allegiance.

And the fact that Israel didn't clear out the idols means that they hadn't rejected God as their god.

But they hadn't fully surrendered to him as their god.

They hadn't rejected him yet.

But they hadn't accepted him either.

They hadn't surrendered to him.

One of the big points that we see right through the book of Judges

is that this god wants lordship over every area of life.

Either all of life is given to God in grateful, loving, obedience, or none is.

He doesn't pick and choose.

We don't pick and choose.

It's either everything or it's nothing.

In verse 19 of chapter 1, we read that it says there,

the Israelites were unable to drive out the people from the plains because of the iron chariots.

That's their take.

That's their take on this issue.

We couldn't do it.

We just could not do it.

God's assessment in chapter 2, verse 2, is not that you could not do it, but that you would not do it.

You chose disobedience.

It's always really, really helpful for us to ask ourselves the question,

where in my life am I saying, I can't do it, God?

But God is saying to us, actually, you won't do it.

It's true to say you won't do it.

It's not that you can't do it.

It's that you won't do it.

Israel thought they had good reasons not to obey, but God called them flimsy excuses.

And God's assessment of Israel is based on his promises.

So here's one promise.

Here's one promise from 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13.

1 Corinthians 10:13

God is faithful.

He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

How about that promise?

God will never put us into a position where we cannot obey him.

He will never, ever, ever put us in a position where we cannot obey him.

There is never, ever an I can't moment in our lives.

Ever.

And this is a very searching and threatening passage to apply to our lives.

Because there may be all sorts of things in our lives that we think that we are unable to do,

but which we actually are refusing to do.

We're refusing to do it.

So here's just a couple.

Ever said,

I just cannot forgive this or that.

I just cannot forgive him or her.

But God commands forgiveness in Matthew 18, 35.

Which means we, in fact, we can, in fact, determine to put aside anger,

to soften our hearts with the knowledge of the gospel of grace

and act as though the wrong had never happened.

When we don't forgive, we choose not to forgive.

It's not that we can't.

It's that we won't.

When we say we can't, we mean we won't.

We want to hang on to our anger.

We want to hang on to our bitterness and our desire to get even.

All under the excuse of,

oh, you just don't understand how bad I've been treated.

What about this one?

Ever said,

I can't tell them the truth.

It would just destroy them.

God tells us in Ephesians 4, 15 and Ephesians 4, 25

to speak the truth in love.

And more often than not,

it is because of our cowardice or our pride

that we say,

I can't.

It's our cowardice or our pride where we say,

I can't.

What we really mean is that if I were to tell them the truth,

then they just might not like me anymore.

What about this one?

Ever said,

I just cannot give

a minimum of a tenth of my income to Christian ministry.

I just can't do that.

You don't understand my situation.

I just can't do that.

And yet God commands it.

He says, in fact,

that we rob him when we don't.

God is the one who's made clear promises

to give us everything we need.

He cares for us more than the sparrows.

When we say we can't,

we mean I won't

because I don't trust that he will.

What about this one?

I can't resist doing this thing

even though I know it's wrong.

I think we need to understand,

we're going to see it very soon here in a moment

in this text,

that sin has addictive power

over our lives.

It is true

that we may not be able to resist

the temptation

through our own sheer willpower,

but then again,

Israel was not meant to take the promised land

under their own sheer willpower.

We can, however, get help.

We can admit our problem.

We can humble ourselves.

We can cry out to God for mercy

and we can seek transformation through him

and become accountable to others.

1 Corinthians 10 tells me

that God always provides a way out.

No sin is inevitable.

No sin is irresistible.

And if we don't resist,

it's likely we would simply rather keep on sinning

and excusing it with a,

I can't.

When what God says here,

it's actually, I won't.

I refuse.

Now, already

in this book,

we are introduced to one of the major tensions,

one of the major tensions

of the book of Judges,

which goes right through.

God is holy.

God is just.

He cannot tolerate

or live with

or bless

evil sin

in any way whatsoever.

And God is also loving

and he is faithful

and he cannot tolerate

the loss of people

he has committed himself to.

So what does he do?

What does he do

with these sinful people

that he cannot tolerate

but he's committed to?

And this is a tremendous

and almost seemingly

irresolvable tension

in the book of Judges.

Will God finally give up?

on his people.

Right?

I've had enough.

Covenant reversal.

Rip it up.

Done with you.

Or will he finally give in

to his people?

Oh, whatever.

You know,

kid nags you.

No, no, no, no, no.

Oh, whatever.

Yes.

Is God just going to do that?

And the tension here

is only resolved

outside of the book of Judges

centuries later.

God takes decisive action

to resolve it in himself.

He takes the tension,

resolves it in himself

with the crucifixion

of his son,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our sin was credited to Jesus.

Jesus takes our sin

so that his righteous life

might be credited to us.

God's anger was poured out

on Jesus.

Jesus satisfies

both justice

because sin was punished

and loving faithfulness

since God is now able

to live

and accept us

on the merits

of the Lord Jesus

alone.

And so the cross of Christ

is the only way

the tension of Judges

can possibly be resolved.

Without the good news

of Jesus Christ,

we will always

either be complacent

with our sin

and take his mercy

for granted

or we will live

under the burden

of guilt,

shame and fear

because we don't know

that his mercy covers it.

We will go

on one of those

two directions.

Either liberalism

and license

and go,

well, God's in the business

of forgiveness.

That's his job

so keep on sitting

and give him a job to do.

Or burden of guilt

that God could not possibly

ever forgive

a sinner like me.

With the good news

of the gospel,

we are able to live

forgiven,

obedient lives

despite also living

sinful,

disobedient lives.

You see,

the cross is where

we find the freedom

to accept ourselves

without being proud

and to challenge ourselves

without being crushed.

God resolves the tension

in the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

and it is the power

and the motivation

to fully commit

ourselves to God.

God.

You see,

Israel's failure

to obey,

our failure

to obey

is a failure

to remember.

Our God

is the God

who rescues.

He's the one

who brought them

out of slavery,

out of Egypt.

He is the God

who remains faithful

to them

right through

the wilderness

and he said,

I will never

break my covenant

with you.

And so the core issue

of our won't,

of our disobedience

is essentially

a failure

to remember

who he is

and who he has

made us

to be

in him.

And the reverse

is also true.

As long as we

remember

who he is

and what he's

done for us

in the Lord Jesus,

as much as that

becomes the defining

vision of our lives,

we will serve him

wholeheartedly,

radically

and joyfully.

And Israel

failed to do this

and the consequences

were clear

and they were

catastrophic.

The idols

of Canaan

would ensnare

them.

Have a look

in chapter 2,

Judges 2 verse 3.

Judges 2:3

This is God's

pronouncement

on his people.

I will not

drive them

out before you.

They will

become traps

for you

and their gods

will become

snares to you.

Oh,

what a tragedy.

I have

rescued you

from slavery

and now

you have

chosen

slavery.

It's a great

description here

of what idolatry

is and what

idolatry does.

Idolatry,

according to the

Bible,

is taking a good

aspect of creation.

It could be

marriage,

days on the beach,

business,

family,

money,

and turning

it into

the ultimate

source of

our security,

our comfort,

our identity,

our power.

And these

idols

are what

are called

thorns.

When you

make something

good into

the ultimate,

it will

make you

miserable.

it will

make you

miserable.

I've got a

splinter at the

moment in the

bottom of my

foot and I've

been trying to

get it out for

some time,

which is very

difficult to do

when it's at the

bottom of your

foot and you

can't quite get

there.

And I really

don't want anyone

else to play

with it.

That's what a

thorn does and

every moment I

know it's

there and

it makes life

miserable.

If our

children are

our idols,

when their

lives are

troubled,

we lose our

joy.

And even

when their

lives might

become troubled,

which in fact is

all the time,

we will worry

and we will

lose our

joy.

Idols are

snares,

they trap us,

they blind us,

they enslave us,

and it gets to the

point where we

just have to have

it.

We cannot say

no to it,

become addicted

to it.

And this is why

so many people

work so hard

and they

sacrifice their

family,

their friendships,

their health at

the altar of a

career or give

themselves to

certain relationships

that are so

destructive.

Because a good

thing has become

the ultimate.

The more we

pursue half-hearted

discipleship, the

more ensnared we

become, the more

miserable we

become, the more

unstable we

become.

That's what I

think it means

when James says

a double-minded

person is

unstable in all

that they do.

They've got a

foot in both

camps.

Verses 4 and

5 I think is

helpful.

We see less of

it as judges

progress, but the

people hear the

word of God and

they weep, they

weep and they

offer sacrifices.

There's a picture

here of genuine

repentance.

Tragically,

repentance

decreases as the

storyline progresses.

Heed that as a

warning, friends.

As the storyline

progresses,

repentance

decreases.

Our response to

God's accusing

word here should be

more than wet

eyes.

It is good to

remove to tears,

but it is much

better to be

moved to

repentance.

Judges shows us

that spiritual

decline is

inevitable for

everyone and

spiritual renewal

then becomes the

continual need for

everyone.

Decline is

inevitable, renewal

is a continual need.

God wants to

produce in us

good grief.

Good grief.

Joel 2

Joel 2:12–13

verses 12

to 13,

return to me

with all of

your heart,

with fasting

and weeping

and mourning

and tear open

your heart,

not your

garments.

can I

plead with

you to tear

open your

heart in

the coming

weeks as we

study judges,

repent of

half-hearted

discipleship.

To be

disciple of

Jesus means

we are under

his discipline.

Search your

heart and ask

whether he's

committed to

following God

rather than

the idols of

our society

and our

neighbours.

Are there

any sins that

you're particularly

struggling with at

the moment?

How are you

going at the

moment,

avoiding sexual

immorality?

What about

gossip,

slander,

incessant

criticism?

Are your

words building

up?

Are they

tearing down?

Are you

acknowledging

error,

seeking

reconciliation?

Are you

confessing

sin?

Are you

seeing sin

in others

more readily

than you see

it in

yourself?

Do you

get angry

or depressed

when someone

points out a

flaw to you?

Has your

commitment to

church,

to your

church family

wavered so

now it's

three out

of four

or two

out of

four

or one

out of

four?

Have you

just decided

for the

first time

in a while

just not to

join up to a

community group

this time?

What's your

prayer life like

right now?

What have you

been mostly

praying for?

God help me

do this.

God provide

for that.

Do you

have a

global picture

in God's

glory,

surrendering,

confession?

What has God

been teaching

you through

his word

lately?

Have you

felt your

passion stirred

in personal

or corporate

worship lately?

Or is it

just criticism?

criticism?

I don't

give a rip

whether you

can sing

the songs.

Are you

trying?

Have you

been able to

control spending

and your

saving habits?

Have you been

able to control

both your

spending habits

and your

saving habits

so that you

become more

generous?

are there

areas of

your life

where you

have made

big decisions

but haven't

consulted God

or mature

Christians for

wisdom and

God's will?

Are you

making decisions

for relationship

with Jesus

or making

decisions against

relationship with

Jesus?

Maybe you

haven't rejected

him but you

haven't fully

surrendered to

him either.

Tear open

your hearts

to God

with weeping

and mourning

and repentance.

our sins.

Thank you.

Missing

and

glory

and

going

to be

to be

ourselves

unknown AH

here.

If

you're

figuring out

everything