When God's Patience Wears Thin

Well, Israel's situation in these verses is certainly not unique, as we have spent the last several months studying through the book of Judges.

This is not a surprising scenario at all.

This is actually part and parcel of everything that is true of the Israelites in this book.

But their sin is much more pronounced here than in other texts.

Verse 6 gives us this long list of pagan deities to which they had offered their worship,

which prepares us for the severity of God's response when they supposedly are becoming penitent.

This list, it reveals how deeply apostate the nation had become.

Those God had taken as his very own turned to any and every other god except him.

Not only did they continue to serve the gods of the Canaanites, which is represented by Bel and Ashtaroth,

but we're told that they began to worship and bring in the gods of the nations that were surrounding the Canaanites.

We're told that they adopted the gods of Syria and Sidon to the north,

then the gods of Moab and Ammon to the east,

and then the gods of Philistia to the southwest.

And we read in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that God had actually instructed them

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

to commit these nations and their gods to destruction.

And if they didn't commit these nations and their gods to destruction,

they would be corrupted by them,

and then they would face God's wrath as God's enemy.

Now think about the irony here.

God makes it abundantly clear.

We just read it.

It's abundantly clear to the nation.

Do this to these people, my enemies in Canaan and the surrounding regions.

But if you don't obey me, you're going to be corrupted,

you're going to worship their gods,

and then you will then be my enemy.

And face my wrath.

That's Deuteronomy 7.

That's the warning of it.

Now we get to Judges chapter 10,

Judges 10 · chapter mention

and we're reminded that they did not obey the Lord.

This is near total spiritual corruption now.

And it's time for them to face the threat of God's promised wrath.

The instruments of God's wrath in this particular case

includes two foreign enemies that are going to continue to tyrannize the nation

through the final two judge cycles.

Now this is hard to believe, but as far as the judge cycles are concerned,

there's only two major judges left in our study.

There's Jephthah, which Lord willing we'll get to next week.

And then there's Samson, that Lord willing we'll get to three weeks from today.

Well, the Ammonites, they came at Israel from the east.

And they oppressed and were told in this text for 18 years.

They progressively worked their way from the people east of the Jordan

to where eventually they crossed the Jordan River.

And now they're even assaulting some of the bigger tribes like Judah and Ephraim and Benjamin,

who typically falls under the protection of Judah because they're so close.

So this is a serious enemy.

They're coming from the east side.

And then we're going to see God deliver them,

or at least hold back the misery of Israel to some extent,

through what Jephthah does, through his use of Jephthah in the next chapter.

But then there's the Philistines.

The Philistines are coming from the west side.

And while the Ammonites are coming on this side,

the Philistines are coming on this side.

And though God uses Samson for a time to be something of an obstacle to them,

the Philistines never are subdued until King David.

So God uses Jephthah,

and he uses Samson to ease Israel's misery.

But there will be no more rest for the land

until God's king sits on the throne.

Israel's sins have come home to roost.

And God is pleased at this point, as we read,

for the consequences of their sin to run their course.

Well, just as Israel's idolatry is more pronounced in this text,

so is their cry for help.

The other narratives state simply that the people cried to the Lord for help,

but only this passage in all of the book of Judges

describes the nature and the content of their cry to the Lord.

And on the surface, it's a welcome change, isn't it?

We haven't seen this before with Israel.

It's a welcome change to read that they are acknowledging their sins,

that they're actually performing works of repentance

by putting away the foreign gods.

We haven't seen them do that yet.

But then God's response to that action

is surprising, at least,

and utterly offensive at most.

Israel seems to have done everything they were supposed to do.

They confessed their sin.

They put away their gods.

They served the Lord.

And yet God declares that He would not save them any longer.

His patience had clearly worn thin.

But is His response to Israel just?

Is it right?

Is it fair?

Didn't their prayers and their works of repentance merit the Lord's mercy?

And if not, how can we trust that He'll be merciful to us

when we put away our idols,

when we cry out for His help?

These are questions that are born from this text,

and they're questions that I want you to consider

as we study it together this morning.

There's two evident truths from this text about God's mercy

that are helpfully clarified for us.

The first one is this.

You cannot earn God's mercy.

You cannot earn God's mercy.

Look again at verse 10.

The people of Israel cried out to the Lord,

saying, We have sinned against you

because we have forsaken our God

and have served the bells.

And the Lord said to the people of Israel,

Did I not save you from the Egyptians

and from the Amorites,

from the Ammonites and the Philistines,

the Sidonians also,

and the Amalekites and the Maonites,

which is probably a reference to Midian

and the army and the coalition of the Midianites

that Gideon fought against.

And you cried out to me,

and I saved you out of their hand.

Yet you have forsaken me

and served other gods,

and I won't save you anymore.

Go, cry out to those gods,

the ones that you have chosen.

Let them save you in your time of distress.

And the people of Israel said to the Lord,

We have sinned.

Do to us whatever seems good to you.

Only please deliver us this day.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them

and served the Lord.

Now the question regarding Israel's show of repentance

is whether or not it was genuine.

Did they mean it?

And unfortunately,

we can't know that on our own.

We can't know the truth of what's in someone's heart.

We only have the ability to discern

what we can physically see and physically hear.

And from what we can see in this text,

the people did exactly what we would expect

from someone who was seeking to receive salvation from God.

They confess their sins,

and they put away their foreign gods,

and they turn to proper worship.

Isn't that what we say we're supposed to do?

If there was a sinner and an idolater

who comes into our church today,

and they were asking questions

about how to receive salvation from God,

wouldn't we say,

Confess your sin?

Believe him?

Turn to him?

Worship him?

The problem is the external displays of repentance

do not always issue from a true heart of repentance.

This is why it's entirely possible,

and even common,

for those who at one point

make a credible profession of faith

to somewhere along the way

abandon the gospel,

and as Paul has said in 1 Timothy

in your readings this week

have made shipwreck of that faith.

Trusted church leaders,

beloved companions in the church

can reveal themselves over time

to be counterfeit Christians

and wolves who devour the flock.

And when those tragic moments

inevitably come for all of us,

it's easy to feel like

you should have seen it sooner.

Don't we usually give ourselves

a hard time in those moments?

How could this happen?

How could we be so deceived?

How could we have trusted someone

who surely was so wicked in their heart?

But we can only see what we can see.

We can only hear the profession

the way that we hear it.

We will never be able to peer

inside the recesses

of an individual's heart.

which is also why God commands

that we leave the judgment

to Him.

He's given us parameters

for discerning what may

or may not be true of a person,

but He has not authorized us

to take His place

as their judge.

For example,

God has given the church

the keys to the kingdom.

That's Matthew 16 and Matthew 19,

or excuse me, Matthew 18.

And He has authorized the church

to baptize someone

who has a credible profession of faith.

That's what it means

to have the keys of the kingdom.

We have the gospel message.

We preach the gospel message

and then we discern

people's profession of faith

on the basis of that gospel message.

and their willingness to turn

and live a life

that is in accord

with that gospel message.

And then the church says,

by the authority of God

and the authority of Christ,

passed down from the apostles.

The church looks at an individual

and says,

yes,

your profession of faith

is credible.

Your life seems to match it.

We will baptize you

because that's what we can see

of your life.

That's what we can hear

of your life.

But God has not authorized us

to condemn someone

on the basis of human standards

like political affiliation,

healthcare choices,

whether or not they got the jab

or didn't get the jab,

disagreements on secondary

and tertiary doctrines.

And yet we still feel the temptation

so often,

don't we,

to depart from the gospel

and start to look at things

that are secondary to it

and make our judgments

on someone's validity

of their salvation,

not on the basis

of their profession of faith,

but on the basis

of whether or not

they match up with me

in the most common denominator ways

that are in addition

to the gospel.

God has not authorized us

to do that.

In the final judgment,

we need to acknowledge

that there very well

may be some people

that we baptized

who are condemned.

And there will also be

some people

that we vehemently judged

who are welcomed

by their Savior.

Why?

Because we can only see

what we can see.

And we can only hear

what we can hear.

And we cannot see

an individual's heart.

So,

how can we discern

the sincerity

of Israel's displays

of repentance here?

We can.

But there is more

to this text

than what Israel did.

We also have

God's response

who does know

our hearts,

who knows

what's true

of each and every one of us.

And he judged

Israel's repentance

as inauthentic.

That's why we come

to that conclusion.

Look at verse 11 again.

Look at the words

that the Lord says

to them.

The Lord said

to the people of Israel,

did I not save you

from the Egyptians

and Amorites

and Ammonites

and Philistines

and Sidonians

and Amalekites

and Mayanites?

In other words,

we've been through

this before.

Yet you have

forsaken me

and you've served

their gods

and I will not

save you now.

And you can hear

the sarcasm

in God's voice here.

Go and cry out

to the gods

that you actually

want to serve.

Let them deliver you.

God could see

what was true

of the Israelites'

treacherous hearts.

But even we can see

that the people

had falsified repentance

many times before.

God's response,

it shows that

Israel was not

a prodigal son

who was coming

to their senses

and returning home.

That is not

the picture here.

They're more like

the adulterous spouse

seeking security

and affection

from her husband

only until she finds

someone else

to take as her own.

They're like the addict

who knows that

one friend

or family member

who will always

buy the lies

and help them

in a pinch

until they get

their next score.

They're like

that professing Christian

who Sunday

after Sunday

cries to God

to withhold

the consequences

of the sin

that they intend

to continue in

the very next week.

That's the picture

of Israel.

Over and over

Israel presumed

upon the grace

of God

believing that

following a

formula

of prayer

and penitence

would save them

just long enough

to make them

feel comfortable

to go back

to what they

truly wanted to do.

And God saw

through the lies.

And he in essence

says you made

your bed

now you got

to sleep in it.

Julie's

obviously great

with child.

Last week

she said it's time

that we actually

start to prepare

for this child.

And so we went

into Charlie's room

and we began

to put the crib

together and we

got about halfway

through the crib

and I'm elbow

deep in nuts

and bolts

and screwdrivers

and there was

something about the

crib that she

didn't like.

And I said

Julie

we've made

our bed.

Charlie's

going to have

to sleep in it.

It's essentially

what God's

saying right?

You made

your bed

you got

to sleep

in it.

Cry out

to the gods

that you

actually love

and serve.

See if

they'll save you.

And then

Israel's final

cry in verse

15.

It exposes

their insincerity

even further.

Look at verse

15.

And the people

of Israel

said to the

Lord

we have

sinned

due to us

whatever seems

good to you.

except

for right now.

Only save us

right now.

They didn't even

see their own

contradiction.

Kill us later

if you want

but let us

live now

because of

what we've

just done.

Didn't we do

what we were

supposed to do

God?

Didn't we

follow the

formula?

Didn't we

say the

prayers?

Didn't we

put the

gods in

the trash?

Didn't we

go back

to the

temple?

We did

the stuff

God.

At least

save us

now and

kill us

later.

Do you

see the

contradiction

in what

they're

doing?

They viewed

repentance

as a means

of manipulating

God to

get them

out of a

jam.

They didn't

trust God.

They didn't

love God.

They just

assumed that

some moral

adjustments

would earn

his mercy.

That by

following this

formula they

would handcuff

God and

force him to

do what they

needed him to

do in the

moment.

Daniel

Block says

their

repentance

is external

only.

Theirs is a

conversion of

convenience.

It's not

real.

And we

must beware

lest we

face the

same

disaster

of presuming

upon God's

grace

while

persisting

in sin.

sin.

Let me

give you

another

idiom.

I don't

know if

Chris will

know this

one.

We want

to have

our cake

and eat

it too.

Do you

know that

one Chris?

Have

our cake

and eat

it too?

You know

what I

mean.

We'll

tell you

later.

Here's

what it

means.

We want

the life

that's

offered by

sin.

Right?

We want

the pleasure.

We want

the satisfaction

at least the

temporary

satisfaction

that it

brings.

We want

to live

life our

way.

We want

to do

our

thing.

But at

the same

time we

want to

experience

the security

that only

comes from

God.

And we

try to have

our cake

and eat

it too.

We try to

have both

of those

things.

It doesn't

work that

way.

It's

never

worked

that way.

You can't

just say a

prayer and

make a few

moral adjustments

and expect

that God

will suddenly

be obligated

to reward

you.

That is

not what

the Bible

teaches.

And this

is a

repeated

warning in

the book

of Hebrews

for all

who would

use

confession

as a

tool to

manipulate

God

and simply

escape

consequences.

Hear this

from Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

If we

go on

sinning

deliberately

after

receiving

the knowledge

of the

truth,

there

no

longer

remains

a

sacrifice

for

sin,

but a

fearful

expectation

of

judgment

and a

fury

of fire

that will

consume

the

adversaries

of God.

Anyone

who has

set aside

the law

of Moses

dies

without

mercy

on the

evidence

of two

or three

witnesses.

How much

more

punishment

do you

think

will be

deserved

by the

one

who has

trampled

underfoot

the

Son

of

God

and

has

profaned

the

blood

of

the

covenant

by

which

he

was

sanctified

and

has

outraged

the

spirit

of

grace

for

we

know

him

who

said

vengeance

is

mine

I

will

repay

and

again

the

Lord

will

judge

his

people.

It

is

a

fearful

thing

to

fall

into

the

hands

of

a

living

God.

Do you

understand

what

the warning

is

there?

It's

a

New

Testament

component

of an

Old

Testament

problem.

Those

of us

who would

try to

come up

with some

formulaic

way

some

set

of

prayers

or some

form

of

action

that we

can

handcuff

God

to doing

what it

is

that we

want

while

persisting

in sin

willfully

deliberately

he says

it's

like

trampling

underfoot

Jesus

Christ

it is

to

profane

the

blood

of

the

cross

the

blood

of

the

covenant

it

is

to

outrage

the

spirit

of

grace

and yet

so

many

times

we

think

we

can

have

it

both

ways

that

we

can

go

on

sinning

while

also

feeling

secure

under

God

and the

reason

is

because

we

don't

know

God

we

don't

know

his

holiness

we

don't

stand

and

tremble

before

him

we're

like

Israel

who

over

and over

and over

and over

come to

the

Lord

do

the

formula

and

expect

that

God

will

just

acquiesce

to

whatever

they

want

look

I

can't

see

your

heart

God

can

that

is

terrifying

it's

terrifying

we

cannot

hide

from

him

and

some

of

you

here

today

you

feel

pretty

comfortable

because

you're

hiding

from

mom

and

dad

or

because

you're

hiding

from

pastor

Jared

or

you're

hiding

from

the

other

people

of

the

!

but

here's

the

truth

of

it

you

can

hide

from

us

for

the

rest

of

your

life

but

you

cannot

hide

your

heart

from

God

he

sees

it

all

he

knows

it

all

and

even

when

you

look

just

like

Israel

and

you

cry

out

and

you

offer

to

throw

your

gods

in

the

trash

can

God

knows

what's

true

in

your

heart

you

cannot

handcuff

him

to do

anything

that

you

want

it

is

a

fearful

thing

to

fall

doesn't

match

what's

true

of

your

words

you

can't

fool

him

or

manipulate

him

and

no

amount

of

religious

work

will

ever

earn

you

his

mercy

because

God's

mercy

can't

be

earned

can't

be

earned

that's

the

first

thing

second

thing

and

it

gets

a

little

happier

okay

you

can

trust

that

he

is

merciful

you

can

trust

that

he's

merciful

look

at

the

last

part

of

verse

16

and

the

Lord

became

impatient

over

the

misery

of

Israel

he

became

impatient

over

the

misery

of

Israel

so

after

the

dramatic

exchange

between

the

Lord

and

Israel

the

end

of

verse

16

is

a

bit

of

a

surprise

isn't

it

God

is

growing

impatient

with

their

insincerity

which

led

to

his

judgment

but

then

we

also

find

that

he's

growing

impatient

with

their

condition

which

now

leaves

the

door

open

for

his

saving

grace

isn't

that

wonderful

and

it's

going

to

take

some

time

in

the

text

as

we're

working

through

judges

to

discover

!

how

this

grace

will

be

shown

in

this

particular

situation

but

at

this

point

in

verse

16

there's

at

least

a

glimmer

of

hope

that

God

will

be

merciful

but

the

key

to

this

text

is

understanding

what

actually

moves

God

to

that

moment

of

mercy

the

potential

of

his

compassion

is

not

linked

to

anything

that

Israel

did

it

is

rooted

in

his

divine

love

for

his

people

it's

not

their

repentance

that

motivates

his

mercy

it is

their

misery

that

motivates

his

mercy

do you

see it

in the

text

look how

he responds

or look

how the

author of

judges

tells us

God

became

impatient

over

the

misery

of

Israel

why

because

he

loves

them

consider

Deuteronomy

chapter

seven

again

I think

I have

this one

on the

screen

if you

want

to

follow

along

the

second

part

of

the

passage

we

read

notice

what

God

says

to

them

you

are

a

people

holy

to

the

Lord

your

God

set

apart

to

God

chosen

by

God

the

Lord

your

God

has

chosen

you

to

be

a

people

for

his

what

treasured

possession

out

of

all

the

peoples

who

are

on

the

face

of

the

earth

why

there's

a

question

assumed

in

this

text

now

why

does

God

hold

Israel

to

be

his

treasured

possession

answer

it

was

not

because

you

were

of

more

number

than

any

of

the

peoples

that

the

Lord

set

his

love

on

you

and

chose

you

for

you

were

the

fewest

!

people

in

other

words

there

was

nothing

attractive

about

them

so

why

did

he

love

them

it

is

because

the

Lord

loves

you

and

is

keeping

the

oath

that

he

swore

to

your

father

you

say

why

did

God

love

Israel

answer

because

he

loved

them

there

wasn't

anything

about

them

that's

attractive

there's

not

anything

about

them

that

motivates

his

love

it's

just

the

fact

that

he

said

his

affection

on

them

he

says

I

love

you

because

I

love

you

Valentine's

Day

is

coming

up

how

many

of

you

wives

would

be

disappointed

if

you

went

to

your

husband

and

you

said

will

you

tell

me

why

you

love

me

and

he

just

said

I

love

you

because

I

love

you

because

I

love

you

meaning

that

love

can't

be

changed

it's

not

attached

to

anything

that

they

are

or

anything

that

they've

done

it

is

set

on

them

in

spite

of

who

they

are

and

what

they've

done

the

Lord

has

brought

you

out

with

a

mighty

hand

he's

redeemed

you

from

the

house

of

slavery

from

the

hand

of

Pharaoh

king

of

Egypt

know

therefore

that

the

Lord

your

God

is

God

the

faithful

God

this

is

who

he

is

he

is

he's

faithful

he

keeps

covenant

he

keeps

steadfast

love

with

those

who

love

him

and

keep

his

commandments

to

a

thousand

generations

you can

trust that

God

is

merciful

because

that's

who

he

is

he's

merciful

how

can

we

trust

that

he

will

be

merciful

to

us

when

we

cry

out

to

salvation

not

because

we

deserve

his

mercy

but

because

he

himself

is

merciful

Dale

Ralph

Davis

helps

us

in

this

and

when

he

writes

our

hope

does

not

rest

in

the

sincerity

of

our

repentance

but

in

the

intensity

of

the

Lord's

compassion

repentance

is a

divine

demand

but

it

places

its

hope

in

divine

grace

rather

than

human

sorrow

and

recognizes

that

any

benefit

received

is not

properly

coerced

but

freely

given

the

sinner's

only

hope

is the

astonishing

grace

of

God

nothing

more

nothing

less

a

proper

understanding

of

repentance

the

thing

that

Israel

seemed

to

miss

is

not

that

repentance

itself

causes

God's

mercy

to

activate

but

rather

is

itself

the

repentance

motivated

by a

recognition

of

God's

grace

in

other

words

we

tend

to

get

it

backwards

our

moral

adjustments

do

not

produce

God's

mercy

as

something

earned

but

when

by

faith

we

trust

that

he

is

merciful

that

faith

will

produce

genuine

repentance

in

us

do

you

see

the

difference

God

isn't

merciful

because

we

repent

we

repent

because

God

is

merciful

and

ultimately

it's

the

gospel

of

Jesus

that

makes

this

so

clear

God

did

not

send

his

son

as

a

reward

for

those

who

do

their

best

and

try

their

hardest

he

sent

his

son

to

die

in

our

place

so

that

his

true

love

and

grace

and

mercy

might

be

put

on

display

for

us

to

see

and

as

we

look

on

that

grace

and

mercy

then

it

would

lead

us

and

motivate

us

to

turn

from

sin

and

trust

in

Jesus

Christ

apart

from

our

works

apart

from

our

religious

formulas

!

apart

from

our

prayers

it's

the

glory

of

the

gospel

that

teaches

us

this