Sermon

The Cycle of Apostasy

September 2, 2023 Lakeside Bible Church Sermons

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We've mentioned over the last couple of weeks how the structure of this particular book includes,
if we were thinking of a musical score, there's the overture, there's the variations,
which is the main section of the book, and then there's the coda,
when things are kind of summarized in two major stories at the end of the book.
And we're coming to the end of this introductory section, this overture,
where the author is presenting to us some patterns and some ideas and some narrative
that we're going to find repeated throughout the rest of the book.
And when we get to this particular section, we see a more detailed narrative describing this cycle
that the nation of Israel is going to continually find themselves falling into
over and over and over throughout the rest of the book.
We would call it the cycle of apostasy.
And this pattern is, though it does vary in some places from judge to judge,
it largely remains intact as we get through the book.
And before we look at what that cycle is, let me just remind you what we mean when we say cycle of apostasy.
We're not dealing, at least at this point, the scripture isn't dealing with a group of people
who are pagan or completely outside of the knowledge of God's truth.
He is addressing here God's people, those who have been set apart, at least in a national sense.
He has set apart Israel to be his people at this point.
They are not behaving as his spiritual people, but yet they are his covenant people in a national sense and a physical sense.
That's who he's dealing with.
These are people who know the truth of God.
They're not ignorant of it.
They're not ignorant of Yahweh.
They have, in some cases, seen or at least heard the witness of their parents as they've described the wonderful works of God.
They're not completely ignorant to who God is and what God's plan is.
They actually know it.
Apostasy is not living your life simply in rejection of biblical ideas and of the biblical God and of Christ.
It is knowing those truths first and then willfully turning away from them.
Does that make sense?
This is different than your neighbor who's never actually heard a biblical gospel before and has no clue about the scripture.
This is your neighbor who actually knows as much as anyone else knows about the scripture and about Jesus and about the gospel,
and yet they still willfully turn away from that and reject it.
That's where the nation of Israel is at this point.
That's why we call it apostasy and not just unbelief.
This is a cycle of willful unbelief from what they know to be true.
They have been presented with the truth about God, and yet they continue to reject it.
And so it's a specific application to us as well for those of us who at least are familiar with the truths of God.
Are we actually still willfully walking away from those things?
And we find ourselves in a big mess if we're like Israel in that sense.
Let's just briefly talk about the cycle real quick.
I think we have a graphic that I can show you that may help you.
Here's how the cycle generally works, the pattern that we're going to find repeated.
First, the people of Israel reject the Lord.
They rebel against him and against his law.
Then after that, they provoke the Lord to anger, and God delivers them into the hands of their enemies.
After that, sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes the people cry out to the Lord.
This is not so much a cry of repentance.
It's a cry of misery.
And God looks on their pain, and he looks on their misery, and then he responds.
That's the next part of the cycle.
God, in response, raises up a judge.
And by judge, we're not talking about the skilled lawyer who sits on a big stand in a black robe and a white wig.
That's not the sense of this.
This is a deliverer, a military person, generally speaking, who is a savior of the people.
He is a savior who leads the people out of bondage to physical national enemies at this point.
So God would raise up a judge who would then deliver the people, and then the judge would die, and the people would turn right back to the rebellion.
Except the rebellion is not the same as it was before.
The rebellion always gets worse and worse and worse.
And so the nation of Israel, throughout this book, it just continues on this repeated cycle.
They rebel.
God delivers them into the hands of their enemies.
They are really upset about that, and they finally get to the point where they just can't take it anymore.
God responds by sending them a judge, a deliverer, and then the deliverer dies, and they go right back to it again, into the rebellion.
This is what we're going to see over and over and over, and the author begins to give us a glimpse of this cycle here in this particular text.
But my goal today is not to dig into the cycle itself.
We're going to have lots of time over the next few months to look at this cycle.
That's not what I want to do today.
What I want to do today is I want to look at this text and present to you some larger truths as it relates to Israel's sin and to God's response to their sin.
Okay?
Those are the two major things that I want you to see.
I want you to see the nature of Israel's sin, and I want you to see God's response to their sin.
The text teaches us so much about the true nature of our own sin, but it reveals some facets about the character of God that, in the end, should provoke our love.
It should provoke our worship.
That's the key here.
So, if I'm going to lay it all out for you here at the beginning, what I hope will happen for you and with you by the time we get to the end of this study this morning is that you might feel some conviction if there needs to be conviction felt because of your sin.
But what I really hope happens is that by the end of this, you'll have a view of God's character that will produce nothing in you except worship.
Who is a God like this?
There is no God like this.
And that's what I hope to point out to you.
Here's the first thing that I want you to see if you're keeping notes.
I want you to see the root of Israel's apostasy.
The root of Israel's apostasy.
Look with me again at verse 11.
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.
They went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who are around them and bowed down to them.
And they provoked the Lord to anger.
They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.
Now, do you remember over the summer we had that series through the seven churches in Revelation?
And does anybody remember what the literary structure was of those seven churches?
Do you remember what it was called?
Anybody remember?
Josh, tell us.
It's a chiasm, right?
A chiastic structure.
A chiasm is basically, it's a literary technique that has a particular movement or series of movements or statements that are meant to convey a central idea.
Okay?
There's a narrowing and broadening function.
So, if you remember back in that particular study, chi is a Greek letter.
It looks like a capital X in English.
And so, if you kind of think of this half of the X, the way that a structure like this works in literary terms is it starts broadly.
It moves in, narrows in to its central focus, and then it works itself back out.
And it mimics where it starts.
Okay?
Now, I want you to see what's happening here in this text in verses 11 through 13 is a chiasm.
It's another chiastic structure.
And I just want you to look at it with me.
I think I have it on the screen for you to see, actually, so you can visualize this.
In verse 11, we have Israel served the bells.
In verse 12, they abandoned the Lord.
Again, in verse 12, this is the central focus.
They went after other gods and bowed down to them.
And now it begins to work its way back out.
They, in verse 13, abandoned the Lord.
Verse 13, they served the bells and the astros.
Do you see the narrowing effect?
How it starts out and it narrows?
Now, what the author's doing here, this is very common, especially in the Old Testament literature.
This is very common.
He's taking a series of statements or a series of thoughts, and he's arranging them in order that we might see what is at the heart of this issue.
And what is at the heart of this issue with Israel, in verse 12, right in the middle, is that they went after other gods and they bowed down to them.
And what is that?
It's worship.
At the heart of Israel's apostasy was the issue of worship.
Worship.
In fact, the word behind this phrase, bowed down, is used in the scriptures to indicate the biblical notion of worship.
We don't always understand it that way.
We don't always use that term that way.
Typically, when we use the term worship, we are referring to the process of singing praises to God, right?
We would come and churches will have worship teams, and what the worship teams are is just the singers, right?
Because we say, well, let's stand and let's worship together.
What we really mean is let's sing together.
Typically, we have a very narrow view of what worship is.
But the biblical notion of worship is actually much different than that.
Indeed, exaltation is really what we mean when we say worship in that other sense.
But an exaltation is a crucial element to expressing worship.
But it's still only one piece of the pie, okay?
The biblical idea of worship is generally actually quite different than jubilation.
The word itself, it pictures a royal courtroom.
The king is on his throne, and his subjects have come in to give homage to him.
And what they do is they bow down low.
That's why it's often translated bow down.
Or when we say worship, the word behind it in the Old Testament, it really means to bow low.
But we're not just talking about getting on our hands and knees.
When we think about bowing in worship, that's what we think, right?
We think we get down on our hands and knees, and we plead with someone,
will you please marry me?
There's a reason we get on our knees.
Because we have to beg for women to do that, right?
It goes further than that.
This word, the picture here, it is to lay prostrate on the ground.
It's to get as close to the ground as you can possibly get.
Julie's going to get mad at me for doing this.
My clothes are going to get dirty.
It's to lay down.
It's to lay down, hands forward.
You're as low as you can possibly get to the ground.
Now, why would someone do this as a form of worship?
They're making themselves as low as they can possibly make themselves,
in order that the one who is the object of their worship
is lifted as high as that person can be lifted up.
It's a sign of worth, of value.
I'm expressing so much value to this person or to this thing
that I am bringing myself low in submission as far as I can go.
And here's the idea of what it expresses.
It's a statement.
It says that I am submitting all of my love and my loyalty and my service.
I'm committing to this object or this idea or this person or whatever it may be.
It's what it means to bow down here in this text.
Now, this is what the author intends for us to understand.
It's what he's communicating when he says that Israel bowed down to the bells
and to the Ashtoreth.
Not only physically, but spiritually,
they were pledging all of their loyalty and service
to Baal, the Canaanite god,
rather than to Yahweh, the god of the Hebrews.
That's what's at the core of their evil.
Their worship was wrong.
Their loyalty was wrong.
The one they were surrendered to was no longer Yahweh.
The one they're surrendered to now is the god of the culture in which they lived.
And of course, the act of worshiping the gods of Canaan
were very different than worshiping Yahweh.
Baal was the Canaanite god of storms and fertility.
The worshipers in Canaanite theology stated that
the rain that was necessary for the ground to be watered and fertile
and fruitful in its bearing of crops
would only come if Baal and Ashtart or the Ashtoreth,
which in their theology was Baal's female consort
or his queen perhaps if you want to think of it that way.
The only way that the ground would be fertile
and that the rain would come
and that the fruitful crops would come
is if they too copulated together.
But this couldn't just happen because it happens.
They had to be coerced into doing that,
which meant that the worshipers had to coerce them.
And the way that Canaanite theology taught this
is that the only way to coerce Baal and Ashtoreth
to have this intercourse together
is if humans had intercourse together
in a public way as a form of worship.
So they created these cult prostitutes
that would make themselves available
in places of worship of Baal
and individuals could go
and they could engage with these cult prostitutes
in order to hopefully coerce Baal and Ashtoreth
into doing the same thing.
And that if they would do that,
then the rain would come
and then the ground would be fertile
and then the fruitfulness of the crops would come.
And this eventually evolved
into all kinds of other immoral practices,
including eventually,
probably the worst of it would have been
sacrificing their children
to appease these gods.
You see, the fundamental difference here
between pagan gods and Hebrew worship
was that pagan gods had to be coerced.
Yahweh just says,
trust me,
believe me,
follow me.
Pagan gods have to be coerced
because they don't actually want to help you.
They're not interested in helping you.
That's not the picture of pagan theology that we find.
They have to be coerced.
You have to do all these other things.
You have to sacrifice your own children
just to try to plead with them
to come on your behalf.
But God says,
no, trust me.
Yahweh is simply to be trusted.
But instead of trusting the promises of God,
Israel abandoned him
to pursue the gods of the land.
Their worship then
was not motivated by truth.
It wasn't motivated by righteousness.
It wasn't motivated by love.
Their worship was motivated by the flesh.
Israel was seduced by what they thought
would secure them happiness and wealth.
They didn't abandon Yahweh
because he had somehow failed them,
but because they thought
that what Baal offered
was so much better.
The worship that came along
with worshiping Baal and Ashtar,
the promises of the fertility of the ground,
all of those things,
they found that to be far more desirable.
So they didn't leave Yahweh
because he was bad to them
or that he had harmed them in any way.
He had been only good to them.
They left because they found
some other God to be more desirable.
Canaanite religion appeals then
to man's basest desires of the flesh.
Pleasure and prosperity.
Pleasure and prosperity.
And such is true
about the modern equivalence
of Baal worship.
The gods of this world
and of our culture
and the ideas of it,
they do not appeal to us
on the basis of truth
and righteousness
and eternal purpose.
They seduce us
with promises of prosperity
that never live up
to the expectations
that we have for it.
And they seduce us
with promises of pleasure
that are ultimately fleeting.
They're here for a moment
and then they're gone.
And then you're left alone
trying to pursue
that same pleasure
all over again.
But what God offers us
is so much greater
than sex and wealth.
It's far different than that.
He promises us
truth,
peace,
not merely peace among ourselves,
peace with Him.
He promises us
incomprehensible joy
that will never come
to an end.
But like Israel,
we regularly settle
for less
than what God actually offers.
It's a bad trade.
Here's what C.S. Lewis
had to say about that.
It would seem
that our Lord
finds our desires
not to be too strong
but to be too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures
fooling about
with drink
and sex
and ambition
when infinite joy
is offered to us.
Like an ignorant child
who wants to go on
making mud pies
in a slum
because he cannot imagine
what is meant
by the offer
of a holiday at sea.
We are far too easily
pleased,
he says.
I find that really helpful.
Sometimes we think
that our sin
is the result
of strong urges
that are in us
but it's actually
weak urges.
We are not looking
at the truth
of what it is
that God offers us
and what Christ offers us
in the gospel.
We're looking for something
that's far less than that.
Something that's
immediately gratifying to us
or something that
brings pleasure
however it may be
fleeting to us
and at least pleasures us
in that particular moment
or it comes with
the promise of prosperity
or at least what we hope
will end up being
prosperity.
prosperity
and we've actually
set our sights
and our desires
far too low.
The fact is
that we all
worship something.
The question is
what is the nature
of that worship?
Are you submitted
to the God
who offers life
and peace
or are you
bowing before
the God of self
fiddling around
with anything
that might fulfill
your basest lust?
You see here's the thing
this is what we saw
in James chapter 4

James 4 chapter mention
as well.
You can't have it
both ways.
That's the problem.
We try to.
Those of us
who are Christians
from time to time
we try to bring
these two things together
as much as we can
and it just doesn't work.
Jesus tells us
that plainly.
He says you can't
serve two masters
because you're either
going to love the one
and hate the other
or you're going to
hate the one
and love the other.
You can't serve God
and mammon
or money
was the context
of what he was saying
but the sense was
you can't serve God
and this world.
In another place
he says that
the path to prosperity
and pleasure
and joy
and all of these things
life that we have
is not a path
of self-fulfillment
it's actually a path
of self-denial.
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow me.
Because whoever
will save his life
will lose it
but whoever loses
his life for my sake
in the gospels
he will save it.
It's upside down
isn't it?
It's backwards
but only for us.
It's the true way
of righteousness.
It's the true way
of salvation.
It's the true way
of true joy
and peace
and lasting hope.
And then of course
we must remember
that it's entirely possible
to identify
with Christianity
in some sense
while not actually
worshiping
the Christian God.
isn't that where
Israel is?
They weren't
renouncing their identity
as Israelites.
They probably
didn't even put away
everything that
was recorded
for them to do
as far as the law
was concerned.
There was probably
some syncretistic
tendencies that they had
where they would
still maybe do
some of the Yahweh things
but they were also
going to do the
Baal things as well
and there was this
kind of mixture
they're trying to
bring together.
They were trying to
have it both ways
but it doesn't work.
It doesn't work
for us either.
You can try
to identify
as a Christian
but if you're not
worshiping the true God
you're not
worshiping Christ
I don't know
what you mean
when you say
that you're a Christian.
Israel's apostasy
was a matter of worship
so was ours.
Second thing
I want you to see
the wonder
of the holy God.
The wonder
of the holy God.
So there's the heart
or the root
of Israel's apostasy
it's an issue
of worship here
they're serving Baal
rather than serving God
but now I just want you
to look at God.
All throughout the scripture
we find people
standing in awe
and wonder
over the glory
of God.
Let me just give you
a few examples
of that.
Moses in Exodus

Exodus 15 chapter mention
chapter 15 says
who is like you
oh Lord
among the gods?
Who is like you
majestic in holiness
awesome and glorious
deeds
doing wonders?
How many times
do your prayers
sound like that?
I wish I could speak
the language of Moses
and David
and some of these guys.
How many times
have you fallen
on your knees
in prayer
and private worship
just because you got
a glimpse
of some unique
characteristic
of God's nature
and you just say
who is a God
like you?
There is nobody
like you
majestic in your holiness.
But it wasn't
just Moses
Solomon said it
in 1 Kings 8
oh Lord
God of Israel
there is no God
like you
in heaven above
or earth beneath
keeping covenant
showing steadfast love
to your servants
who walk before you
with all their heart.
Micah said it
who is a God
like you
pardoning iniquity
and passing over
transgression
for the remnant
of his inheritance?
He does not
retain his anger
forever because
he delights
in steadfast love.
Paul said it
in Romans 11
oh the depth
of the riches
and the wisdom
and the knowledge
of God
how unsearchable
are his judgments
how inscrutable
his ways.
Over and over
when you get a glimpse
of who God is
even if it's just
a small one
what it's going to
produce in your life
is worship.
Who is a God
like you?
And how do we
get to that?
How do we get
to that point?
What is it that
these people saw
and understood
that produced
this kind of worship?
Nothing produces
this reaction more
I think
than seeing
God's righteous
anger
and his
infinite mercy
presented alongside
one another
and that's what
we have in this
text right here.
The subject
of these verses
verses 14 and 15
the subject
is God
not Israel
and what is
conveyed about
God's character
should move us
to worship
and there's two
facets here
that the author
points out.
The first thing
I want you to
see is the
anger of the
Lord.
The anger
of the Lord.
Verse 14
So the anger
of the Lord
was kindled
against Israel
and he gave
them over
to plunderers
who plundered
them.
He sold
them into
the hand
of their
surrounding
enemies
so that
they could
no longer
withstand
their enemies.
Whenever
they marched
out the
hand of the
Lord
was against
them for
harm
as the
Lord had
warned
and as the
Lord had
sworn to
them
and they
were in
terrible
distress.
By
abandoning
Yahweh
to serve
the
bells
Israel
provoked
the Lord's
anger
and the
consequences
were
calculated
and severe.
Notice
how intent
the author
is on
emphasizing
God's
action
in this.
It was
the Lord
who quote
gave them
over
to
plunderers.
It was
God
who sold
them
to their
enemies.
God's
hand
had not
merely
been
removed
from
them
for
good
but
it
was
quote
against
them
for
harm.
All
of this
divine
action
resulted
in the
people
of
Israel
being
in
quote
terrible
distress.
They
pursued
Baal
hoping
to receive
pleasure
and
prosperity
and
protection
but all
they got
was the
wrath
of
God.
God
the
same
will
be
true
for
us.
Sin
never
follows
through
on
what
it
offers.
We
can
pursue
it.
We
can
pursue
sin.
We
can
pursue
anything
that
may
line
up
in
rejection
to
the
truth
of
the
gospel
of
Jesus
and
we're
going
to
think
it's
going
to
make
things
better
for
us.
Things
are
going
to
be
more
freeing.
We're
going
to
be
happy.
We're
going
to
God.
And I
think the
author is
intent for
us to
see that
God is
a
wrathful
God.
But we
don't like
to think
of that.
Our
culture is
so opposed
to
authority
and
punitive
action
that we
often as
Christians
we feel
like we
have to
get God
off the
hook
for
bad
things
that
happen
or we
got to
get God
off the
hook
for
things
that
come
as
the
consequences
of
our
sin.
We
don't
like
to
talk
about
God's
wrath
so we
water
down
biblical
language
hoping
to
make
it
more
palatable.
We
emphasize
God's
love
rightly
but we
emphasize
it
sometimes
in such
a way
that
to think
that
God
judges
sinners
or that
God
has
any
kind
of
wrath
or
anger
to
people
seems
unthinkable.
Well I
thought
he
was a
God
of
love.
We
emphasize
his
love
so
much
that
we
end
up
diminishing
a
anger
with
sin.
We
say
things
like
God
doesn't
send
people
to
hell
they
choose
to
go
there
which
is
not
true.
We
do
everything
we
can
to
get
God
off
the
hook.
We
do
everything
we
can
to
soften
thoughts
of
this
but
the
fact
is
that
God
is
perfectly
holy.
He
is
just
and
everyone
who
rejects
him
as
Israel
did
become
his
enemies
and
they
face
his
divine
wrath.
Think
of
Hebrews
10.
For
we
know
him
who
said
vengeance
is
mine
I
will
repay
and
again
the
Lord
will
judge
his
people.
And
then
the
author
of
Hebrews
summarizes
it
this
way.
It
is
a
fearful
thing
to
fall
into
the
hands
of
the
living
God.
It
is
a
fearful
thing.
And
it's
the
reality
for
anyone
who
does
not
belong
to
him
through
faith
in
Christ.
But
his
wrath,
his
holiness,
his
justice
is
something
to
be
worshipped.
That's
why we
must
not
diminish
it.
For
him
to
be
anything
less
than
just
would
mean
that
he
is
not
a
good
God.
He
must
judge
sin.
And
we
must
not
view
God's
wrath
as
an
uncontrolled
!
temper.
That's
how we
think
about
that
term
because
that's
how
we
respond
in
wrath.
We
respond
as if
we're
sinful
things
in
the
midst
of
our
anger
and
our
wrath
but
that's
not
what
we're
to
understand
about
God's
wrath.
Think
about
it
here.
The
author
reminds
us
here
in
verse
15
that
God's
anger
was
in
faithfulness
to
his
word.
Look
at
it
with
me
verse
15.
Whenever
they
marched
out
the
hand
of
the
Lord
was
against
them
for
harm
as
the
Lord
had
warned
he
told
them
long
before
Joshua
24
he
said
if
you
do
not
obey
if
you
do
not
worship
me
if
you
do
all
of
these
other
things
my
hand
will
be
against
you
I
will
not
bless
you
in
the
land
I
must
judge
your
sin
he's
just
acting
in
faithfulness
he
plainly
told
them
that
turning
to
the
gods
of
Canaan
would
result
in
this
divine
!
wrath
I
like
how
Barry
Webb
puts
it
God
had
shown
himself
to be
true
to
his
word
by
fulfilling
the
promises
he
had
made
to
his
people
and
he
would
also
be
true
to
his
word
in
fulfilling
the
warnings
he
had
given
them
there's
nothing
capricious
about
that
he
says
the
God
of
the
Bible
gets
angry
but
he
does
not
throw
tantrums
that's
a
significant
difference
his
anger
is
righteous
anger
holy
anger
it's
just
I
think
that's
the
first
thing
the
author
wants
us
to
see
here
as
we're
examining
the
character
of
God
we have
the
anger
of
the
Lord
but
then
it
gets
better
now
we
have
the
mercy
of
the
Lord
mercy
of
the
Lord
verse
16
then
the
Lord
raised
up
judges
who
saved
them
out
of
the
hand
of
those
who
plundered
them
verse
18
whenever
the
Lord
raised
now
remember
what
we're
doing
we've
seen
Israel
sin
we've
seen
the
root
of
it
it's
an
issue
of
worship
now
we're
taking
our
eyes
off
of
Israel
for
a
moment
and
we're
looking
at
the
God
that
they
should
have
been
worshiping
what
is
he
like
well
on
one
hand
we
have
to
acknowledge
in
the
context
of
their
sin
and
unfaithfulness
he
is
a
wrathful
God
there's
the
we
can't
take
that
away
from
God
that's
who
he
is
but
on
the
other
hand
because
of
the
backdrop
of
his
anger
we
see
his
infinite
mercy
that's
the
real
wonder
here
is
his
divine
mercy
we
can
easily
comprehend
a
God
who
punishes
disobedience
that's
easy
to do
right
easy
we
can
only
marvel
at a
God
who
shows
mercy
for
no
apparent
reason
no
apparent
reason
at all
is
given
here
that's
exactly
what's
on
display
in
this
chapter
the
one
who
sold
them
into
the
hands
of
plunderers
is
also
the
one
responsible
for
saving
them
from
those
plunderers
the
hand
that
was
against
them
is
simultaneously
for
them
indeed
part
of
the
reason
for
God's
wrath
is
to
provide
a
context
for
which
we
are
to
understand
his
mercy
I told
you in
the
introductory
lesson
one of
the
themes
of
this
is
to
understand
a
theme
of
the
entire
Bible
which
is
that
God's
glory
he
is
glorified
in
salvation
through
judgment
you can't
understand
salvation
without
understanding
judgment
and we
find it
clearly
here
his
anger
and his
wrath
and his
judgment
being poured
out
on his
people
while at
the
same
time
he
is
emphasizing
and
highlighting
his
loving
compassion
in salvation
for his
people
and what's
more
is that
God's
mercy
here
is based
on nothing
but his
own
compassion
notice
with me
the author
conspicuously
leaves out
anything
on Israel's
part
that might
be construed
as deserving
or earning
God's mercy
it's not
there
even
later
on
in some
of the
cycles
of the
judges
when we're
told that
they cry
out to
the Lord
it's always
a signal
of their
misery
not of
their
repentance
which is
why the
author says
right here
in this
passage
that every
time
they did
not give
up their
stubborn
ways
they not
only continued
in them
but they
worsened
in them
there's
nothing
Israel is
doing
that might
make a
step back
and say
that's
why God
was merciful
to them
the only
reason
given
is given
in verse
18
and notice
what it
says
at the
end of
verse
18
for
the
Lord
was
moved
to
pity
by
their
groaning
because of
those who
afflicted
and oppressed
them
what is
moving
and motivating
God's
intervention
not their
cries
not their
earnest
attempts
at
satisfying
him
according
to the
law
simply
their
distress
the
fact
that
they
were
in
distress
motivated
his
mercy
a
statement
of
his
measureless
love
and
compassion
says
Dale
Ralph
Davis
here
is the
fundamental
miracle
of the
Bible
that
the
God
who
rightly
cast
us
down
to
the
ground
should
without
reasons
stoop
to lift
us
up
you see
we can
step
back
if all
we see
is the
anger
of the
Lord
we can
step
back
and say
okay
that's
like
every
other
God
I've
ever
read
about
angry
at
us
we
have
to
appease
them
but
then
when we
see
this
we
find
now
there
is
no
God
like
that
there
is
no
!
person
like
that
who
in
perfect
justice
delivers
them
to
their
enemies
so
that
he
might
then
save
them
from
their
enemies
out of
his
pure
love
and
compassion
does this
make you
think
of
anything
it
should
all
of
this
you know
what
it
does
it
points
us
forward
points
us
to
Jesus
the
way
that
God's
character
is
displayed
here
prepares
us
for
a
true
and
better
savior
who
would
deliver
us
from
sin
once
and
for
all
God
in
his
extravagant
love
sends
his
son
to
endure
his
own
wrath
so
that
we
who
deserve
that
wrath
might
be
forgiven
on
the
cross
Jesus
does
what
none
of
the
judges
in
this
book
could
ever
do
he
perfectly
satisfies
God's
wrath
he
appeases
it
propitiates
it
is how
we would
say it
in
New
Testament
language
not
because
we
deserve
it
but
because
he
loves
us
that's
the
point
of
John
3
16
right
for
God
so
loved
the
world
that
he
gave
his
only
son
that
whoever
believes
in
him
should
not
perish
but
have
everlasting
life
God's
mercy
isn't
motivated
by
us
it's
motivated
by
his
own
compassion
and
love
for
us
Jesus
died
for
our
sins
because
we
needed
him
to
not
because
we
deserved
for
him
to
think
about
it
in
terms
of
Romans

Romans 5 chapter mention
chapter
5
while
we
were
still
weak
at
the
right
time
Christ
died
for
the
ungodly
for
one
will
scarcely
die
for
a
righteous
person
perhaps
for
a
good
person
one
would
dare
to
die
but
God
shows
his
love
for
us
in
that
while
we're
still
sinners
Christ
died
for
while
we
are
sinning
against
him
he
dies
for
us
while
we're
in
the
action
of
rejecting
him
he
shows
mercy
since
therefore
we have
now
been
justified
by
his
blood
much
more
shall
we
be
saved
by
him
from
the
wrath
of
God
God
saves
us
from
himself
for
if
while
we
were
enemies
we
were
reconciled
to
God
by
the
death
of
his
son
much
more
now
that
we
are
reconciled
shall
we
be
saved
by
his
life
more
than
that
we
also
rejoice
in
God
through
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
through
whom
we
have
now
received
reconciliation
it's
amazing
you know
what
judges
is
meant
to
teach
us
the
gospel
the
gospel
it
points
us
to
Christ
and
as
we
see
the
character
of
God
what
else
could
we
see
than
the
perfect
display
of
it
through
his
only
son
here's
the
wonder
of
this
text
while
Israel
was
pursuing
Baal
God
was
pursuing
Israel
same
is
true
for
you
and
for
me
he
doesn't
wait
for
you
to
finally
get
things
right
and
get
your
head
right
so
that
you
turn
back
to
him
and
then
he
says
okay
now
I'm
going
to
go
after
him
no
he
comes
after
us
while
we're
moving
in
the
opposite
direction
NING
NING
NING
NING
NING
NING
NING
NING
NINGNING
!
NINGNINGNING
!
demonstrated through his son.
There's an old hymn called How Firm a Foundation.
Maybe some of you know it.
There's a question in one of the verses.
It says, what more can he say than to you he has said?
I want to take that thought and ask you,
what more must God do to motivate your worship?
What must he do?
He can do nothing more.
What more can he say than to you he has said?
Look at the cross.
Look at Christ.
Look at the love that he has put on display.
Look at the way that he woos us through the gospel.
The gospel is his idea.
We didn't even ask for it.
He provides it.
Why would you continue to turn away from that?
Why would you reject such love?
What more must he do?
Be a half-hearted creature no longer, as C.S. Lewis said.
Wonder at the glory of God.
Turn to him.
And you'll find, as James said, he's very near.
Third thing, and we'll be finished.
I want you to see the spiraling effect of Israel's apostasy.
The spiraling effect of Israel's apostasy.
Look with me at verse 17.
We would expect at this point that, wow, look at, they didn't even ask for it, and God sent all these deliverers that took them out of this big problem.
Surely Israel will now say, okay, we got it.
We messed up.
We're going to be faithful now.
But that's not what they do.
Verse 17.
Yet they did not listen to their judges.
They whored after other gods and bowed down to them.
They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.
Verse 19.
But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them.
They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
You see, what's presented in judges is not merely a cycle.
It is a spiral.
Despite everything that God had done to deliver them from their enemies, each successive generation spirals into deeper and deeper and deeper rebellion.
They didn't turn back to God.
Instead, they worsened, taking their parents' sin even further.
Here's how Psalm 106 describes this particular generation.
They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.
They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
They poured out innocent blood and the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
Thus, they became unclean by their acts.
They played the whore in their deeds.
Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people.
He abhorred his heritage.
He gave them into the hand of the nations so that those who hated them ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them.
They were brought into subjection under their power.
Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes.
They were brought low through their iniquity.
Now, here's my question.
How is this even possible?
How is this possible?
How could they continue in such a downward spiral after God provides over and over and over and over?
It's like an addiction.
You've known people with drug addiction, I'm sure.
There comes a point to where their life is so gripped by the addiction, they know the damage it causes, but they can't get free from it.
They're a slave.
They're a slave.
That's what's happening here with Israel.
We need to understand the pervasive power of sin.
An unbeliever does not simply choose to sin.
They're a slave to sin.
That doesn't remove our culpability.
Of course, our sin is still our own.
But we're also incapable of changing ourselves.
That's the thing.
We need God's gracious intervention.
Otherwise, we'll always choose the gods of this world.
Always.
What Israel needed was a king who would not only deliver them from Canaanite enemies, but from their own sinful condition.
We desperately need new hearts.
What Jesus called the new birth or being born again.
And that's exactly what Jesus came to do for us.
That was the promise made from God through the prophets.
That in the new covenant, one day, he was going to send someone.
And this new covenant king was going to come.
And he was going to provide a new heart.
And he was going to write his law on our hearts.
And we would love him.
And he would be our God.
And we would be his people.
And that's what Jesus came to do.
The good news is that God provides this new heart and this new birth through the gospel of Christ.
Hear his gospel.
Come to Jesus.
Turn from sin.
Don't let what's meant to save you harden you even further.
Because that's what's happened with Israel.
But you have no excuse.
Christ has come.
The king has come.
The gospel has come.
A new heart is available.
Come to Christ.
In the end, what we end up finding is that this cycle really just outlines the gospel, doesn't it?
We're all guilty before God.
We're destined to face his wrath.
But in his love, God provides a way for us to be reconciled to him.
Through the sacrifice of his own son.
And then Jesus, as our king and Messiah, beckons us to come back and to receive forgiveness through him.
And we are responsible to trust him to turn from sin.
It's the gospel.
Believe it.
The text, as I said at the beginning, it should humble us as it relates to our sin.
Because if we're struggling with sin right now, even as a believer, a true believer, at the heart of that is an issue of worship.
At least in the moment of your sin, you find something that the world offers more desirable than God.
And in that moment, your worship turns away from Yahweh.
And it turns to this thing, this fleeting pleasure.
Or this empty prosperity or promise of it.
It should humble us.
We don't sin just because, you know, we kind of blame something.
Or we just kind of blame the fact, well, nobody's perfect.
That kind of thing.
That's true.
But it should humble us.
What's really at the heart of that is we've forsaken true worship.
But there's more to this text.
It really should lead us to stand in awe of such an amazing God.
Such love.
Compassion.
Such pursuit.
Despite our continual rejection.
That's what's so amazing about it, right?
Maybe some of you guys were like me and you were pursuing your spouse for a while.
And over and over and over, they're thinking, no way.
Leave me alone, please.
And eventually you broke them down, right?
It doesn't work that way with God.
We're the ones who keep saying, no way.
No way.
Leave me alone.
Leave me alone.
Leave me alone.
He's the one that keeps saying, no.
I want you.
I love you.
Look what I've done for you.
Turn to me.
Have peace.
Joy.
Love.
Who is a God like that?
There isn't one.
It's only Him.
Don't turn Him away.
Come to Him.
You'll find that He's everything and more than what He said.
Well, that's better for you.
Thank you.