JUDGES 1-2 “DON’T SHRINK BACK” Mark Kolbe

INTRODUCTION

If you like to watch home improvement shows on TV you may be familiar with the name Mike Holmes. Mike Holmes is a contractor from Canada who has been known to come to the rescue of homeowners who have been victims of bad home renovations performed by contractors they had hired. When desperate homeowners find themselves faced with things like mold, water leaks, and structural damage due to shoddy workmanship, Mike comes on the scene and attempts to “Make it Right.”

Just like homeowners who expect that the money they pay to contractors will result in a quality home, God has expectations too. The act of dying on a cross for people you’d never meet and would even hate you, is the most expensive and sacrificial form of payment one could make. Let’s conclude our discussion about the path of life, focusing on how we are supposed to build on the foundation that was laid for us.

5. PURSUE PLEASURE OR RIGHTEOUSNESS

After hearing and seeing evidence a decision must be made. As we learned from step 4 on the path to life, the decision to be made is one of the heart. Romans 1:18-32 tells us that if one decides to ignore the evidence and reject the forgiveness offered through Jesus, God will give that person what he wants. Through their own choice, he remains a slave to the consequences of sin and remains on the path to death. In this case, the individual focuses on the time they have left on earth, and they become consumed by the pursuit of pleasure and attempts to keep bad consequences at bay. For someone like that, the most important question they ask is, “What can I do to ensure I receive more pleasure than pain?”

Life for those apart from Christ reminds me of a basketball scoreboard, where a person believes a victorious life is one in which the number of points scored by the pleasure team exceeds the number of points by the displeasure team. Just like in the game of basketball, people can be very strategic and creative in their efforts to ensure pleasure wins. The playbook that is available includes participating in numerous fun activities like parties and vacations. It includes the acquisition of money, power, possessions, and fame. Like the game of basketball awards 3-point field goals for riskier shots from long distance, this fork on the path includes more desperate behaviors like lying, cheating, and sexual sins. And, if victory appears in doubt, there are destructive measures at one’s disposal like drugs, alcohol, or even suicide.

The pursuit of pleasure is unique to humans, but there is also another path that has been made uniquely available to us. For those who choose the path to life through Jesus, a whole new opportunity arises. This step on the path includes the way a Christian lives his or her life while still on this earth – It involves the realization that he is no longer a slave to sin, and no longer condemned by it. He is now free from the curse of death, and now truly alive, able to prepare for the eternal life that God has promised him.

Christians who know their Bibles understand that this step includes a lot of different things. One of those things can be illustrated by the mutual gift giving we as Americans take part in around Christmas. In a nutshell that means if someone gives us a gift, we feel compelled to give one in return. At this step of the path of life, a person becomes thankful for what Jesus has done for them and should have the desire to live differently than they did before, and to give something back by loving Him in return. At the same time, if one is loving God as they ought, they are also preparing for the next step they will take on the path to life. Followers of Christ should be storing up treasure that will last into eternity.

The most obvious question we ask at this point is “how do we do that?” Fortunately, we don’t need to hesitate or spend a lot of time pondering. Jesus said the best way to live our lives is to pursue righteousness (Matthew 6:33 - But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you, Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied). Another word often used interchangeably with righteousness is sanctification. Jesus Himself said His followers should pursue sanctification in John 17:17, and He also revealed how that is accomplished - by applying the truth of God’s word, the Bible.

What we learn from the Bible is that once we are forgiven, righteousness or sanctification should become the hallmark of our lives in three ways. The first is “positionally” (sometimes called justified - Hebrews 10:10, Acts 13:39). This means God declares us righteous, and nothing more is needed to get to heaven. We have been sealed in a way that cannot be broken, and nothing can be done keep us from heaven. Second, the Bible describes a kind of “ultimate” or “total” sanctification that will occur at the coming of Jesus, when we enter heaven and become entirely blameless (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Colossians 1:27, 3:4). Our weaknesses and sins will be gone. But the Bible also describes a third way, that is often called, “progressive” sanctification.

Progressive sanctification or the pursuit of righteousness is the process of living in obedience to God’s word, by setting oneself apart from sin during the remaining life that a person has on earth (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 Peter 1:15). 2 Timothy 2:22 - Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. The Bible uses the phrase, “work out your salvation” to let us know it is a process. The Bible also describes how difficult this process is by calling it “spiritual warfare.”

DON’T SHRINK BACK

Another key question at this step in the path is “how do I know if I’m progressing in righteousness as I should?” Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the evidence that proves a victorious walk is called the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’. However, just like we were required to make a decision of the heart on the 4^th step of the path of life, we must do the same in this 5^th one.

At this step in the path some might also wonder, “if I’ve been forgiven by God and am bound for heaven, what is the danger in committing more sin?” Shall I go on sinning so that God’s grace may increase? According to the Bible, if you do that it is somewhat like playing a board game such as Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, Trouble, or Sorry where you to have to move your pawn backwards, further from victory. Though in board games a player is forced to go backwards due to an unlucky spin or role of the dice, the Bible describes the intentional pursuit of sin like someone who would willingly move backwards. Why would anyone who wants to win, knowingly make it more difficult to do so?

We don’t have time to read and study the chapter, but Romans 6 adamantly warns Christians to not go back and live according to the part of the pattern they have already come through. Hebrews 10 refers to this way of living as “shrinking back”. While shrinking back does not remove you from the path that leads to heaven, it does move you back into the consequences of your sinful choices and away from the joy that can only be found in pursuing righteousness.

ISRAEL’S PATH OF LIFE

Now that you and I have thought about how these steps on the path of life apply to us, let’s go back in time and see how the nation of Israel traveled on it.

1. DESIRE FOR LIFE AND A HOME - Two thousand years after God gave life and a home to Adam and Eve, the nation of Israel was given life and a home. Its “birth” began in Genesis 12:1 - The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Deuteronomy 8:7-9 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

2. COMMIT EVIL – Just like Adam & Eve, and you and me, the man that God was using to be the Father of the nation of Israel, Abram, had imperfections as well. He did evil, he sinned. In Genesis 12 and 20 we learn how Abram used deception because he chose self-preservation over trusting God (when he declared that Sarai was his sister). Abram and his wife Sarai also proved their guilt in Genesis 16:1-6 - Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When Sarai knew Hagar was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

A descendant of Abraham, named Joseph had his own imperfections. At one time he was sold into slavery in Egypt - but after he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and warned him of a coming famine, Joseph was promoted to second in power behind the Pharaoh. One of Joseph’s responsibilities was to help prepare for the famine by collecting and storing grain grown by the Egyptian people. When the famine eventually came, however, Joseph didn’t simply dispense the grain that had been collected for the emergency. Instead, he required the people who grew the food to buy it back from the government in their time of need.

“[All Egypt came to Joseph, saying:] “Both we and our farmland — take possession of us and our farmland in return for bread, and we with our farmland will be slaves to Pharaoh, and give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the farmland not turn to desert.” And Joseph took possession of all the farmland of Egypt for Pharaoh, and each Egyptian sold his field, as the famine was harsh upon them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.” [Genesis, 47:19–20]

3. EXPERIENCE CONSEQUENCES – The behavior of Abraham and Joseph led to negative consequences. Historians have long pointed out that the dissension that exists between Jews and Muslims today can be traced all the way back to Abraham’s child that his wife’s slave gave birth to (Ishmael). Joseph’s decisions regarding the Egyptian famine caused a radical shift in the political landscape of Egypt where Pharaoh wound up with greater power then he had previously. Initially, this led to the Egyptian people becoming slaves to its own government, and eventually it led to the Israelites becoming slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Exodus 1:6-14 - Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. ⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” ¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

4. DECIDE UPON FORGIVENESS - After 400 years of difficult circumstances in Egypt, the Israelite slaves cried out (Exodus 2:23). God heard their groaning and sent a man named Moses to help save them from slavery. Through God’s mighty hand He broke the grip that the Egyptian pharaoh had over the people, and they followed Moses out of Egypt, embarking on a journey to the promised land. Exodus 6:6-8 - 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

Just like us, this land and new life the Israelites would benefit from was given as a gift, not because of anything they had done to deserve it.

Joshua 24

1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

5. PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS - Before they arrived in the promised land, the Israelites were given the challenge to do whatever it took to root out the sinful enemies of God that inhabited it. They were warned of the consequences if the failed to do that.

Numbers 33:50-55 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, 51 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’” Also see Deuteronomy 30:16-20.

Deuteronomy 30:19B-20 - Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (children in book of Judges) 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life…”

After Joshua repeated this challenge to the people, they made a commitment to serve God. Joshua 24:19-28 - 19 Then Joshua said to the people, "…the Lord is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you." 21 The people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the Lord."

JUDGES

After 50 minutes and 12 pages of introductory notes, we are now ready to talk about the book of Judges. The beginning of this book coincides with the death of the Israelite leader Joshua, and initially refers to the generation of people whom Joshua had led into the promised land. Since the events in the first two chapters aren’t in complete chronological order, we will read the passages in a sequence that makes the events a little easier to follow.

First, we see that while Joshua was near the end of his life, the generation under his command started out with good intentions, determined to fulfill their commitment to God. Judges 2:6 - ⁶ After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance.

Now turn back to Judges 1:1-4 to see how they fared. In these verses, we see a couple examples of behaviors we’d expect for someone who wanted to do the right thing. They pray to God, and they know they need a good strategy. The tribes then go to battle with their enemies as God had commanded, and He was with them.

So far, that sounds like a pretty good recipe for success. For the most part, Judges 1:4-20 seems to contain a favorable account of the tribe of Judah. However, verse 19 tells us they weren’t entirely successful – “but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.” Joshua 15 also contains an account of the tribe of Judah. Verse 63 of that chapter tell us that they “could not dislodge the Jebusites.”

When we get to verse Judges 1:21, the Israelite tribes living farther to the north fare even worse than Judah and Simeon did. v 21 – Benjamin, v 27 – Manasseh, v 29 – Ephraim, v 30 – Zebulun, v 31 – Asher, v 33 – Naphtali, v 34 – Dan. In other words, after saying they were going to fully obey God, they all allowed the enemy to remain in their territories to some extent.

= = =

Given what God did to make salvation available to us, do you think He feels anything when we fail to address sin in our lives? Many people have an image of God that He is the man upstairs, detached from His creation, lacking concern and emotion for mankind. However, as we get to Judges 2, we learn that this is not the case. When it became obvious that the tribes had failed to live up to their commitment, God brings it to their attention (read Judges 2:1-5). While these verses say that the Israelites were remorseful and offered sacrifices, there isn’t any indication that they truly repented. Their failure to remove their wicked enemy from their land was going to affect the generations to come.

Judges 2:20-22 - Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.”

The book of Judges now turns its focus to the generation of people who came after the ones who failed to pursue righteousness. We are given a clue that it isn’t going to go well for them because Judges 2:10 says – “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. “

Because this next generation didn’t know God or what He had done for them, a cyclical pattern occurs over and over in Israel for the next 400 years. Judges 2:12-19 outlines the six steps of this pattern.

1. The people forsook the Lord and followed other gods. 12

2. God became angry, the Israelites were given over to their enemies.12-15

3. The people groaned out of distress (15, 18)

4. God had compassion and raised judges to help save them from their enemies. 16

5. The people rebelled against those who helped save them. 17

6. After the death of the judge, they returned to greater corruption 19

Throughout the remainder of the book of Judges we are going to see several examples of this cycle taking place.

SO WHAT

If you have accepted Christ’s forgiveness, remember what He has done for you and remember what lies ahead. Pursue righteousness, by driving sin out of your life.

If you let sin remain in your life, you will experience some amount of bad consequences and loss of reward. The consequences can even extend to those closest to us.

Make your pursuit of righteousness a real, personal, deep walk with God, not just a duty. We know that from His point of view we aren’t just a duty to Him. We should live so that we don’t grieve Him or quench what He wants to do in our lives.