Judges
The Seed • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsJudges in light of the rest of Scripture. Looking at Judges with God as the main, prominant, or individual of focus. The characters of judges are to point to God.
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The Seed
ESVI will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Throughout this time we are continuing to trace out this promise that was made in the Garden of Eden. As we trace this out we have looked so far at Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joshua. As we have look at these individuals, we have looked at them with the whole of the Bible in mind. We are not taking them out of the Bible and only looking at their life. We are making it a point to show how they fit in the whole of Scripture and how the whole Bible is one event pointing to God and His glory. Noah we saw that he was hoped to be the offspring that would bring relief from their work and from the painful toil of their hands.
ESVand called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
Abraham, we looked again as His faith and we also saw the compassion that He had for the lost. We saw the promise/covenant that God made with Abraham in
ESVNow the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Then we looked at Isaac and the fact that he is receiving a blessing because of Abraham. The faith that Abraham had and the obedience that we see in Isaac result in a blessing that Isaac for one did not ask for and also did not deserve. This si the same as our blessing that we receive through Christ and because of Christ.
ESVAnd the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
Then we took a look at Jacob...Again the blessing is passed to Jacob and even more than Isaac blessing Jacob we saw were God chose Jacob.I don’t know if I talked about this with Jacob, but I want to make this point.God chose Jacob, it was not just some random thing that happened or took place.
ESVshe was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
God is sovereign. God is in complete control. God chose Jacob for a purpose just like he has chosen you for a purpose. You are created for a specific purpose. When you read
ESVFor you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
there is no accident or mistake in how your are made. After spring break Sam shared with you about Joseph and the wisdom that he displayed throughout his life. In the midst of all the trials that Joseph endured he still trusted God and displayed wisdom that is glorifying to God.
ESVThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
ESVTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
The next week you learned and talked about Moses. You talked about the times that you doubt or in your fear you doubt. Looking at the life of Moses and in his doubt God continued to pursue him and also make sure that Moses knew God was with him. That the excuses that Moses tried to come up with, God not only already knew what they were going to be but also provided the fix for those excuses.
Then last week we looked at Joshua. We looked at where Israel was and what they were about to do. We looked at the command that God gave to Joshua and then to Israel
ESVOnly be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
this command for them to be strong and courageous is the same command that you have today when you go to school, when you are at home or work…This is the same command that you should have in your mind all the time. This is what Moses had to do in the midst of the fears that he had.We are no different. There is the assurance with this command...”…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Remember that!!!
Judges
Judges
Tonight is going to be a little bit different in that we are not going to look particularly at an individual, but we are going to look at the nation of Israel. We are going to see how it is possible to be the chosen people of God and still act in such a way that you do not look like a person who is a child of God. This is much of what Israel looks like throughout the book of Judges. There are some events in Judges that I would love for you to look at. Take in to account the things, the details that are revealed. Let me share with you the cycle that you see happening throughout Judges.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Overview
Judges portrays the geographical and religious situation of the Israelites after Joshua’s death. It is a collection of primarily hero stories that emphasize the weaknesses of Israel’s leaders and God’s patient compassion. The narrative also illustrates God’s punishment of His people when they turn from worshiping Him to worshiping Baal and living immorally. This punishment usually consists in domination by another people. Each story is set within a framework involving five steps, commonly referred to as the “Judges Cycle,” of sin, repentance, and salvation:
1. Israel does evil and worships the Baals.
2. God becomes angry and hands Israel over to an enemy nation.
3. Israel cries for help.
4. God raises up judges who deliver Israel from the enemy.
5. Israel returns again to foreign gods
As I share this cycle with you I want us to look at a couple of things that will hopefully begin the connection to our series. Let’s look at some parallels of Judges to Joshua.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Relationship to the Book of Joshua
• Joshua established land control; Judges 1 loses the land.
• Joshua established an obedient, unified people and a renewed covenant; Judges 2 reveals a disobedient people breaking the covenant.
• Joshua established strong leadership; Judges 3–16 shows an ever-worsening leadership crisis.
• Judges 17–21 reflect the chaos resulting from false worship, tribal disunity, moral disobedience, and loss of land.
Now let’s look at
But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
This passage shows us that the inhabitants that were not driven out.
You see the seed of the serpent was not cleansed by Israel as God had commanded. And because of this their disobedience is going to be punished.
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”
God uses people that would not be expected.
Ehub 3:15
left-handed
Deborah 4:4
a woman
Gideon 6:11
scared and hid
Jephthan 11:1
son of a prostitute
Samson 13:5
was a Nazarite and yet broke every vow
There is a massive amount of lawlessness going on.
Now that I have i don’t know given a few things, let’s look more into Judges
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
Most of the time when people look at Judges they see it one of 2 ways. the first way is what most scholars would interpret the book as a political document, demonstrating the need for a king to resolve the problems of Israel during the transitional period between the conquest of Canaan under Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy, and specifically to support the cause of David in opposition to the household of Saul.
Taking their cue from
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
most lay people read Judges as a book of heroes who demonstrate strength of character in achieving great feats for God.
Others including myself think that both of these are a wrong way to look at want to submit to you tonight a different way to look at want to submit to you a way to look at Judges like we have been looking at the individuals the past few weeks. If we, if you would look at and read Judges as a prophetic book, we/you discover that the focus is not on the judges but on God, on whose behalf they served as the nation’s deliverers. Specifically the book describes the Lord’s response to the Canaanization of Israelite society during the period of settlement.
So let’s look at this...
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”
Look here just as the land brought forth thorns and thistles for Adam, the inhabitants of the land and their gods become thorns and snares to Israel.
Everything up to this point, the things we have looked at and the things that we have not yet,
God’s creation and preservation of the world (), his purpose of filling the earth with his glory (), his mercy to Israels’ patriarchs (), his redemption of Israel from Egypt (), the covenant he made with them at Sinai ( - Leviticus), and the blessings and curses invoked upon entry into the land (; ; ) - informs the statement in
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
that the people did evil in God’s eyes. God responds to Israel’s idolatry with righteous indignation:
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 were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.
Judges 2:12
God’s response is not is not an out-of-control emotional outburst that is somehow beneath a deity. In contrast, his anger is faithfulness to his word. He sells Israel into the hands of their enemies because if he does not do so, he will be as faithless as they have been (2:14-1; cf. ). Yahweh keeps his word and establishes the glory of his justice. God is true, and every man a liar (cf. ).
So we have in
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for 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. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 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.
a revealing that the nation of Israel continues to get worse and worse. No matter the fact that God has raised up a judge and Israel repented and turned back to God, when that Judge died the nation of Israel became worse than the time before the previous judge. This is the cycle of Israel in judges. the becoming worse is connected to the fact that there was no king in Israel because it shows that if Israel’s sin is to be restrained, some authority greater than that of a temporary judge is needed.
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.
In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
This reveals, this gives us the understanding that
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
This creates the impression that Israel’s king was to restrain the evil of the people by enforcing the law of God, just as commands.
You see here. The seed of the woman is someone who not just submits to the authority of God, but obeys His commands. The seed of the woman is someone who delights in God. The seed of the woman is someone who proclaims the grace, mercy, and judgment of God.
I wonder were you are. I wonder if you are someone who is doing right in your own eyes and it is evil in the sight of the Lord. I wonder if you are someone who has surrendered their life to Christ. I wonder if you are someone who has cried out to God saying I can not do it on my own, in fact I can not do it at all…I NEED CHRIST.