Judges | Chapter 2 – Scripture Supply

Judges 2:1-10

“Why Have You Done This?”

Intro.
Vs. 1-3 Unsuccessful sinners
Vs. 4-6 From fervor to formalism to apathy
Vs. 7-10 We have met the enemy and he is us

Intro

Three themes in Judges are repeated over and over:

That God never breaks His promises
That God’s people continually break theirs
That there are always consequences for God’s people breaking their promises

Sociologists write on the “secondhand experience” and its effects on society as the 2^nd generation and succeeding generations have a natural tendency lose the vision of the first generation and begin to accept the status quo thereby ensuring a secondhand experience. The decline with each passing generation will lead from spiritual fervor of the founders to the formalism of the next generation and the apathy of succeeding generations. Chapter 2 describes just such a condition that occurred after the death of Joshua when “another generation arose that did not know the Lord nor the work He had done for Israel”. The next generation squandered the spiritual inheritance won by the first all of which the long ago comic strip of “Pogo” rightly said “We have met the enemy—and he is us.”

Vs. 1-3 Unsuccessful dinners

Vs. 1-2 This section is not in chronological sequence as the events that are recorded here happened before Joshua died and the events of Judges chapter 1 happened after Joshua died. So why does the author go backwards and share the events of these 10 verses? Well it is to emphasis the fact that the nations rebellion was not based upon ignorance it was based upon will full disobedience. The Angel of the Lord is Jesus appearing in human form before His incarnation in Bethlehem. We know this for two reasons:

First, bbecause the Angel of the Lord claims divinity saying He is the one who led Israel up from Egypt, made a covenant with Israel, and personally called Israel to obedience.
Second, because this person, appearing in human form before Israel, cannot be the Father, because the Father is described as invisible (1Ti. 1:17) and whom no man has seen or can see (1Ti. 6:16).

Notice that the Lord comes from Gilgal a place that had no population a place of historic and spiritual significance. It was here as Joshua led the nation across the Jordan that the nation first camped placing the stones taken from amidst the river making an altar. It was here that the Lord had them renew their covenant admitting their failure by “cutting away” the flesh and having communion. And it was here that the Lord had them launch out on their first military campaign where the Lord appeared to Joshua assuring him that He was the Commander of the armies of the Lord and not Joshua. Oh dear ones the Lord always comes to us from “Gilgal”:

The place where He reminds us of His faithful love towards us
The place where He reminds us that there needs to be some trimming done to our flesh
The place where He reminds us that the battle belongs to the Lord

Spiritual defeat is always completely unnecessary and when it does happen because of our failure it need not continue! Our God is a “promise keeping God” and we can rest that He will keep 100% of all the promises, there are no “if’s or maybe’s”. In 2 Cor. 1:20 we are told that “all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” The Lord reminds them of their history in which He kept the three promises He had made with Abraham:

1. Descendants: He had delivered them from Egyptian bondage just as He said He would

2. Land: He had given them victory over the Canaanites to secure the land of promise

3. Source of blessings for others: He preserved them in the wilderness for 40 years even though they rebelled

The Lord reminds them that He “led them up from Egypt and brought them to the land of which I swore to your fathers.” Folks, God does not lead you out of the world that He isn’t also bringing you too your inheritance. Far too many of us have settled for just being set free from the things of this world but God wants to bring you into the fullness of blessings that are all His promises for you. There is yet one other statement that the Lord makes here and that is that He promises that He will never break His promises towards us. It suggests that the reason we aren’t enjoying all that God has for us is that we simply have settled for less! The people of Bochim (weeping) botched it by allowing the pesky Canaanites to live in the land settling for less to which Jesus asks them (and us) “Why have you done this?” Folks, Jesus confronts our sin in love with a question of “Why have you not kept yourself in My love?” In Jude 1:21 the author says something very similar writing, “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Vs. 3 The Lord announces that these people would remain a problem to the nation was promised beforehand to Israel in Num. 33:35 where we are told that “if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.” Sometimes the work the Lord does is to allow us to live with the choices we wanted. They allowed the work of possessing the land to go unfinished, so the Lord use this as a means of correction. God will not do for us that which we don’t want done! All the punishment we deserved was put upon Jesus at Calvary. Yet, we punish ourselves by settling for less than what God has for us, and God will allow us to experience the bitter harvest of settling for less than His best. The Lord asks them “What happened, why did you do this?” Now He knows why but He wanted them to see why. So that they would again take up faith in Him and not settle for anything less than all He wanted to give them. Some folks want there to be no consequences for sin in their lives but the Lord loves you too much to allow you to sin successfully that’s why there are consequences to sinful actions. So Jesus says, “You wanted those old Canaanites so I’m going to leave them” “You won’t drive them out so I’ll allow them to be a drag you down.” “They are going to be a constant source of irritation, tripping you up!” Doesn’t that sound like our flesh? Dragging this old carcass around, it is always irritating me and others tripping me up in my walk with Jesus. Ever wish that God would do the work of Christian maturity for us; that we would wake up one morning and the struggle we have been having what that particular Canaanite of the flesh would just be gone? Sometimes God grants us a miraculous deliverance but more commonly, He requires our partnership with Him in the process of Christian growth. All of these words of Jesus caused them to weep! You know what there is never any lasting joy in partial spirituality; it only causes weeping, bitterness and defeat.

Vs. 4-6 From fervor to formalism to apathy

Vs. 4-6 It appears that the next generation failed to communicate to their children the power and the work of God. The purpose of the Passover was to yearly open the door of opportunity for the children to ask “What makes this night different from all other nights in the year?” But evidently they had ceased even observing the Passover and keeping the other feasts of the Lord. Rarely does a powerful work of God continue into a second generation. It is often said that, “God has no grandchildren.” The relationship that our parents had is not sufficient for me and the relationship that I have isn’t sufficient for my children. The people respond with emotion, with the weeping and there was reason to believe that God’s word had really sunk in but true repentance shows itself in action, not just in weeping. We can be sorry about the consequences of our sin without being sorry about the sin itself. Spurgeon remarked that “the tear is but a drop of moisture and better one grain of faith than a gallon of tears.” Ah but the Israelites did more than just shed some tears as they also did the right thing remembering as they sacrificed the life of lambs. They did works fitting a sign of repentance but even with that said there was no lasting fruit.

Vs. 7-10 We have met the enemy, and he is us

Vs. 7-9 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel which was a long time seeing that Joshua died at 110 years old. His legacy is seen not only his life but the godliness of Israel during his leadership. The new generation had no personal relationship with God, and no personal awareness of His power. God was someone who their parents related to, and did things for their parent’s generation. Christianity can’t be biologically transmitted; it must be caught by each new generation through the new generation having their own personal relationship with God seeing His works on their behalf. Joshua had two characteristics stand out above all the other qualities he possessed based upon these verses.

Vs. 8 Servant of the Lord: He was a servant that knew his place and was willing to follow the Lord at all costs. Throughout his life he acted upon God’s words and promises.
Vs. 9 Buried him within the borders of his inheritance: In his life and even in his death he exhibited an active faith. Here is a man that even in his departing desired to be buried on the broader of his inheritance in a city that means “portion” on the mount which he renames “double portion” even though its location was on the north side of the hill that means “earthquake”. He was buried on the boarder of his inheritance as a sign to the nation to keep going forward in the promises of the Lord. Joshua’s life and death was a witness to go after “every spiritual blessing”.

His life kept the nation in the place of blessings, “One man, committed unreservedly to God and His Word, can make a difference for good in the world!”

Vs. 10 Notice that it says that the next generation that had known Joshua that their children “did not know the Lord or the work which He had done for Israel”. They knew Joshua but had “no work of the Lord done” through them. They probably sat around talking about the days when God showed Himself powerfully on behalf of His people but they weren’t taking ventures of faith, they weren’t willing to kick out the Canaanites of their lives. Beware dear ones of obsessive talk about the “glory days” as we allow the Canaanites in our lives! God can still do wondrous things! He has not changed, His power is not less available for His people, and He has not lost interest in seeing lives transformed by His love. No, the Lord spoke through the prophet Habakkuk in 1:5 saying “Look among the nations and watch– Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.”

They were informed of the work of God but not affected by it. They knew of the Lord but had not experienced His presence. They were educated, they could walk by the ruins of Jericho but they saw only a pile of rubble not the Hand of God that produced it. They saw the stones pilled at Gilgal but had no understanding of the recommitment that their forefathers did on that very site. Theirs was a worship of God’s deeds in the past without an expectation of His Powerful presence currently. God is not a God that once worked wonders; He is a God who according to the psalmist in Psalm 72:18 “only does wondrous things!” Folks, to be complacent if the face of Calvary’s sacrifice is the greatest possible rejection of God. A yawn is one of Satan’s most effective weapons! Three things seem to be symptoms of the second generation syndrome:

They were satisfied with the status quo
They took the blessings for granted as they had a sense of entitled-ness:
They neglected the Word of God

Saints, apathy dies where praise flourishes!

Judges 2:11-23

“Déjà-vu”

Intro.
Vs. 11-13 God’s that look like us
Vs. 14-15 For our benefit
Vs. 16-19 Crisis driven
Vs. 20-23 Enslaved by freedom

Intro

Webster’s dictionary defines the word “déjà-vu” as “a feeling that one has seen or heard something before, usually something unpleasantly familiar”. After reading this chapter I wonder if Israel experienced some “déjà-vu” as they were in the cycle of going after the gods of the Canaanites. This would lead them into bondage where they would cry out to the God of their fathers who would send them a savior or deliverer. Yet once free from what they pursued they would return back to worshipping the idols that caused them to be enslaved in the first place. The question is: Why would anyone want to trade a personal relationship with the true and living God for a idol that is the invention of man’s mind?

Saints, mankind is afraid of the exact God we need and would rather serve a god of our own creating than a real, living God we can’t control. The gods we create are the gods we want in our own flesh.

A god that we can pull out only when we need it then put it away when we don’t want to be bothered.
A god who is impressed with our effort and works and rewards us for it but never takes away any points when we don’t live up to our own standard.
A god who judges others for the very things we do ourselves but chooses to over look our actions.
A god who grants us paradise regardless of how we live and consults us as to whom should go with us.
Vs. 11-13 God’s that look like us

Vs. 11-13 Even during the days of Joshua, the nation didn’t fully possess what they could have in the promised land. Part of the challenge Israel faced was that they had no experience with being settlers. For over 40 years they had been nomadic and while is Egypt they were in slavery and knew nothing of freedom. Far too often believers are so involved in invading the world that they fail to realize that the world system is also trying to invade them. It took little to convince these new land owners that the God they had trusted in to deliver them from bondage and to preserve them in their wonderings knew nothing about dry land farming and settling the land. The Canaanites had been doing this successfully for hundreds of years and they said that their key to doing so lie in their worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. And after all they weren’t abandoning their God they were merely incorporating the gods in whose land they dwelt. This no doubt aided in the fact that the faith of the proceeding generation was “out dated” and “old fashion” woefully lacking in providing the knowledge to dwell in this “new world”. How could this been avoided? Only by realizing that God is not one who only works on our behalf He is our Father who desires a relationship with us. They knew only of a situational deity and nothing of a relational God.

The attraction of Baal worship was because he was the god over the weather and nature for the Canaanites; an agricultural god. They wanted good weather for abundant crops and flocks which means essentially Baal was the god of personal wealth.
1. The attraction of Ashtoreth was that she was the Canaanite goddess of love, sex, and fertility. She was “worshipped” by having sex with a “priestess” prostitute making Ashtoreth the goddess of sex, love, and romance.

They forsook the Lord God of their fathers but I’m sure that they didn’t see that going after these gods was “forsaking the Lord”. They were just adding a few gods along side of the Lord. What’s wrong with that, covering all the basis you know? I’ve been married 31 years to my beautiful wife and we would have never gotten married had I told her, “Babe I love ya and I want to marry you but I’m going to keep all my options open.” Folks, the Lord isn’t just something we add to our lives; He wants to become our life and He will not allow us add other gods to our lives nor will He allow us to add Him to other gods. God is into a monogamist relationship with us. In Ezekiel 37:27 the Lord spoke saying, “I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Making His home with us is conditional to us making Him and Him alone our God. In Exodus 20:3 the Lord told them saying, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Making this all the more repulsive we are told that this was all done “In the sight of the Lord” which ought to make us realize that all our sin is done this way. It is bad enough for a person to commit adultery but to do so right in front of one’s spouse would be un-conscionable. What caused them to do such a horrible act? Well we are told that “They followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them”. The root cause for their idolatry was the influence of the Canaanites that they didn’t drive out from among them. Oh that they would have remembered the words of Joshua and the warnings he gave by challenging them to choose this day whom they would follow. Folks one of Satan’s plans is to keep God’s people ignorant of His Word, so that they will not remember the pitfalls of chasing after the gods of this world.

Vs. 14-15 For our benefit

Vs. 14 God’s response is no surprise He acted just like He said he would as He will not allow us to be successful in the things that destroy us. We always want God to keep His word unless of course His word is against what we want then we want Him to break His word. God promises to bless us but He also promises that there will be consequences for our actions that are against His word. Not only do people not realize they are serving idols of money and sex they don’t realize that they become enslaved to the very god they serve. Pretty soon every time we go out we feel that everything is coming apart. Folks we just aren’t very good at sinning, thank God, so we inevitable turn back towards God as we find that the gods of sex and money are taking toll upon our lives.

Vs. 15 We read the words, “As the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn”. This was not some irrational unexpected outcome; God had told them over and over that if they choose to do this that the outcome would be theirs as well. In fact what this reveals is that God is 100% faithful to do what He said He was going to do. These were all consequences for ruining away from God so that they would become miserable and turn back to Him.

The flip side of His Love is His truth! If God had reacted any other way than this it would indicate that He didn’t much care for His people. Unlike Israel, God doesn’t need to set His hand against us most of the time; we usually hurt ourselves badly enough. The purpose of all this, was so that when Israel was greatly distressed, they would turn their hearts back to Lord. God’s goal wasn’t punishment, but repentance. This was not a manifestation of God’s hate but rather His Love. It’s the same principle in the relationship between parents and children. Though children want their parents to leave them alone, it is really their worst fear that no one would love them enough to correct them.

Vs. 16-19 Crisis driven

Verse 16 establishes the era of judges some 350 years, and these verses give us a brief summary of the book of Judges.

You look at this sad situation and wonder what’s wrong with them? Why couldn’t they see it? Ah but then you look into the mirror you realize that what Paul described in Romans 7:15 as his own experience is ours as well “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”

“Nevertheless, the Lord raised”! Put these two verses together (14 and 16) and it reads “The anger of the Lord was hot against Israel…Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them”; and we have the gospel of grace! He did this not because they deserved a deliverer, but in spite of that as He promised that we would never forsake them. God’s heart was stirred by the misery of His people even when such misery was self inflicted. Even in the midst of rebellion and repeated warning of the consequences that such action would cause heartache and slavery to the very things they thought would bring them prosperity and pleasure. During the time of the Judges, Israel would only cry out to God and depend on Him in a time of emergency. Saint’s this is why so many folks are in a constant state of crisis, because God knows that is the only way they can be kept trusting in Him. But verse 19 tells us that this just became a cycle for the nation as it became a pattern of bondage, deliverance, and blessing, followed by sin and bondage again. Dear ones, this pattern is far too often a characteristic of the Christian life but it need not be.

It was their own doings, they couldn’t blame it on someone else and the lack of learning from this repeated action was equally their own fault. A change of location hadn’t changed the stubborn heart that they had during the exodus. Sometimes we think I’d have a better attitude of my situation changed or my circumstances were different but what needs relocation isn’t the situation it’s your heart and you take that where ever you go.

People struggle with God’s nature saying, “If God is a loving merciful God how come this or that?” Well in most cases God is just allowing folks to have what they insist on having and the consequences that follow are a direct result of the choices we have made. What most folks complain about is that there are consequences for the actions which we have pursued.

Vs. 20-23 Enslaved by freedom

Vs. 20-23 Israel kept on this cycle of sin to repentance to deliverer to enslavement, so the Lord said “I’m just going to let the things that you keep coming back to remain so that you will get so tired of being enslaved by the things you’ve kept around that you will not want anything to do with them anymore.” It is in this state that we realize that we are weak and the words of Paul in 2 Cor. 12:10 come into place where he said, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” The people wasted their suffering as they continued to make the same mistake over and over.

Notice here that we read “this nation” instead of “My nation”. They were acting independently away from the Lord, so they were this nation apart from an abiding relationship with God. They wanted the Canaanite nations around, so God will give them the worst discipline they could have imagined He allow them to have what they wanted knowing that in so doing they would need to be delivered from what they wanted. Saints, I pray that we never get to the place where God allows us to pursue the idols of this world and that we would heed His voice of warning in the Word and from others.

This is a placeholder. Notes will be added