Judges Talk 1 - Ch 1-3

‘My Generation’

BI; God’s Covenant faithfulness is seen in both; his anger against the sin, and then his compassionate deliverance of his people.
AP; The people are called to worship and serve their God alone.

Introduction:

They say living in Australia today there are four main generations, each with their distinctive characteristics;

The Lucky Generation – who were born prior to 1946, I reckon they are called that because they were lucky to survive both a depression and a world war, but then I didn’t coin the term and I suspect there was something more relating to natural resources going on.

The Baby Boomers – born between 1946-1961. The original rebellious generation who now look just look plain weird being old and retired. The originators of the problem of the generation gap.

Generation X – born between 1961-1981. The cynical and non committal generation that can remember what a stock crash means.

Gen Y – the ones who can’t keep their pants up and are yet apparently extremely tech savy. They don’t like being defined as just following on from X, and they are about to find out what a stock crash means for the first time.

Each generation has its distinctive characteristics, some good, some not so good. But each generation is also in a sense defined by what came before it. Sometimes defined consciously against it, other times more intuitively against it, but it seems that the ‘generation gap’ is a concept that is here to stay.

Well today we are looking at the book of Judges and it is quite clear that there is a generation gap going on here, and not the good type either.
So we are going to look at three generations;

I.‘That Generation’ – the generation led by Joshua
II.‘This Generation’ – The generation led by the Judges
III.‘My Generation’ – Our generation – who will be our leader?

But before we look at our generation, we are going to look at the generations at the start of judges, because in looking at the generation gap that exists for them, we will learn something about our own generation.

1. The Faltering Conquest
NIB Judges 1:1
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD,
"Who will be the first to go up
and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
2 The LORD answered,
"Judah is to go;
I have given the land into their hands."
3 Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers,
"Come up with us into the territory allotted to us,
to fight against the Canaanites.
We in turn will go with you into yours."
So the Simeonites went with them.
4 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands
and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.


In chapter 1 of the book of Judges we have a first scene which is set in around 1300-1200BC, in which we have a picture of the Israelites military campaign to capture their land that was promised by God, and it seems to be loosing some momentum. In fact by the end of the chapter some tribes that are supposed to be the hunter have become the hunted!
And as we look at this scene the question we should have is,
what is the problem here? What has gone wrong? Why is the conquest faltering?

Well we know from the Old Testament that God gave the land to the people of Israel for two reasons;
i.God Promised the Land to Abraham and his descendents back in the book of Genesis. In fact God made three promises to Abraham.
Land – that they would receive the land of Cannan
Offspring – that they would be a large people – a nation
Blessing – The God would bless the whole world through this man’s family.
ii.The Inhabitants of the land are wicked people, and the Israelites are to be God’s instrument of justice against them for their sin. We are even told that they sacrificed their own children to their idols in fire – these are a sinful people!

So God has given Israel this land, but then why are they struggling so badly to take what God has given them?
We should be asking the question to ourselves, what is the problem here?
Why is the conquest faltering?

2. Why is the conquest faltering? The covenant!
God made a covenant with Israel, and in turn Israel entered a covenant with God, A covenant is a solemn vow and promise that he would be their God and they would be his people. And this is the covenant we see the people renew with Joshua just before he dies.

NIB Joshua 24:21 But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD." 22 Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied. 23 "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." 24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him." 25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws.

The Isrealites covenantally promise that they would worship and serve the Lord alone, and God in turn promised that he would be loving and faithful to them. It was to be an exclusive and eternal relationship.
But as we read ‘this generation’ – the judges generation would not keep their part of the deal and as a result they bore the just consequences of the covenant under the hand of an affronted God.

You shall have no other God’s before me
You shall not make and Idol and bow down and worship it
Sound familiar? You could not be any clearer could you?

Today we are going to focus upon chapter 2 of judges, where we read about these amazing word pictures of the action of God; of God’s eye’s, God’s mouth, God’s heart and God’s hand. And in parallel we see the response of the people; the people’s eye’s, the people’s ear’s, the people’s hearts and the people’s hand’s.
These two groups of things should have held together in a perfectly blended symphony of relationship, but instead they have been profoundly torn asunder by the sin of the people.

Sin is the madness, like a disease, that infects every fiber of our human being and existence. It is the selfish and destructive inclination to worship and serve an idol and reject the living God.

It is like a shopping trolley with wonky front wheels that cannot help but spear itself into the shelves in the supermarket, rather than rolling down the centre of the wide isle! It is predictable and yet still very tragic at the same time. Sin distorts our trajectory every single time.

Sin is the enemy of the living God, and God HATES Sin. The Bible tells us that God will deal with sin, one way or the other.
Sin is mankind’s problem, and it is the problem of ‘this generation’ in judges. But before we get to them we need to look at the generation that came before them.

3. ‘That Generation’ – the age of Joshua
It’s almost a hackneyed cliché for an older generation to say, “things were better in my day!”. But in the case of ‘that generation’ – Joshua’s generation – it is in fact true!
Joshua’s generation are held up as a model for the younger generation because of their obedience and faithfulness to God.

2:6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites,
they went to take possession of the land,
each to his own inheritance.
7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua
and of the elders who outlived him
and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD,
died at the age of a hundred and ten.
9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance,
at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim,
north of Mount Gaash.
In contrast to ‘this generation’ of the Judges, (and in fact even Moses generation for that matter!!!!), Joshua’s generation showed their faithfulness and stormed through the land in a blitzkrieg assault and defeated 31 kings in the process.
They in fact broke the back of the resistance in the land, and tipped the balance of power well on to Israel’s side.

Joshua’s generation ‘that generation’, knew the Lord and the deeds of his rescuing them personally. That generation knew the commandments and requirements the Lord had spoken. They knew the Lord, and they worshipped and served the Lord alone. The believed the Lord and the Lord blessed them. That generation was a golden generation – they are a model generation of faith and commitment to the Lord.

But as much as they are a model generation, it is worth noting, that they are not a perfect generation. They had a couple of spectacular failures; once through making a treaty with a people they should not have, because they didn’t inquire of the Lord first. And secondly, when one of them stole items from the battle that should have been destroyed. That generation were not perfect, as though God owed them something because of their goodness.
But even in their wrongdoing ‘that generation’ were a model, because in their wrong they repented and turned back to the living and gracious God and resolved to serve him alone. They knew how to live in relationship with their saving and gracious God.

2:7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua
and of the elders who outlived him
and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
So if Joshua’s generation were so successful, what went wrong for the generation who came next?

4. ‘This Generation’ – the age of the Judges
Nobody likes to be compared, particularly when you come up short in the comparison. Like try comparing someone to a family member and see how they like it, like pick a female friend and tell her she is exactly like her mother, and see how that comparison goes over!

Well in the story of the Judges, ‘This generation’ is not matching up to the previous generation and it is all their own fault! This generation are faltering in the conquest of the land, because of their own sin.

This generation were culpable in their ignorance in regard to God, his works, his words, and his covenant relationship with them. Externally they appear to be doing God’s command, but in truth they could not care for God at all. And instead of serving God by conquering the Land, they find themselves being actively opposed by God himself!

2:10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers,
another generation grew up,
who knew neither the LORD
nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD
and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who had brought them out of Egypt.
They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them.
2:17 Yet they would not listen to their judges
but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them.
Unlike their fathers,
they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked,
the way of obedience to the LORD's commands.

The eyes of this generation lusted after the gods and idols of the pagans they were supposed to bring to justice, and so the eyes of the Lord were upon this generation and their evil.
The Lord graciously spoke wisdom, deliverance and salvation to this generation, but their ears would not hear the Lord’s testimony through Joshua’s generation and through the Judges themselves.

The Lord’s heart was set upon them as his prized possession to love and cherish them, to keep and to bless them. But in their hearts, ‘this generation’ cherished evil and lusted after other gods who are no gods at all. They broke their exclusive covenant with God, they were unfaithful to their God. In the most earthy terms we are told they prostituted themselves to gods of the evil nations they were to destroy. (prostituted and Baal a literal description of the act of worship!).

This generation were called to be God’s justice and light in the world and instead they doused themselves in the sinful indulgence of these nations and themselves became corrupted and darkened, in a sense the light of God was extinguished in his world!

This generation had given its heart to another, and God would respond in his justness to oppose the wickedness of his own people, his hand would be sent against his own people, because with their own hands they served, worshipped and literally prostituted themselves to another, an idol who was no God at all!

What was to be a wonderful and intimate relationship, has been torn asunder by the unfaithfulness of ‘this generation’, how will God their covenant partner respond?

5. The Just and gracious God.
a. The Just God
2:11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD
and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who had brought them out of Egypt.
They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them.
They provoked the LORD to anger
13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 In his anger against Israel
the LORD handed them over to raiders
who plundered them.
He sold them to their enemies all around,
whom they were no longer able to resist.
15 Whenever Israel went out to fight,
the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them,
just as he had sworn to them.
They were in great distress.

The sin of this generation, provoked the Lord to anger, in fact exceeding anger. In V20 the image is of God’s nose burning hot with fire he is so angry with the wanton unfaithfulness and adultery of his people.

You shall not make an idol and bow down and worship it, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.

God is jealous for his people, with a just and right jealousy, like a husband over his very own wife.
The Lord then opposed the endeavours of his people, the God who commanded the invasion is now opposing his people, because of their sin.

Now that is a scary thought isn’t it? Actively pursue sin and you will find God actively and purposefully opposing you!
God actively opposing you – just let that roll around in your head for a minute!!

God’s heavy hand of oppression has come down upon ‘this generation’ of the Judges, through their enemies. God hands them over because of their sin, but you know what, not only for their sin bit also for their good!!!

God pokes them with a very sharp pointy stick to get their attention, that they would come to their senses and turn to him. IF they continue on their current path, it will end not only in oppressive living now, but in the judgment of God and of hell itself. But if they hear the hard rebuke of God, and turn to him, they will live.

Think of it as a particularly confronting spiritual intervention by God himself, so that they might come back to their right mind.

So God is a just God, but he is also a gracious God.
b. the Gracious God
God’s justice is gracious as it compelled right-minded behaviour from his people.
2:2 ‘I will never break my covenant with you’
God will be faithful even if his people aren't.
God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
The story of the book of Judges is the story of a just and compassionate God who is patient and long suffering with an obstinate and sinful people.

‘This generation’ which had not seen the deliverance of the Lord out of Egypt, would now experience a ‘mini exodus’ of deliverance from slavery of their own. This will happen so that they may know the Lord and his character, that they may love, worship and serve him alone.
2:16 Then the LORD raised up judges,
who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

2:18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them,
he was with the judge
and saved them out of the hands of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
for the LORD had compassion on them
as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

God’s justice drove his people to seek and receive his compassion. God was faithful to his word, his covenant with his people, despite their unfaithfulness to him. In the midst of their hardship, slavery and persecution, God sent Judges – a military leader – to defeat his people’s enemies, to defeat evil, and to save his people we read in V16.

'TO Save' or 'salvation', are great biblical words. But in the context of Judges it is a great play on words too. Yeshua is the Hebrew word, that as a verb means salvation, but as a noun is the name Joshua. It is this wonderfully inviting theme that the people need to be saved (Yeshua), so maybe they are looking for a new (Yeshua) Joshua, the people are looking for another great leader like Joshua.


People in slavery need to be rescued, but then all mankind are slave’s, they are slave’s to sin, the Bible tells us that, ‘no one is righteous not even one’, we all need a saviour, we need a (Yeshua) a Joshua of our own. Well another Joshua would come, his Hellenized name in English in Jesus. This Joshua, the great deliverer and saviour, would come to die on a cross and then rise from the dead, to save all who would believe in his name from the slavery to sin, and the judgment of God, as we celebrated last week.
In the book of judges the people are looking for a leader, a new Joshua!

In this section of Judges we see that God is a gracious God, when he actively opposed our sin. When God actively pokes us with a pointy stick or leaves us exposed to testing in this world, he is being gracious to us, that we would come to our right mind and turn from our sin, that we would repent and find forgiveness and grace from our God who is our saviour.

‘This generation’, the Judges generation, however, true to form did not turn back to the Lord wholeheartedly
2:19 But when the judge died,
the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers,
following other gods and serving and worshipping them.
They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

3:5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
6 They took their daughters in marriage
and gave their own daughters to their sons,
and served their gods.

6. My Generation
‘That Generation’ – Joshua’s generation were a model of faithful and dependent covenant relationship with God. They lived to see God’s kingdom come!!
‘This Generation’ – of the Judges, well they are more a model of the consequences of unfaithfulness and indifference to God’s words and his ways. They live for this world.

SO the question is what will God say about ‘My Generation’, about the people of God we are apart of, ‘Our Generation’?

Is our generation one that lives to see God’s kingdom come?
Or is our generation one that lives more for this world, and to serve its idols, rather than the living God?
Do we compromise and worship the idols of this world?
Do we worship comfort over faithfulness?
Do we worship self-centred individualism over selfless commitment to God's people?
Do we bow down and worship at the all consuming altar of the home loan, with every last cent and every last second?
Do we worship the idol of status and popularity, of career and prestige, rather than lower ourselves to love God’s people and serve the Lost?
Do we worship the slavish idol of acceptability and approval of others and live like anyone else, instead of living out the love of God and serving a crucified messiah.
Who do you worship?

If - our Eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord – Jesus, the Christ of the cross
If – Our ears have heard the command of the Lord – To love, obey and serve him alone
If- Our hearts have felt the love of the Lord – The Spirit of God poured into our hearts by faith.
Then – let us serve God with our hands – to hate sin, to love the saved brothers and sisters, and serve the lost by testifying of the Joshua who came to save them.

That is what it means to worship our God…. To love God is to put our belief into action.

NIB Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.