[0:00] All right. Today we are going to be, not just today, the next six weeks, we're going to be studying out of the book of Judges.
[0:13] And I've got a lot to tell us, say to us, convict us of, challenge us with, and I hope that you enjoy the journey as much as I am studying it myself.
[0:31] Definitely some challenges there. It will be the beginning of Judges. We'll be looking into chapters 1 through 3, 6.
[0:42] That's a big chunk, especially for me to do. But this is the introduction to it before we get into the actual Judges that judge Israel.
[0:55] And so let's see what we've got here. First, I've got a question to ask you, and that is, have you come here today to hear from God?
[1:07] I hope so. I hope so. Did you come here with that in mind, or did you just come here to fulfill an obligation, a duty, check it off your box?
[1:20] I hope not. So did you come expectantly? Do you expect to hear from the Lord today? Does he have something to say to you personally, like Rick prayed, that it's tailor-made for each one of us?
[1:40] God will meet us where we're at in our walk, in our life. Expect that. He's going to say something to you.
[1:50] It's regardless of how your week has been, regardless of even how your morning has been, even trying to park here, frustrations, maybe little tiffs, little arguments or something like that that may have occurred.
[2:08] All that doesn't matter. Put it aside. We're here for one reason, one reason only. That is to praise our God and to hear from him.
[2:21] So, prayers have been offered so much here, and I just want to open up with a prayer also. Father, I concur with my brothers and my sister that also prayed that we want to hear from you.
[2:37] We want to know your will for our life, know what it is that maybe you are trying to discipline us with or that you're trying to encourage us with.
[2:53] But nevertheless, the ultimate thing, we want to hear your voice. Just ask that anything that I say would be disregarded and that, again, it is your voice that everyone hears.
[3:11] And in Jesus' name I pray. There's a dog named Remy. Sherry, my wife, is looking at me like, oh, no, not the Remy story, not a Remy story.
[3:27] Remy is one of our daughter's family's dog. It is a, I don't know what kind of dog it is. It's a German Shepherd.
[3:38] It looks like a wolf. Howls like a wolf. Anyway, this dog has got, it's a mind of its own, and it's set on a course. And it, when Brittany and family leave and leave the house for a while, and if they don't put Remy in a cage, things happen, shall we say.
[4:02] So they, from time to time, will, oh, we're just going up to the street just for a moment to get a few groceries. We'll be right back. They come back, and Remy has learned how to open up the freezer, learned how to open up the pantry, and loves to make himself peanut butter sandwiches.
[4:26] Loves it. Goes into the pantry, grabs the jar of peanut butter, takes off the top. I'm not exaggerating. Takes off the top, goes into the freezer, takes out the bread, and makes himself a nice sandwich.
[4:41] And, of course, eats it all, because why leave any? It's good stuff. That's just one of the things that good old Remy does. So I got to thinking about that, going along with our passage that we're, the stuff we're going to be looking through in Judges.
[4:59] And I thought to myself, you know, there's an old saying, and I'm sure you all know it, and you probably can repeat it. And that is, while the cat's away, the mice will play.
[5:12] That's what Remy's doing. Remy's just, hey, mom and dad are gone. Free for all. I'm going to play. I'm going to do what I want.
[5:23] But you know what? It goes further than the good old dog and the mice that play when somebody is away. How about what happens when parents leave and the kids are left alone?
[5:39] Oh, the kids will play, won't they? And especially the older they get. Hey, let's have a party. Mom and dad aren't home. They're going to be gone for a week. Yay. Or the younger kids, and you leave one of them in charge.
[5:52] Hey, let's do this or that. You guys can all picture it. We've all been there. And we, meaning with our kids or our grandkids or even us ourselves when we were kids, we can relate.
[6:06] How about the old teacher-student thing that's going on there? When the teacher gets called away for a moment? What happens with the students? Oh, mayhem happens.
[6:18] It just craziness goes on. Just craziness. How about the good old boss and the employee? The boss is on vacation this week or the next two weeks.
[6:30] Woo-hoo. Woo-hoo. We're going to have a blast. We don't have to do anything because he won't know. You know, I'm going to watch TV. I'm going to be on my phone all the time.
[6:40] That's what I'm going to do. Whatever. Again, it's all relatable. And here's the one that was mentioned already today. What about the pastor-congregant relationship?
[6:53] When the pastor's away, are we going to come to church? Oh, no. This is a good time to take time off. I don't mean to say anything, but I look at a fairly empty church this morning.
[7:07] And no, I'm not throwing any guilt out there or condemnation. I'm just, ask yourself that question. Am I staying away because the pastor's away? I commend you guys for being here.
[7:20] Very much so. So, you who are listening. Anyway, without beating that dead horse. In essence, what is happening is that without an authority figure, people do what is right in their own eyes.
[7:41] It seems right for me to make a peanut butter sandwich. I know it's a dog. It seems right for the mice to play while the cat is away.
[7:51] It seems right for the students to do whatever they want, for the kids to do whatever they want, for the employees to do whatever they want. It seems right in their own eyes.
[8:02] It's okay. They justify it. And that is one of the themes in the book of Judges, that everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and has a little bit more to that, and we'll touch on that at the end of the sermon.
[8:18] And another theme of the book of Judges is that God will not allow sin to go unpunished.
[8:29] Now we're going to get heavy. We will also, I'm going to throw a lot out here. We will also see a recurring pattern as we go through the book of Judges, and it stems from everybody doing what is right in their own eyes.
[8:46] First, we will see rebellion. Then we will see retribution when God sends the enemy to oppress them or put them in bondage.
[8:59] Then we will see remorse or repentance when the people cry out. And then we will see rescue when God sends a judge who delivers them.
[9:13] Why? Because God loves to deliver his children. And then we will see a time of rest. The land and the people will have rest.
[9:25] And then we will see it repeats. It starts all over again. So we will see this pattern throughout the book of Judges.
[9:37] It's described as a cyclical cycle. I mean, you can understand that. It just goes around. However, in reading Judges here, I find that it's not, that it's more than a cyclical cycle.
[9:53] It is a spiral going down. So it's not just going around and around. It's a spiral. And it just goes further and further down.
[10:07] All right. See if we can relate to any of this stuff. So who, what were the judges? Simple. I mean, I struggled with this because I read so many different commentaries and stuff.
[10:21] I'm going, I'm just not grasping this. You know, what are the judges? It's going to just keep coming to mind of, you know, a judge on a bench and stuff and that he's ruling over and stuff. In fact, a lot of the commentaries say that the judges are rulers over their area.
[10:37] And then that that's who God uses to deliver them. But that's not a true statement because when you read Judges, when you're reading the different judges that are raised up, that doesn't fit them.
[10:51] It doesn't fit that description that they were rulers. That's not necessarily true. So to keep it simple, the judges were individuals raised up by the Lord and enabled by the Holy Spirit to deliver God's people, which then secured rest in the land and it promoted obedience to the covenant while they were, the judge was alive.
[11:22] So this, the deliverances that happened, and I was wondering about this. And again, it took a little bit of study to do it, to find it. But the deliverances were not nationwide.
[11:37] Look, can, Grayson, can we, yeah. So we're going to have the map up here. So it's not nationwide, the deliverance, when these deliverances happen. They're more territorial.
[11:49] Territorial, okay? And then the office of being a judge or a judgeship, it wasn't hereditary. So it's not, hey, my daddy was a judge and so therefore I'm a judge.
[12:01] No, God didn't do it like that. He chose different people from different walks, from different things. So just keep that in your head. It just makes it easier, at least it did for me, to understand what's going on here.
[12:12] So, and just looking at this, you can see these are the 12 tribes. Don't need to name them all, Aster, Neftali, and all these.
[12:23] And then, but one thing I do want you to notice is you have Judah here, okay? And then you have Simeon within Judah, okay? So they're part of Judah.
[12:35] And there's a reason for that. It's pretty interesting stories to read about what happened with Simeon and the son of Jacob.
[12:48] Is that it? Am I getting that right? Oh, man, good. Thank you, Diana, just shaking your head. Go ahead, Mark. You got it. Especially names. I'm horrible with names. But anyway, what Simeon did because of the rape of his, of their sister, Dinah, and he was, did I get that right?
[13:07] Yes, all right. And that, anyway, what they did, that whole story, it's very interesting. Read it. And because of that, they, this is why they're placed in Judah here.
[13:18] So, very interesting story. Kind of sad. So, you guys can be looking at this now and then, back and forth, while we're going through the chapters 1, 2, and part of 3 here.
[13:33] So, like I said before, we will be looking at Judges 1 through 3, 6. We will be getting an overview of what is happening with the newly formed nation of Israel.
[13:44] At the time, because when it got first newly formed, Joshua was their leader. Joshua has now died when the book of Judges starts here.
[13:58] And this, it is an illustration of what happens when leadership is missing. So, with that in mind, we are going to stand for the reading of God's word.
[14:13] No, I'm just kidding. I was going to say, you're going to read all the way 1 through 3, 6. I don't think so. You guys will be here going, all right, let's sit down. So, normally we do stand for the reading of God's word.
[14:27] But what I'd like for you to do instead is to stand in your heart, okay? In other words, be attentive, all right? Stand in your heart as we read God's word.
[14:43] Judges 1, verse 1. Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?
[15:03] The Lord said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hand. Let's pause for a moment there.
[15:14] We're going to be pausing a lot as we go through this. They asked, Who should go up first? Very interesting. God says, Judah shall go up.
[15:25] Does anybody know what the name Judah means? We said it a few times during this morning's worship and stuff. It means praise.
[15:38] Praise always goes first, just like we learned in our worship today. Praise goes first, just like we learned in our call to worship. Praise the Lord in his sanctuary.
[15:50] It's just interesting how God brings all this together. This wasn't intentional. This is God bringing this together. So, and also, all right, you guys, who comes from the tribe of Judah?
[16:09] Who does? The Lion of Judah. Jesus Christ, our Lord. King of kings. Lord of lords. He comes from the tribe of Judah.
[16:21] And he goes first. Right? Who goes first? Who shall we, who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites? Against the evil.
[16:33] And the Lord says, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hand. That's just pretty neat. I just like that.
[16:45] Verse 3. Then Judah said to Simeon, his brother. Hey, where's, oh, wait, you don't have to put that up. Back up to the thing, please.
[16:57] Thank you. Only because, again, I want to remind you, Judah. And he, now, so he goes to Simeon and he says, Come up with me into the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites, and I, in turn, will go with you into the territory allotted you.
[17:18] So Simeon went with him. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? I mean, Judah, you know, he's inviting Simeon to come up along with him.
[17:30] Simeon, you're smaller, and then when we need to go take over the territory or fight in the territory that you're responsible for, that you've been given as an inheritance, that we'll come and we'll fight with you.
[17:43] You fight with us, we'll fight with you. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Arm in arm, hand in hand. Yay, let's do it, brother. But do you notice there's something wrong here?
[17:55] Something not right here. You read all the commentaries, and they're saying all about that. Oh, this is wonderful that they invited Simeon, and they're going to on and on, just like what I was saying.
[18:07] But no, there's something going on here. What did they say, verse 1, that who shall go up first for us? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up.
[18:18] I don't read in there. Let's see, Judah and Simeon will go up. He didn't say that. God said, Judah will go up.
[18:30] I've given, let's see, I have given the land into his hand. He's saying they've already got the victory. It's a done deal.
[18:41] I'm going to give it to Judah. Judah. But no, Judah says, hey, Simeon, come along. When I see that, and in light of the rest of what's going on in the book of Judges, I see that and I say, they're doing what's right in their own eyes.
[18:59] They're already beginning to do that. They're doing what's right in their own eyes. Oh, this seems right to me. Seems like a good thing. They help us out. We help them out.
[19:11] God hasn't said to do it. Don't do it. Don't add to it. Just do what God told you to do. Stick with that. Trust God.
[19:21] This is a thing of disobedience, of not trusting in the Lord. I guess that's what's happening. I don't know why Judah thought that he needed to ask Simeon to come along.
[19:36] I don't get it. But he did. Come up with me into the territory allotted me that we may fight against the Canaanites, and I in turn will go with you into the territory allotted you.
[19:46] So Simeon went with him. Verse 4. Judah went up, and this is also surprising to me, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they defeated 10,000 men at Bezek.
[20:04] So even though Judah was disobedient, God was still faithful to his word. He said, I will give them into your hands, and he did it.
[20:18] God is amazing that he's faithful even when we're sinning, when we're not faithful. That amazes me. Verse 5.
[20:30] They found Adonai Bezek in Bezek. What a thought. And fought against him, and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
[20:41] But Adonai Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adonai Bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table.
[21:00] As I have done, so God has repaid me. So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. Again, pausing for a moment.
[21:12] There's a principle, a biblical truth that we cannot escape. It may take a while for it to come to fruition, but it is a truth.
[21:31] And that is, what you sow, you will reap. Adonai Bezek, he even understood that.
[21:43] A pagan, he got that concept. As he says at the end of 7, as I have done, so God has repaid me. He knew that.
[21:55] I'm going to reap what I sow. Galatians 6 tells us, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked.
[22:08] What you sow, you will reap. Sowing to the flesh reaps from the flesh corruption. But sowing to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
[22:23] You know, it's so easy to sow to the flesh, especially in the world that we live in.
[22:33] It is so full of temptations. We don't even have to try anymore. It used to be that you had to go out and, you know, search it or, you know, really go after it.
[22:46] Not anymore. We don't have to. It's all around us. It's in our movies. It's in our internet. And let's, what's really sad is let's see where it's really at.
[22:58] I mean, where it's our iPhones. We carry it around with us. We carry temptation around with us all the time.
[23:09] Just so readily available. And we think nothing about it. We just, oh, yeah, I've got my phone. I'm just going to look at this.
[23:21] Mindlessly look at that. I'm going to show my friends. Hey, look at this. I'm going to post this. Oh, I'm doing this at work while I'm getting paid. Oops. Oh, the boss don't mind.
[23:33] It's okay. He's in the other office. He doesn't see me. Whatever. Oh, I'll go to the bathroom for a while. Yeah, they'll never know. We carry the potential for evil, for temptations around with us all the time.
[23:53] It's an amazing thing to think about. But I'm not, of course, saying that iPhones are bad or Androids or whatever. Yeah, if you have an iPhone, it's bad.
[24:05] I got an Android, so I'm okay. You guys, I don't know about you. But I want just to be inclusive of everybody there.
[24:18] So, again, just something to think about. Okay? That is what this is all about. I'm not here to accuse. I'm not here to condemn.
[24:28] I'm not here. That is, I'm reading God's word, and I'm trying to extrapolate from it what I believe it's trying to tell us today for our practical application.
[24:39] This isn't just stories in here about what happened to the Israelites. This is about us. How can we place ourselves in this book?
[24:51] And say, wow, where do I fit in? And then we're also going to see later on where Jesus fits in, which is exciting. So, again, the world is full of temptations.
[25:03] And that's one of the reasons why John would say in 1 John that if you have love for this world, the love of the Father is not in you.
[25:16] If you keep going after the things of the world, you're loving the world. The things of the world are enticing you and drawing you away.
[25:27] The love of the Father you do not have. Again, something to think about. Putting your brain and say during this week, what's happening? God's love is manifested in his believers, not in the system of the world.
[25:46] Governments or the filth of this world, you know what? They don't represent God. Believers do. His children do. Whatever you go after, whatever you follow, whatever you sow, that is what you will reap.
[26:05] Do not be deceived. And also Numbers 23 tells us that your sin will find you out.
[26:16] Just in case you think maybe you can get away with it. Nobody will ever know. Nope. It's a promise. Numbers 23. Your sin will find you out.
[26:26] And with that, I want to stop here and not do any more because... Where's some Kleenex?
[26:38] That's right. Mark's going to cry. Because Mark has a confession to make and Mark doesn't want to, but my sin will find me out.
[26:48] This past week was a very difficult week for me. Be it spiritual warfare, whatever you want to call it, but ultimately it falls on Mark. I have a co-worker that I struggle with immensely.
[27:06] I won't go into all the details of him, but this week I was... He asked me a question, confronted something, and I blew up at him.
[27:20] And I have had so much malice in my heart for him this week that it was difficult to study.
[27:31] In fact, Friday, I'm studying, talking to the Lord, not wanting to say I'm sorry, not asking for forgiveness, because I have a right to be angry with this guy.
[27:46] He's lazy. He's this and this and this. And no. Mark, there's malice in your heart. That's too bad. I have a right.
[27:58] I'm doing what's right in my own eyes. The very thing that I'm studying about, and I'm guilty of it. On Friday, I think it was Friday.
[28:11] Was it Friday? Yeah, Friday. Got to remember my days here. Sherry comes home from work. I don't have to work on Fridays, thankfully. Worked four tens. That's a blessing.
[28:23] Anyway, on Friday, I'm putting all my notes together and everything, gathering all the information, put it all on the computer, and about a half hour before Sherry comes home, all of a sudden, I'm moving things on my computer, the screens and stuff, and all of a sudden, there went the sermon.
[28:42] I went, there went the sermon. What in the world happened? It's gone. Weeks of work, gone.
[28:54] What is all my stuff that I collected and I was going to put together and now arrange it all into a sermon so it makes sense? All gone. What are you doing, Lord?
[29:06] And he says, are you going to ask for forgiveness yet? Yes, Lord. You're right. What he was telling me was, this is again speaking to me, Mark, we can go no further.
[29:20] How can you go before the people with this malice in your heart? How can you do that? So you can bet on Tuesday, because he doesn't work until Tuesday, I will have to go before him and humble myself as I should and ask for his forgiveness.
[29:38] He doesn't know that I have malice in my heart towards him, but he could sure feel it. I know that he can. So I confess that to you, that I am guilty of doing what is right in my own eyes.
[29:56] Lord, forgive me. All right. Let's continue on. So Adonai Bezek, he got sent to Jerusalem and he died there.
[30:11] Verse 8. Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. Again, pausing for just a moment. So the sons of Judah, they fought Jerusalem.
[30:24] And it seems like in the reading of this that they have taken control over Jerusalem. Well, they did a little bit, but it wasn't lasting because they left the Jebusites there.
[30:38] And so it was only a temporary thing that happened. Jerusalem didn't finally get taken over until David did it 500 years later. Just so you can picture that in your head.
[30:50] So when you hear that the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it, that it wasn't. All this stuff is so temporary. It's ridiculous. So verse 9.
[31:03] Then afterward, the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the Negev and in the lowlands. That's way down low here is the Negev. And so Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron.
[31:18] Now, the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath Arba, and they struck Seshai and Ahimon and Talmai.
[31:29] Those were other kings that were there. And so they won that. It's funny because they were down here in the Negev, and Hebron is way, I forget.
[31:42] I forget. We'll look at that at another time. All right, so verse 11. Then from there, he went against the inhabitants of Debor.
[31:53] Now, the name of Debor formerly was Kiriath Sephir. And Caleb, hey, Caleb's still around. Isn't that neat? And he said, we remember who Caleb was, right?
[32:04] He was one of the 12 spies that 40 years earlier, 45 years earlier, had spied out the land for when the Israelites were first supposed to go into the promised land.
[32:23] And he and Joshua were the only ones that came back with a positive report and said, hey, we can get them. And the other 10 said, oh, no, no, no.
[32:34] We can't do it. They're too big. We can't. We look like grasshoppers. We're grasshoppers compared to them. And so this is the Caleb. And that whole story is in Numbers 13 and 13, 14, chapter 13 and 14.
[32:54] But also what's interesting. No, we'll get to that in a second. So anyway, verse 12, and Caleb said, the one who attacks Kirith Sephir and captures it, I will even give him my daughter, Akshah, for a wife.
[33:13] I'm supposed to say this confidently, so you guys, but I can't even do that. Okay, so verse 13, Othniel, we're getting introduced just temporarily here for one of the judges.
[33:28] He's going to be one of the judges, Othniel. Othniel, the son of Canaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. So he gave him his daughter, Akshah, for a wife.
[33:40] Then it came about when she came to him that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. Then she alighted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, what do you want?
[33:51] She said to him, give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water. So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
[34:03] Again, quick little side note here. Caleb, when he went into, or when they went into the land, he asked for, he requested a certain area that he wanted.
[34:16] He wanted to. And so he, I wish I could see where Hebron was. Because he wanted Hebron. He wanted that place that he's, one of the places they spied out 40 years earlier.
[34:31] And he wanted to go attack those giants. He's 85 years old at this point. And he said, hey, let me at them. Because I'm going to show these guys, this is, God's on my side.
[34:44] And it's okie dokie. I'm going to win this. So anyway, it's just interesting. And then he also said what land he wanted and stuff. So like father, like daughter, he asked for land.
[34:56] And now his daughter is asking. So it's just funny, not funny. It's interesting how our kids can pick up what we, how we walk our walk.
[35:09] So interesting. All right, verse 16. The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law. Who's Moses' father-in-law?
[35:20] Anybody remember his name? Anybody? Who? Jethro? Yeah. We're told about a billion times when we're reading that story in Exodus about Joseph's father-in-law, Jethro.
[35:34] Anyway, I just had to bring that up. Anyway, so the descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenites, went up from the city of Palms. Anybody know what the city of Palms is?
[35:46] It's Jericho, just so you know. So when you hear anything about the city of Palms, it's Jericho, where they first crossed over and took over into the promised land.
[35:57] So the city of Palms with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad. And they went and lived with the people. Then Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in.
[36:12] So now Judah is saying, okay, now Simeon, you came with us. Now we're going to go with you. Then Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zepheth and utterly destroyed it.
[36:25] So the name of the city was called Hormah. And Judah took Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots.
[36:46] We will learn more about these iron chariots when we get into Deborah, the judge. And it's, again, an interesting story.
[36:57] But so Judah's doing all this stuff with Simeon and driving out the inhabitants and stuff. But this is where all of a sudden they slow down.
[37:08] Verse 20, then they gave Hebron to Caleb as Moses had promised, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
[37:21] And, again, just a quick history. The Anaks, they were the descendants of the Nephilim, and the Nephilim were the giants. That's where, come on.
[37:34] Who? Thank you, Goliath. That's where he came from. So, again, just getting the picture in your head about all the stories. See, I don't write down Goliath, and then I don't know.
[37:45] Anyway, I did write down Nephilim. I know how to spell it now. But anyway, verse 21. But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem.
[37:59] So the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. I mean, as of the date of this writing. Whenever you see that, to this day, that's what it means.
[38:11] It doesn't mean to this day, 2024. That's not what it means. Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
[38:23] The house of Joseph spied out Bethel. Now, the name of the city was formerly Luz. An interesting little side note here that's happening. The spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will treat you kindly.
[38:42] So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But they let the man and all his family go free.
[38:55] Sounds like a nice thing, doesn't it? You show us the way you scratch our back, we'll scratch yours. The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz, which it is named to this day.
[39:15] What's happening here? Well, again, they were told to, when you go in and conquer, you're supposed to wipe out the enemy, right?
[39:27] Well, that doesn't seem like it was happening here, because it was supposed to be all of them. So they're, again, one more time, doing what's right in their own eyes, and they choose to compromise.
[39:41] They're compromising by letting this man live. Now, God wanted to wipe out the city of Luz.
[39:52] So what's this man do after he's spared he and his family? He goes to another place and builds another city and calls it Luz.
[40:04] Is that an application for us, that maybe what could happen when we don't wipe out sin in our life? That maybe it just moves down the road and just rebuilds itself, and now it's something else that can be a temptation to us?
[40:20] Again, something to think about. They compromised. Not a good thing. Let me see if I've got some notes on here. Yeah, we're going to see also a progression of what happens with this compromise.
[40:37] Let's continue on for a minute here. Let's see. Places not conquered, verse 27, but Manasseh did not take possession. And this is when you can start looking a little bit at the map, too. So you've got Manasseh, which is a big territory.
[40:52] But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-Shion and its villages, or Tanakh and its villages are the inhabitants of Dor, and its villages are the inhabitants of Iblium, and its villages are the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages.
[41:07] So the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. So here it is, Manasseh. There's a lot of places they didn't battle and also kick out the inhabitants.
[41:20] And that just shows us that the enemy, he doesn't want to give an inch. When we try to kick out the enemy in our life, the sin in our life doesn't want to give an inch.
[41:33] No, I have a right to be angry. I have a right to be angry. He made me mad. What he did, I had malice in my heart. I didn't kick out the enemy.
[41:43] I wasn't kicking it out. I needed to. Let's go on. Verse 28, it came about when Israel became strong that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.
[42:00] Does any of this make sense? Why would you do that? God has told you to do this stuff, and you're not doing it. Verse 29, Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
[42:13] Verse 30, Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron. Or the inhabitants of Nahalo. So the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
[42:26] Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Echo. Or the inhabitants of Sidon. Or of Elab and all these other places.
[42:37] Verse 32, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites. Because Asher didn't kick him out. Now the Asherites are living among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
[42:51] Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemish. Or the inhabitants of Beth Aneth. But lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land.
[43:02] And the inhabitants of Beth Shemish and the Beth Anish became forced labor for them. Then the Amorites forced the Amorites. Now there's the enemy.
[43:13] Now the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley. Yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres in Adjelon in Shalbim.
[43:27] But when the power of the house of Joseph grew stronger, they became forced labor. Verse 36, the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabim from Selah and upward.
[43:43] What's going on here? Again, they're not driving out the inhabitants. They compromised. For whatever reason, they didn't do it. It's not because they weren't strong enough.
[43:54] Because it says in areas where when Israel became strong, verse 28. I didn't circle the other one. There's another two more in here. When they became strong, they didn't do it.
[44:07] So they were strong enough to. They just chose not to for whatever reason. And then they put them into forced labor, which, hey, in fact, let's use them. So what's really going on here, let's see a progression of what happens.
[44:21] What happens when we compromise, when we do what's right in our own eyes? These are the results. Verse 25 through 26, the man of Luz is spared and rebuilds a city.
[44:36] Verse 22 through 26, the Canaanites, if we look at it as a whole here, the Canaanites are allowed at this point to live at a distance. Okay, verse 27 through 30, the Canaanites are now allowed to live among the Israelites.
[44:54] No longer at a distance, but now among the Israelites. Verse 31 through 33, the Israelites are allowed to live among the Canaanites. So now it's reversing.
[45:05] Now, oh, Israelites, you can live among us now. And then verse 34, the Israelites now have to live at a distance from the Canaanites.
[45:16] They were forced to live up in the hill country. It's just interesting what happens when sin reverses things on us. Here we think we're doing stuff and we're doing okay, and if we don't follow God's ways and completely eradicate it, they're not good.
[45:32] So what I concluded in seeing from verse 27 through 36 is that if you don't drive out the inhabitants, if you don't get rid of sin completely, it will come back to get you, right?
[45:53] You do whatever it takes. Sometimes it has to be radical and it seems severe. And I've talked about this at other times, that scripture that says that if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
[46:11] If your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out. It's severe. Something severe. Is that what you really do, cut off your hand and gouge out your eye? Of course not. But you take radical steps to eliminate those things that entice you, that tempt you.
[46:31] So if you have a problem looking at pornography, get rid of the Internet. If you have a problem of, I don't know, whatever. I mean, you guys can figure it out yourself.
[46:44] But you do something that's severe and you cut it out. You get rid of it. You don't play with it. You don't say, oh, well, maybe that's okay. No, it's not.
[46:54] All right. It takes something severe to get rid of sin in our life. How serious are we? Man, how are we doing on time?
[47:05] We're going longer than I wanted. Bear with me. I'm just going to go through. I can tell I'm just going to go through chapter two real quick here. And then anyway.
[47:19] So they didn't get rid of the inhabitants. And now chapter two, verse one. Now the angel of the Lord. Who's the angel of the Lord?
[47:30] It's a capital A. That's the Christophany. It's the manifestation of Jesus. Pre, obviously, before he was in Mary's womb.
[47:46] So, but anyway, he makes an appearance. Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bocum. And he said, I brought you up out of Egypt.
[47:57] And led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers. And I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land.
[48:12] What was one of the deals that somebody made? Joshua. They said that, let's see, if you show us how to get into the city, we'll let you live.
[48:25] There was not. But you will make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me.
[48:40] What is this you have done? Sobering. Verse three. Therefore, I also said, I will not drive them out before you.
[48:53] But they will become as thorns in your sides. And their gods will be a snare to you. When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
[49:11] So they named the place Bokum. Just so you know, the word Bokum means weepers. And there they sacrificed to the Lord. So what's going on here?
[49:23] God confronts them. And they are, yeah, Lord, we agree with you. Yeah. They wept. They wept.
[49:34] That's all they did. You don't see any repentance. You don't see any turning saying we're sorry that we did this. All they did was wept.
[49:45] They had an emotional experience to God's word, to Jesus' words. They emotionally, oh, yes, oh, we done bad.
[49:59] We done real bad. But are we going to change? No. Nope. We're going to keep going the way we're going. They just wept. It was external only.
[50:10] There was nothing internal about it. It's an emotional response only. Worldly sorrow and not godly sorrow.
[50:23] If you weep, the question is, what will you do afterwards? And, of course, the answer is you're supposed to repent, do a 180. You're supposed to change.
[50:36] Joel 2, 12 through 13 says, Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart and with fasting.
[50:47] In other words, denying your flesh. Weeping. There's that weeping because that's important. Because when we weep, we're seeing things the way God sees them.
[50:58] And we understand that it's not good. So, let's see. With fasting, weeping, and mourning, that's a different level of weeping.
[51:12] The mourning is really being sad about it because you're thinking, This is bad stuff that I'm doing. You're grabbing a hold of it.
[51:24] You're understanding. That's what mourning is going into. And then, Let's see.
[51:35] Because I want to, let's see. And, here, verse 13 of Joel. This is the next part. And rend your heart.
[51:45] That's the inward thing. Not just the outwardness of crying and weeping and mourning. But, rend your heart. And not your garment.
[51:58] What did they used to do whenever they were, Oh, Lord! Oh, they rend their clothes and they're all sorrowful. That's just outward. That's just outward.
[52:08] Yeah, you look on the outward, you look good. Oh, yeah, you're so sad and sorrowful. Now, what are you going to do about it? You're going to rend your heart? You're going to rip that? So to speak, of course.
[52:21] But, that's what this should be doing to you. Is rending your heart. When you're disobeying God. When you're doing what's right in your own eyes. Man.
[52:34] Now, return to the Lord, your God. For he is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger. Abounding in loving kindness.
[52:45] Again, that's Joel 2. 12 and 13. Don't just cry about it. Let's see if we can get through this real quick.
[53:01] The rest of this. 2. Verse 6. When Joshua. This is just a recap of when he died. It's a reminder. When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel.
[53:12] Went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua. And all the days of the elders who survived Joshua. Who had seen all the great work of the Lord. Which he had done for Israel.
[53:23] Then Joshua, the son of Nun. The servant of the Lord. Died at the age of 110. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance. In Timnath. Here is in the hill country Ephraim.
[53:35] North of Mount Gash. All the generations. All that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them.
[53:46] Who did not know the Lord. Nor yet the work which he had done for Israel. So we can have our experiences.
[53:57] We can have our walk. Are we passing it on to our children? Or is that the next generation that comes up and they don't want anything to do with the Lord.
[54:08] You know they say the statistics are that kids that grew up in a Christian home. Go into college. Graduate high school. Go into college. That the numbers are.
[54:20] I've heard numbers anywhere from 60 to 90 percent now. It used to be 60 was very common. But it's all the way up to 90 percent now.
[54:33] That the kids stop going to church. And they want nothing to do with God. That's pretty high figures there. Why is that? What's going on with our children?
[54:45] With our grandchildren? Something's happening. That verse 10 there. There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord.
[54:57] Or the work which he had done for Israel. Are we passing along the stories? Are we relaying it to our kids? Our grandkids? Just.
[55:09] And then also helping them see their own stories. Of how God is working in their life. Because God is. He's doing it. Will you help point it out to them?
[55:20] So they see it. Again. I speak now. Because most of us. Children are. Gone. But now how about grandkids? How about. Just any other.
[55:33] I don't know. Kids that you come in contact with. I don't know. Obviously that would be silly. You don't just go to the kid down the street. Start talking about things. You've got to build those relationships. But anyway. However that would look.
[55:44] Verse 11. Then the sons of Israel did evil. Did the evil. That's what that should say. The sons of Israel did the evil in the sight of the Lord. And that was idolatry.
[55:56] And served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord. The God of their fathers. Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. And followed other gods. From among the gods of the people. Who were among them. Around them.
[56:07] And bowed themselves down to them. Thus they provoked the Lord to anger. So they forsook the Lord. And served Baal and Asterith. We will learn about them a little bit later.
[56:17] Real quick. The Baals were the God of intellect. And the Asteriths were the gods of sensuality. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel. And he gave them into the hands. Of plunderers who plundered them.
[56:29] And he sold them into the hands of the enemies around them. So that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Whenever they went. Wherever they went. The hand of the Lord was against them for evil.
[56:40] As the Lord had spoken. And as the Lord had sworn to them. So that they were severely distressed. Then. This is the good part. Then the Lord raised up judges.
[56:52] Who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. See we're in an area here. Where it's just giving us an overview again. Of what's happening. What's going to be happening in the book of Judges.
[57:02] Verse 17. Yet they did not listen to their judges. For they played the harlot after other gods. And bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly. From the way in which their fathers had walked.
[57:14] And obeying the commandments of the Lord. They did not do as their fathers. When the Lord raised up judges for them. Then the Lord was with the judge. And delivered them from the hand of their enemies.
[57:25] All the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity. By their groaning. Because of those who were oppressed. And afflicted them. But it came about. When the judge died.
[57:36] That they would turn back. This is the part where it spirals. But it came about when the judge died. That they would turn back. And act more corruptly. Than their fathers. In following other gods.
[57:49] To serve them. And bow down to them. They did not abandon their practices. Or their stubborn ways. What a commentary. So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel.
[58:01] And he said. Because this nation has transgressed my covenant. Which I commanded their fathers. And has not listened to my voice. I also will no longer drive out before them.
[58:13] Any of the nations. Which Joshua left when he died. In order to test Israel. By them. Whether they will keep the way of the Lord. To walk in it.
[58:23] As their fathers did. Or not. So the Lord allowed. That's an interesting word I see there. The Lord allowed. In those nations.
[58:36] To remain. Not driving them out quickly. And he did not give them. Into the hand of Joshua. So that's.
[58:47] Chapter two. I am going to stop there. However. I'm going to give everybody some homework. And.
[58:57] Let's see if I can find. Where your homework should be here. In chapter three. Here. Verse. Let's just look at verse one and two. Real quick.
[59:08] Now these are the nations. Which the Lord left. To test Israel by them. That is all. Who had not experienced. Any of the wars. Of Canaan. This is an interesting phrase right here.
[59:19] Verse two. Only in order. That the generations. Of the sons of Israel. Might. Be taught. War. Those who had not experienced it formerly.
[59:31] So here's your homework. What in the world does it mean. To not be taught war. What is that all about. That's. A weird. Phrase. In there. But it's. Pretty significant.
[59:42] It took me a while to. Uncover that one. So. You know. And we'll be going over this.
[59:53] Same. Type of stuff. Just in different. Ways of looking at it. Over the next. Five more weeks. But. You know.
[60:04] It says that. In those days. There. Israel had no king. And everyone did. What was right in their own. It's like.
[60:15] Their own eyes. They didn't have a king. We have a king. We have no excuse. We have.
[60:27] A king that tells us. How we need to live. Let us stop doing what's right. In our own eyes. And do. What.
[60:39] He. Wants us to do. Live the way. He wants us to live. We have no excuse. When I read these stories. I think.
[60:49] Man. Those Israelites. Those guys are idiots. What a bunch of dummies. What's that make me. Even worse. Yeah. We. We. Let's pray.
[61:01] Father. I just ask. That your words. Would penetrate. My heart. That I would. See. Where.
[61:12] I fail. So often. In wanting to do things. In my own. Ways. Not listening to you. Not seeking.
[61:22] How you want it done. And then obeying. When you. When and how you want me to do it. Just. I just ask that.
[61:33] That. I would stop. Being on the throne. Being the one in charge. And. I just ask that. For all of us too. That this word.
[61:44] This week. Will go out. And penetrate us. And convict us. And. That we would. Father. That we would come to a point.
[61:54] Where we weep. But more importantly. That we would rend. Our heart. And change. Let your word. Change us. Not just.
[62:06] Convict us. Thank you for. Jesus. That you are our. Deliverer. You are our. Judge. That delivers us. From.
[62:17] The oppression. That is in our life. And we say this in your name. Amen. Amen.
[62:28]