Podcast: Download (25.4MB)
God’s Story of Salvation: Judges
Introduction: Most people today would not be able to give even a general description of the content of the 66 books much less describe the actual purpose and message God had for these inspired writings. It is critical for every Christian to be able to know and be able to explain these messages. It is the foundation of sharing the gospel and for us to have a deeper relationship with God.
Therefore, we will approach Judges with two purposes: (1) How would I give a summary/overview of the purpose and message of Judges to a person seeking to know God? (2) What do I need to know about Judges that will help me discover the wonder of God and his manifold wisdom so that I can be a part of God’s eternal purpose to defeat the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places?
- Message of Judges for a New Bible Student
(Please consider that this would be a part of a brief synopsis that you would do in helping a person get acquainted with the Bible. The end goal would be to give them a taste and motivation to begin to read for themselves and seek God.)- The period of the Judges lasted about 450 years dating from approximately 1450 BC to 1000 BC and ultimately concludes in the book of 1 Samuel where we read of the final two judges.
- The word “Judges” does not completely convey who these people were. Though they did “judge” Israel concerning moral activities, they were primarily military leaders whom God would raise up to deliver the nation from foreign invaders.
- The key to Judges is in contrast to the message of Joshua. In Joshua, the people are able to conquer nations stronger and mightier than they because God is with them. In Judges, nations all around them are able to conquer and abuse them because they have forsaken God and therefore, God is not with them. That alone is the strongest message every human being must consider. Do you want God with you? Or would you rather face all the challenges of this life alone? Consider that everything in this life will ultimately be stronger and mightier than you.
- The movement through the book can be divided into three main parts:
- Chapters 1-3 present the beginning of Israel’s downfall. God had commanded Israel to drive out the remaining Canaanites from the land, but they disobeyed and instead allowed the Canaanites to live among them. This resulted in Israel worshiping the idols of the Canaanites, the very thing God intended for them to avoid.
- Chapters 4-16 highlight Israel’s downward progression into complete moral and spiritual corruption. When Israel turns from God, God allows enemy nations to oppress them. When Israel repents, God raises up a Judge to deliver them. However, the descent into corruption is even seen in the moral depravity of their Judges. Turning from God causes them to look no different than the Canaanites they had conquered.
- Chapters 17-21 begins and ends with the phrase, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Therefore, we are given two horrific examples of what happens when God is rejected and the “rule” by which people life is based on their own personal desires.
- In the first story we see man worshiping as he sees fit. The result is a religion of personal gain.
- The second story describes what happens when a person lives his moral life as he sees fit. The result is rape, murder, and civil war.
- Conclusion: the book started with the generation after Joshua growing up without knowing God and the blessings he had provided for Israel. Therefore, generation after generation became worse and worse. Mankind is doomed to corruption and misery without the knowledge of God.
- The Message of Judges for the Christian
- A typical mistake Bible students make is to believe that Judges simply follows Joshua because that is what happens next. Instead, we must remember that every book of the Bible has a theological purpose – that is, the book is a means by which God shows us a message about himself and his relationship to his creation.
- Remember, this is one of 66 puzzle pieces that display for us “God’s manifold wisdom.” The result is summarized by 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
- First, let’s understand Israel’s downfall. It began with compromise. Chapter 1:19-36 gives a long list of tribes who only partially drove out the Canaanites in their inherited lands. Judah’s failure in 1:19 sets the tone. God was with them and they conquered the hill country but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. This is nothing but a lack of faith/trust in God (Cf. Joshua 17:16-18). What should we learn from this?
- First, they immediately suffered the consequences to their disobedience. Now God would not drive out the remaining Canaanites and they would become thorns in their sides. There are always consequences to sin.
- Second the presence of the Canaanites and their idols would affect generations after them. This is complicated even more when we read 2:10. Not only did they not drive out the remaining Canaanites, they did not teach their children to “know the Lord” and the work he had done for Israel. [Oh they “heard” about the Lord. They knew “of him.” But they did not know him.
- Isn’t it amazing the power and influence of one generation of parents. Four hundred years of corruption and misery. On the other hand, what glory can be given to God for generations following parents who love and serve God!
- Strong Lesson: this begins with your marriage. (Cf. Eph. 4:32). Choose and pursue passionate love with each other and make God number one between you. There is nothing more important for children than parents who are in love. Without that exemplary relationship, teaching God will fall flat. There is no excuse for failure! Your make the choice to love.
- There are few verses in the Bible that could be more devastating than Judges 2:10-12. When it is all said and done, this passage reminds us that everything begins with and depends on what what we do in our homes. Is there anything in this world that you could say is more important than teaching your children and grandchildren about God? We must not allow our children to think that the pursuits of any pleasure of this world could be of any comparison to life with God both here and in the hereafter. We must teach them above all else, to desire God.
- What were they to teach them? What would have kept the next generation from turning to idols? (1) they did not know the Lord. (2) they did not know the work the Lord had done for Israel. Cf. Deut. 6:4-9
- What does it mean to “know the Lord”? Cf. Hosea 6:1-6; 2 Tim. 3:14-17
- Two Key Lessons when everyone does what is right in their own eyes (17-21):
- Worship Life is no longer centered on God with thankfulness and praise for his deliverance and watchful care. Worship becomes a worship of one’s own desires. It is no longer “holy” and “set apart,” but looks identical to the carnal corruptions of the world. When God is no longer the center, self becomes the center. And when self becomes the center, no one will love his neighbor as himself and everyone will take what is right in their own eyes.
- The Moral Life of the people becomes depraved. When a Levite and his concubine spend the night in a “city of Israel” for fear of spending the night in the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, the men of the city surround the house and demand that the Levite be brought out to them. Indeed, Israel has now become Sodom, reflecting the same story we read in the days of Abraham and Lot in Genesis 19.
- The final message. What does Judges teach us about God?
- In spite of how hopeless it seems at the end of the book, with God there is always hope. First Samuel opens at the end of the period of Judges with an obscure barren woman named Hannah. God would begin to bring salvation through this woman. God is always there and so are a remnant of the righteous.
- Judges 10:6-18
Verse 16: “So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the Lord, and he could bear Israel’s misery no longer” (NIV).- God’s purpose has always been for our joy. He hates to see us in misery from our sin. Paul warned that we would not “grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”
- God’s mercy is beyond all that we can imagine. We should never believe there is no hope for us. His arms are always open for us to return to him.
Berry Kercheville