Answers Bible Curriculum: Year 2, Quarter 1, Lesson 6
In this lesson, David Capoccia examines the Judges period as a whole and discusses why Israel kept turning away from God and why God still kept saving Israel.
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we notice about Gideon what’s his a view of God and God’s relationship to Israel that’s right he doubts God complains against God doesn’t believe in God or it doesn’t show strong belief in God and he’s fearful we know that he needs a whole bunch of encouraging signs for him to actually obey the Lord yet God calls Gideon strong and what does God say to Gideon that shows us what will be the source of Gideon strength that’s right he says I will be with you and you shall smite the Midianites as one man and this is exactly what happens God grants victory to Gideon over Midian in a tremendous way 300 only 300 people put to flight an army of 135,000 by simply uncovering torches blowing trumpets and shouting and it’s because God put Panik into the heart of Israel’s enemies so that they turned against one another and killed one another in this deliverance what does God show Israel and us he’s in control he’s the one with the power he’s the one who delivers not man but God used Gideon God uses Gideon and he uses his small force as part of the victory so what’s the implication for us yeah Rob yeah I mean God is going to use us God is going to use his people he doesn’t need to use us he is the one with the power and he could accomplish anything without us but he chooses us and so or he chooses to use us so therefore we are to as you said rely on him trust in Him obey Him and he does this that we may grow in faith that we may give testimony of God as that we might rejoice in God ourselves by faith God makes the weak strong they don’t have the power but he does and he provides for them because he is with them just as he was with Gideon questions about last week’s lesson okay we’ve looked in detail at the account of one judge and his deliverance but now we’re going to take a step back and consider the history of the judges as a whole by itself Gideon’s history almost plays out like a fairy tale the week doubter turns into a man of faith adultress Israel turns back to God everyone lives happily ever after but if you know the book of Judges there is more to the story and the additional details are decidedly darker and more tragic here’s our agenda for today’s class we’re going to look at some background information we’re going to back up I think I’ve given some information in previous classes but I want to make sure we take some time today to look at some background information on the judges period we’re going to do an activity involving the chart that I’ve had the men hand out to you which we’re going to look at what patterns and themes appear in the book of Judges and then we’re going to discuss why Israel keeps turning away from God and why God keeps saving them let’s pray father I pray that you would give me the ability to explain your word clearly that we would understand it and that it would divide soul and spirit that we’d be changed by it then our minds would more conform to the way that you think to your mind do your work of sanctification now and Jesus name Amen let’s start by backing up and getting more background on the book of Judges and Israel’s situation in the judges and so to do that I first want to go to Leviticus chapter 26 so please open your Bibles there vidiq is chapter 26 so we’re going to read basically the whole chapter it’s a long section we’re not going to analyze the whole thing but I think it will give us a good starting place for understanding the judges period here in Leviticus Moses is speaking God’s words to Israel so look at Leviticus 26 starting in verse 1 and will read to verse 45 you shall not make for yourselves idols nor sure you set up for yourselves an image or sacred pillar now you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it for I am the lord your god you shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary i am the lord if you will walk in my statutes and keep my commandments so as to carry them out then I shall give you reigns in their season so that the land will yield its produce in the trees of the field will bear their fruit indeed your threshing will last for you until grape gathering and grape gathering will last until sewing time you will dust eat your food to the full and live securely in your land I should also grant peace in the land so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land and no sword will pass through your land but you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword five of you will chase 100 and 100 of you will chase 10,000 and your enemies will fall before you by the sword so I will turn towards you and make you fruitful and multiply you and I will confirm my covenant with you you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new moreover I will make my dwelling among you and my soul will not reject you i will also walk among you and be your God and you shall be my people I am the would your God who brought you out of the land of YouTube so that you would not be their slaves and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect but if you do not obey me and do not carry out all these Commandments if instead you reject my statutes and if your soul of my ordinances so as not to carry out all my Commandments and so break my covenant I in turn will do this to you I will appoint over you a sudden terror consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away also you will sow your seed uselessly for your enemies will eat it up I will set my face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies and those who hate you will rule over you and you will flee when no one is pursuing you if also after these things you do not obey me then I will punish you seven times more for your sins I will also break down your pride of power I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze your strength will be spent uselessly for your land will not yield its produce and the trees the land will not yield their fruit if then you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey me I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins I will let loose among you the beasts of the field which will believe you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted and if by these things you are not turned to me but act with hostility against me then I will act with austerity against you and I even I will strike you seven times for your sins I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the Covenant and when you gather together into your cities i will send pestilence among you so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands when I break your staff of bread ten women will bake your bread in one oven and they will bring back your bread and rationed amounts so that you will eat and not be satisfied yet in spite of this you yes yet in if in spite of this you do not obey me but act with hostility against me then I will act with wrathful hostility against you and I even I will punish you seven times for your sins further you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat I I then will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and keep your remains on the remains of your idols for my soul shall abhor you I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate I will not smell your soothing aromas I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it you however I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes a desolate and as your cities become waste then the land will enjoy it sabes all the days of the desolation while you are in your enemies land then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbath’s all the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabes while you were living on it as for those of you who may be left I will also bring weakness into their hearts and the lands of their enemies and the sound of a driven leaf will chase them and even when no one is pursuing they will flee as though from the sword and they will fall they will therefore they will therefore stumble over each other as if running from the sword although no one is pursuing and you will have no strength to stand up before your enemies but you will perish among the nations and your enemies land will consume you so those of you who may be left will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies and also because of the iniquities of their forefathers they will rot away with them if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers in their unfaithfulness which they committed against me and also interacting with AH stila T against me I also was acting with AH stila T against them to bring them into the land of their enemies or if they’re uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity then I will remember my covenant with jacob and i will remember also my covenant with isaac and my covenant with abraham as well and i will remember the land the land will be abandoned by them and we’ll make up for it sabes while it is made desolate without them they meanwhile we’ll be making amends for their iniquity because they rejected my ordinances and their soul aboard my statutes yet in spite of this when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them nor will I saw a poor them as to destroy them breaking my covenant with them for I am the lord their god but I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors my brought out of the land of Egypt and the side of the nations that I might be their God i am the lord ok a really tremendous section we have here is a good summary of what is called the Mosaic Covenant notice a few things in me what would God do if Israel’s faithful to him and his commands that’s right he’s gonna bless them abundantly he’s going to give them peace there won’t even be a hostile animal in the land their army is going to put their enemies to flight miraculously just a few will put to flight 10,000 but what would God do if Israel is unfaithful to God and his commands the opposite right you will curse them you will punish them they will curse them with various curses but what do you notice about the curses god says he will bring on their disobedience what do you notice about these judgments yeah CheY hmm you hmm right that’s a great point Shay we can’t we’re going to point out a couple of things about these judgments but one of them is that it’s restrained right he doesn’t let them be completely destroyed what else what else we notice about these judgments yeah exactly yeah it’s great point khalif the point of these judgments is to bring them back and they come in stages he says I’m going to bring this judgment on you and check if you’re repentant and if not then I’m going to bring more and then we’re going to wring more these judgments don’t happen all at once God keeps looking for repentance and there is a progression and what is the final punishment if the people are completely stiff-necked because the these judgments they get worse and worse but what’s the final one he says I will remove you from the land it culminates with him actually taking the people out of the land and sending them into the nation’s for them to be ashamed and to rot away there now why does God send these curses part of it we’ve already looked at its to bring them back but why else they are hostile to the Lord yeah well yeah I think that’s as we are saying is to bring them back so it is in love and it is part of as a warning to Israel and to the other nations Danny you’re going to say something yeah there there are consequences for sin God’s going to show that and it’s because of God’s holy nature that he must administer those consequences says if you’re hostile to me yeah you don’t deserve all right it’s not right for you to be hostile to me because I’m your God I’m the one who loves you and provides for you therefore I will punish you for your sins that’s the just penalty of what you have done so partly this is just this is justice but it’s also because of his special relationship with Israel it’s a loving warning it’s a loving chase inning to bring them back we mentioned that the final punishment is for God to take them out of the land and let them rot in other nations but even then God leaves away for his surviving people to come back into the land and how is that whelmed if they do I have to repent it must confess their sins they must humble their hearts they must make amends for their iniquity and why actually let me say it like this if they repent he says he will bring them back but why does he do this I mean why not just completely destroy them if they’re so stiff-necked after all these judgements has to not return to the Lord why not just get rid of them yeah Duane exactly that’s right it goes back to the covenants that he made with their forefathers even if Israel’s extremely unfaithful though he will judge them and many of them will be destroyed he will not completely destroy them he will bring the repentant ones back into the land because he is Israel’s God and He will honor his covenants with Abraham Isaac and Jacob with all this in mind let’s consider again now the history of the judges take out the chart that hopefully you received as you i sat down today this chart is double-sided it gives a summary of all the judges and their deliverances that are described in the book of Judges start with oz Neal that’s the front side off Neal’s the first judge and it ends with Samson on the back now there were two other judges mentioned in the Bible there in First Samuel Eli and Samuel they’re not on this chart Samuel Doe was the last judge now what exactly is a judge well if you look at the book of Judges you might think that the term simply refers to a military deliverer or some kind of proto King let’s not forget what the word itself means one who judges that is provides judicial rulings this is what a judge is that his core this office was actually first set up by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law Jethro Moses appointed men to use God’s law to rule and punishing crimes and in resolving disputes you actually set up a system a hierarchy of judges there were judges over tens judges over 50s judges over hundreds and judges over thousands and these lower tier and the lower tier judges were to decide the easy cases while the higher tier judges were to decide the more difficult cases with the most difficult coming to Moses himself this position was open to lay men as well as priests and prophets it not to be a priest to be a judge and so when we think of the judges in the book of Judges yes most of the judges are military deliverers not all of them but their office and they’re judging really refers to this role of explaining God’s law and making authoritative legal rulings this was an office established by Moses now when did this period of deliverer judges this kind of special period of judges begin and how long did it last well if the exodus took place around 1450 BC and we have talked about why that’s the best date and the conquest took about seven years around what time did the judges period begin exodus begins in 1450 conquest takes about seven or eight years got to add the wilderness wanderings in their judges period begins about what’s that well the exodus begins in 1450 so after the wilderness wanderings got to add those 40 years in there that bring us around 14 10 then seven or eight years I guess around 1402 but just for simplicity sake around 1400 1400 is when the judges period begins and it lasts until the monarchy until the monarchy is set up in Israel about 1050 BC so so in these years how long how long are we see how long the judges period was about 350 years the judges served Israel as leaders neck capacity for about 350 years there’s a problem though the problem with these dates because if you add up the years that it presents it in the book of Judges times the refreshin and the time the rest you get more years than 350 considerably more 400 plus 0 so our biblical timeline totally off we set up these other dates for 1400 1050 by looking at the details of the bible does the Bible contradict itself no there’s a reasonable solution here and that is and here is the reasonable solution the years of these deliverer judges at least sometimes overlap with one another multiple judges arise in different places to provide deliverances for regional oppressions not necessarily national oppressions this is an important idea for us to realize the judges they were local deliverers not necessarily always national deliverers this makes sense though because as we’ve already seen the system of judges established by Moses had a whole sister had a whole hierarchy of judges not be too surprised that God raised up more than one judge at a time as a deliverer because there were supposed to be a lot of judges in Israel also you know that Israel’s very decentralized at this point one tribes problems do not necessarily directly affect the other tribes in fact in the book of Judges we often see that the judges whenever they’re fighting against Israel’s enemies they don’t call on all the tribes it’ll-it’ll mention which tribes are called and it’s only part of them well that’s because those are the tribes that were nearby they were the ones that actually were affected by this issue or they’re the ones that could help we can even point to specific instances in the book of Judges where this overlapping is evident I’ll show you to them look at judges chapter 4 for a second judges chapter 4 verse 1 the verse is short it reads judges 4 verse 1 then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord after a who’d died okee who’d is one of the judges and after he dies Israel is said here to rebel and that’s going to bring a new judge but if you just look a few verses earlier he who’d is not the judge that the author just mentioned who is jamkar Shamgar was the judge that he just spoke about Andy who it actually comes before Shamgar we have a hood Shamgar and then the judge that comes in chapter 4 that’s Deborah so why does the text say that after he who’d Israel turned away and not Shamgar if Shamgar wasn’t one to just talked about is the Bible just confusing itself is the history hopelessly contradictory no it’s that echoed and Shamgar simply served Israel at the same time and it’s fine to say after a hoots death it’s when Israel rebels and causes Deborah to arise as a judge we see a similar issue issue in judges tap judges chapter 10 judges 10 verses 7 8 God gives Israel into the hands the verse says of the Philistines and the sons of Ammon but when you look at the account that comes afterwards about Jephthah he only delivers Israel from Amman what happened to the Philistines three other three other judges appear in the narrative and fill the Philistines are not mentioned until a fourth judge appears who finally deals with the Philistines and that’s Samson how can we explain this why does it say the Philistines and the ammonites dealt with Israel but only a man is dealt with by these arm by the judge that is mentioned right afterwards it’s because multiple nations we’re pressing Israel at the same time and so you had multiple judges serving at the same time the years the judges overlap we should understand God was not necessarily giving all the tribes into the hand of each oppressing neighbor during this period rather Israel was experiencing multiple regional oppressions and therefore multiple regional deliverances by multiple regional judges in fact if you look at where the judges come from they come from all different tribes questions so far okay now we’re going to do an activity I’ve given you this double-sided chart that organizes the information we get in the book of Judges about the judges and their various deliverances and I’ve organized the columns of the chart to show a couple different things what circumstances provoked oppression who the oppressor was who was the judge God raised up how God used that judge to deliver and how long the period of rest was after God’s deliverance that is how long did that Judge preside in Israel what I want you to do now either by yourself and with those sitting next to you is I want you to read through both sides of this chart and answer two questions you can answer the questions mentally or do them somewhere on your sheet or on a separate piece of paper once you consider these two questions that I put up here first what pattern does Israel follow or fall into throughout the book of Judges I want you to identify that pattern and the different parts of that pattern and then once you see if there are there any patterns within the judges themselves anything that keeps on appearing in the judges themselves okay so read through the chart answer those two questions questions about which about to do all right I’m gonna get their question okay I’ll give you about five minutes if we need more time I can always give that to you please look up when you’re finished to take about five minutes okay let’s go over these two questions now first what pattern is Israel follow throughout the book of Judges step one they turn away from the Lord yeah Israel turns from God to serve sin and idols step 2 God sends an impression God sends that our oppression usually through another nation who oppresses Israel step 3 they cry out to the Lord that same phrase you’ll notice in the deliverance details keeps on appearing the sons of Israel cried to the Lord the sun’s visual cried to the Lord that’s what they do they cry to God for deliverance they turn back to God let’s step 4 God sends deliverance through a judge he raises up a judge to deliver him that judge does deliver them and then step 5 we will get to that in just a second but they do enjoy a period of rest after the deliverance is in caught is accomplished Israel enjoys a period of rest but just as you were saying Joe what happens that causes the people to almost immediately turn back to sin the judge dies and you notice that on the cause section of your chart it’s connected even with the phrase the sons of Israel again did Eve on the side of the Lord usually because the judge died after so-and-so died they turned away after so-and-so died they turned away so this is the pattern that keeps on appearing six or seven times in the book of Judges we see this pattern they turn to idols they experienced oppression God or they cry out to God God sends a judge to deliver them they enjoy a period of rest the judge dies and they turn right back and they start the pattern all over again the author of judges actually tells us in the beginning of the book of Judges that this is what Israel does trim back over to judges chapter 2 for a second because we get a little bit extra information judges chapter two verses 16 and 19 we looked at the previous section in one of our classes about Israel disobeys God talks about how Israel turned away and what they turn to but look at verse 16 this describes the deliverance part of the pattern then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plunder them yet they did not listen to their judges but they played the harlot after other gods and bound themselves down to them they turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked and obeying the commandments of the Lord they did not do as their fathers when the Lord raised up judges for them the Lord was with the judge and delivered them from the hand in their enemies all the days of the judge the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them but it came about when the judge died that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers and following other gods to serve them and bow down to them they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways so as soon as the judge dies not only does Israel turn away from God but we get an additional detail what else do we learn they act even worse than they did at the beginning even worse than their forefathers so we see this pattern it’s a cycle but we can even described as a downward spiral I not only keep returning to sin but they they go back to it with even a more gusto they get even worse what pattern appears in the judges there are actually a number of really interesting details about the judges what’s something that you noticed what’s your question Carol well certainly that section your question about is that is that phrase in the Bible certainly we know that in the Pentateuch there is that word hear o Israel the Lord your God the Lord is one the second part I don’t exactly recall about protecting my loved ones from harm totally that principle is consistent with biblical principles but Israel was to obey the Lord because the lord their god was vegan and he is the one god they were not to serve him along with other idols so that is true care but getting back to the question that i asked what patterns did we see in the judges themselves what stands out that’s right we certainly see that they were empowered by God multiple times you see the phrase the Spirit of the Lord came upon him this was I supernaturally raised up deliver who was specially empowered by God to do his deliverance usually through mighty acts of courage and strength what else ah they yes they certainly show weakness at the same time even though they were supernaturally empowered even though their office was to act as a righteous adjudicator they sinned in some pretty big ways you may have noticed they also like Israel seem to get worse over time in the beginning we have usnea seems like a pretty righteous guy though he does marry his niece this marriage while not explicitly forbid in Leviticus does violate the principles God gave there regarding incestuous relationships she would have married her uncle that’s uh that’s not that doesn’t go that’s my consistent with God’s law Gideon we talked about the righteous part of his life last time but he creates an ephod he creates a ceremonial breastplate after he’s delivered as you don’t deny the kingship and this breastplate becomes used for idolatry by his household and bile Israel now perhaps Gideon could say oh I never meant for that to happen but it was a foolish choice it was a bad idea and probably born from pride why why take the donation to create this breastplate Jephthah sacrifices his own daughter as a burnt offering an order to fulfill a vow yes I know some say Jeptha merely dedicated his daughter as a perpetual virgin in service to God and there is an argument to be made for that but I think the better interpretation and we don’t have time to fully talk through that issue right now is that he killed and sacrificed her as part of the vow that he had made well no more about that we can talk about afterwards Samson the last judge mentioned in the book of Judges multiple Grievous sins first of all he violates his Nazarite vow by voluntarily touching what is unclean he was supposed to not touch anything on clean as a perpetual Nazarite but very notably he takes honey from the carcass of a lion and shares it with his parents that would have been unclean but more seriously Samson continually goes after four and women he tries to marry one he uses another as a prostitute and then falls in love with a third Delilah who results in his ruin but you may have noticed there’s one son that multiple judges commit our one thing that multiple judges commit and what is that they all multiply for themselves wives not all of them but many of them they multiply wise for themselves now the text actually isn’t explicit with that each time but it talks about how many kids they had multiple judges have 30-plus kids that means they have multiple wives Gideon Jer herbs in and abdin they all multiply their wives and concubines now why why would they do this what reasons could we think of well one they could have been and probably were making use of their power and prestige as a judge and just using it to seek after pleasure get more women more sexual experiences but there’s another reason yeah Roy ok I think that’s definitely part of it they were doing just what other people did especially the people who were in positions of authority maybe the Kings around them but if you were a ruler or if you were someone with authority it wasn’t simply that you could use your authority for your own pleasure but why else would they why else would they have many children yeah often yes more sons does equal more power especially as you orchestrate strategic marriage relationships may notice one of the judges it says that he married his sons and daughters outside of his and then that the word is not provided in the text it says family or Clint it could be clan maybe tribe why is that significant mmm he must have done that on purpose to secure some kind of familial alliances or to gain influence in various places another judge it says his 30 suns ruled in 30 cities so this was about establishing power and certainly we see the same thing in another part of visuals history who else multiplies wives Solomon and David the kings of Israel do the same thing and again it’s part of using their power for their own pleasure using their power and prestige for their own pleasure and also part of strategic alliances why does salman marry the queen of Egypt what must have been part of an alliance they were building up their own power building up their own security mm-hmm by the way you may have noticed there’s also a the detail of donkey riding these sons from these judges there mentioned a couple times is riding on donkeys that is another detail that shows up again in Israel’s monarchy the princes they ride on donkeys of course Messiah mately rides on a donkey as well so the judges we could say more about the judges but these judges these faith-filled spirit empowered deliverers and adjudicators they still sin in pretty big ways and they seem to get worse over time just as Israel does now in light of the scriptures that we’ve read and these observations that we’ve just made and we could make many more there’s a lot I hope you can continue to use this chart it’s very interesting I think you can glean a number of insights from it well let’s ask a couple of interpretive questions now first why we see this pattern why does Israel keep turning away from God to serve idols even after he delivers them miraculously powerfully multiple times I’m sure there are a number of factors in this answer so let’s see if we can identify them why does Israel keep turning away yeah Craig okay I think how we can tease that out a little bit but to repeat your comment short memory and a strong sin nature I’ll come back to that just a second yeah rom mmm right so that’s another good question and something for us to think about how many of these people who are turning to God are actually doing so how many of them are actually saved actually exercising faith can we say that it’s all of them to come back to what you’re saying Craig about the short term memory we can break that down into two possible reasons why Israel’s turning away and one is it’s because the repentant Israelites just died out if you look at the sections of rest that come after the deliverance of the judges especially the beginning very long 40 plus years that means that a number of Israelites would die and new Israelites would be born and perhaps some of the Israelites who were dying where the faithful ones they were the ones that were really repentant really wanted to follow the Lord and the people who were born they didn’t get this a conviction from their forefathers and they easily turn away think that could be part of it I think that is part of it but I think also even the Israelites who didn’t die off they didn’t remove the stumbling blocks and that caused them to go back into sin they really did repentance they really did have a desire to follow after the Lord but they never dealt with the things that would draw them away perhaps that was also part of her that probably was also part of it why else though yeah Duane okay what a psalm 78 say hmm yeah yeah I think that’s also part of it thanks for pointing that out dwayne psalm 78 talking about the need for Israel to continually teach their children about the ordinances of the Lord and about their unfaithful forefathers that the children would learn and not do what they’re unfaithful forefathers did and as you point out Duane that obviously is not happening to the extent that it needs to happen in Israel because the new generation easily turns away think there are some other things that we can say we’re running a little bit short on time so I’m going to supply some of these reasons myself another reason why israel turns away is because they no longer have righteous leadership they did have a system of judges but this system was failing in some capacity Israel’s leadership has a profound effect you may notice on the behavior of the people they follow the Lord as long as the judges alive but as soon as it’s gone they fall away there’s also it’s not recorded on your sheet but there’s a certain refrain that appears throughout the end of the book of Judges two phrases that keep repeating themselves you’re familiar what are those phrases Danny exactly there was no king in Israel at that time everyone did what was right in his own eyes those phrases are related though are because there was no king there was behavioral and moral Anarchy and that suggests that they needed something to deal with that situation a king a righteous King God was Israel’s King and should have been sufficient for them but they just would not and could not consistently obey and love him they needed a human leader to establish justice to punish evil and to serve as a righteous example of faith and love for God they may ask well why when they ask for a king does God rebuke them isn’t that what they needed well this is difficult question but I believe the reason is because of why they asked for a king they didn’t want a king in order that they might serve God or trust him better they won the King so they could be like the other nations and trust in their King to deliver them and protect them God and we know that this is ultimately true because Messiah he always planned to have a king over Israel who perfectly represented himself who had his heart and administered his justice and this is typify first and david david is he’s kind of like a central point in the Old Testament this is what you’ve needed Israel but David himself was not completely perfect what Israel really needed was the Lord Jesus the god/man the perfect establisher of justice and teacher of Yahweh an explainer of his way but just as Israel at that time at the end of the judges they saw a king for the wrong reasons so in Jesus’s own coming they were seeking Messiah for the wrong reasons right they didn’t look for someone to restore Israel to the obedience of the Lord but instead a deliverer from Rome the exact same thing that the people in the judges time we’re looking for Israel has never learned it’s lesson they did need a king to teach them God’s Way but they saw the king that would simply allow them to pursue their lusts I think that’s part of the reason why Israel keeps turning away but also it’s simply because Israel never really changes they’re never truly repented they’re never fully repentant as we read in judges too they were not listening to the voice of their judges even while avoid even while the judges were alive and this was the same in the days of Moses and Joshua in Moses’s farewell speech in Deuteronomy 29 on time to read it now but Moses tells the new generation they still did not have new hearts that would follow the Lord and in Deuteronomy 31 God tells Moses that even before they’ve entered the promised land Israel is already developing its intention to abandon God and embrace the Gaza and God tells Moses they will turn away as soon as they are prosperous and even in Joshua’s speech his farewell speech in Joshua 24 he twice exhorts supposedly faithful and obedient Israel to put away the foreign gods that are among them Israel other times like yes will serve the Lord we will follow the Lord always and he says then put away the gods that are among you why do you stole the gods among you is you all the time the judges was no different that people in general did not have hearts to follow God they were like Pharaoh they only relented of their evil when God made it too uncomfortable to continue and as soon as the circumstances changed they fell away again Israel’s repentance was always incomplete and we know even after the judges period the pattern continues I think all of these reasons are involved as to why Israel keeps turning away but if God knows these things and he did now why do you continue to save them why do you continue to save them we had run to these briefly again because of time multiple reasons sir certainly partially it’s because some of them were really repentant for their sakes and because of their prayers he acted not everyone in Israel was wicked we know some people in the judges period include Boaz Ruth Naomi they were truly righteous people and they certainly cried out to God for themselves and for their neighbors and certainly these righteous ones probably encouraged others to join the righteous bandwagon people who are not truly repentant but they got along for a time they went along for a time and then when the surgery situation changed where the truly faithful ones died out Israel turned away again but God did it for the sake of their truly repentant God also did it because he just desired to show compassion to Israel you saw on that one verse we read that he was moved to pity by their groaning he had made himself visuals God he chose to set his love on them he felt a great burden for them even while judging them for what they deserved he was looking for an excuse any excuse to grant deliverance and comfort to Israel judges 1016 says after the people finally put away therefore in God’s God could bear the misery of Israel no longer we’re so moved and he knew the vast majority of Israel would use his compassion as an excuse to turn away from him again but he was faithful to his own loving nature his own saving nature he acted because he set his love on Israel and gave them what they did not deserve as a nation nehemiah 9 talks more about this really emphasizing that even though they kept abandoned the Lord when they cried to him he acted because he had compassion more fundamentally God keeps saving them because he remembers his covenant and we saw this in the verses we read in Leviticus Israel’s repentance was always suspect but God was already committed to preserving Israel not because of his covenant with Israel that itself but because of this covenant with their forefathers with Abraham Isaac and Jacob God would never let his people be completely destroyed he was going to preserve a remnant and bring that remnant to repentance so that he might rescue them and fulfill what he had promised Abraham and later to David and this is going to earn this had to happen because God was going to ultimately through Israel provide Messiah would not just save Israel but all people and finally kind of along the same lines God acted because he would not allow other nations to misunderstand his glorious nature he was going to give testimony to himself kind of interesting verses in Deuteronomy 29 and 32 one of them says when people see what happens to Israel they will say why did the Lord do this to his people and they will respond because they turned away from God God’s going to say I’m going to give myself the glory I deserve people are going to know when I judge you however people are not going to be now to misunderstand because the ones that judge you they might say uh look what we did to Israel he says no I will not let Israel be completely cut off because otherwise people say that they did it now I’m going to show them that it was me the whole time and judgment i will give testimony to myself but also in restraint and in preservation of israel I’ll give testimony of myself really these reasons all speak to the fact that the reason God acted to save Israel was for his own sake he was being faithful to himself being faithful to his own nature being faithful to the Covenant that he had made with Israel being faithful to his own glory some final questions now this is a lot of information to take in but some questions as we consider application of what we’ve looked at today do we live lives of true repentance before God or do we just go through the motions drawing close to God when times are tough and when we need to live rinse like Israel but as soon as the situation changes we fall away do we keep returning to the same old sins and patterns in our lives or do we finally put away the foreign gods that are among us and actually devote ourselves the Lord do we understand rightly the faithfulness of God to us faithfulness to love preserve and discipline us if we are as children but faithfulness to judge and destroy us if we are as enemies God must be faithful to himself are you thankful for the massive outpouring of love that God has shown you in faithfulness and consider the judges even God’s righteous judges spirit empowered judges fall into big sins sins that were probably relatively common in their time period I think as you point out Roy but they were nonetheless heinous do we think of ourselves as being in vulnerable to certain big sins I would never go that far God would never let me do that actually he might just to show you that you must not presume or trifle with sin are their sins that you’ve tolerated in your life because they’re so normal in our society or even in the church among Christians has our culture where our own feelings affected the way that we interpret the commands the Bible gives us if you have other comments or questions come see me afterwards let’s close in prayer what your word is great and you are great you are faithful to yourself and we’re glad for that guy because because you ventured into covenant with us that means that you’ve set your love on us if we truly do believe in you and you will be faithful they’ll be faithful to preserve us until the time he calls home but you also be faithful to discipline to Scott because you want the best for us we thank you for that o Lord teach us to rightly love and fear you as we ought and Jesus name Amen