Teaching Notes

TH1008: JUDGES

As we move into the book of Judges we see it pick up where the book of Joshua ended. The difference now is that there was no leader in the nation. No one to encourage them and keep them moving in the right direction. But Israel was to be a Theocracy, or governed by God. The Lord was to direct their paths as Psalm 33:12 says. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and the people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance." And the children of Israel are God's special people. We saw that over and over again in the book of Joshua. But a nation is only blessed when the Lord is the one who is in control. Once a nation is no longer governed by God, the end result is anarchy. That is what we see in the book of Judges, a nation who turned from God and reaped the consequences for their actions.

And as you read through the book of Judges you will notice a cyclical pattern that the nation falls into. It is a cycle of rest and prosperity that causes them to turn from the Lord and fall into idolatry. Once in idolatry the Lord brings judgment upon them and causes them to fall into the hands of their enemies, who rise up and oppress them for a number of years. And that oppression continues until they cry out to the Lord and repent of their sin, and God delivers them from their oppression by raising up a Judge, and they have a time of peace and prosperity. But soon after the Judge dies, we see them fall back into idolatry and the cycle continues. In the book of Judges we see 12 Judges raised up to deliver Israel from their bondage. 11 men and 1 woman God raises up, but not as national leaders, for they ruled more on a local level, within the various tribes of Israel. And so these Judges were primarily military and civil leaders who ruled in their own geographic areas. The time frame for this book is approximately 300 years, for some of the Judges overlapped each other. (If you total all the years of servitude and rest they would add up to 410 years). Judges 11:26 clues us in to this 300 year time frame. It reads "While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?"

And so the book of Judges covers the time period of around 1400 B.C. to around 1100 B.C. Also, the Talmud ascribes Samuel to writing the book of Judges, the book of Ruth, and the book of Samuel. Now this time period, the time of the Judges, was one of the blackest periods in the nations history. Although, there is a glimmer of light during this period of time. And when we come to the book of Ruth, which occurred during the time of the Judges, we will see that Israel was not without some who sought the Lord. And it is as Proverbs 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." And you might wonder how a nation, that was directed so powerfully by God, could fall into such sin? The answer is easy and repeated several times in the book of Judges, "In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Judges 21:25. You see, as they turned their backs to God, they had no one to lead them, thus they did whatever they felt was right in their own heart, which of course is wicked, instead of what God wanted them to do. This lead to anarchy and idolatry and the cyclic pattern we find in the book of Judges.

JUDGES 1

VERSE 1

1. It took the children of Israel 7 years to defeat the stronghold of the enemy. After those 7 years Joshua divided the land of Canaan between the 12 tribes of Israel. Then, after the land was divided, the various tribes were to drive out the pockets of enemy resistance that remained. And we saw their failure in this task in the book of Joshua. But it seems that the farewell address that Joshua gave to the leaders of Israel and the nation as a whole, exhorted them to complete what they had not done earlier. Joshua basically told them not to serve the Lord half-heartedly, but to surrender totally to Him and be obedient to His commands, or don't serve Him at all. Their reply was "The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey." Joshua 24:24. And now it was time to see who was going to lead the tribes and drive out the enemy, these pockets of resistance with-in the land of Canaan.

VERSES 2-3

1. God instructs the tribe of Judah to go out first and defeat these pockets of resistance with-in the land. And God even said that He has given Judah the victory over the enemy before the battle begins. But instead of going and taking what God had promised them, we see a lack of faith on Judah's part. You see, God never said to get the other tribes to help, He told Judah that He has given them the victory over the enemy. It was a step of faith they were to take. These battles were no longer to be fought on a national level, but the individual tribes were to drive out the enemy. It may be that their was no strong leader, like Joshua, to lead them, and in their insecurity, or lack of faith, tried to muster as much help as they could to defeat the enemy instead of trusting in the Lord.

2. We see this also when the Lord called Moses to deliver Israel from their bondage in Egypt. God tells Moses "Come, now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Exodus 3:10. And Moses argues with the Lord, and finally just tells him his lack of ability to do the job. He says "O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." Exodus 4:10.

Moses saw his weakness but the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." Exodus 4:11-12. The point the Lord is making is that He has created us, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. And the battles will not be won in the strength of our flesh, but by the power of His Spirit upon our lives. He will teach us, He will guide us and equip us for the work He has called us to. And understand that if He has called us to take a step of faith, He will equip for that work. If we look to ourselves, we will fail, but if we look to Him for our strength, the enemy will be defeated. He is the master artist, and He sometimes uses the smallest brush to achieve the best results. As an instrument in the hands of the master artist, we need only be submissive to His will, and a beautiful picture will flow from His hands!

VERSES 4-7

1. God delivered the enemy into their hands, and they captured the king of that area, Adoni-Bezek, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Now that may sound strange but the reason they cut off the thumbs was that it made it nearly impossible to hold a weapon, a sword. To cut off the big toes made them unsteady on their feet and unfit for battle. And thus, as king, he could not go into battle with his men, which was one of the major functions of a king. And this mutilation also disqualified him from being king.

2. A principle that we see emerge from this story is "what a man sows, he will reap." We are told that this king, Adoni-Bezek, defeated 70 kings during his reign, and he cut off their thumbs and big toes, and had made these kings into nothing more than beggars. Now he realizes that what he has done to others, God has done unto him.

3. That same principle, of sowing and reaping, can be applied to our own Christian life. Paul said in II Corinthians 9:6-7, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver." Now some apply this to money, and I think that is true, but it goes far beyond that. It speaks of our time, our resources, our life! How much do you give unto the Lord for His use? And this is where we need to be careful, if you can't give your money, time, resources out of a cheerful heart, a hilarious heart, then don't give at all.

God is not broke, that He needs your money. Nor does He need your time or your resources. He wants you only to invest in His kingdom if you can do it with a heart that gives out of love. If you become angry, don't give. But also, as you do give from your heart, as you sow, you will also reap. And I have seen this over and over again in my own life, as I extended myself to others, I was blessed beyond measure. But before you give, make sure you are doing it with the right motives. From a cheerful heart!

4. So many times we look at the prosperity of the wicked, the health of the wicked, and feel it is so unfair. But we miss the point, without Christ in their life, there is coming judgment upon their lives. What they have sown they will reap. Psalm 75 speaks of the judgement of God upon the wicked. It says "But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out, surely its dregs shall the wicked of the earth drain and drink down." Psalm 75:7-8. Their end is seen in judgment without Christ. That is what lies ahead for the wicked!

VERSES 8-9

1. It is interesting that Judah defeats the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but for some reason they don't take possession of it. And because they did not completely drive out the enemy, the Jebusites grew strong and took over the city again. This was not turned around until the time of David, when he took Jerusalem back.

VERSE 10

1. Hebron is located about 19 miles southwest of Jerusalem in a valley lying about 2,800 feet above sea level. This was the area given to Caleb, where the descendants of Anak were located.

VERSES 11-13

1. Debir was located farther to the south, about 8 miles southwest of Hebron. And it seems that Debir was a cultural capitol of the Canaanites, for its name means "books" possibly implying they had an extensive library there. We see that Othniel takes Caleb's challenge and defeats the inhabitants of Debir, and obtains Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, for a wife. (Othniel is either the brother or nephew of Caleb).

VERSES 14-15

1. The area of the south was very dry, and thus Achsah asks that her husband speak to her father to see if he would give them the upper and lower springs so they could be assured to have a fresh water supply. As strong as Othniel was in defeating the enemy, he seems a little gun-shy of Caleb, thus, Achsah asks her dad for the springs, which he does give to them.

VERSES 16-18 1. Jethro, Moses father-in-law, were nomadic people and the Kenite's were his descendants. And they are moving farther to the south, and towards the Mediterranean Sea, down to Philistine country. And these Philistine cities along the Mediterranean Sea, the children of Israel took, but they did not drive out the Philistines, who were a thorn in the side of Israel.

VERSES 19-20 1. Again we see that they did not drive out the enemy, and it wasn't because of the chariots, it was because of their lack of faith. God had already told them that the enemy was defeated, but they did not walk by faith, but by sight. Thus their mind told them it was impossible to defeat the enemy that had chariots, and that was reflected in their actions.

2. When the 10 spies came back with a report of giants in the land, it caused the nation of Israel to lose sight of what God had promised them, the land of Canaan. Because they walked by sight and not by faith they came to this very wrong conclusion about what God was doing. They said "Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us." Deuteronomy 1:27.

3. When we find ourselves in situations we don't understand, where the enemy is strong and the situation hopeless, we must fall back on the promises of God. That He loves us. That He has given us victory over the enemy. That we must walk by faith, and not by sight.

4. We also see Caleb get Hebron, the area that was promised to him by Moses, and he does drive out the enemy. How? Because he walked by faith and believed in the promises of God!

VERSE 21

1. "But" is a tragic word, and it shows their repeated failure in driving out the enemy.

VERSES 22-29

1. To understand this story, you have to know what these men were looking for, and it was not the main entrance to the city, which was easy to find and its gates could be locked down. Many of these cities would have a tunnel that would led out of the city so they could get to a fresh water supply if they were under attack from an enemy. Hezekiah had something similar, he built a tunnel that was dug through 1,700 feet of solid rock, to bring in a fresh water supply into the city, which is still in existence today. So these spies were shown how get into the city of Bethel, and they destroyed the city.

2. As difficult as the enemy may be, as many schemes as he has, we must understand that he has been defeated. The flesh, the Devil are defeated in Christ.

3. Instead of driving out the enemy completely we try to co-exist with them or make a profit off of them. We see that in the church today we have bingo nights, casino nights andso-on. We are to drive out the enemy, not make a profit off of them. And it doesn't matter how good it sounds or how much you will make and use these funds for a good cause. In Chicago we are using the Lotto, gambling, to help our school systems. What is next, prostitution? We are not to go into business with the enemy or make a profit off of him. It is totally wrong! What we are basically saying is that if we can't beat sin, at least let us make a profit off of it. Wrong! Do not try to rationalize away what God has told you to do! As Proverbs 10:2 says, "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death."

VERSES 30-36

1. Over and over we read of their incomplete failure to drive out the enemy - do you think God is trying to make a point here? He wants our complete obedience - not to go half way and stop. Not to dwell with the enemy - for how can light and darkness dwell together. And what ends up happening is that your light grows dimmer and dimmer till you become like the darkness that is around you.

2. And notice what happens to the tribe of Dan? They get pushed all the way to the north by the enemy. A result of not completely destroying the enemy - don't live in defeat instead of the victory that God has given us in Christ.

JUDGES 2

VERSES 1-5

1. "The Angel of the LORD" is an Old Testament name or title for Jesus Christ, we call it a Theophany. It was the pre-incarnate Christ that appeared before the children of Israel. And Jesus tells them how He has led them into the promised land, how His hand has been upon them all these years. And He says "I will never break My covenant with you." And God was faithful, butthe children of Israel were not. And Jesus asks them an important question "Why have you done this?" He is asking them why they have disobeyed His commands and not destroy the enemy completely, for all they will be to you is a thorn in your side and a snare unto you. God says the same thing to us. "Why haven't you driven out completely the enemy, the flesh?" You see, it too will be a thorn in your side and a snare unto your walk.

2. Here we see an emotional response to what God has told them, they are weeping. But all it was was an emotional response, they were sorry, not for what they did, but for getting caught. That is the point that Paul makes in II Corinthians chapter 7 when he says, "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." II Corinthians 7:9-10. You see, there are two types of sorrow, one that leads to action, the other that is all emotion and basically a sorrow that is sorry they got caught. Our jails are filled with people that are sorry, not for what they have done, but for getting caught. And that kind of sorrow leads to death. It is good for nothing. But true sorrow leads to a change in behavior because it begins in the heart and then overflows into our actions. Their weeping did not led to a change in behavior, as the book of Judges shows us over and over again.

3. Many today hear what God wants them to do, and they weep over their failure, but they continue doing the opposite of what God wants of them, and that is not true repentance. True repentance is manifested in a change in behavior!

VERSES 6-10

1. Here we get a flash back to the time of Joshua, and how his words exhorted the people to follow the Lord. And as you come to verse 10 you see the tragedy of what happens many times to future generations - they did not know the Lord! Now that can be the result of 2 things. First of all their parents never instructed them of the Lord, His words were not passed on to them. It was something that the Lord commanded the children of Israel to do - teach their children the ways of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." You see, the Lord was to be the focus of their life, and they were to not only instruct their children of the Lord, but their life should reflect that relationship. They were to show their children the power and faithfulness of God.

The other reason for their disobedience to the Lord could just be unbelief. They refused to see the power of God and the faithfulness of God in their lives. And we see that today, people who refuse to believe in God no matter how much they see of His power and faithfulness. Thus, with their failure to serve the Lord, they serve the god's of the other nations. And we shall see, God brings judgment upon them. Why? Because they had the truth and rejected it.

VERSES 11-13

1. The enemy was all around Israel and they finally succumbed to the pressure and went and served the pagan god's. They fell to the lusts of the flesh, which many of the worship rituals fed into. We don't live in a vacuum, the enemy is around us. And the thing that we must remember is whatever we fill our minds with, that is what will come flowing from our lives. If we fill our minds with the things of God, then the fruit of the spirit will flow from our lives - LOVE! If we fill our minds with the garbage of this world, then that is what will flow from our lives. That goes for our children too, for we see what happened to the generation that grew up after the death of Joshua, they were exposed to the god's of this world and their ways, and that is whom they ended up serving.

VERSES 14-19

1. This is the tragic cycle we see over and over again in the book of Judges. That as the nation forsook the Lord and served these pagan god's, that God brought judgment upon them. They were placed in bondage by their enemies and as they cried out unto the Lord, he raised up a Judge to deliver them. And during those years the Judge was alive, they had a time of peace and prosperity. But once the Judge died, they went back to their idolatry, and the cycle begins again. Thus we see here a brief summary of the book of Judges.

VERSES 20-23

1. God did not drive the enemy out but left them in the land. Areas of enemy resistance in which each tribe was to drive out. In doing so it would show their obedience to the Lord. If they did not drive out these pockets of resistance, not only would they show their disobedience to the Lord, but the enemy would affect them both physically and spiritually. You can't play with fire without getting burned.

2. As we conclude this evening, turn to Psalm 106 and lets see a kind of paraphrase of the book of Judges. "They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them, but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own deeds. Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times He delivered them; but they rebelled against Him by their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity." Psalm 106:34-43.

"TO THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST, ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT!" May we learn our lessons!