Judges part 1
Tonight we will begin looking at the book of Judges. This
book is considered the dark ages of the children of
The book covers a period of 300 – 350 years and we can find
13 Judges covered. Some of these judges have a lot said about while others are
just briefly mentioned. Within this book
we read about 7 different times the children of
Joshua 24:20 "If you forsake the LORD and serve
foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has
done you good."
From this I believe the
theme of Judges is God means what he says. I also like what one commentator
says about this book.
"When a
Christian reads the book, he is impressed with the way in which it underlines
the truth that rebellion against God brings punishment, but repentance brings
restoration."
The book of Judges begins showing how the children of
The key word: is confusion because they always seemed confused on what they should do. They couldn’t make up their mind weather to serve God or serve idols.
Key verse: Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in
This verse summaries the
whole problem with the people in this book because they did what was right in
their own eyes and this sounds exactly what is happening today in our time. So
many people are turning away from God and doing those things which they see is
right in their own eyes. That is why we have so many denominations today. These
people would do good to learn the valuable lesson that is taught in book of
Judges that if you do it your way God will not be pleased because you are
turning your back on God and you certainly will not make it to heaven. Paul
warned Timothy about this type of rebellion that was going on and would continue to go on.
2 Timothy 3:1 But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, 3
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good, 4 traitors, headstrong,
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but
denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Paul had to deal with
this problem in many of his letters. But that one that stands out to me is the
book of Galatians where he says,
Galatians 1:6 I
marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace
of Christ, to a different gospel, 7
which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ. 8 But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what
we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Just as soon as these
Galatians had embraced the good news of Jesus Christ they were already turning
their back on this new message filled with hope and returning back to old law.
So we can see from these passages and from the examples of why we should take
to heart the message that is taught in the book of Judges.
Author is not named However many believe that is was Samuel for the
following reasons.
1. The work is from a
single individual.
2. The life of Samuel
fits into the historical time-frame because the narrative was written before
3. The author also knew
that the Tabernacle had been moved from
4. The book appears to have been written by a
prophet because it harshly condemns the leader's wrong-doings.
5. Hebrew tradition historically supports Samuel
as the author.
The book Judges brings
out 3 specific sins of
1. They did not drive out
the Canaanites as God instructed
2. They practiced
idolatry
3. They married pagan
wives.
Now lets look at some
practical lesson we can learn from the book of Judges.
1. One of the most
important lessons to be learned is that we are always just one generation away
from apostasy.
Judges 2: 7
So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the
elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which
He had done for
You see Joshua’s
generation was strong and faithful to the Lord but this tells us this new
generation did not know the Lord nor did they know what he had done for
The first place we need
to begin is in the home with our families. Moses put it best in,
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 4:9 "
Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the
things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days
of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 "especially concerning the
day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me,
'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may
learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach
their children.'
Here
Moses teaches us the necessity to teach Gods word to our children so they in
turn can teach the word of God to their children and so on. If we neglect to do
the we could end up like Eli in 1st Samuel who was a priest remember
how his 2 sons didn’t know the lord so they did all kinds of sinful things and
because of this God killed his 2 sons and took Eli priesthood from him all
because he neglected to teach his children of about God and how they should
live their lives toward him.
Another
thing we must teach this new generation is the importance of leadership. We can
see from,
Judges 2:18 And
when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and
delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for
the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed
them and harassed them. 19
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved
more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and
bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their
stubborn way.
You see as long as their was leadership in place
the children of
2 Timothy 2:1 You
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have
heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be
able to teach others also.
Paul is talking about
future leaders in Gods kingdom. We are to encourage these the faithful men to
take on the responsibility of leading Gods people in victory over sin and over
false doctrines so that Gods kingdom will remain strong until the end. This is
the kind of leadership we need today because we don’t want to end up like the
children of
2. Another great lesson
we learn from this book is that true repentance from the heart will bring you
back into favor with God. I think one of the greatest examples of true
repentance is found in Judges 10. In this chapter the children of
Judges 10:10 And the
children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against
You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!" 11 So the LORD said to the
children of
Even though God was fed
up with these people when he saw that they truly repented and they put away
their false Gods he could no longer endure their misery and so he
delivered them again from their enemies.
This should gives us great hope in knowing that when we repent and we turn away
from your sinful ways that we to will be restored to right relationship with
God almighty no matter how bad we were before. We can really see the great love
of God and great mercy he has for us as continues to forgive us of our sins
when we true repent.
3. Another lesson we
learn from this book is that we can accomplish great things in the name of God
even if we are small in number. We have seen this over and over when we looked
at the book of Joshua but we also see this in the book Judges from the story of
Gideon. Remember how God wanted Gideon to save
Judges 6:15 So he said
to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save
We need to learn this message and we need to learn it
well. We should never make excuses for not trying to do great things for God.
Some might say we just don’t have enough people in this church to do this or do
that. When we think this way we are no better then Gideon. We need to
understand that God is our side and we can do anything that we set out minds to
if we will simply realize that God will help us an be there for us. This same
concept applies to each individual Christian. Sometimes we like to say what can
I possible do by myself? Again, we as individuals can do great things for God if we simply realize that he will be
there for us the whole way. Could you imagine if the apostle Paul had had the
is mentality? If he did we wouldn’t have all those wonderful letters of his and
he wouldn’t have started all those churches in those areas he visited. But we
know he didn’t have this mentality instead he accomplished many great things
for the Lord because he understood that God was on his side. Notice what he
says in,
Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and
note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
Let
us follow his example and be courageous Christians knowing that we can do great
things for God no matter how small we
may think we are.
4.
Another lesson we learn from Judges is if you play with fire you are going to
get burned. How many times have you heard Christians say Oh I can handle being
around sin without sinning myself. Well, I think Samson probably thought this
about Delilah but he could not handle her.
Judges 16:16 And it
came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so
that his soul was vexed to death, 17
that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come
upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb.
If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be
like any other man."
You see Samson was
finally worn down by this women and gave up is secret and his life. This story
is great example of what Paul says in,
1 Corinthians
We
need to realize that we don’t need to put ourselves into situations that can
cause us to sin nor should we everything we can stay around a sinful situation
and not be tempted to sin ourselves. The next time you hear of Christian say
they won’t sin being around the wrong people remind of Samson and Delilah.
These
are some of the major lessons we can learn from this dark time in history. Before
I close I want to mention a few more notable points about this book.
1.
This book has 2 beginnings. 1. First it starts out telling us the brief period
of faithfulness after Joshua’s death. 2. Second it tells us the beginning of
the children of backsliding.
2.
Joatham’s story of the trees in Judges 9:7-21 is the oldest Parable in the
world that we know of so far.
3.
This book is the first record of where a women rises up a prominent leader of
the children of
4.
Moses grandson Jonathan becomes the first recorded idolatrous priest in the
history of the Jews in Judges 18:30
There
are many more fascinating stories and things for us to discover in this eye
opening book that we will examine in the coming weeks. I hope you have learned from
this overview some of the important lessons we can apply to our lives today
from the OT book. Rightly did Paul say,
Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were
written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope.