Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sunday Sermon: Judges 1:1-2:6, Trust in the LORD and fight his battles

Time after time I am amazed by how God still speaks so relevantly to us through his timeless word. For a while, I would like us to journey together through the book of Judges from the Old Testament. I invite you to see for yourself that truly God speaks to us through his word.

The book of Judges spans from the time of Joshua’s death to the rise of monarchy, few hundred years long.

The generation who experienced Exodus under Moses’ leadership did not get to taste the Promised Land. They grumbled, complained, didn’t trust in God’s promise, didn’t remain in faithful covenant relationship with God, instead made for themselves a golden idol to worship, gave into the fear of men instead of trusting in God’s ability to fulfill his promise to them to give the Promised Land. When the spies that were sent out to scope out the Promised Land confirmed that indeed that the Promised Land was exceedingly good as the Lord promised, they didn’t hang on to God’s promise to give that land to them. Instead, they gave into the fear of reported giant dwellers in the Promised Land.

Caleb and Joshua who trusted in the Lord encouraged this generation under Moses’ leadership to trust in the Lord. Caleb and Joshua told them in Numbers 14:8-9.

If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

How did they respond to Caleb and Joshua? Well Numbers 14:10 says, “the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

To this God responded in Numbers 14:20-23, “as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

So, this generation who witnessed the great and amazing miracles of God forfeited their calling to go out and possess the Promised Land. They wondered in the desert for forty years. They did not get to enjoy the promise of the Lord.

It was the following generation under Joshua’s leadership that got to advance into the Promised Land. This was the generation that grew up eating manna and quails God miraculously provided them. To Joshua and to this generation God promised in Joshua 1:4-5, “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates-all the Hittite country-to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The condition for God’s promise follows in verse 6-9, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Be strong and courageous says the Lord. Do not give into fear or discouragement. Why? It is because he promises his presence, his enablement to do his will! They were to find their strength, encouragement, courage, purpose in the Lord as they do the work of God.

Under Joshua’s leadership, this generation saw the great act of God. When they came to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were told to go and stand in the river in Joshua 3:8. Verse 13 says, “as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord-the Lord of all the earth-set foot in the Jordan, its water flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. So it happened in verse 17, “The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

There in the middle of the Jordan, each of the twelve men from the each tribe picked up a stone. These twelve stones were to remind them the remarkable miracle God performed in the midst of them. The twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan were then placed at Gilgal where the Israelites encamped. From this place under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites conducted the military missions. Mark F. Rooker calls it “the centralized military base of operations to which the Israelites returned after their various military missions.”[1] Whenever they returned to Gilgal, they returned to be reminded again and again by the twelve stones, the great miracle God performed at the Jordan River.

In Joshua 13, we see that in Joshua’s old age, perhaps in his eighty’s, God reminded Joshua, “You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over. Then, God told Joshua in verse 6, “Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you.” There were still the areas of the Promised Land that were to be taken and occupied. Yet, God had Joshua allocate the land to each tribe, to divide it among them as their inheritance.[2] And, then on, occupying the each portion of the land became the responsibility of each tribe, of course with only God’s help. With God’s blessing and his promise, and his enablement, each tribe was to go out and take their inheritance.

That is what we see in Judges Chapter 1. After Joshua having passed away, the allotted land, divided land remained yet to be fully taken by each tribe.

The very first chapter begins with the mention of the death of Joshua. This marks the beginning of the Judges period. We see that this generation groomed under Joshua’s leadership learned something well because they asked the Lord in verse 1 as to who were to go up and fight. When they asked the Lord, in verse 2, “The Lord answered.” Up to verse 19, we see how the tribe of Judah went about taking the allotted land.

Things seemed well, but verse 19 and on inform us that the things weren’t going too well. They took procession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

Verse 21 says, “The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

Verse 22-26 records the success the house of Joseph had in attacking Bethel. Verse 22 records that The Lord was with them.

But, from verse 27, we read the disparaging reports about the rest of the tribes. Verse 27, Manasseh did not drive out the people; Verse 29, Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites; Verse 30, Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites; Verse 31, Nor did Asher drive out; Verse 33, Neither did Naphtali among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

The chapter 1 was about the Israelites’ perspective on taking the Promised Land. From reading chapter 1, we get the sense that they failed to possess the Promised Land completely because the Canaanites were too resilient, because they couldn’t over come the chariots. This was the Israelites’ perspective on how things didn’t go well for them.

But, 2:1-5 reveals a different story. This is God’s perspective on how things didn’t go well for the Israelites. Why did the Israelites have difficult time possessing the Promised Land the Lord promised to them? Was it because God’s promise was not true? Was God to be blamed for their failure? Was God unable to deliver the promise?

God is not to be blamed for this failure. He told them in verse 1-2, “I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars” “Yet you have disobeyed me.”

Their failure to drive out the Canaanites was not because God was powerless to deliver his promise. It wasn’t because God abandoned them. It wasn’t because God wasn’t faithful to them and to his own promise. It wasn’t because the Canaanites were too strong. It wasn’t because they were better trained and equipped with the latest weapons. God can be counted. His words are trustworthy. He does what he says. God is not the reason for their failure. Nor, the strength of the Canaanites.

No, their failure to realize God’s promise was because of their own failure to remain faithful to God. God who called them out to be a people set out for him; God who acted mighty and miraculously to bring them out of the slavery under Egypt; God who provided them in the desert for forty years; God who never breaks his promise.

All that God asks is that his people remain faithful to his amazing grace, to trust him for their future, to trust him for their life, to trust him for the true meaning and purpose of life, to trust him for the victories against the enemies, to trust him for the victories against the destructive sinful behaviors, thoughts and emotions.

Instead of remaining in this God who mightily delivered them out of miseries, difficulties, bondages, they sought after the gods of other nations.

Let me make a couple of application from this narrative this morning.

1. Trust God in his term.

What is the consequence of their distrust and disobedience? God says in verse 3, “Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” God would not be our Savior, our deliverer, our power on our own terms. He says if you want to experience my saving grace, power, deliverance, purpose, joy, then you got learn to trust me and follow me in my term. His term is Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.Matthew 11:29.

2. Trust God’s faithful and trustworthy character.

Our Christian journey always begins, continues in being immersed in the amazing person of God. God is faithful in what he promises to ou and what he purposes for you.

God’s purpose and his promise to you is not that you live defeated life, but that you live successful and prosperous life in doing his battle.

Learn to reflect and mediate on who God is through the life of Jesus Christ. Ask God to let his self-revelation make deeper impact on your heart, conscience, emotion. Ask God to help you encounter him and be amazed by who he is. So, that you simply find yourself on your knees and your head bow downed to adore him, to worship him.

3. Pick the right fights and the fight the battle with God’s help.

The key to successful spiritual life is to pick the right fights. Another word, you have to have the right cause for your life. God has the battles picked out for you. He wants you to come along side of him and participate in his kingdom fights.

Instead what we do is we waste our energy, time and passion on the things that will only last temporarily. How do you know when you are fighting the wrong fights? It is when the fights are to increase your comfort, pleasure, safety without God. Another word, if the fights serve your end, then they are wrong fights. The fights that God have in mind is the fights that you wage with God’s word in your heart and with prayer in your mouth, with love of Christ in your action. We are called to fight to love God deeper and love people deeper. We are called to fight against the darkness of the age that blinds people from seeing the true God in Jesus Christ. We are called to fight for the souls!

What kind of battles are you fighting? Are they God’s kingdom fights?



[1] NIDOTTE, Gilgal: Theology
[2] Deut. 31:7.