In the Name of Jesus, our Savior, dear
fellow redeemed,
The Book of Judges is unfortunately
one of the more obscure books of the Bible. We don’t ever get to read it in our
regular readings on Sunday mornings. Judges covers roughly three hundred years
between the death of Joshua and leads up to the beginning of Israel’s kings.
These were dark times in Israel. There are tons of massive battles. If you want
“blood and guts Old Testament”, here it is. However, we can’t help but see
ourselves as we read this book. [1]
In this reading we have
an outline of the book of Judges. There’s a cycle that you can trace through
almost every account recorded for us here. First, the people start worshipping
other gods. Second, God gives His people over to foreign oppression. Third, the
people cry out to the Lord. Fourth, God sends them a Judge to save them. Fifth
and finally, the people serve God as long as that Judge lives.
This isn’t just how
things happen throughout the book of Judges, but also how things sometimes
happen with us. Paul describes the idolatry Israel had committed earlier in
their history saying:
“Now these things
happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,
on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he
stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12)
Let’s look and see how
that can be.
First, Israel strays
from the Lord. The people did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. Instead of
worshiping Him alone, they started worshipping Baal and Asherah—the chief god
and goddess of the Canaanite pantheon. Because, hey, why have just the LORD
bless you, when you can have Baal and Asherah bless you too?
How could they do this?
Don’t they know everything God had done for them?
Joshua
entered Canaan with the children and grandchildren of those who left Egypt with
Moses. Now those generations were all dead. Now we’re talking about the
great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of those who saw the plagues,
Passover, and Ten Commandments. They didn’t know what God had done, so they
didn’t do what God said.[2]
Are we any different?
We stray from the Lord. We may not openly reject the Christian faith and run
off to Buddhism or Islam, but we do it in our own way. Think about this: what
idols have I set up in God’s place? Maybe it’s money or your job. Maybe it’s
friends or fame. Maybe it’s sex or pornography. What am I fearing, loving, or
trusting more than the God?
How could we do this?
Don’t we remember that everything we have is a gift from the LORD? We worship
the gift rather than the giver. Don’t we remember that the LORD has promised
never to leave us for forsake us? We are afraid because we don’t think we’re
going to have what we need. Don’t we remember that the LORD is faithful to us?
We try trusting all sorts of other things.
So, what does the LORD
do to His people who stray so often? He allows trouble to come their way. For
them, it comes in the form of plunderers who plunder them. That’s what
plunderers do.
However, we shouldn’t
see this necessarily as punishment. The LORD specifically calls it a test. We
see the same word used in verse 22 as is used in Genesis 22 where God tests
Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac.
What should we think
when we see testing of different sorts in our lives? We know that we are sinners
just like ancient Israel. But it isn’t quite the same. They had a specific
warning from the LORD. We have the promise that “He does not treat us as our
sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” Like Israel, God may
test us.
We
shouldn’t understand this as punishment because this is very much what we do to
our own children. When our kids are very small, we carry them in our arms. But
when the time comes, we help them crawl. A little later, we support them as
they learn to walk and catch them when they fall. But when your kids grow up,
you’ve got to let them be tested a little more. You’ve got to do things that stretch
them. Then they will be ready.
If this is the way we
treat our children, think about how the God our Father cares for us. It’s very
similar. The LORD carries us. The LORD supports us. He even catches us when we
fall. But there are still times when the LORD stretches us. He tests us.[3]
Sometimes the LORD will strip everything else
away from us just so that we know that we have nothing but Him. If we have Him,
and Him alone, will that be enough? The LORD does not give us our trials
because He knows we can handle them on our own. He gives us trials so that we
turn to Him because we can’t handle them on our own. Realizing this, my friends,
is faith!
When they realized
their idols weren’t helping, Israel cried to the LORD for deliverance. It says,
“For
the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and
oppressed them.” (Judges 2:18) He was
ready to hear their prayers; He was ready to save them. Despite their
rebellion, Israel was still His people. He had brought them out of Egypt and
given them this land. He wasn’t about to let them be destroyed.
And so, we do the same.
We cry to the LORD in our trouble. God has compassion on us because we are His
people. Through the waters of Baptism, we have been united with Christ in His
death and resurrection. We have been made part of God’s people!
The people cry to the
LORD and the LORD sends them a savior who saves them, that’s what saviors do. God
called different people, placed His Spirit on them, and they went out and did
wonderful things. They led the people of God into battle and the LORD won
stunning victory after victory for them.
Enemies who had
plundered God’s people were plundered. Idols which led Israel astray were torn
down. Evil kings were killed. People saw the mighty deeds that the LORD had
done for their ancestors in their own lives. Faith was rekindled and hope was
renewed.
We cry out to the LORD
because the LORD has already sent us a savior who saved us. That’s what our
Savior did! God the Father sent Jesus and put the Holy Spirit on Him. He went
out and did wonderful things!
Enemies like sickness and
disability had to yield when Jesus stepped into people’s lives. Idols like our
ego and money are powerless because Jesus gives free forgiveness. Death and the
Devil lost their cruel grip over God’s people as Jesus went to the cross for
you.
“For if while we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that
we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)
Who would die for
people who had rejected Him? Who would die for someone who had replaced him
with someone else? Who would die for people who couldn’t care less? Jesus
would. Jesus did.
Israel was faithful to
the LORD as long as the Judges lived but then fell back into their old ways.
Actually, each generation was worse than the last. Again and again people
failed to walk in the LORD’s ways. The cycle would start all over again.
The
cycle throughout the book of Judges is really a downward spiral. You start off
with some really great Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar (there’s one verse about
him “After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines
with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel”), and Deborah. You move to guys to
who make some bad decisions like Gideon (later in his life), Jephthah (who made
a horrible rash vow), and Sampson (who could never get away from foreign women).
Then you get to the last five chapters where everything is just an absolute
mess! The book ends say, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone
did what was right in his own eyes.”
No
human Judge or King would be able to bring what the people needed. What we need
is Jesus. Those Judges died—every last one of them. Our Savior lives! He lives
forever! This is where the cycle is broken for us because Christ is risen from
the dead. That’s why we walk in His commands. We have no excuse for falling
away if we do. Our leader lives and loves us. Walk in His ways and watch for
His coming. Just as our hymn says:
He comes to judge the nations, a terror to His foes,
A light and consolations and blessed hope to those
Who love the Lord’s appearing. O glorious Son now
come
Send forth Your beams so cheering, and guide us
safely home.[4]
Amen
[1]
Longman III, Tremper and Raymond Dillard. An
Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2006 p. 133
[2]
Franke, John R. Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume IV: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2
Samuel. Origen “Knowing and Doing” p. 104 Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity
Press, 2005.
[3]
Franke, Ancient Christian Commentary.
John Cassian “Didactic Grace Works Through the Will” p. 108
[4]
Gerhardt, Paul “Oh Lord, How Shall I Meet You” verse 7. Lutheran Service Book
334
