A Place Of Grace
7-26-26
- Have you ever wondered how a people who had seen God part the Red Sea...watched the walls of Jericho fall...witnessed miracle after miracle...could, in only one generation, completely forget Him?That's the question the book of Judges answers.Church, if it happened to them … we would be foolish to think it could not happen to us!We are moving…and we need to understand where it is that we are moving to and our surroundings… (CONTEXT)We spent six months in Ephesians… a letter of instruction & directivesWe will now be moving to Judges… a narrative, lessons through history, narratives, and observationEphesians asks..."How should believers live because of what Christ has done?" BELIFE CREATING BEHAVIORJudges asks..."What happens when God's people stop living according to God's Word?" DOING RIGHT IN OWN EYES"Ephesians gives us God's design.… Judges shows us what happens when people reject that design."To understand the context we need to remember that when we come to scripture we understand and interpret it in a LITERAL, GRAMMATICAL, HISTORICAL approach.LITERAL: take God’s Word at face value not in an allegorical approach asking what it means to me, but rather what did it means and how does this apply to my life.GRAMMATICAL: Letters, Poetry, History, Narrative… (not al we read is instructive, some of it is informative… ) Narrative teaches lessons through a sharing of events… some with clear lessons and others with multiple lessons:Three little Pigs… Tortes and the Hare… The Boy Who Cried Wolf…Throughout history stories have been one of God's greatest teaching tools…Jesus taught through parables…The Old Testament often teaches through historical narrative. These are NOT fairy talesHISTORICAL: understanding when in time this took place and where, the culture, help us as we approach reading God’s WordJudges takes place following the nation of Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt, God gives the people His Law, wandering in the wilderness for Forty years, Joshua has lead them into the Promised Land and had amazing victory as God had promised…Judges records the people of Israel (God’s Chosen People) living in the land after these events (just one generation later)… roughly 1350-1390BC to 1051BC or 400 years (Saul crowned king)Why Judges?2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” … even Judges!Why would God preserve such an ugly book, revealing the depravity of mankind’s heart?Because ugly stories often reveal beautiful truth concerning God!Why would God fill Scripture with narratives centered around failure?Why spend the next couple months studying one of the darkest books in the Bible?because it reveals God… His Holiness, Mercy, and Grace because it reveals us… our depravity, our justifications, and NEED because it warns every generation… including ours today!It is God’s Word to us and it is applicable & profitable to our lives and our hearts today…Expectations...I want you to have proper expectations and I want you to now my expectations…This is narrative, I want you to read each week the assignment I have for youUNLIKE: Ephesians or even Revelation… I will not be reading this whole book to you and you will be lost if you are unfamiliar with the narrative…INVEST EACH WEEK (allow the Holy Spirit to stir and prepare the fertile soils of your heart)ENGAGE your minds during our times together and think ahead prepared to come to God’s WordWe will look at various Judges over our study:The major judges… and the minor judges (About 13 depending how you count… 14 if you count Samuel, possibly the writer of this book and the last of the Judges)Some receive two chapters… while others receive one verseWe will even one week look at Ruth (read ahead)Yet every one of them teaches us something about GodThroughout this study...Don't idolize the judges… Don't imitate every judge.Don't even assume every judge is a good example.Instead...Watch what God does… Because every judge is flawed.Only God is faithful… He is the HERO of this narrative!Judges is not primarily a book about military or heroic stories. It's about covenant faithfulness. It's about the heart of God’s people more than the enemies around them. God’s people really struggled with their own hearts. It wasn't about the Canaanites.My goal isn't simply that by the end of this series you'll know more about Gideon or Samson.My prayer is that you'll know God better…Trust Him more…and recognize your own heart more honestly.As we study through this Judges we see patterns and trends throughout this book…Trends Seen In Judges!First we have the CYCLE… (Chapter 2 Explains this cycle)Sin (Judges 2:11)Servitude (Judges 2:14)Supplication (Judges 2:16)Salvation (Judges 2:18-19)Do we see Israel ever get better...? Sadly NO. We see a SPIRAL DOWNWARDEach generation sinks lower.Each judge is generally weaker.Each deliverance is less complete.The nation keeps drifting.We see it spread as well… Sin never stays contained… it spreads through:Families & Tribes…Leadership… Worship…Society… until chapters 17-21 where the whole nation is corrupt!!!The last verse in this book serves as its theme and summary…Judges 21:25A two fold statement that says so much…NO KING???They had one, God Almighty YAHWEHThey refused to recognize or obey thier kingRIGHT IN THIER OWN EYESThis is NOT speaking to: *Political Freedom… *Personal Liberty… *Or Individual ExpressionRather It Meant: God’s Truth no longer defined “right” for them… People didTheir standard of right was not based on God’s Truth…Instead thier basis of right was based on thier comparison of those around themWe see that Judges is a record of what happens when God’s people replace God’s authority and Truth with thier own… and one has to ask… How did this happen?How Did This Happen?Joshua stood before the people as thier leader… declared all that the Lord had done… as he looked ahead to the land they were taking he declared this… Joshua 24:14-15If you today would cry out the same I want to hear you say, “we will serve the Lord!” (All Israel declared this...)In Judges 1:1 we see a nation seeking God!In Deuteronomy 20:16-18 we see God’s very clear command!Chapter 1 of Judges catalogs thier disobedience…Judges 2:1-3 we see The Angel of the Lord (He was a theophany—an appearance of the second Person of the Trinity in visible and bodily form before the Incarnation.)He had been thier salvation, yet they chose to disobeyDiscipline was now comingConsequences of sin would have an impact on themThe following verses from Judges 2:6-23 explains what occurs repeatedly throughout Judges (The Cycle)We see Joshua and all that generation with him dies…How sad that there was a generation that followed that “did not know the Lord”If ever there was a verse in scripture to emphasize the importance of teaching the coming generation, TO ENGAGE IN DISCIPLESHIP… THIS IS IT!Consider the sad outcome in Judges 3:5-7 in comparison to Joshua 24:14-15…What a nation had declared they would do… they now do the oppositeThey compromised in obeying God FULLYThey neglected to disciple the next generation to KNOW THE LORD… & HIS WORKSAnd church, this is where Judges stops being merely a history lesson.Because the danger we see in Israel was not unique to Israel.Hearts still drift.Compromise still grows.Sin still becomes easier to tolerate when everyone around us is tolerating it.And one generation can still fail to pass on to the next generation what God has done and who He is.So before we begin pointing our finger at Israel and asking, “How could they possibly do this?”… maybe the better question is:Could this be happening in me?Could I be drifting and not even realize it?Could I be calling something right simply because it seems right to me?Could there be areas where I know what God has said, but I have settled for partial obedience?Judges is going to force us to look honestly at Israel… but if we study it correctly, it is also going to force us to look honestly at ourselves. So as we begin this journey together, I want us to ask some hard questions.Questions / ApplicationAssign chapter 3 to read and if they have not yet… read chapters 1-2 as well!What is it I AM passing on to the next generation?Would one or two generations from now know the works of God because of ME?Where AM I compromising?Where am I doing what is right in MY own eyes instead of submitting to what God clearly states?What sins HAVE I learned to tolerate?AM I helping others around me to remain faithful?Am I discipling anyone?Am I intentionally encouraging towards obedience or hoping they figure it out?Where in this CYCLE or SPIRAL AM I at…Are we drifting???What do I NEED to correct starting today… not someday?What does God want me to deal with?Judges is not ultimately a book about extraordinary people but about an extraordinary God who remains faithful to an unfaithful people… His Truth is eternal!The story of Judges ultimately isn't about Israel's failure.It's about God's relentless faithfulness to an undeserving people.God continues to show mercy.God continues to call His people back.God continues to accomplish His purposes.His character does not change.His Word does not change.His truth does not change.Let me leave you with one final question:If someone wrote the narrative of your life… would they conclude..."You did what was right in your own eyes..."or..."You walked faithfully with your God."
2 Timothy 3:16–17NASB95
Judges 21:25NASB95
Joshua 24:14–15NASB95
Deuteronomy 20:16–18NASB95
A Place Of Grace
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