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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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ISRAEL’S CYCLICAL
HISTORY AND TESTING Judges 2:1-23,
6/19/13 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert
I. ISRAEL’S REBUKE BY THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
(1-5) A. The Angel of the Lord is introduced into
the book of Judges. This is not His first appearance in the Scriptures (Ge
16:7; 22:11; Ex 3:2; Nu 22:22) and it is not the last time He is mentioned in
Judges (Jdg 5:23; 6:11, 21, 22; 13:3, 13, 15-18, 20-21). B. Who is the Angel of the Lord? First, He is
to be distinguished from “an angel of the Lord” (Mt 1:20; 2:13; 28:2; Lk
1:11; Ac 5:19; 8:26; 12:7, 23), which is any angelic being. The Angel of the
Lord is a divine being (Ex 3:2 cf. Ex 3:4; Ge 16:13; Jdg 6:22; 13:21-22) and
separate from the Father (Zc 1:12-13). It can be concluded that the Angel of
the Lord is a pre-incarnate ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 1:15; He
1:3). C. [1-2] The Angel of the Lord came up from
Gilgal, Israel’s previous religious center (Jos 4:19-20), to Bochim, possibly
Bethel (Jdg 20:18-20; 21:1-4). He reminded Israel of the (“My”) unconditional
covenant that was made with them (Le 26:2-44; De 7:9). Yet Israel disobeyed
the Lord in not tearing down pagan altars and making covenants with pagan
nations (Ex 34:12-13; De 7:16; Jos 23:13). D. [3] Because of their disobedience and
mingling with the nations, God warned that He would not drive out certain
nations. Those nations would prove to be “thorns in their side” and their
gods would become a “snare” (moqesh - alluring trap) to Israel. E. [4-5] The people lamented at the
chastising words of the Angel of the Lord. They lifted up their voices and
“wept” (bakah) before the Lord. They named the city “Bochim” which
means, “weeping.” II. ISRAEL’S HISTORICAL OBEDIENCE (6-9) A. The author looks back at the historical
account of Joshua’s last days. It was depicted as a successful period of
obedience in Israel’s history and parallels Jos 24:28-31. B. [6] After a successful conquest of most of
the land that the Lord had promised, Joshua sent Israel to their prospective
allotments of land. C. [7] Under Joshua, Israel enjoyed one of
its greatest times of obedience. This obedience continued during Joshua’s
lifetime and under the rule of Joshua’s elders. This generation had seen the
Lord’s “great” (gadōl - added to the script by author referring to
God’s supernatural and magnificent work) work and mighty deeds which He
had performed on their behalf. D. [8-9] It is recorded that Joshua died at
the age of one hundred and ten. He was buried in the land of his allotment
which was Timnath-heres (-serah, Jos
24:30), in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. III. ISRAEL’S HISTORICAL DISOBEDIENT CYCLE
(10-21) A. What happened to Israel and what led to
their spiritual downfall? The author proceeds to answer those questions. It
began with the succeeding generation whose depiction will characterize the
vicious cycle of sin, discipline, repentance, and deliverance. B. [10] After the last generation that had
seen the Lord’s mighty hand had passed on, a new generation arrived. This
generation was described as one that “did not know the Lord” in the sense of
a personal trust and submission to Him. They also lost the knowledge of the
history of mighty deeds, which the Lord performed among Israel. C. Sin. [11] The sons of Israel were described
as “those who did evil in the sight of the Lord.” This was the first of seven
times this phrase is used in Judges (Jdg
2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1). It was used
in Judges to begin the cycle of sin to deliverance. It is also a phrase that
is used over fifty times throughout the Old Testament (Ge 38:7; Nu 32:13; De
4:25; 1Sa 15:19; 2Sa 11:27; 1Ki 11:6; 2Ki 13:11; 2Ch 33:2, 6; Je 52:2). It is
described as continuous behavior that is generally contrary to God’s will or
specifically contrary to God’s commands. It includes grumbling against the
Lord, not trusting the Lord, forgetting God, not following God fully, acting
corruptly, not obeying God’s specific commands, transgressing God’s covenant,
following the sins of others, causing others to sin, worshiping idols,
infidelity, witchcraft, divination, murder, and child sacrifices. D. [12] Here in Jdg 2:12 it is described as
“forsaking” (azab - depart, abandon, apostatize, De 28:20; 31:16) the
worship of the very God who had been delivering them. It was “following” (halak
- pursue or follow after in ritual) the rituals of pagan gods and “bowing
down” (shachah - stoop, bow, prostrate, submit) in submissive worship
to these pagan gods. This evil “provoked” (kaas - intense vexation, stir
up to action, i.e. against sin) the Lord to anger. E. [13] Specifically they forsook the Lord
and served Baal and Ashtaroth. Baal, referenced some 100 times in Scripture,
applies to the pagan deity of the Canaanites. Deducing an exact understanding
of Baal becomes difficult due to a polytheistic world. It appears Baal can
become the god of any locale, hence the many cities with the prefix or suffix
Baal. In addition, other cultures have different names for the same gods
(e.g. Zeus-Greeks, Jupiter-Romans). In many texts, Baal is the sun-god, the
leading deity in the pantheon and source of physical life. Some suggest that
Baal was the Canaanite storm god, Hadad, son of Dagon, god of rain and
agriculture. To be sure, Baal worship means to worship a false god or gods of
nature with its many variations. Ashtaroth, often linked with Baal, denotes
the leading female moon-goddess, known for fertility, love, and war.
Ashtaroth is said to correspond with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. F. Discipline. [14] Next in the cycle is the Lord’s
anger against Israel and delivering them into the hands of their pagan
nations. Israel was “plundered” (shasas - take land, possessions, and life
by force) and “sold” as slaves to neighboring nations by the hand of the
Lord. They were unable to stand before or against the whims of other nations. G. [15] This all happened by the sovereign
hand of the Lord to chastise His people who forsook Him (cf. Jdg 3:8 De
32:30). The hand of the Lord was against them “for evil,” even as He had
forewarned them (Le 26:17; De 28:25, 48). They would be severely, intensely,
and forcibly “distressed” (tsarar - narrow confinement, bound, emotionally
or physically distressed). H. Repentance and Deliverance. [16] When Israel cried out to the
Lord, He had compassion on them (cf. 18) and raised
up judges to deliver them. These judges (12 in Judges) would rescue and lead
them against their plunderers. I. [17] But it would not take long for
Israel to refuse to listen to the current judge. They rebelled against the
Lord and once again forsook Him. They went back to the false gods and served
them. Their obedience quickly turned to disobedience to the commandments of
the Lord. J. [18] God continued to deliver Israel
because of His faithfulness to His covenant. Contrary to the classical
characterization, God is not the ill-tempered war-mongering God of the OT. He
is a God of long-suffering and compassion in regard to His oppressed and
afflicted people. K. [19] The whole history is summarizes by
the author that when the judge died, the children of Israel turned away with
a vengeance. They acted more “corruptly” (shachath - morally spoiled or
ruined, depraved) then the previous rebellious generation. L. [20-21] Israel’s refusal and rebellion
caused the Lord’s anger to “burn” (charah - burning sensation, kindling,
heat of anger) against them. An endless recurrence followed and God
refused to drive out Israel’s enemies. These were the nations which were left
from Joshua’s campaigns. IV. ISRAEL’S TEST OF FAITHFULNESS (22-23) A. The author answers the question desired by
every reader. Why did God allow some nations to remain even though they were
to be removed? It is a concurrence of God’s sovereignty and man’s
responsibility. As long as Israel worshipped the Lord, they would be
victorious and remove the nations. When they became disobedient, the nations
prevailed against them. Why did not God just remove the nations knowing they
would create such havoc? B. God allowed the nations, their evil, and
Israel’s suffering to accomplish His purposes. The nations would be a litmus
test to see if Israel would remain faithful or not. They would also serve as
a buffer to bring them back to the Lord on their knees. It would also show
that God is faithful to His warnings as well as His promises. It is for these
sovereign purposes that God did not give all the nations into the hand of
Joshua. It was for these sovereign purposes that God “allowed” (nuach -
rest or remain, “He let remain”) some evil nations to remain. V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATION A. God is not the author of evil but the
controller of it in order to accomplish His purposes. Just because there is
evil and evil people in the world, does not mean God is removed or impotent.
Rather, it is proof that He is sovereign and has made all things for His ends
(Pr 16:4). B. Could we not apply the same principle to
the believer’s temptations and trials? God allowed us to struggle with the
sin nature. As long as we are faithful we can have victory, if we walk away
from the Lord, there will be consequences. Do not temptations test our
faithfulness? Do they not bring us to the Lord on our knees? How many times
do we repeat the sin cycle? Do we not find Him faithful and compassionate as
well true to His warnings? |
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