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Chapter 10 of the Book of Judges, 
beginning in verse 1. After Abimelech, there arose 
to save Israel Tola, the son of Pua, the son of Dodo, a man 
of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. He judged Israel 23 years, and 
he died and was buried in Shamir. After him arose Jer, a Gileadite, 
and he judged Israel 22 years. Now he had 30 sons who rode on 
30 donkeys. They also had 30 towns, which 
are called Havoth-Jer to this day, which are in the land of 
Gilead. And Jer died and was buried in 
Caiman. Then the children of Israel again 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and 
the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of 
Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the 
Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and 
did not serve him. So the anger of the Lord was 
hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines 
and into the hands of the people of Ammon. From that year, they 
harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for 18 years, all the 
children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan, 
in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. Moreover, the people 
of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, 
against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that 
Israel was severely distressed. 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. So the Lord 
said to the children of Israel, did I not deliver you from the 
Egyptians, and from the Amorites, and from the people of Ammon, 
and from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians, and Amalekites, 
and Mayonites oppressed you. And you cried out to me, and 
I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and 
served other gods. Therefore, I will deliver you 
no more. Go and cry out to the gods which 
you have chosen. Let them deliver you in your 
time of distress. And the children of Israel said 
to the Lord, we have sinned. Do to us whatever seems best 
to you. Only deliver us this day, we 
pray. So they put away the foreign 
gods from among them and served the Lord. And his soul could 
no longer endure the misery of Israel. Then the people of Ammon 
gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of 
Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah. And the people, 
the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, who is the man who 
will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall 
be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Amen. We find ourselves 
in the larger section in the book, chapter 3, verse 7 to chapter 
16, verse 31. The various deliverers that God 
raises up to send to vindicate His people, to release them from 
the oppression of the enemy armies. And here specifically we have 
two minor judges and then Japheth. Now minor shouldn't be taken 
as not as important but rather simply like the minor prophets. Hosea, and Joel, and Habakkuk, 
and Zephaniah, and Zechariah, and Malachi, they're as important 
as Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The idea being that 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel wrote very long books. Those 
are the major prophets. the minor prophets wrote not 
as long. So it doesn't refer to the minor 
being of importance, but rather to the length of their particular 
writings. Well, the same thing is true 
here. In fact, the Jephthah narrative, or the man Jephthah rather, is 
surrounded by five of these minor judges. Here in chapter 10, we 
have Tola and Jer. And then in chapter 12, after 
Jephthah, we have Ibsen, Elon, and Abedin. So those are the 
five sort of minor judges that the Lord God raised up to assist, 
to aid, and to deliver Israel. And so with this particular chapter 
we have the deliverance by Tola, the deliverance by Jer, the degeneracy 
of Israel, and then the specific response of Israel to the Lord 
God Almighty. And when we look at Tola and 
Ger, we see that in this book, there is normal things as well. In other words, when we're reading 
through this and we see these powerful deliverers and these 
powerful judges, and we see Uyghur, and we see jail, and we see sort 
of this dramatic presentation of the advancement of God's kingdom, 
we see something a little bit opposite here with Tola and Ger. fireworks, it's not dramatic, 
it's not this sort of razzmatazz, but it's just basic God using 
particular means to provide security and stability to his covenant 
people. In Tola's time he reigned or 
he ruled or he governed rather for 23 years, and with Jer, 22 
years. So those are long periods of 
time that are relatively insignificant. In other words, the normal, the 
mundane, the routine. That's what we ought to appreciate 
with Tola and with Jer. Not everything is always this 
brink of excitement with people in tent pegs and oxcoats and 
all those sorts of things. But there is the normal going 
on in the period of the judges as well. So let's look first 
at the deliverance by Tola in verses 1 and 2. Note the occasion. After Abimelech, there arose 
to save Israel Tola, the son of Pua. Now, Abimelech was not 
a deliverer, was he? Abimelech was not a judge. Abimelech 
was a usurper. He wanted to be installed as 
the king over Israel. He basically goes to his own 
countrymen. He makes an appeal to them that 
he's bone of their bones, flesh of their flesh, that his mother 
is part of them. and so they then give him money 
so that he can hire hitmen and eliminate the sons of Gideon. 
Abimelech is not a deliverer, he's not a judge, he's not a 
savior in Israel, but rather he is the destroyer of Israel. Under his particular watch, there's 
civil war that takes place. The city of Shechem basically 
turns against King Abimelech, and Abimelech turns against Shechem. 
It shows us that threats not only come from without, but threats 
come from within as well. And so the ruler, the reign of 
Abimelech, brought internal strife within Israel. And that's what 
chapter 10, verse 1 indicates. After Abimelech there arose to 
save Israel. They needed salvation from one 
within their own ranks. Davis says it this way, but his 
saving work told us whatever it was came after Abimelech, 
after the destroyer of Israel had done his worst, after the 
chaos he caused, after the infamous treachery against Gideon's family, 
after that God raises up Tola for a saving mission. That is, 
I would say, typical of God. He does not allow blasting to 
go on forever, does not allow his people to be trampled ad 
infinitum, but it is his way after the Valley of the Shadow 
to anoint our heads with oil. after sorrow and sighing to grant 
joy and gladness. Yahweh is the gracious God who 
never allows Abimelech to be the last word for his people." 
So just in that brief statement in chapter 10, verse 1, the fact 
that after Abimelech there arose to save Israel, Tola the son 
of Huwa, again magnifies the kindness and the graciousness 
and the mercy and goodness of God. He could have left Israel 
on their own. He could have abandoned them. 
He could have left them in this state of depravity and internal 
strife. He could have washed his hands 
of the whole nasty experiment and said, I'm done with you. 
But no, he raises up Tola. Tola is a man, again, very insignificant. If I were to ask you tonight, 
who are your top 10 favorite Bible characters? Probably not 
one of you would name Tola. Probably not one of you would 
name Jer. Perhaps before this evening you 
never even realized there was a Tola and a Jer in there. And so these are insignificant 
men on the one hand, but significant on the other. They are the instrument 
of God just as much as Ehud is. just as much as Jephthah, just 
as much as a Samson. Remember that each of these earthly 
deliverers typifies for us and shows us something about the 
saving purposes of God. His grace comes to those who 
are not deserving. or else it wouldn't be grace. 
The fact that he delivers them in the midst of this turmoil 
magnifies the goodness and the kindness of God Most High. So he's identified, his place 
of residence is indicated, he is from the tribe of Issachar, 
and then all we find in verse 2 is that he judged Israel 23 
years and he died and was buried in Shamir. Bloch says the simple 
details, he lived, he governed, he died, he was buried, suggest 
an orderly and stable tenure. Orderly and stable tenure. That's a good thing. Think that 
at times the church wants the dramatic and wants the sensational. It wants the cutting edge, each 
and every moment of every single day. Stability. and solidity 
and security and safety and peace and order. Those are the sorts 
of things that we ought to seek the Lord God for as well. Yes, 
excitement and revival and outpouring of the Spirit, people crying 
in the pews and getting saved. All of that is not to be shunned. 
In fact, that is good stuff and we ought to prize it. And we 
ought to pray to God as He sees fit and as He wills to bring 
such things. But there does seem to be a tendency, 
and it happens within the reformed at times, especially sort of 
a revival-seeking reformed wing that seeks revival to the point 
where they neglect something of the normal. And that's faulty. That's not right. The fact that 
we have stability, and we have orderliness, and we have security 
and safety, those are as much gifts from a good and gracious 
God as are the powerful manifestations and display of his glory. Just 
as he raises up Ehud, just as he uses Jael, so he used this 
man Tola from Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. Notice secondly the 
deliverance by Jer, verses 3 to 5. After him arose Jer, a Gileadite, 
and he judged Israel 22 years. Now he had 30 sons who rode on 
30 donkeys. They also had 30 towns which 
are called Havoth-Jer to this day, which are in the land of 
Gilead. And Jer died and was buried in 
Caiman. Now, the fact that it indicates 
that he had many sons, who had 30 donkeys, and owned many towns, 
is not given any sort of an interpretation. The author is not saying this 
is a bad thing. He's not saying it's a good thing. 
But when we compare this particular passage with Judges chapter 9, 
we see that Gideon as well had many sons. What do you think 
many sons means? Many wives. Very good. He had 
many wives. So it could be the case that 
the author, while not making a positive statement one way 
or the other, is hinting that maybe under Ger, not everything 
was as rosy or as solid as it was under Tola. It could also 
be significant that after this statement concerning Jer, and 
then in chapter 12 with two of the judges, the minor judges, 
Ibsen and Abedin, it is also mentioned that they had many 
sons. Ibsen, chapter 12, verse 9, He 
had 30 sons. And then in verse 13, I'm sorry, 
verse 14, with reference to Abednon, he had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. It is an interesting thing when 
we see the one that's in between, Japheth. Jephthah's a man that 
comes on the scene as not one that we would choose to be a 
leader in Israel. I mean, he's a rogue sort of 
a guy. His mother's a harlot. The only child that is indicated 
with reference to Jephthah. He doesn't have 30 sons who have 
30 donkeys who own 30 towns, but rather he has one daughter 
that he makes a rash vow concerning. whether it was to sacrifice her 
and take her life or to make sure that she was a perpetual 
virgin. We will, God willing, deal with that next week. But 
you have these minor judges on both sides of Jephthah, perhaps 
to punctuate and perhaps to show that God does use weakness in 
a man like Jephthah. Jephthah, again, is not the sort 
of fellow that commends himself to the people of God on a regular 
basis. He, in many ways, is one that 
we would bypass. He's not got that stock. He's not got that royal blood. 
He's hung out with worthless men. He is the raider of these 
These men are the leader of these raiders, rather. And so maybe 
there is an instance here where on the one hand we've got the 
Jer, we've got these other men who've got their big families, 
and then in the middle we've got this man, Jephthah, who with 
one daughter makes this vow concerning her. I don't know which way we 
ought to interpret with reference to Jer, whether it's a good thing 
or a bad thing that it references his 30 sons who had 30 donkeys 
and they had 30 towns. But notice verse 5 again ends 
with Jer died and was buried in Canaan. So if this was negative, 
nevertheless, he exercised a positive influence over Israel for these 
22 years. Don't miss the connection. At 
verse 6, then the children of Israel again did evil in the 
sight of the Lord. So while the human deliverer, 
while God's savior, was governing the nation, the people by and 
large towed the line. They didn't forsake the Lord, 
they didn't go after Baal, they didn't go after the gods or the 
pagans, but rather they sought, at least externally, they sought 
some degree of faithfulness and respectability before God. That 
brings us to the degeneracy of Israel. Notice. First, there's 
sin. We're used to this by now, aren't 
we? We've seen this pattern over and over again. Go back for just 
a moment to chapter 2, where this whole thing is set forth 
in a thematic way. Chapter 2 gives us sort of the 
scheme, or gives us the program, or gives us the plan. how the 
book is orchestrated and how it's going to function. And then 
in chapter 3, beginning with Othiel, in verse 7 to 16.31, 
ending with Samson, we see those cycles put into play. But notice 
in Judges 2 at verse 16. It says, Nevertheless, the Lord 
raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those 
who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to 
their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and 
bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the 
way in which their fathers walked in obeying the commandments of 
the Lord. They did not do so. 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. And it came to pass, when 
the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly 
than their fathers." We need to understand, it's a series 
of cycles, but it's a degenerating series. In other words, it's 
not at the same benchmark. They keep going down and getting 
worse and worse along the way. This is what verse 19 indicates. 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. One of the lessons that 
we see throughout this book is the persistence of sin. The power of sin. The pervasive 
influence of sin. And you see that here in chapter 
10 at verse 6. Most of the reports tell us that 
they committed idolatry with Baal and Ashtoreth. Notice here 
in verse 6. Then the children of Israel again 
did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and 
the Ashtoreths. Again, we're used to that, aren't 
we? The gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the 
gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, 
and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. There wasn't 
a god in the land that they did not go a-whoring after. There 
wasn't a god in the land that they didn't bow down to. There 
wasn't a god in the land that they didn't pursue with all their 
hearts. And there are seven instances, 
or seven cities, or seven nations, rather, that are indicated in 
this particular reference. Remember back in Deuteronomy 
7. There were seven nations specified that they were to go in and dispossess 
those people from the land. They were to have no truck with 
them religiously. They were to break down their 
altars. They were to destroy their idols. They were to purge 
them from the land. Well, here the fact that these 
seven are referenced again shows us the absolute spiritual declension 
and depravity of the nation of Israel. It speaks to the total 
and pervasive influence of idolatry in the land of of Israel. One man, Bloch, says that this 
highlights the total spiritual corruption of the nation. So they go after these gods and 
they forsook the Lord. We can't mistake that throughout 
this book. You don't have God and Baal. You don't have God and the Ashtoreths. You don't have the gods of the 
Sidon's and the God of heaven and earth. Now they would try 
that throughout redemptive history in Israel. They tried to have 
Yahweh and Baal. They tried to have Yahweh and 
Molech. They tried, in this attempt called 
syncretism, to marry the worship of the living and true God with 
these idols. But you can't do that. The Lord 
Jesus tells us that. You can't serve two masters. You'll either love the one and 
hate the other, or you'll love the other and hate the one. You 
cannot successfully pursue two gods. And this is what more often 
than not Israel did, and so they forsook the Lord and they did 
not serve Him. This is defection from the living 
and true God. They reverted and they acted 
more corruptly than their fathers before them. This is a pervasive 
problem in Israel. Now notice the specific agents 
that God raises up, and this will then end the book of judges 
in terms of the men or the deliverers, up to chapter 16, verse 31. He raises up the Ammonites, Jephthah 
will deal with them, and he raises up the Philistines, Samson will 
deal with them. So notice in verse 7, so the 
anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And he sold them into 
the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people 
of Ammon. From that year they harassed and oppressed the children 
of Israel for 18 years. You see, they've just come off 
a good bout with Tola and Jer. They've had a 23-year period 
of peace under Tola, they've had 22 years under Ger, and now 
they've got 18 years of oppression because they reverted and acted 
more corruptly. The Lord God brings judgment 
to bear upon them. The agents of oppression are 
specifically mentioned. Notice the severity of oppression. Verse 7 there. It says, Verse 
7, So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold 
them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the people 
of Ammon. From that year they harassed and oppressed the children 
of Israel for eighteen years. The word harassed there is, the 
only other place it's used is in Exodus 15. It is to crush, 
it is to shatter. And in Exodus 15 it's used of 
God crushing or shattering the Egyptians. So here it's interesting, 
the author of Judges is telling us that now God is using these 
enemy oppressors to shatter or crush these particular people. Remember the idea being the canonization 
of Israel. They are taking on the very characteristic 
of the people that they were supposed to cast out. When they 
rejected God and they disobeyed him, and they made allowance 
for the Canaanites to stay in their land, it turned out to 
be the case. They did not convert them, but 
the Canaanites rather converted them, and they are taking on 
the very characteristics of these people that were described as 
an abomination. This is the lesson, this is one 
pervasive lesson we need to understand. It typically is not the case 
that through our holiness we convert others. It is usually 
the case that through the unholiness of others, they affect or convert 
us. We need to remember that. The 
Book of Judges is most helpful for the Church of Jesus Christ 
today. Far too often we lay down our guards and our defenses and 
we say, you know, I'm going to befriend that person because 
I want to win them to the Savior. Now by all means, befriend people 
and win them to the Savior. It's not what I'm saying. But 
more often than not, we let down our guards, we let down our armor, 
and we end up becoming more like them than they become like us. Sin is a contagion, and it's 
not the case that we are so powerful and so strong that we're able 
to resist it in every place. James says, pure and undefiled 
religion in the sight of God and the Father is this, to visit 
widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted 
or unstained from the world. So this is most important and 
this is something, as we look at these narratives, as we look 
at these cycles, what was the fundamental problem that Israel 
engaged in? They sinned against the Lord, 
they forsook the Lord, they bowed down to the idols of the nations 
around them. because they didn't obey, they 
didn't cast them out. It should be the case that there 
was no altar of Baal that they could even worship at because 
they should have smashed them and destroyed them the way the 
Lord God had commanded them. So the author is telling us in 
many respects that the Lord now is coming against Israel the 
way the Lord came against Egypt to free Israel, his children. And then notice the extent of 
the oppression. Verse 8, all the children of 
Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land 
of the Amorites in Gilead. The other side of the Jordan 
is the east side of the Jordan, the trans-Jordan. So on the east 
side of the river Jordan you had Ammonite oppression. The 
Ammonites were not content with that. Notice what they do. They 
cross the River Jordan, and then they go to the main part of the 
land, and they begin to destroy, or they begin to war against 
Judah, also against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, 
so that Israel was severely distressed. So you see, this wasn't just 
a Gilead problem. Even in the extent of the oppression 
that is going on here, it shows us the unity of Israel. If Gilead 
suffers, and if Gilead doesn't resist these things, then all 
of Israel will taste something of the judgment and the punishment 
and the chastening hand of God Most High in this particular 
situation. So that's the degeneracy of Israel, 
verses 6 to 9. Again, a bleak picture. A terrible 
situation. It's not just Baal, it's not 
just Ashtoreth, but it's any god out there, let us have it. 
I mean, truly, this looks like a corrupt and terribly licentious, 
promiscuous person going about and engaging in illicit sexual 
relations in any manner whatsoever possible. That's what Israel 
has become. Now notice the response in verses 
10 to 18, 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. Now, this is a bit different 
than what we've seen up to this point. Typically, when they cry 
out, and they have several times in the book, in chapter two, 
a few times, chapter three, a couple of times, chapter four, chapter 
six, they cry out in their distress, and what does God do? He comes 
to deliver them. And as we've had cause to know, 
when they cry out in their distress, it's not repentance. It's not 
confessing their sin. It's not voicing the reality 
that they have transgressed the covenant and as a result, Lord, 
we want you to draw near to us and help us and put us on the 
path of righteousness. No, typically, when they cry 
out, it's because they don't like oppression. When they cry 
out, it's because they don't like pain. When they cry out, 
it's because they don't like difficulty. When they cry out, 
it's because they don't like bands of marauders going through 
their land, destroying their crops. In other words, they cry 
out the way a lot of people cry out. People will cry out to God 
when they want something from Him. Isn't that the case? I hope 
it's not that way for us. I hope that we cry out to God 
as a matter of course, because Jesus says when you pray, go 
into your closet and there your Father who sees in secret will 
reward you openly. Hopefully as a matter of routine 
and as a normal part of your life, you pray. But there's a 
lot of people in the world and probably Need and difficulty 
and suffering and trial may elicit more prayer from us, but as a 
general rule, the people of God are a praying people. There's 
people out there, though. When things go wrong, they make deals 
with God. They say, God, I'm sorry that 
I've done this. Get me out of this. I remember 
this happened to me as a young child. I was in Seal Beach near 
the pier. I was out in this rubber raft. 
I got knocked off the little dinghy. I was underneath this 
thing, and I thought I was a goner. And I made a deal with God. God, 
get me out of here, and I'll be faithful going to church. 
As a young papist, that was something I thought was a legit deal to 
make. You make deals, right? Notice 
what they're doing in verse 10. On the one hand, it's good. Up 
to this point, we've only seen them crying out because they're 
distressed. They've only cried out because 
they've got pain. But note in verse 10, the children 
of Israel cried out to the Lord saying, we have sinned against 
you because we have both forsaken. Notice, our God. They understand 
the reality. They understand something. They're 
using the language of covenant. We have forsaken our God and 
served the Baals. On the one hand, verse 10 looks 
very positive. It looks very good. They're expressing 
something of their own sinfulness and their own waywardness. But 
when we see God's response, it's almost as if He says, I don't 
buy it. I don't believe you. I don't 
think this is legit. I don't think that you're honest 
with me. I don't think you mean to do 
genuine repentance over your sinfulness. That seems to be 
how it is going in this particular instance. So they confess, verse 
10, but note the rejoinder by God in verses 11 to 14. So the Lord said to the children 
of Israel, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, and from 
the Amorites, and from the people of Ammon, and from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians, and Amalekites, 
and Mayonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and 
I delivered you from their hand? You see, God is saying that we've 
been down this road before. This isn't the first time. This isn't the only instance 
where I have seen you in distress. It's nice that you're throwing 
in now that we've sinned against you, and we have forsaken you, 
and we have turned to the bales. That is a good sort of ornament 
that you've put on this, but forgive me, I'm reading between 
the lines here, if I'm not so quick to jump upon the bandwagon 
of your repentance. God says, we've been down this 
road. I have delivered you from Egypt, 
that great redemptive act called the Exodus. When we've gone into 
the land of promise, into Canaan, when you have gone to battle 
under Joshua, when you've gone to battle in the period of the 
judges, Hasn't it been the Lord that has come to deliver you? 
Hasn't it been your good and gracious God that has freed you 
from your oppressors? Notice verse 13, yet you have 
forsaken me and served other gods. You see, if the deliverance 
out of Egypt and the deliverance within the promised land did 
not secure fidelity in you, then I have no reason to believe in 
this particular confession that you are going to be faithful 
to your covenantal vows. You see, God is not ma. God knows the difference between 
genuine repentance, and when we seek to manipulate Him, and 
when we seek to use Him, or when we're underneath a rubber dinghy 
and we say, Lord, save me, and I'll go do this for you. We need 
to guard against and we need to resist the tendency and the 
temptation to use God to simply free us from our difficulties 
and our problems. This is one of the primary emphases 
of the heretical health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. God simply 
exists so that you can be healthy, so that you can be wealthy, and 
so that you can be prosperous. That is not why God exists. God 
is holy, holy, holy. God does not need this creation. 
God is not dependent upon you. God does not care one whit in 
the grand scheme of things if you have a million dollars or 
you have negative a million. That is not what God is after. And so this attempt to manipulate 
and to use and to so work God that he only does what we want 
him to do is false, it is heretical, and instead of preaching this 
and people believing this, the church has a whole lot to engage 
in genuine thoroughgoing repentance and confess our iniquities to 
the high and Holy One of Israel. He says, you have forsaken me 
and served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. I will deliver you no more." 
This is a threat of judicial abandonment. This sounds to me 
like a Romans 1, 24, 26, 28 scenario. In that particular place, the 
Apostle Paul says that men who knew God exists but suppress 
that truth in unrighteousness, they don't honor God as God, 
nor are their hearts thankful, what does God do as a result 
to that? He gives them over to a reprobate 
mind. He hardens them in that activity 
and in that pursuit of wickedness. God is not obligated to make 
sure that you always have the mercy and the grace that you 
come to expect. Grace and mercy are undeserved, 
isn't it? When did we begin to think we 
actually deserve grace? If we deserve grace, it's not 
grace anymore. It's payment. It's based on merit. What we want is God to be merciful 
to us as undeserving wretches and sinners. The Lord has put 
his finger right on the pulse of Israel in this particular 
instance, yet You have forsaken me and served other gods, therefore 
I will deliver you no more. And then verse 14, to punctuate 
this, go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them 
deliver you in your time of distress. Similar argument to Gideon's 
father. Remember when the men in Gideon's 
town wanted to destroy him? What does Gideon's dad say? Let Baal contend. If he's a god, 
he'll be able to deal with the destruction of his altar. God 
uses that logic here with the children of Israel. Go and cry 
out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you 
in your time of distress. What a terrible indictment. I mean, if it ever gets to that 
place with us, I don't see anything more grievous and more terrible 
than this. For God to say, I'm not going 
to deliver you anymore, and then to tell us, go after the girlfriend 
that you have been courting. Go after the boyfriend that you 
have been seeking. Go after Baal. Go after Ashtoreth. To sort of grab this, I want 
to quote from Davis and from Bloch. Davis says it this way, 
the theology of bomb shelter religion. the bomb shelter religion. We're in the bomb shelter. We 
know the A-bomb is coming, so we're occupying. He says, the 
theology of bomb shelter religion teaches that, of course, God 
will help you in your need. that he is, helpfully enough, 
incredibly naive and hopelessly soft. He's like a great warm 
vending machine in the sky, into which you need only drop a token 
or two of repentance before he spits out the relief you currently 
crave. Religion is a great game. You 
only need to know a few rules. See, what's most disturbing about 
this quote and about Judge's can is that much of evangelicalism 
and, unfortunately, reformed people operate this way. We're 
not broken over our sin. We really don't care about God's 
law. We just want happier lives. We 
just want more blessing. We just want more wholeness. 
We just want more security and safety. He says, you only need 
to know a few rules. And Yahweh is a great God if 
you happen to need him and want to use him. Yahweh must destroy 
these false images we fashion of him. Israel apparently assumed 
that whenever things became bad, she could always go back to Yahweh. 
And he says that she cannot. He says there is a difference 
between a prodigal who comes to his senses and returns home 
and a whore who pleads for her husband's security only until 
she finds someone else to take her on. That's what's going on 
here. And God says, no, I am not here 
to exist for your ease and for your comfort and for your safety 
and your security. Bloch says it this way, in his 
response to the people's expression of distress, God recognizes and 
exposes the purely utilitarian and manipulative nature of their 
cry. Utilitarianism is utility. We do that which brings the most 
happiness to us. Utilitarianism is an ethical 
theory that says right is right if 51% of the people benefit 
as a result of a particular decision. Utilitarianism on a personal 
level means whatever makes me happiest is right. That sounds 
like Canada and America, doesn't it? Sounds like the narcissistic 
age in which we live. He says, The people have used 
him repeatedly simply to get them out of difficult circumstances. In the past he has responded 
to their pleas, but no more. Their confession sounds like 
true repentance, but God sees past their pious words to their 
treacherous and parasitic hearts. That's what's going on in this 
particular passage. That's why when Jephthah is dispatched 
to deliver Israel, we ought to praise all the more amazing grace, 
how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. Because as 
we read on, they affirm again their commitment to repentance. God knows that they're not going 
to follow through. God knows that they're going 
to falter. God knows that they're going 
to do less than stellar. So the deliverance that comes 
is not based on their professed repentance. The deliverance comes 
as a result of his covenant mercy and faithfulness, because he 
promised to Abraham a seed. And he will secure that people 
until the deliverer Christ is born. in whom He will save all 
His people from their sins. He must keep these people together 
based on His faithfulness and based on His covenantal fidelity. Brings us finally to 15 and 16. 
The children of Israel said to the Lord, we have sinned. Do 
to us whatever seems best to You. Only deliver us this day, 
we pray. Again, it sounds legit, doesn't 
it? What tips me off that it may not be altogether legit is 
that last clause, only deliver us this day. If you're really 
content on pouring yourself upon the mercy of God, there's something 
about earnestness, there's something about importunate prayer, there's 
something about what Spurgeon says, go through the front door 
of heaven and tell the Lord what it is you want. But based on 
their track record, based on their previous cries of distress, 
it seems again that what they want is a life without Ammonites. A life without Philistines. A life wherein they can live 
and move and have their being in the land, doing what pleases 
them. So the children of Israel said 
to the Lord, we have sinned. Do to us whatever seems best 
to you. Only deliver us this day, we 
pray. Isn't it just amazing that whatever 
seems best to God is to deliver them? Please do not miss the 
theme of the Book of Judges. It's not about the faithfulness 
of the people of God. It's not about their goodness. 
It's not about their merit. It's not about their hard work. 
It's not a model of repentance here. It's not they're going 
to try harder. It's all about God shining through this depravity 
to show his amazing grace and mercy. It says in verse 16, so 
they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the 
Lord. Again, this is good. Excellent. Do they keep it up? Are they faithful? Do they persevere? No, they don't. We know better. And then verse 16 at the end, 
and his soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. Now, this is a tough verse. This 
is a tough verse for a variety of reasons. translation. Here's just a sampling of texts. 
His soul can no longer endure the misery of Israel. New King 
James. King James. And his soul was grieved for 
the misery of Israel. NIV. And he could bear Israel's 
misery no longer. N-A-S-B, and he could bear the 
misery of Israel no longer, but the margin gives the literal 
reading. His soul was short with the misery. And then the E-S-V says, and 
he became impatient over the misery of Israel. Now, whatever 
that particular clause means, we know from the following that 
God brings deliverance to his people once again. With the arrival 
of Jephthah, with the situation concerning the Ammonites, and 
then through Samson, how the Lord brings judgment to bear 
upon the Philistines. What we have in this particular 
passage, at the end of verse 16, is God's commitment and resolve 
to do his people good. As Davis says, our hope does 
not rest in the sincerity of our repentance, but in the intensity 
of God's compassion. Now, having said that, we need 
to repent, and we need to do so properly, and we need to do 
so legitimately, and we need to do so honestly. But in the 
final analysis, when we get benefit from God, it's not because of 
our repentance. It is because of His grace and 
His mercy and His kindness. Now, verses 17 and 18 then basically 
is the need for the deliverer. Verse 17, the people of Ammon 
gathered together and encamped in Gilead, and the children of 
Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah. And the people, 
the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, who is the man who 
will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall 
behead over all the inhabitants of Gilead. And then enters Jephthah 
to come and to deal and to take care of some Ammonites.