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You may turn in your Bibles to 
Judges chapter 2. Judges chapter 2 will return 
to our exposition of Matthew, God willing, next Sunday morning. 
If you have been with us over the last couple Wednesday evenings, 
then I want to tell you this will be a bit of a review. But 
Judges chapter 2, specifically verse 7 to chapter 3, verse 6. We're going to look at the description 
of Israel's apostasy. Sometimes when we come to this 
book of Judges, it seems like it's so dark and so bleak, and 
it is when we look at the people, but it is a book that truly displays 
and manifests and evidences the grace and the mercy and the kindness 
of God. As you move through the Bible, 
very often when you see contexts that are dark with man's depravity, 
this is most often when God's light of righteousness shines 
most brilliantly and most clearly. So I wanted to look at this this 
morning by way of encouragement to us with reference to the amazing 
grace of God and as well to try and whet some appetites for those 
who are unable to be with us on Wednesday night. You can find 
these messages online as Judges is a most encouraging book concerning 
the person and the work of our great God in raising up deliverers 
for the children of Israel. So I'll pick up reading in chapter 
2 at verse 7. So the people served the Lord 
all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived 
Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which 
he had done for Israel. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, the 
servant of the Lord, died when he was 110 years old. And they 
buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath 
Erez, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 
When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, 
another generation arose after them, who did not know the Lord, 
nor the work which he had done for Israel. Then the children 
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord God 
of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
And they followed other gods from among the gods of the people, 
who were all around them. And they bowed down to them, 
and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord 
and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. And the anger of the Lord was 
hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the 
hands of plunderers who despoiled them. And He sold them into the 
hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer 
stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand 
of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had 
said, and as the Lord had sworn to them, and they were greatly 
distressed. 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, 
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. Then the anger of the Lord was 
hot against Israel, and He said, Because this nation has transgressed 
My covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded 
My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of 
the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through 
them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the 
Lord to walk in them as their fathers kept them or not. Therefore 
the Lord left those nations without driving them out immediately, 
nor did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua. Now these 
are the nations which the Lord left, that he might test Israel 
by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in 
Canaan. This was only so that the generations of the children 
of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who 
had not formerly known it. namely five lords of the Philistines, 
all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in 
Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. And they were left that he might 
test Israel by them to know whether they would obey the commandments 
of the Lord which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of 
Moses. Thus, the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, 
the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and 
the Jebusites. And they took their daughters 
to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and 
they served their gods. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we come to Scripture 
now, we pray for the ministry and aid of your Holy Spirit, 
We pray that in this passage, a passage dark with the depravity 
of man, we would see the glory, the light of the gospel of our 
great God and Savior. Help us to appreciate your grace. 
Help us to see in our own lives the deliverance that you have 
provided through our Lord Jesus. And help us, God, to be refreshed 
and encouraged and strengthened. And help us as well to be warned. 
The children of Israel certainly defected. They certainly disobeyed. 
They did not do those things that God had commanded. So help 
us, Father, as we are prone to wander, prone to leave the God 
that we love. Help us to seek to pursue those things which 
are pleasing in your sight. Empower us and enable us by your 
Spirit to pursue obedience to your holy law. And we ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, in chapter 2, we 
basically see the theme of the book of Judges. The bulk of the 
book is beginning, or the bulk of the largest section of the 
book begins in chapter 3 at verse 7 and continues to chapter 16 
and verse 31. That's probably the bulk or the 
portion of the book that we're most familiar with. The various 
Judges that God raised up. And when I say Judges, they weren't 
those who wore black robed and sat behind a bench and rendered 
judgment concerning civil and criminal matters in Israel. They 
were deliverers that were primarily tasked with delivering the children 
of Israel from the oppression of the nations around them. That's 
what judges are in the book of Judges. So if you're thinking 
about the traffic court judge that you've gone to before, hopefully 
not. then you will be wrong. These 
are earthly men that God raised up to do a particular task in 
freeing his people from the oppression that they brought on themselves. So chapter 2 is thematic, it 
gives an overview, it tells us what's going to happen, and then 
3.7-16.31 details specifically the particular men and women 
that God raised up to deliver Israel. So as we look at Judges 
2, we're going to consider three particulars. First, the root 
of Israel's apostasy in chapter 2, verses 7 to 10. Secondly, 
the description of Israel's apostasy, verses 11 to 15. and then the 
divine response to Israel's apostasy in 2.16 to 3.6. Note first the 
root. We see that in chapter 2 verses 
7 to 10. First and foremost it highlights 
their faithfulness. Joshua depicts very positively 
the conquest in Canaan. It depicts very positively that 
the children of Israel did, by and large, what they were told. 
Though there are foreshadowings along the way in Joshua that 
there would be problems, Joshua gives us a positive look, Judges 
gives us a negative look. at the conquest. You'll remember 
that conquest refers to that act or instance where God tells 
the children of Israel, I have given you this particular land. 
He swore it by oath, He swore it by covenant to Abraham in 
Genesis chapter 12. Now it's come time, after being 
let out of Egypt, after being brought out of captivity in Egypt 
and bondage, now they're being brought into the land that the 
Lord has given to them. So when I refer to conquest, 
that's what I mean. The children of Israel going 
into Canaan, engaging in holy war to take the land and to dispossess 
the land from the Canaanites. It's positive Verse 7, the people 
served the Lord all the days of Joshua, all the days of the 
elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works 
of the Lord which he had done for Israel. Truly, a great description 
of how things were. That it then indicates the death 
of Joshua. We need to understand that just 
because the earthly leader dies, it doesn't mean that the people 
of God are without help. It doesn't mean that God no longer 
is with them. God certainly is their God, whether 
Moses is the leader, whether Joshua is the leader, or even 
if it is, like the time as it was in Judges, when everyone 
did what was right in their own eyes. God is not an absentee 
king. He is present, He is with His 
people, and though Joshua dies, the nation lives on under God, 
and they are to be obedient. Now notice what verse 10 goes 
on to say. When all that generation had 
been gathered to their fathers, this is the death of the first 
generation, he then records the death of the second generation. The first generation died physically. Those who are faithful to Joshua 
and faithful to the elders who outlived Joshua are now dead. And what he describes in verse 
10 is that another generation arose after them who did not 
know the Lord, nor the work which He had done for Israel. I describe 
this as death because it is so spiritually. And we need to understand 
when it references or it mentions that they did not know the Lord. 
It doesn't mean they didn't have an idea that Yahweh was king 
of Israel. It didn't mean they were devoid 
of cognitive information. It didn't mean that they had 
no concept whatsoever that there was a God over Israel. When it 
says they did not know the Lord, they didn't know Him experientially. They didn't know Him believingly. They didn't follow Him. They 
didn't give Him their hearts. They weren't obedient unto Him. 
In sum, they had rejected the living and true God of Israel. 
This is why I submit that this is the root of their apostasy. When man rejects God, when man 
does not bow to the Lord, when man does not believe on Him, 
when man makes an outward external confession, but knows nothing 
of the saving power of God's amazing grace, then all manner 
of sin and evil flow as a result of this. This is why, verses 
11 to 15, are in Judges chapter 2. In other words, what we believe 
concerning God affects the way that we live for or against Him. As Daniel Bloch says, when people 
lose sight of God's grace, they lose sight of God, in the sense 
of any obligation to Him. All that follows in the book 
is a consequence of Israel's loss of memory. They didn't listen 
to their fathers. They didn't listen to their teachers. 
They didn't listen to the priests. They may have been in the right 
places. They may have showed up at the temple or tabernacle 
rather. They may have showed up at the family altar. They 
may have looked like they were paying attention to father or 
to the priest. But they rejected the information. They did not believe on Him. 
They did not look to Him. And what we learn from this is 
that there can be a faithful generation. Not a perfect generation, 
but a generation that was under Joshua, that by and large could 
be described with the language of verse 7. But after they pass, 
The second generation, having rejected the living and true 
God, then plunges the entire nation into utter depravity and 
despair. We need to understand that as 
parents, we need to understand that as churches, we need to 
pray for our young people, we need to pray for the second generation, 
we need to ask them the probing questions, we need to set before 
them the truth of God's law, and the truth of God's Gospel. 
We cannot assume that because they've been brought up in a 
Christian home that they're necessarily going to become Christians. We 
need to assume that they are dead in their trespasses and 
sins. That that blessed little baby 
that we look at is in Adam and stands in need of amazing grace. We need to faithfully and diligently 
teach. We need to instruct them when 
we rise up, when we walk by the way, and when we lie down at 
night. But we mustn't ever forget that 
the power, the sovereignty, the glory belongs to God who has 
sway over the hearts of man. That isn't to cast us into despair. but rather to promote hope. In 
other words, we sow the seeds. Another person waters those seeds, 
but it's God who gives the increase. And God is full of grace, and 
full of mercy, and full of saving power, so we ought not to tire 
of praying to Him, Lord, save our children, save the people 
who show up at church on Sundays, who are outside of Christ. We 
cannot assume that everybody knows who Jesus Christ is, that 
He was from Nazareth, that He lived a perfect life, that He 
died a sacrificial death, that He rose again. We can't believe 
that everybody who has that external confession has been gripped by 
it. We cannot assume, we must not 
assume, we must be in earnest with reference to prayer. You 
see this pattern of a rejection of God leading to all manner 
of wickedness. Just read through this book. 
In fact, chapters 17 to 21 are an amazing look at how bad man 
can become. Daniel Bloch in his commentary 
tells us the overarching theme in the book of Judges is the 
canonization of Israel. The Canaanization of Israel. Israel was to go into the land 
and dispossess the Canaanites. Israel did not do that. Israel 
did not reject marriage with their sons and daughters. And 
Israel certainly did not reject their gods. So what happens? 
They've become like the Canaanites. So much so that when you get 
to the latter chapters, you see things that were spoken about 
Sodom in the book of Genesis going on within Israel itself. 
It is the canonization of Israel that we see in this book of Judges, 
and we see God's deliverance even in the midst of such depravity 
and wickedness. Do you see this pattern with 
Eli's son? Eli's sons, rather. They were 
priests who served God. Now certainly they knew who Yahweh 
was. They were priests. When a man stands in a pulpit 
and he's not converted, he at least knows who Jesus is. We like to assume that he's come 
into some contact externally with the Scriptures. It's not 
as if he doesn't know Jesus, period. He doesn't know Him experientially, 
he knows Him cognitively. The same thing was true of Eli's 
sons. These men stole sacrifice that 
people brought to worship God with. These men lay with prostitutes 
who used to hang out at the tabernacle. But the primary problem, according 
to 1 Samuel 2.12, is that they did not know the Lord. They did 
not know Yahweh. The same thing is true in Romans 
chapter 1. We look at the vice list. We look at the description 
of depravity. We look at homosexuality in 24, 
26, 28. We see God giving over a people. 
We neglect verse 21. who, although they knew God, 
they did not honor Him as God, nor were their hearts thankful." 
In other words, knowing God through the created order, having been 
created in His image, they knew who He was, but they did not 
honor Him as God, nor were their hearts thankful. As a result, 
God then gives them over to do all these acts of wickedness. 
If we want to address homosexuality in our society, if we want to 
address drug abuse in our society, if we want to address spousal 
abuse, or we want to address sex trafficking, or we want to 
address any manner of evil, the primary way is to preach the 
gospel of saving grace. In other words, men need to be 
reoriented, because those who worship idols become like their 
idols. When men worship things that 
have eyes but they don't see, and ears but they don't hear, 
they become like them. This is why God indicts the nation 
of Israel, because you have eyes that don't see, you have ears 
that don't hear, they become like the idols that they worship. 
This is what's going on. The canonization of Israel. They knew who God was, but they 
didn't know Him. They didn't believe. They didn't 
follow. They didn't obey. They paid lip 
service. And this is the fear that so 
many people do today. They come to churches. They come 
to orthodox churches. They come to solid churches. 
But there's no living religion. There's no heart for the things 
of God. There's no desire to serve Christ. There's only this 
idea to throw in to our already complete life this religious 
aspect of man's being. If that's how you treat Sabbath 
worship, if that's how you treat the God of the Bible, it is a 
bad sign that you know nothing of the God of Scripture. Because, 
as we've said before, men know that if religion means anything, 
it means everything. And if we say yes to the God 
of heaven and earth, if we confess Him in our hearts as Lord and 
Savior, then our lives must fit. Our lives must be consistent. 
And that is precisely the problem here in Judges chapter 2. The 
root of Israel's apostasy was the fact that they had forgotten 
the Lord. David says amnesia produces apostasy. That is why scripture is so frantic 
about the church not forgetting what Yahweh has done for us. 
Deuteronomy 4, Deuteronomy 6, how many times through Deuteronomy 
Our parents in Israel charged with instructing their children, 
with teaching their children. When your son comes and he asks 
you, then you tell him what God did in terms of delivering us 
from the bondage of Egypt. We need to set these things before 
their hearts and we need to pray for them, that God would take 
it and internalize it. That Psalm 110 would be a living 
reality in the lives of our children and young people and the unconverted 
that come in among us. God makes men willing. in the 
day of His power. That's the one to whom we ought 
to pray and go with reference to salvation. Now notice, secondly, 
the description of Israel's apostasy. Verses 11 to 15. It's important 
that we understand their relationship to God. See, they couldn't apostatize 
or fall away from one whom they had no relationship with. This 
is why, throughout Scripture, Typically, there are one or two 
exceptions, but typically throughout Scripture, there's one body that's 
accused of spiritual adultery. It's those in covenant with God. 
It's those who have a relationship with God. If a single man sins 
sexually, he's guilty of fornication, but not necessarily adultery, 
because he hasn't violated a marriage contract or covenant. Israel is upbraided for spiritual 
adultery. Israel is upbraided for spiritual 
harlotry. Israel has defected from her 
God. God was the father of the patriarchs. God was God of the patriarchs, 
according to verse 12. God delivered them according 
to verses 10 and 12, and God established a covenant with them 
in verse 20. They bore a special relationship 
to the living and true God. Notice their defection from Him. They did evil. Verse 11a is sort 
of a summary statement of all that follows. Then the children 
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. It's the topic sentence. 
It's like Paul says in Ephesians 1, a very different sort of an 
approach, but he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. 
There's your topic sentence. Paul then fleshes it out by speaking 
of the electing purposes of God, the redeeming purposes of Christ, 
and the sealing purposes of the Spirit. We've got topic, and 
we have it fleshed out. Verse 11a is topic, and then 
it's fleshed out. Then the children of Israel did 
evil in the sight of the Lord. Again, don't miss the connection 
between 10 and 11. They did not know the Lord, then 
they did evil in the sight of the Lord. They did not know Yahweh, 
therefore they went out and did evil in His sight. Men today 
don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, so they lie with other men. Men 
today don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, so they shoot methamphetamine 
or take methamphetamine into their body. Men do not know the 
Lord Jesus Christ, so they're outwardly self-righteous and 
polished and pure and think that they're going to be commended 
by God for their good works. It's because they do not know 
the Lord that they go and do evil in His sight. Notice, they 
served bails. This is a terrible description. 
They served the Baals. In Canaanite theology and agriculture, 
the fertility of the land depended upon the sexual relationship 
between Baal and his consort. The revival of nature was due 
to intercourse between Baal and his partner. I don't want to 
be outside of any sort of propriety. I don't want to offend anybody's 
delicate sensitivities, but it's important that we see what Baalism 
is. And I think it's important that we see how much of evangelical 
worship is more similar to Baal than it is to Yahweh. When we 
worship God from the waist down or when it's all experience, 
that has more tap roots in Baalism than it does in Yahwehism. It's terrifying. When it's all 
about the experience, when it's all about how I feel, when it's 
all about what did I get out of that, Isn't that the language 
that's used today in churches? In evangelical and reform? What did I get out of it is how 
we measure whether church was good. Let's Paul tell Timothy 
in 1 Timothy 4, by instructing the brethren in these things, 
you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Not by leading 
them to a worship experience that's exhilarating. By leading 
them to a place of ecstasy, by leading them to a place where 
they forget all their woes and troubles on earth, and at least 
for that hour they're ushered into a happy place. That's not 
it! Much of worship today, or I shouldn't 
say much, some of worship today, is more about our experience 
than about the living and true God. I'm not suggesting it ought 
to be miserable. I'm not suggesting you ought 
to come in here and have to close your ears because it's so terrible. 
But ask yourself, do I want Baal or do I want Yahweh? It's a quote 
from Davis. The revival of nature was due 
to intercourse between Baal and his partner, but the Canaanite 
faithful didn't simply sit back and say, let Baal do it. There 
was no let go and let Baal thinking among them. Instead, their watchword 
was, serve Baal with gladness all ye glands. Hence, the Canaanite 
practice of sacred prostitution as a part of their worship. The 
idea was to fornicate in order to get Baal to be kind to us 
and rain on our crops. This is what the children of 
Israel did. They turned from Yahweh and they sought Baal. 
Bloch says it in less offensive terms, in contrast to the lofty 
theology and the austere morality of Yahweh, the Canaanite religious 
system offered exciting and often erotic cult rituals. It's exciting the way Baal does 
it. God of Israel, Yahweh, was good to get us out of Egypt. 
We like Him being tasked with those big projects. But when 
it comes to rain on our crops, look at how the Canaanites do 
it. That looks a lot more fun. It looks a lot more rewarding. 
It looks a lot more exhilarating. And look, they've got crops. They were affected by the worship 
around that. They served Baals, they forsook 
God. You see, these two things go 
hand in hand. Never forget this, young people. You either serve 
God or you don't. Didn't Jesus teach us this in 
Matthew 12, 30? He who is not with me is what? Kind of with 
me? 60% with me? No! He's against me. There's 
only one option, one place to be. It's with Christ. What happens 
when men reject Yahweh? They seek Baal. What happens 
when men reject Jesus? They seek Baal. What happens 
when men reject the Lord God Most High as He reveals Himself 
in Scripture? They seek whatever pleases them. This is the progress. They followed 
other gods. Notice then Israel's rejection 
by God in verses 14 and 15. They forsook the Lord, verse 
13, they served Baal and the Ashtoreths. Ashtoreths were the 
female counterpart to Baal. You see Baal had Mrs. Baal. in 
order to carry out his particular activity. Verse 14, And so he, 
God, delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled 
them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, 
so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever 
they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, 
as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. You 
see this fundamental principle of covenant religion. When we 
break the covenant and we reject the God of the covenant, what 
does God do? He delivers us over. He hands us over. He rejects 
us. This is in accordance with His 
Word. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God said very clearly, go 
into the land, dispossess the land of the Canaanites, do not 
marry with them, do not engage in covenant with them, do not 
worship with them, but rather destroy them and get them out 
of the land. They reject that. They don't do that. They worship 
Baal. They worship Ashtar. They quite 
like Canaanite religion. They quite like being at home 
among these people. And so what does God do? He delivers 
them up into the hands of oppressors. He judges them. Again, Leviticus 
26 and Deuteronomy 28. It's very clear-cut. If you obey, 
you get blessed. If you disobey, you get cursed. 
This is one of the blessings of the New Covenant. The covenant 
added in the New Covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are 
ushered by grace into an unconditional covenant because of what Christ 
has secured on our behalf, such that it cannot be broken. Now 
certainly as we sin against God, as we transgress this particular 
law, we receive disfavor, we receive frowns instead of smiles, 
all those things to be the case. But in this old covenant situation, 
when they rejected God, God rejected them. And that is what the text 
indicates. Now notice, thirdly and finally, 
the divine response to Israel's apostasy. The distress of Israel, 
verse 15b. This is an important thing to 
understand, what we're about to say. Notice in verse 15b, 
and they were greatly distressed. Notice in verse 18, and when 
the Lord had 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. It's important to grasp this. 
If you've not heard a lot of what I've said up to this point, 
You've not paid attention up to this point. Listen. Their 
distress here was not repentance. Their distress here was not agony 
because they had sinned against their God. I've shared with the 
brethren in my early Christian life, I learned that the cycles, 
that's what Judges is about. There's several cycles. Sin, 
oppression, and deliverance. That's what chapter 2 says, and 
that's what chapters 3 to 16 develop. When I learned it, it 
was SWORD. That was the acronym by which 
you understood the book of Judges. S for Sin, O for Oppression, 
R for Repentance, and D for Deliverance. Not SWORD like we wield, because 
there's a W in there, and you can't fit that in the acronym. 
You tracking? SWORD. That's how I was taught. Sin, oppression, repentance, 
and deliverance. As I shared with the brethren 
on Wednesday night, that's not the acronym. It's SOD. Sin, oppression, deliverance. They don't repent. as is clear 
in the very summary statement that we will find. The Lord raises 
up a deliverer, He frees them from their oppressor, and what 
happens? They revert to their old ways. So sin, oppression, and deliverance, 
the groaning, the crying out, the distress, is not because 
they have broken covenant with their God. It's not the man in 
Jesus' parable who cannot even look up into heaven, but beats 
his breast and says, God be merciful to me, the sinner. It is not 
the cry of the penitent who says, Lord God Most High, forgive me 
and cleanse me and wash me. It is the cry of those who are 
suffering. And it's in that context that 
God does reach down and deliver them. Isn't that glorious? Isn't that amazing grace? Again, 
it's not a one-for-one connection here with reference to New Covenant 
religion. In the New Covenant, the elect 
of God are given the Spirit of God. They will repent by the 
grace of God. They renew repentance. They're 
told to do that. They're told to seek after the 
Lord. And there are even instances where we make a mess of our lives 
as new covenant Christians. We deserve to die. We deserve 
prison. We deserve all manner of judgment 
and evil and bad things. And what does our God do? He 
lifts us out of our distress and He cleanses us. It's truly 
amazing. The book of Judges is not bleak, 
dark and dismal. It's about grace. It's about 
mercy. It's about kindness. It's about 
God shining light upon a people of depravity. As we see here, 
note the connection. Verse 15b, they were greatly 
distressed. Verse 16, nevertheless. This is where Newton would sing, 
amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 
I once was lost but now I'm found, I was blind but now I see. Nevertheless, 
Yahweh raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those 
who plundered that. They were distressed because 
of their oppression. They were distressed because 
of their problems. They were distressed because of their aches 
and their pains and their sufferings and their woes. And nevertheless, 
the Lord raised up deliverers to deliver them. It's grace, 
brethren. It's grace. Note the cycles involved. Verses 17 to 19. 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." Have you ever had that as a parent? You see 
your child doing something foolish? Most parents don't go, well, 
that's the way it goes. I'm sorry you just whacked your 
thumb with that hammer and that you're going to do it again. 
That's a bad, you're the least likely candidate for parent of 
the year if you're watching your kid destroy himself. Can I say it in man terms? God can't handle watching his 
covenant people in distress. He can't. You're making a mess 
of it. You're ruining your life. You're 
destroying yourself. You are headlong in abandonment 
and in wickedness. I can't watch this anymore. I've 
got to stop you. That's what he says here. 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 just by way of a theological aside, I affirm 
impassibility. I affirm that God changes not. 
He reveals to us something of His holy and glorious character 
in passages like these. The God who changes not shows 
us the relationship that we sustain to Him, and that He pities us, 
and He looks upon us with groaning, and He sees us in oppression, 
and He comes to vindicate and to rescue His covenant people. Verse 19, 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. You've got to understand with 
Sod, we have these cycles of sin, oppression and deliverance, 
but the sin continues to get worse and worse. The sin continues 
to escalate. They degenerate even more so. 
We get a bit of Baal in our hearts and it's hard to get it out. 
We get a bit of this world in our hearts and it's hard to excise 
ourselves. We get a bit of that ungodly 
influence in us and what happens? Do we get better? 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 from the world. Sometimes young people 
engage in what's called missionary dating, or missionary marriage. I know he's not a believer, but 
I love him. And if I marry him, then certainly 
I can bring him to the Savior. Do you know what statistically 
happens more often than not? The godly doesn't bring the ungodly 
to the Savior. The ungodly pulls the godly down. Keep oneself unspotted from the 
world. We get a bit of Baal in our hearts 
and it's hard to get rid of that influence. And that's what the 
author is telling us. They 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. Note the divine speech. It's an interesting section. 
There's an author of the book of Judges. Somebody's a human 
author. The Spirit's upon him. He's writing 
God's holy word. Chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, we 
see the angel of the Lord, who I take to be the pre-incarnate 
Christ, coming to the people and reproving them for their 
sin, and then weeping incessantly at Bokin. They wept, they sacrificed, 
but they didn't repent. They wept and they sacrificed, 
but they didn't repent. Rend your hearts, not your garments, 
God says through the prophet Joel. You may cry a river, you 
may sacrifice a thousand bulls, but until you've repented and 
committed your way to the Lord God Most High, it's a sham, it's 
empty, it's vile, it's wretched. Now we've got God Himself speaking 
to the people. Verses 20 to 22. Then the anger 
of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He said, Because this nation 
has transgressed My covenant, which I commanded their fathers, 
and has not heeded My voice. Do not miss this. Because this 
nation, this goyim. You may have heard that term 
before, goyim. That's a Gentile. Jews refer to the Goy or the 
Goyim as the nations, the non-Israelites, the ones that were not connected 
rightly into their covenant community. What's God doing? I shared that 
Wednesday night as well. He's doing what parents sometimes 
do. I think of a time when one of 
my sons threw a rock through a window in our house. And I 
think my response was something like this. Honey, look at what 
your son did. Have any of you parents ever 
done that? Honey, look at what your daughter did. Honey, look 
at that child or look at what that child of your loins has 
accomplished. We distance ourselves from the 
offending party in our anger, don't we? The anger of the Lord was hot 
against Israel, and he said, because this nation, not my people, 
not the covenant community, not Israel, these goy. You see this happen in the prophets 
as well. When God is angry, he doesn't call them my people. 
You see this in Deuteronomy, when God tells Moses, your people, 
He's distancing Himself in His anger because of their sin and 
their hardened hearts against Him. So the Lord says, because 
this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded 
their fathers and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer 
drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left 
when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether 
they will keep the ways of the Lord to walk in them as their 
fathers kept them or not." And just as I read that passage, 
I'm thinking back to the time when Josh threw the rock through 
the window, and I cannot say with Judgment Day honesty, that's 
what I said. So please forgive me. I don't 
want to misrepresent it, but the concept is the same. I'm 
sure there were times when my children did something wrong, 
and I said to Rebecca, look at what your child has done. That's 
the point where God says, this nation. God says, I'm going to 
bring judgment. I will no longer drive out before 
the many of the nations. I want to test Israel. The test 
is not for God. The test is not God setting it 
out there to see and to wring his hands and wonder if in fact 
they're actually going to. The test is for them. They're 
going to see their failure, they're going to see their dismal response, 
they're going to see their covenant unfaithfulness, and it's hopefully 
going to tutor them to that place where they're crying out to the 
Lord God for deliverance from on high. Every earthly deliverer 
that we see between chapters 3 and 16 are men imperfect delivering 
the people of God. What Israel is being taught is 
that a champion is going to come from heaven, that the Messiah 
of the Lord is going to deliver His people, He's going to be 
perfect and spotless and holy and pure. So all of this is a 
time of tutorial for the nation of Israel. They're going to learn 
something about sin, they're going to learn something about 
righteousness, they're going to learn something about the 
God of the covenant, and they're going to learn something about 
their great need for Messiah Christ. Summary statement, verse 
23, and then chapter 3 is the remaining nations. The plan is 
executed, verses 1 and 2. These are the nations which the 
Lord left, that he might test Israel by them, that is, all 
who had not known any of the wars in Canaan. This was only 
so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught 
to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it. That 
does not mean the strategy involved. It does not mean the wielding 
of weapons. It means the whole concept behind the Holy War itself. God gives them the land. God 
tells them to dispossess the land. God tells them not to make 
covenant with the inhabitants of the land so that they can 
serve Him, so that they can fear Him, so that they can honor Him. 
A description of the nations left is then given and then we 
have a summary statement in verses 4 to 6. They were left that he 
might test Israel by them to know whether they would obey 
the commandments of the Lord which he had commanded their 
fathers by the hand of Moses. Thus the children of Israel dwelt 
among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, 
the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters 
to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons and they 
served other gods. I hope that if you were here 
the last two Wednesday nights, verses 5 and 6 now ring in your 
ears. What were they told in Deuteronomy 
7, 1 to 5? Dispossess the land. Here they're dwelling in the 
land. No, you're not supposed to dwell 
with the inhabitants of the land. You're supposed to dispossess 
the inhabitants of the land. You're not supposed to live among 
the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Jebusites. You're supposed 
to eject them. Because what happens when you 
dwell with them? Then you start to marry with 
them. What happens when you start to 
marry with them? Then you bow with them. What 
began as toleration, this is Davis again, They tolerated these 
inhabitants. What began as toleration became 
apostasy. What seemed so reasonable proved 
lethal. Living with Canaanites led to 
worshiping with Canaanites. Tolerate Baal's people and sooner 
or later you bow at Baal's altar." That's what the author is telling 
us. That's what verses 5 and 6 inform us. And into that mess, into that 
sin, into that depravity, God brings Ophniah. God brings Ehud. God brings Shamgar. What unites a noble Judahite, 
a left-handed dagger-maker from Benjamin, and a non-Israelite 
that likes ox goats? What unites these men is the 
God of heaven and earth who takes these vessels, these instruments, 
and raises them up to deliver His children of Israel. It's 
truly an amazing and a glorious book. A couple of lessons that 
we learned and then we close. First, the wickedness of apostasy. May I just say again, do not 
forget the Lord. Christians, read your Bibles, 
be in church, be in the means of grace, be at the Lord's Supper, 
be at baptism. If you've not been baptized and 
you're a believer, get baptized. Be with Christian people, no 
fellowship of the saints, obey God, keep God before your eyes. Why? Because amnesia produces 
apostasy. You start to live at a distance 
from God and you start to get comfortable with that distance, 
that distance grows and it grows and it grows and it grows. We 
need to stop. We need to return. We need to 
come back. We need to quit playing games. 
We need to not think that I can handle it. I can live this way. 
I'm a maverick. I can do what I want. It's snowing 
out, so I'm not going to go to church. That's just a dig at 
everybody that didn't come this morning. Just kidding to everybody 
out there that didn't come. You see, we start making excuses 
where we never did before. What is that? I mean, you first 
get converted and you got hit by a car, but you drag yourself 
into church. Thirty years in, you get a hint 
of a sniffle, and I can't go to church. Why is that? Because we've grown comfortable 
with distance. Do you like that in your marriage? 
Do you like distance with the people you're closest to? No, 
you're closest to them. Distance is bad. Christians develop 
a devotional life. Read your Bibles. Pray. Read 
good Christian books. Know Yahweh. Because if you don't 
know Yahweh, this is the inevitable end. Apostasy. People don't just 
commit apostasy. You don't just fall into apostasy. It's a series of steps. It's 
a gradation. It's a leaving off this. It's 
a not doing this. It's a not going here. It's a 
not listening to this. It's just becoming dead to the 
things of God. The Christian life, when it's 
all boiled down to, really isn't that difficult. Do what God says. That's it. Pick up and read. Learn of Him. Know Him. The idea is that the knowledge 
of God will help inoculate you against Baal, against the Ashtoreths, 
against pursuing those things that are going to drag your soul 
to hell. If you're not a believer this morning, and you come here 
every Sunday, and you hear the Gospel, and you hear me pray 
about God's sovereignty and about election, or preach a sermon 
that God hides these things from the wise and the intelligent. 
You're trying to work it all out. How can God be sovereign? 
And yet the same guy tells me to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God is sovereign. God does elect. God is predestined. All of that is true. The Bible 
says, believe and you will be saved. He said, well, I can't 
figure all that out. Maybe God doesn't call you to 
figure it all out. Believe the gospel of his son, 
and then you'll start to figure things out. Isn't that the way 
we are? I've got to know everything before 
I believe. No, you've got to believe, and then you'll start 
to learn. That's what Augustine said. The empiricist, the evidence 
seeker says, show me, and then I'll believe. Augustine says, 
believe, and then you'll be shown. Come to Christ. There's nothing 
better. This is a way to know the Lord. 
It's through Christ. We see in this passage the power 
of sin. You'd think a cycle would be 
enough to break the back of sin. You'd think that until you think 
about yourself for a moment, right? How could these people 
in Israel do this stuff? How can we leave a church service 
and go home and do this stuff? How can we, in the midst of a 
church service, do this stuff? How can we, with all the light, 
with all the benefit, with all the grace, the Spirit of Adoption 
Himself in us, do this stuff? It's the power of sin. David 
says, they do not and apparently cannot keep themselves from the 
slavery of sin. They are held in sin's grip. 
They have bail in their blood. Note what Bloch says. Remember, 
here's a great application of this whole section. The children 
of Israel were told to dispossess the Canaanites. They didn't do 
that. Now they're dwelling with the Canaanites. Do you see a 
parallel here between us and them? We're not told to dispossess 
the Chilliwackians. We're not told to dispossess 
the Vancouverites. We're not told to dispossess 
the heathen and the gentile and the pagan and the unbeliever 
in this new covenant era. What is the connection? We are 
Israelites. We are Christians living amongst 
an ungodly people. What are we supposed to do? Leave 
the earth? Fly to the moon? Get a rocket 
ship and go away? No! We're supposed to keep ourselves 
unspotted from the world. Listen to what Bloch says. Peaceful 
coexistence with the world leads to cohabitation and alliance 
with the world, which in turn leads to taking on the religious 
notions of the world. This is the rule. Occasions when 
the influence is in the reverse direction are the exception. 
It does happen out there that a believer does marry an unbeliever, 
and God reaches down in mercy and saves the unbeliever. He's 
good. But because that exception exists, do not argue that I'm 
going to do that, therefore. And then faucet. The commentator 
says, our high calling is to be in the world, not of the world. It is not our being in the world 
that ruins us, but our suffering the world to be in us. And he 
uses this great analogy. What sinks a ship? Is it that 
it's in the water? No, its function is to stay above 
the water. What sinks the ship is when the 
ship lets the water in it. What sinks the Christian? Is 
it that we're in the world? No, it's that we've taken it 
into our hearts. Is it that we live in Chilliwack? 
No, it's that we're bowing with the Chilliwackians, with their 
unbelieving gods. or their idols. It's a great 
point. And then finally, I mentioned 
the first three deliverers, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. We could just 
do another hour if everybody's up to it. Just kidding. Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. Verse 7 of chapter 3. I'm sorry, verse 9. When the 
children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised 
up a deliverer for the children of Israel who delivered them. 
Notice chapter 3, verse 15. If you're familiar with the Ehud 
story, you'll know that some people are offended by some of 
those unsavory details. I mean, you've got a son of Gerah, 
a Benjamite. The word Benjamin means son of 
my right hand. We have a lefty. taking a dagger, 
putting it on his right thigh, coming into the king of Eglon 
and saying, I have a message for you from God. Taking that 
dagger off of his right thigh and plunging it into big fat 
Eglon. That's what the text says. The 
text tells us he was a big fat man. And instead of withdrawing the 
dagger and putting it back into his sheath, and thus getting 
blood all over his garment, he leaves the dagger in that fat 
man, he has no blood on his garment, and he makes his way out of the 
palace without any problems whatsoever. Some people find Ehud to be an 
unsavory character. They say, well, you know God 
ordained that he would do this, but God didn't ordain the way 
that he would do it. Well, you see, the text does 
not give us any indication that God was displeased with Ehud 
whatsoever. Note verse 15. But when the children 
of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up, not a murderer, 
not a liar, not an assassin, but He raised up a deliverer 
for them. Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, 
a left-handed man. And then in verse 31, after him 
was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who killed 600 men of the Philistines 
with an ox goat, and he also delivered Israel. That's the 
point of the book! Amazing grace, how sweet the 
sound, that saved a wretch like me. These people were lost, these 
people were dead, these people were in depravity, and so the 
Lord reaches down, raises up a deliverer, sends them into 
the fray to destroy their enemies, to destroy their oppression, 
and then the children of Israel have peace and rest in the land, 
upwards of 80 years in certain instances. So do not be afraid 
of the book of Judges. Do not be put off by what appears 
to be some unsavory characters. All of these men and this woman, 
Deborah, typify for us the deliverance that will come ultimately. through 
Jesus Christ. And I will end like I ended on 
Wednesday night. These men had their faults. These men had their problems. 
These men, as we see, could not break the back of reigning sin. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could 
do that. Davis says, but he could not rip the idols 
out of their hearts. Here is the tragedy of the people 
of God. Slavery to sin. And no left-handed 
savior, spilling the guts of foreign kings, can release you 
from that bondage. For our real bondage does not 
consist of Moabites, or fat kings, or physical and economic oppression. No left-handed savior can break 
us free from our tyrant. but there is one with nail-scarred 
hands who can and does. The only tragedy in our story 
will be if, having this Savior, we do not cry to Him for help. 
For Yahweh has raised up for us a Savior, Jesus, who shall 
save His people from their sins. Ehud, Othniel, and Shamgar brought 
deliverance, as did Deborah, as will Samson, as will all of 
these brethren that God uses, but they revert back to and become 
more corrupt. We need to break the power of 
reigning sin. And the only means, the only 
power available, the only remedy for such a situation is the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your problem, as Davis said, 
is not Moabites, it's not economic oppression, it's not fat kings 
named Eglon. Your problem is sin. Your remedy 
alone is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible says if you believe 
in Him, you will have everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we thank You for 
Your grace manifested to Israel in this situation. We thank You 
for Your grace manifested to us in each and every situation 
we find ourselves in, God. How we thank You for the power 
of the Gospel, We thank you for the power of the Savior, the 
power of the Spirit, all these things you've conveyed upon us, 
God. May these things encourage our hearts, and may we sing with 
great joy the things, our praises to you, our God. And we ask that 
you would go with us now, grant us safety as we travel, grant 
us a remaining blessed Sabbath, help us to enjoy the things of 
God and to enjoy our families, and bring us together on Wednesday 
night that we may serve and glorify you. And we pray through Christ 
our Lord. Amen.