Help Is on the Way

July 10, 2011

Lesson: Judges 2:11-20

Key Verse: Judges 2:17

Introduction

Psalm 96 impels us to sing a new song: “Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people” (96:1-2). All of the earth is called to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” The Psalm goes on to implore us to “Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.” Therefore, the heavens are to rejoice and the earth is to be glad,” that the Lord would so judge. This rejoicing is to come before the Lord: “for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”

Christ Jesus, the divine Son of God, carries the scepter of righteousness and truth. He reigns today. He reigns, and the Holy Spirit applies this reign to our lives, even to that of nations. Did not our Lord promise the coming of the Spirit who would be called the “Comforter” (John 16:7-11)? He, in the name of Christ the King, reproves “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” The unbelief of the world will not go unpunished, neither will the work of Christ and His righteousness go unattended, nor will the prince of this world be not judged.

Therefore, let us come to the times of the judges with the King of kings ever before us. It is His reign that the times of the judges speak, an evidence of the reality of God’s sovereign comfort which comes only through His righteousness and truth. What is true in the time of David was true in the time of judges, and is true in our time: The Lord comes “to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”

His Sight –Judges 2:11-13

It is written that the people of God “served the Lord all the days of Joshua” (Judges 2:7). Joshua was Moses’ minister (Joshua 1:1). Moses himself was excluded from entering the promise land, while Joshua was set apart as his successor. He was qualified as the people’s leader by the laying on of the hands of Moses. Joshua’s ministry was to lead the people in the conquering of Canaan, and in ordering the division of land among the tribes of Israel. It was a time of great blessing for the people of God, as they were encouraged to be faithful by God’s ambassador. However, a new generation came after the death of Joshua, “which knew not the Lord, nor the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).

As with all nations, and churches, which turn from their Deliverer, they purposefully forget Him in whom they have life; they do “evil in the sight of the Lord.” God gives two characteristics of evil which help us in our prayers to be faithful: One that all evil is done in the sight or presence of the Sovereign Creator. That is why people must cry out, “there is no God!” The humanist must maintain a separation of Christian faith and its teaching from the classrooms of the schools. That is why this statement is made, “All scientists believe that evolution is a fact.” Two, that to do evil a different god must be honored and served. In humanism man becomes a god, and works the same false magic as do the gods made of wood and stone, or the false gods of the cults. It is true what our Savior has taught, that no “servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Luke 16:13). You cannot serve both God and the idols of this world. This also gives us a clue to God’s creation: All men, male and female, are servants before their Creator.

Therefore, it follows that Israel “forsook the Lord God,” who had delivered them from Egypt, to follow other gods. Necessarily it follows that God, as their Creator and Savior, is provoked to anger, for they abandoned the Lord to served Baal.

Discussion: What is the nature of evil in light of what we witness in society and church today?

His Anger –Judges 2:14-15

Not only does God express His anger against evil, but His anger was “hot against Israel.” The word ‘hot’ means to burn, to glow, as the Lord zealously turns His anger against His people. God uses the word anger here to help us understand that His anger is real and directed against the people. The word ‘anger’ refers to the nostril, giving us a picture of one whose emotions are seen in the movement of a nose through heavy breathing. We can, in other words, grieve the Spirit of God. Though His wrath is directed toward the unrighteous with truth and righteousness, it is with control and without prejudice.

God’s anger is expressed in action. He delivers the people into the hands of their enemies. Their enemies become the instrument of God’s punishment. The people could try with all their earthly strength to defeat the enemy, but whatever they did, it was the hand of the Lord which was against them. We try to soften the blow of God’s anger when we say that God hates the sin but loves the sinner, as if that takes away the punishment due to us. We must remember that we are in God’s tender care by His tender mercies. Christ took that punishment for us by taking our sin and guilt upon Himself. The Father’s anger was discharged against Christ so that we might have life.

Discussion: How do we see God’s anger, as real or as a symbol?

His Deliverance –Judges 2:16-18

“Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges.” His grace is beyond our understanding. For this we must always be in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. God’s purpose of giving judges was for the deliverance of His people, not by any good works in them, but by His good pleasure (Luke 12:32, Eph. 1:3-9). The judges were God’s instruments of deliverance, a picture of our deliverance out darkness into His marvelous light, through the Son whom the Father has sent.

Would we laugh at the foolishness of the people because “they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods”? How careful we must be to listen and obey the Word of God. For we like to rationalize, to see tiny loopholes to help us do what seems right in our own eyes. Let us pray and study earnestly, with repentance and reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

It was the Lord who raised up the judges; and it was He who was with them. Their cries revealed much of their anguish in their punishment. They had received justice at the hand of the Lord. They would now receive mercy upon mercy. They would be delivered from their enemies. The Lord rose up judges “to excite them to love in return by this manifestation of His love and mercy, and to induce them to repent” (Keil & Delitzsch).

Discussion: What are some of the reasons God sent judges to His people?

Their Way –Judges 2:19-20

Why did the people of God turn away from their Lord at the death of His ambassadors? Does this not remind us that we need to be continually on our guard? The cycle of judges was that “when the judge was dead” the people returned to their old ways, corrupting “themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them.” God calls their own doings as “their stubborn way.” Another characteristic of sin is stubbornness, the obstinate nature of evil; as God speaks of knowing “that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass” (Isa. 48:4).

Again the Lord is hot against Israel. The reason is that the people had transgressed His covenant which He had commanded; i.e., they had not listened to His voice. It is easy not to listen, just use our Bibles as a show piece on the coffee table; pray once in a while but do not study His communication to us, etc. It is always a question of our way or His when it comes to obedience or disobedience. To hearken or hear is a glorious demand upon our fellowship with our Lord. It means to give our undivided attention. “Hear me” is a necessary command of Scriptures. It is Christ who says, “He who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:29). He who has an ear is one who has been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ!

The raising up of judges is not prompted by the people but by covenant promise of the Lord, “I will never break my covenant with you.” The dry bones that rattled noisily against the Lord would find, by the Spirit’s grace, a suit of flesh which could repent and know the wonder of the mercy of their Deliverer: “the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.”

And the cycle begins. The people continued after other gods, turning from the paths of their fathers, whereby they obeyed “the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.” Yet the Lord raised up His judges. He would be with them, to deliver His people “out of the hand of their enemies.”

It is recorded that the Lord sent judges “for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.” The Lord’s purpose and will is accomplished through the sending of oppression, to bring about a change of heart, of repentance. The change in the heart of God is within His will that His people repent. When there is repentance, our Lord removes the curse and responds with mercy. God’s change of heart is in accord with His covenant promise which includes man’s change of heart through repentance. This change of heart on the part of God reflects this truth: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

We see that when the judge, whom God chose, died, the people again “corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them.” And the anger of the Lord rose “hot against Israel” for they transgressed His covenant and would not listen to His voice. Again the Lord places them under the oppression of the evil nations, that through them He “may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein … or not.”

Obedience to the Law of God must be seen as the way of righteousness in which the people of God should walk. The law must not be relegated to another age; it must be applied by the Christian as well as by nations. The question of whether we will receive a blessing, and therefore deliverance from evil, rests upon our obedience to the word and law of God. But, thanks be to God for His marvelous gift of His Son, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Cor. 1:10).

Discussion: Why did God raise up Judges?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2011 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.