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Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Spurgeon - "if you turn aside from God’s words by a hair’s breadth you know not where it will end. The rail diverges but a little where the switches are turned, but before long the branch line is miles away from the main track. Backslide a little and you are on the way to utter apostasy. The mother of mischief is small as a midge’s egg: hatch it, and you shall see an evil bird larger than an ostrich. The least wrong has in it an all but infinity of evil. You cannot say to sin, “Hitherto shalt thou go, and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” Like the sea when the dyke is broken, it stretches forth its band to grasp all the surrounding country. The beginning of sin is hike the beginning of strife, and that is said to be as the letting out of water: no man knows what a flood may come when once the banks are burst. So Israel went aside farther and farther from God because they regarded not their way, and did not in all things obey the Lord." Now the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim -- HCSB has a pithy note stating that "Now after Israel's inadequate attempts to "go up" (in warfare) against the inhabitants of Canaan, the Angel of the Lord went up against them." Although not everyone agrees, I think the evidence is overwhelming that this "Angel of Jehovah" represents a "theophany" and specifically an appearance of God (Jesus) in visible and bodily form. John MacArthur agrees writing that this is "One of 3 pre-incarnate theophanies by the Lord Jesus Christ in Judges (cf. Judges 6:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; 13:3-23). This same Divine Messenger had earlier led Israel out of Egypt (cf. Ex. 14:19). (MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word) F. Duane Lindsey agrees writing that "The Angel of the Lord was not merely “an angel”; He was a theophany—an appearance of the second Person of the Trinity in visible and bodily form before the Incarnation. (See Bible Knowledge Commentary) THE Angel of the LORD - Jdg 5:23+, Jdg 6:11+, Jdg 13:3ff+ Ge 16:7-10,13; Ge 22:11,12; 48:16; Ex 3:2-6;Ex 14:19; Ex 23:20; Ex 33:14; Josh 5:13,14; Isa 63:9; Hos 12:3, 4, 5; Zech 3:1,2; Mal 3:1; Acts 7:30-33+) Bochim was probably located between Bethel and Shiloh, some 20 mi from the Dead Sea. Gilgal was the first place Israel had camped after entering the Promised land and there they set up 12 memorial stones for there God rolled away their reproach and there they celebrated the Passover. Gilgal was a place of OBEDIENCE and TRIUMPH but tragically Gilgal later became the scene of idolatrous worship (Hos 4:15; 9:15)! It is also apparently the site (or very close to it) where Joshua met the "captain of the LORD's host" (see above) THOUGHT - I wonder what had happened to the 12 memorial stones (Jos 4:20-24+)? Have you set up "memorial stones" in your family? It's a good thing to do, but it's even better to remember the past glorious acts of God on our behalf! Alexander Solzhenitsyn in an address for another reason made some comments that speak to the road forgetfulness (Jdg 3:7+) that leads from Gilgal to Bochim -"Over half a century ago while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all of this has happened.' Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed 8 volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.'" And so too the forgetfulness of modern man continues to take him further and further from God and closer to the jaws of disaster and the pit of destruction. (Judges 3:7+). H. L. Rossier has an interesting devotional note on Gilgal - At the cross of Christ, in His death, the flesh was absolutely condemned and made an end of for the believer ... but continual returning to Gilgal was a necessity. There must be for the believer the constant realisation before God, what the cross of Christ teaches, that 'the flesh profiteth nothing'. True self-judgment must be maintained if we would know wherein lies the secret of spiritual power by which we mortify our members, which are upon the earth. We may learn this from the victories in the book of Joshua. The Israelites always returned to Gilgal, except in one case (Josh 7:2), where they were defeated" (Meditations on the Book of Judges). Sadly, Gilgal appears only twice in the book of Judges (2:1 and 3:19) and therein is the reason for the spiritual weakness of those days. It held no position of importance or significance in the children of Israel's thinking And he said: The "He" refers to the preincarnate preacher Jesus Christ. As Spurgeon said "it must have been grand hearing to hear an angel preach, and grander hearing still to hear the Angel of the Covenant (Isa 42:6, Isa 47:8, Isa 54:10, Isa 55:3, Isa 59:21, Isa 61:8) plead with the covenanted ones. Oh, what a sermon! What a sermon it must have been! Scarcely ever was such a preacher seen on earth. And yet that sermon did not do its much good as when the seafaring man, Peter, preached at Pentecost. The sermon at Bochim, if I were to sum up its results, ended in disappointment. Be not disappointed, servant of God, if sometimes you seem to fail. Do not say, “I will give it up.” Your bread has been cast upon the waters. Wait a while, for alter many days you may find it (Eccl 11:1). If Israel be not gathered, God will reward you for your toil. It is yours to labor; it is God’s to give the results; and he does not always grant pleasing results to us at once. He did not allot great triumphs to this Angel of the LORD, as we shall have to show you. It was a great congregation; it was a great preacher; and it was a great sermon, and yet there was not a great ingathering. Read the sermon through; and note that though it is a short one it is all the greater for its brevity. Sermons may grow little by being long, and a sermon may he great through being short, if it be big with thought as this angelic sermon was." (From sermon Bochim; Or, The Weepers) I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers: Jehovah - Jesus (see Jehovah = Jesus) is now speaking to Israel and reminding them of two aspects of His faithfulness - delivery from bondage and safe passage to the promised land. In Exodus He declared “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Ex 20:2+) How did He lead them? Moses records… And the LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud (Shekinah glory cloud) by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Ex 13:21-22+) But He led forth His own people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock (Ps 78:52) C H Spurgeon- Brethren, this subject should most readily lead us to repentance,-that God should have dealt so well with us should make us grieve that we have behaved so ill to him. Do I address a backsliding child of God? I do not think that any exercise is more likely to benefit your heart than to remember what God did for you in years gone by. He took you up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock. He brought you out from the iron bondage of your despair and gave you liberty, he brake the yoke of sinful habits, and the chains of furious passions; and now are you wandering away from him? Are you making something else to be the god of your spirit? If so, be ashamed of your ingratitude, and let this first head of the angel’s discourse have power upon your mind. “You use no other friend so ill”; and yet you have not a friend who can be compared with your God. “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice” unto your God, and sin no longer against him." And I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you: After giving them two reminders of His faithfulness, He makes this promise. Yahweh is a covenant keeping God, an immutable truth for which we are all grateful! Notice he says Gen 17:7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. Gen 17:8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Jer 33:20-21 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. (See study of New Covenant in the Old Testament ) Comment: Yes, Israel has been intractably disobedient, stubborn and rebellious for centuries and even in our present century where most of modern Israel is secular, with a smaller per cent of Orthodox but unsaved and with an even smaller percentage of born again Jews (A number that by all reports is definitely increasing in recent years - the year of this writing is 2014). But God is faithful even in Israel's (and our) unfaithfulness. He is faithful especially to His Word, specifically to His Word of Covenant, the covenant which He cut (made) with Abraham and then with Isaac and then with Jacob. The New Covenant is the extension of the Abrahamic Covenant (See Covenant: Abrahamic vs Old vs New). That is why when Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant, He choose to do so in a "Jewish context," as He celebrated the Passover Feast ("Last Supper")… And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Lk 22:20) To wit (that is to say), Jehovah is not finished with the Nation of Israel as is commonly taught in many evangelical churches today. The Church has not replaced Israel! See What is replacement theology?. See also discussion of the "touchstone" passage Galatians 6:16 - Israel of God Jehovah is the Covenant Keeping God! This is good for all of us to remember. Psalm 89:34 My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Spurgeon comments (on Ps 89:34): My covenant will I not break. It is His own covenant. He devised it, drew up the draft of it, and voluntarily entered into it: he therefore thinks much of it. It is not a man's covenant, but the Lord claims it as His own. It is an evil thing among men for one to be a "covenant breaker", and such an opprobrious epithet shall never be applicable to the Most High. Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Alterations and afterthoughts belong to short sighted beings who meet with unexpected events which operate upon them to change their minds, but the Lord who sees everything from the beginning has no such reason for shifting his ground. He is besides immutable in his nature and designs, and cannot change in heart, and therefore not in promise. A word once given is sacred; once let a promise pass our lips and honesty forbids that we should recall it, -- unless indeed the thing promised be impossible, or wicked, neither of which can happen with the promises of God. How consoling it is to see the Lord thus resolute. He, in the words before us, virtually reasserts his covenant and rehearses his engagements. This he does at such length, and with such reiteration, that it is evident he takes pleasure in that most ancient and solemn contract. If it were conceivable that he had repented of it, he would not be found dwelling upon it, and repeating it with renewed emphasis. Jeremiah 33:20 "Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, This is still true -- God has not broken His covenant promises to Israel and will fulfill them fully in the Messianic Age when He reigns on earth. (See notes on Millennium Pt 1 - Millennium Pt 2 - Millennium Pt 3) C H Spurgeon -Then the angel passed on to mention the mercies guaranteed to them: “I said, I will never break my covenant with you.” Oh, that is a blessed theme. If indeed you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord has pledged himself to make you perfect and to bring you home to himself with exceeding great joy. You shall not perish. Christ has said, “I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” You see the two bands-one inside the other, and you inside the middle one, enclosed within the palm of omnipotent faithfulness. Jehovah says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” He will never break his covenant with you. Will you wander away from him who passes by your iniquity, transgression, and sin, and does not let his anger smoke against you for ever-he to whom you are joined in an everlasting wedlock which shall never know a divorce? Oh, cruel heart! cruel heart! Canst thou offend against such love as this? Canst thou break with God when he declares that he will never break with you? The angel pleads this longsuffering, eternally-enduring love, and pleads it well. I know of no two greater arguments than mercy received and mercy promised. Let us not sin against these. May the Holy Spirit hold us fast with these cords of love. THE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF PARTIAL OBEDIENCE, OF SIN, OF EROSION OF SPIRITUALITY Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to stray, It'll keep you longer than you ever thought you'd stay, And will cost you more than you ever dreamed that you would pay! PARTIAL OBEDIENCE TAKES US FROM REJOICING TO WEEPING Gilgal: they set up the altar after crossing the Jordan to commemorate the crossing. So that whenever the children of generations to come would see the altar, they would REMEMBER what God had done there. Jos 4:19, 5:1, 2 (circumcision), v10 (celebrated Passover), God appeared to Joshua at Gilgal Josh 5:13 (Joshua found out that God didn't come to take sides but to take over). In short, Gilgal was the place where the blessings were, where the victories were, where the people were surrendered to do what God had told them to do. Bochim: means mourning or weeping. Do you see the picture of the cost that comes when you choose to begin to entertain sin in your life, becoming partially obedient (that subtle, nominal Christianity that's invaded America) and you move from the place of victory, the place of blessing to the place of mourning, to the place of weeping. THOUGHT- Have you been at Gilgal in your life, only to move to Bochim and God had to come back to you again and bring you out of it? Perhaps you are in need of revival. The psalmist was writing "My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word." (Ps 119:25) If you need revival (most of us do at one time or another), Richard Owen Roberts has an interesting article of revival entitled Judges - Cycles of Revival. Life Action Ministries has some excellent materials you can download that will help you work through personal revival. And Ps 119:25 is a great prayer to pray frequently (integrate it with His Word). Proud People / Broken People - The first step toward a refreshed relationship with God is humility. Once we see our great spiritual need, for His intervention in our lives and for revival in our hearts, we can begin the journey of renewal. This worksheet helps readers uncover heart attitudes of pride that may be preventing them from experiencing revival. Freedom Through Forgiveness - We have been commanded to forgive earthly offenses in the same way that God has forgiven our heavenly offenses (Ephesians 4:32). And yet, how? Does one simply “forgive and forget?” What if the offender doesn’t deserve forgiveness? What if he never asks for it? How can we walk in the freedom Jesus died to provide while still held captive by bitterness and anger? This worksheet is a comprehensive walkthrough of biblical forgiveness principles, set forth in a way that, prayerfully, can lead believers to fully and finally forgive. Put Off / Put On, Repentance - Use this resource to ask God to show you whether your heart attitude toward Him is one of repentance from sin and from dead works of the flesh that cannot please God Clear Conscience - A clear conscience is the ability to say, “There is no one alive that I have ever wronged, offended, or hurt in any way that I have not gone back to and made it right with God and with them.” Sexual Purity, - Few areas in our Christian pilgrimage require more care and attention than the matter of our sexual lives. This exercise is intended to provide practical instruction on how to walk in sexual purity and victory. We suggest our readers set aside a concentrated period of time to process and internalize these application questions and their corresponding Scripture references. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit - This resource explores who the Holy Spirit is, what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and other questions you might have. Related Resources: Covenant: As It Relates to Marriage Covenant: Why Study It? Covenant: Introduction Lesson 1 Covenant: Summary Table Lesson 2 Covenant: The Exchange of Robes Lesson 3 Covenant: The Exchange of Armor and Belts Lesson 4 Covenant: Solemn and Binding Lesson 5 Covenant: A Walk Into Death Lesson 6 Covenant: The Oneness of Covenant Covenant: Oneness Notes Lesson 7 Covenant: Withholding Nothing from God Lesson 8 Covenant: Abrahamic versus Mosaic Lesson 9 Covenant: New Covenant in the Old Testament Lesson 10 Covenant: Why the New is Better Lesson 11 Covenant: Abrahamic vs Old vs New Name change Covenant Meal Friend a covenant word (notes) Covenant memorial Phylacteries in OT Commingling of blood (notes) Common life of covenant Striking of hands Mephibosheth New Covenant in the Old Testament George Bush - Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) 1. An angel of the Lord. As the word ‘angel,’ in its primary import, is a term of office equivalent to messenger, the Jews for the most part are of the opinion that it here denotes a prophet sent by God as a messenger, and that messenger they suppose to have been Phinehas, the high-priest, who was commissioned on this occasion to deliver the ensuing solemn reproof to Israel. This is indeed possible, but the more probable opinion we take to be, that it was neither a human prophet nor a created angel, but the Son of God himself, he who is so frequently styled, in the Scriptures, the ‘Angel of the covenant.’ The evidence of this is found in what he immediately goes on to say of himself;—‘I made you to go up out of Egypt,’ &c. Who but Jehovah himself could or would adopt such language as this? It was not a creature that brought the Israelites out of Egypt; but Jehovah. It was not a creature that made a covenant with them; but Jehovah. It was not a creature to whom they were accountable for their disobedience, and whose displeasure they had so much reason to dread; but Jehovah. As to the circumstance of his being said to ‘come up’ from Gilgal, which is supposed to militate against this interpretation, it rather confirms it; for it was in Gilgal, near to Jericho, that this same divine person had appeared to Joshua as an armed warrior. That he was Jehovah cannot be doubted because he suffered Joshua to worship him, and even commanded him to put off his shoes from his feet, inasmuch as the ground on which he stood was, by reason of his presence, rendered holy. In his conversation with Joshua he had called himself the ‘Captain of the Lord’s host,’ and therefore there was a particular propriety in his appearing now to the people, to inquire, Why they had not carried his orders into effect? and to threaten them that he would fight for them no longer. Besides, at Gilgal the people bad renewed the ordinance of circumcision and the passover, in which they had consecrated themselves to God a fresh, and engaged to serve him as his redeemed people. In coming therefore as from Gilgal, the Angel upbraided them with their base ingratitude, reminded them of their solemn engagements, and humbled them the more for their violation of them. To Bochim. Heb. ‘the weepers.’ Gr. κλαυθμωνες, bewailings; so called by anticipation from the weeping and lamentation, v. 8, that took place there. Where Bochim was situated we are not elsewhere informed, and the probability is, that the place was in reality no other than Shiloh, where the people were now assembled, v. 4, on one of their solemn festivals; for it appears, v. 5, that the sacrifices were offered on the occasion, and we know that, as a general rule, sacrifices were not offered except where the tabernacle and altar were fixed, and this, at the present time was at Shiloh. As to the time when the events recorded, v. 1–11, took place, it was doubtless subsequent to the death of Joshua, though the precise date of it cannot now be ascertained. If in Joshua’s time they had been guilty of the gross delinquency here laid to their charge, he would hardly have failed to reprove them for it, or have said, Josh. 23:8, that they had ‘cleaved unto the Lord their God unto that day.’ The reason for the mention of Joshua’s dismission of the people being inserted in this immediate connection, will be given in our remarks on v. 6. I said, I will never break my covenant. Provided you are true and faithful to yours. The first breach of covenant shall never be laid to my charge. Gary Phillips expresses the main point of this chapter - Although God is always faithful to his children, when we are faithless, he allows us to make our own choices, including choices that bring self-destructive pain upon us. Even so, he does not abandon us, but like the father of the prodigal son is always waiting to enfold us in repentance within his patient, loving arms. (Holman Old Testament Commentary) James Smith - Handfuls of Purpose - “WHY HAVE YE DONE THIS?” Judges 2:1–5 “If Thou hadst not Been stern to me, But left me free, I had forgot Myself and Thee.” —BEN JONSON. The “angel of the Lord” may mean “the angel of His Presence,” that angelic form which makes the presence of the Lord a powerful reality. This the Holy Spirit now does. Wherever He is the presence of God is felt. The journey from Gilgal (rolling away) to Bochim (weepers) may in a moral sense be very short. If we do not walk in the light of His will the distance between our successes and failures will never be very great. We observe here— I. A Work of Grace. This grace was manifested in— 1. A MERCIFUL COMPULSION. “I made you to go up out of Egypt” (v. 1). It is a blessed thing when salvation becomes a pressing necessity. Compelled to forsake our godless ways through the force of constraining grace. It was so with Saul while on the way to Damascus (Acts 9). The compulsion of Almighty love. 2. THE GIFT OF A RICH POSSESSION. “I brought you unto the land” (v. 1). This good land was the land of promise. To Israel it meant freedom, peace, plenty, progress, and power. Typical of the possessions the believer has in Christ Jesus. 3. AN UNFAILING ASSURANCE. “I will never break My covenant with you” (v, 1). The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. God Himself will not alter the thing that has gone out of His lips (Ps. 89:34). We may fail, yet He abideth faithful to His own promise. The bargain will never be broken on God’s side. He cannot deny Himself. 4. A NEEDFUL WARNING. “Ye shall make no league with the inhabitants; ye shall throw down their altars” (v. 2). The inhabitants of the land were bitterly opposed to the purposes of God, therefore the children of God must make no covenant with them. The servants of Christ must in no way identify themselves with that spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience. Their false gods must be thrown down, and the Lord alone exalted. II. A Miserable Failure. “But ye have not obeyed My voice” (v. 2). The failure came in their case, as it often comes in ours, through unbelief. O fools and slow of heart, to believe all that He hath spoken! The voice of God is still in His Word, because His Word is the breathings of the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). The Scriptures are always living and active (see Heb. 4:12, R.V.). To turn away from His revealed will is to close our ears to the voice of God. Be not deceived, God knows when His voice is obeyed. He is personally interested in every individual child of His. How often have we complained of our failures? May not the cause be here: “Ye have not obeyed My voice?” III. A Searching Question. “Why have ye done this?” The “angel of His presence” is jealous for the honour of God. What answer can a disobedient one give to this personal, pointed inquiry? An honest answer would be: “I feared man more than God, and was better pleased with my own thoughts and plans than with His.” Paul’s “Not I, but Christ,” has been changed into “Not Christ, but I.” Ye know that, apart from the presence and power of the Holy Ghost within you, ye cannot live or witness for God as ye ought; yet ye have gone leaning on your own strength and wisdom, and came away defeated. “Why have ye done this?” Ye know that to obey His voice is the secret of heart-restfulness, yet ye have not walked in this light. “Why have ye done this?” IV. An Expressive Answer. They answered not by words, but by deeds. Acts speak louder than words— 1. THEY WEPT. “The people lifted up their voice and wept” (v. 4). The message from him who represented the presence of God had gone home to their hearts. “Why have ye done this?” smote them with the silence of self-condemnation that could only find expression in tears of repentance. It was a heart question that wrung out this heart-melting response. The crowing of a cock sent the same burning question into the heart of self-confident Peter, and with the very same result. “He went out and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75). “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” (2 Cor. 7:10). 2. THEY SACRIFICED. “And they sacrificed there unto the Lord” (v. 5). Sacrificing unto God is the only possible way of redeeming what we have lost by disobedience. The tears that are not followed with self-denying deeds are not very hot. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Ps. 51:17). The broken spirit allows all that is in it to flow out for God. “I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). Judges 2:2 and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land: Ex 23:32,33 34:12-16 Nu 33:52,53 De 7:2-4,16,25,26 12:2,3 De 20:16-18 2Co 6:14-17 But you have not obeyed Me: Jdg 2:20 Ezra 9:1-3,10-13 Ps 78:55-58 106:34-40 Jer 7:23-28 2Th 1:8 1Pe 4:17 what is this you have done: Ge 3:11,12 Ge 4:10 Ex 32:21 Jer 2:5,18, 31-33,36 Related Passages: Exodus 23:32+; “You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. Exodus 34:12-16+ “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 –for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God– 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. Numbers 33:51-53+ "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; 53 and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. Deuteronomy 7:2-4+ and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3 "Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4 "For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you. Deuteronomy 7:16+ “You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. Deuteronomy 7:25+ “The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 7:26+ “You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned. Deuteronomy 12:2+ "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 "And you shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods, and you shall obliterate their name from that place. 2 Corinthians 6:14-17+ Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And as for you, you shall make (karath = cut) no covenant (beriyth) with the inhabitants of this land: (See notes Jdg 1:28, 1:30, 1:33, 1:35) (Dt 20:16-18) This was the first commandment Israel disobeyed. In this context cutting a covenant with the Canaanites would be tantamount to making a peace treaty, a treaty which would entail common worship and intermarriage. Not a "good thing" for God's holy people to do. The LXX version adds "neither shall you worship their gods… destroy their graven images." Don't cut covenant with the enemy (remember covenant speaks of oneness, of identity with the one you are in covenant with). If you do cut covenant it will become a snare in your midst (Ex 34:12). Even godly Joshua "blew it" on this one (Joshua 9:1-27+, which had consequences 2Sa 21:1 - see in depth discussion under topic [scroll down] Covenant Solemn & Binding) Ray
Juízes 2
Spurgeon writes: "Had be let them alone, to be given up to their idols, their case would have been hopeless. For mercy’s sake they must be punished for their transgression; but this was a gracious punishment, that they might not lie and wallow in their transgression and become altogether like the swinish nations that surrounded them. God began to punish them by their own sin. He suffered the Canaanitish nations to grow strong, so that they grievously oppressed Israel. He put the Israelites under the yoke of those nations which they ought to have utterly destroyed. If they would not be conquerors they should be conquered. If they would not lead captivity captive they should be led captives themselves. The Lord laid his blows upon them thick and heavy. But, before he did this, he sent a messenger to rebuke them. It is ever the Lord’s way to have space for repentance ere he executes vengeance. The axes which were carried before the Roman magistrates by the lictors (ancient Roman officers who bore the fasces [fasces = a bundle of rods and among them an ax with projecting blade borne before ancient Roman magistrates as a badge of authority] as the insignia of their office and whose duties included accompanying the chief magistrates in public appearances) were bound up in bundles of rods. It is said that when a prisoner was before the magistrate the lictor began to untie the rods, and with these the culprit was beaten: meanwhile the judge looked in the prisoner’s face and heard his defense, and if he saw reason for averting the capital sentence, because of the repentance which the offender expressed, then he only smote him with the rod, but the axe remained unused. But if, when every rod was taken off, the culprit was still hardened, and the crime was a capital one and clearly proven, then the axe was used; and used all the more sternly because space had been given for penitence, and the rods had been used in vain. When the rod is despised the axe is ready. It is certainly so with God: He waiteth to be gracious, but when patience cannot hope for penitence then justice takes her turn, and her stroke is terrible. (ED COMMENT - Woe! We might all want to read this description over several times until we have a clear concept in our mind's eye of the disciplining rod of the Lord. God is surely not mocked beloved. We are called to be holy - separate from the venomous sinfulness of this present evil age!) (Sermon - Bochim; or, The Weepers) And there they sacrificed to the LORD. The constant urging of the Scripture is that God’s people give their hearts and lives in deep contrition and brokenness of spirit before they observe feasts, fasts, sabbaths or sacrifices. Rote religion can never substitute for purity of heart (Pr 22:11, Mt 5:8+). It would have been more meaningful if it had said they broke down the altars, smashed the sacred pillars (Ex 23:24, 34:13, Dt 7:5), etc. thus bringing forth fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). David a broken, repentant sinner understood what God desired writing "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Ps 51:16-17+) Ralph Davis addressing the question of "repentance" at Bochim writes that "Yahweh Himself addresses Israel, as the repeated “I” shows. Yahweh accuses Israel of breach of covenant (Judges 2:2b) and announces the discipline and judgment they would endure (Judges 2:3). They have now forfeited the promised help in Jdg 1:2, 4+. The primary peril, however, will be spiritual (Jdg 2:3). Note the response. There are tears all over the place. “The people lifted up their voice and wept” (Hebrew, bakah, Jdg 2:4b). The place was even named for their tears — Bochim (“Weepers,” Jdg 2:1, 5). And the tears led to sacrifice (Jdg 2:5b). So far so good. It is usually a good sign when God’s people can still weep, when we can be moved to tears. Would that it would happen more often! We are either too sophisticated, too refined, too hardhearted, or, what’s worse, all of these, to cry over our sins. Yet the text keeps us hanging. There is no neat closing, no answer to “What happened then?” So they wept and sacrificed. What did all that produce? The Angel of Yahweh’s sermon induces weeping, tears, and profound impressions. Does anything go beyond Israel’s tear ducts? Is anything more lasting than water produced here? While a pastor in Wales, Martyn Lloyd–Jones was accused of encouraging emotionalism. Lloyd–Jones’s retort was that “it is very easy to make a Welshman cry, but it needs an earthquake to make him change his mind!” Our response to Yahweh’s accusing word should be more than wet eyes. It is good to be moved to tears but better to be brought to repentance. God wants to produce “good grief” in us (cf. 2Co 7:8-11+). Yahweh’s demand via Joel keeps the perfect balance and needs no hermeneutical doctoring for the church: “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, and tear open your heart, not your garments” (Joel 2:12-13+). (Such a Great Salvation) George Bush - Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) They sacrificed there unto the Lord. They had recourse to the blood of sprinkling for the remission of their sin. Though their weeping was very general and very bitter, so much so as to give a name to the place, yet they did not hope to pacify their offended God with tears. They knew that an atonement was necessary, and they therefore sought him in his appointed way. Would that we might learn from them! Humiliation is necessary, but not sufficient. Tears, even if they were to flow in rivers, could never wash away sin. The blood of atonement is indispensable, without which there is no remission. Nor should the fact be lost sight of here, that the sin laid to the charge of Israel was not of commission, but of omission; not some flagrant enormity, but a lukewarmness and neglect of duty. Yet they saw their need of a sacrifice to atone for that. In like manner, though we should have no guilt imputed to us but that of omission and defect, yet must we apply to the blood of sprinkling, and seek for pardon through that one sacrifice offered for us upon the cross. Israel wept but there was no genuine Repentance - For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. 2 Cor. 7:10. Conviction of sin is best portrayed in the words— ‘My sins, my sins, my Saviour. How sad on Thee they fall.’ Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God—“against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” Conviction of sin, the marvel of forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: ‘I have sinned.’ The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself. The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for ‘the gift of tears.’ If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry. (My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers) In Baffled to Fight Better Chambers adds this note - The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” A man has the power to harden himself against one of God’s greatest gifts. If in order to dissolve a piece of ice, you take a hammer and smash it up, you simply break it into so many pieces of ice; but put the ice out in the sunshine and it quickly disappears. That is just the difference between man’s handling of wrong and God’s. Man’s handling may cause it to crumble, but it is only so much crumbled-up wrong; when God handles it, it becomes repentance, and the man turns to God and his life becomes a sacrament of experimental repentance. Robert Hawker - Poor Man's Evening Portion And they called the name of that place Bochim.—Judges 2:5. Surely it was enough to induce such an effect, when the preaching of an angel informed the people, that the Lord, for their sins, would not drive out their enemies before them. The place might well be called Bochim, and they themselves might bear the name Bochim, weepers. But, my soul, thou hast lately been to a place which is yet more calculated to make it memorable, by weeping, when thou didst attend Jesus at the ordinance of his supper. For there Jesus himself was, and is, the everlasting preacher, who showeth thee his hands, and his side, pierced and streaming with blood, for thy sins. Didst thou not hear him speak to thee himself, in his own words, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son; and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first born?” (Zech. 12:10.) Didst thou not weep in beholding such a sight, in hearing such words, and in meditating on such things? Alas! Lord, my heart is harder than the adamant. But if the eye wept not, say, was not my heart broken? Did I not desire to feel, to mourn, and, with the prophet, to cry out: “Oh! that mine head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night,” in the recollection of my Redeemer’s sufferings, and my sins, the dreadful cause of them? Did Jesus die for me? Did the Son of God offer up his precious soul an offering for me? Was his body broken, and his blood shed for me? For me! a poor, wretched, polluted, hell-deserving sinner? Oh! for grace to make every place a Bochim in the recollection; and especially at the table of Jesus, may my soul always find these ordinance-seasons heart-melting seasons. Here would I frequently attend, to have my soul thoroughly awakened, and my stony heart made flesh. Here would I go, to gather a holy hatred to my sins, which brought Jesus to the cross. Here would I be found waiting, that when any new temptation may arise, I may cry out, with a vehement indignation, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” How can I “crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame?” Precious Lord Jesus! do thou help me to keep the eye of my soul steadfastly fixed on thee, and all the affections of my soul to be going out in desires after thee; to be “always bearing about in my body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of the Lord Jesus may be made manifest in my body!” Judges 2:6 When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. Joshua: Jos 22:6 Joshua 24:28-31 Related Passages: Joshua 22:6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Joshua 24:28-31+ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance. 29 It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Background - This next section Judges 2:6-9 fits best with the farewell address of Joshua in Joshua 24:28-31+ and some feel it summarizes the entire chapter of Joshua 24. When Joshua had dismissed the people: These words appear to be a continuation of Joshua's last charge to Israel in Joshua 24 (see Jos 24:28+). The sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land This period that follows Joshua's death could be subtitled "Generation Degeneration"! Gary Inrig sounds a note of warning about "good starts" (like the one Joshua had given to Israel in the promised land) in the example of the story of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" of Scotland… In 1745, Charles Edward Stuart suddenly appeared at Glen-finnan in the Scottish Highlands. He was a tall, good-looking, young man and an exciting, dynamic leader. The heir of the Scottish kings and queens, Stuart had returned to Scotland to recapture the throne. George II, the British king, was an arrogant, cruel man, who spoke only German; and the Scots hated him. The Highlanders loved their Prince Charles and committed themselves to follow him and dethrone the foreigner. At first they were successful in battle. But, suddenly, at the Battle of Culloden, their dreams came to an abrupt end. The Scots were crushed by the English army, and, although Charles escaped, his troops were slaughtered. The prince found his way to France to plan and dream about the day he would return to take his ancestral throne. He never did. In fact, to meet Charles twenty years later was to confront a tragedy. He had become a hopeless alcoholic, his body and health broken. His life had become a record of disgrace and shame, a long trail of broken marriages, discarded mistresses, and public scandals. His former friends wanted nothing to do with him. The Scots may still sing about their "Bonnie Prince Charlie," but there was very little that was "bonnie" about Charles at the end of his life. The life of Charles Stuart is the story of a great beginning followed by a tragic downward spiral into the slavery of sin. His life seemed to be one cycle of sin after another, taking him lower and lower and lower. Sin, unchecked in our lives, has a way of doing that to us. It is possible to begin brilliantly and end ignominiously. Some Christians are like the Russian satellite that went up on the back of a rocket, but came down like a rock and required a team of searchers in northern Canada to find the fragments. A good start does not assure a successful conclusion.(Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay - archive.org allows you to borrow for an hour) (Bolding added) Ralph Davis - Judges 2:6-3:6 functions as a sort of visitors’–center film for the Book of Judges. It provides the necessary preview for understanding what is happening in the rest of the book, particularly chapters 3-16. This section is a summary which interprets for the reader the significance of the judges’ stories. If you want to understand Judges you must stop here for perspective, to get a handle on what to look for in the upcoming stories and how to understand the various episodes you read. In particular, Jdg 2:6–3:6 will show you what God is doing in the period of the judges — and, for understanding the Bible, nothing could be more crucial than that. (Judges: Such a Great Salvation) George Bush - Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) When Joshua had let the people go. This passage, Jdg 2:6–9, has already occurred in nearly the same words in Josh. 24:29–31+. It seems to be repeated here as a suitable preliminary to the ensuing account of their degeneracy and apostasy. The angel had foretold that the Canaanites and their idols would be a snare to Israel. The writer is now about to show that this prediction was actually fulfilled, and in order to that he turns back and takes a brief retrospect of some previous incidents in their history which, by contrast, would set the enormity of their transgressions in a still more striking point of view. This is according to the common usage of the sacred writers, who, in their narrations, go more by the relation of events to each other, than by their strict chronological order. After being so happily fixed in their several inheritances and having commenced their settlement in Canaan under such favorable auspices, it greatly aggravated their sin, that they should afterwards have fallen away from God, and so grievously disappointed the promise which their fair beginnings held out. Judges 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua: Jos 24:31 2Ki 12:2 2Ch 24:2,14-22 Php 2:12 outlived (KJV): Heb. prolonged days after And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua - Serving the LORD protected the people from serving the idols because one cannot serve two masters (Mt 6:24+). In addition when the knowledge of God and His greatness is preserved in a community, especially by those who have personally experienced God's power, faith is nourished and obedience flourishes. THOUGHT - If we as parents allow our children to grow up without knowledge of God, we serve not only their ignorance and unbelief, but also their destruction. It is the solemn duty of all parents to teach their children and those in their sphere of influence who might be "young" in the Lord, about God and His saving work so that the next generation will know and be saved. The most important school the child will ever attend is the home. The most important and influential theological teachers they will ever (potentially) have are Mom and Dad. And all the days of the elders who survived Joshua It is only when we obey God that we really begin to experience Him personally. We may all about Him but yet we fail to experience fellowship which comes from whole hearted surrender to His sweet will. Moses in Ps 103:7 who knew God's "ways", whereas the children of Israel only knew His acts! there is a big difference. Spurgeon comments on this Psalm 103:7… Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. He made known his ways unto Moses. Moses was made to see the manner in which the Lord deals with men; he saw this at each of the three periods of his life, in the court, in retirement, and at the head of the tribes of Israel. To him the Lord gave specially clear manifestations of his dispensations and modes of ruling among mankind, granting to him to see more of God than had before been seen by mortal man, while he cornmaned with him upon the mount. His acts unto the children of Israel. They saw less than Moses, for they beheld the deeds of God without understanding his method therein, yet this was much, very much, and might have been more if they had not been so perverse; the stint was not in the revelation, but in the hardness of their hearts. It is a great act of sovereign grace and condescending love when the Lord reveals himself to any people, and they ought to appreciate the distinguished favour shown to them. We, as believers in Jesus, know the Lord's ways of covenant grace, and we have by experience been made to see his acts of mercy towards us; how heartily ought we to praise our divine teacher, the Holy Spirit, who has made these things known to us, for had it not been for him we should have continued in darkness unto this day, "Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?" Why hast thou made us "of the election who have obtained it" while the rest are blinded? Observe how prominent is the personality of God in all this gracious teaching -- "He made known." He did not leave Moses to discover truth for himself, but became his instructor. What should we ever know if he did not make it known? God alone can reveal himself. If Moses needed the Lord to make him know, how much more do we who are so much inferior to the great law-giver? Who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel: The Hebrew verb seen (raah - seeing and experiencing) in the Greek (LXX) is the verb ginosko which conveys the sense that this generation knew Yahweh by personal experience. They had seen His miracles. They had seen His power over stronger better equipped armies. And so we see that they learned when they crossed the Jordan, Joshua declaring... "By this you shall know (yada = know by experiencing and can speak of intimacy; Lxx = ginosko - know by experience) that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. (Joshua 3:10-11+) If you ask those who had walked across the Jordan River (which was at flood stage) on dry ground if they "knew" God and His great works what do you think they would say? THOUGHT- Oh how we need to see the mighty deeds of God in our generation… but it all has to do with obedience… if the Joshua the leader had balked and not obediently led them across or if the people had balked and said we're not going across, then they would never have experienced God's miraculous power. Beloved, I ask to give serious attention to this question: Is your disobedience (or even so-called "partial obedience") keeping you from seeing His power in your life? Harness God's promises by immediate, unflinching obedience, stepping out in faith (not sight). In Joshua 6 we see "the great work of the LORD" (Joshua 6:20+) as Jericho's walls (some say up to 18 feet thick) came falling down. Why did they see the power of God? Obedience brought Blessing, as it always does. Because Joshua and company obeyed the commands of God to march around the city, He did exactly what He said He would do. George Bush - Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) All the days of the elders that outlived Joshua. Heb. ‘that prolonged their days after Joshua.’ As these elders might some of them have lived several years after Joshua’s decease, this term should be deducted from the whole period of Israel’s idolatries recorded in this book. Judges 2:8 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. Then Joshua the son of Nun: Jos 24:29,30 Then Joshua the son of Nun the servant of the LORD: LXX of Joshua = Iesous = ''Jesus" How would this fit with the key phrase in Judges ''No king in Israel" (Jdg 21:25+). Joshua death left a leadership vacuum and marked the beginning of the days when there was no king in Israel. Indeed, Joshua was in foreshadowing of Yeshua Who was to come as King of kings and Lord of lords! Joshua earned the title servant of the LORD for he faithfully and obediently carried out the Lord's will. Gary Inrig comments that "This verse teaches an important lesson. One man, committed unreservedly to God and His Word, can make an enormous difference for good in the lives of God's people. One woman, living her life for Jesus Christ, can bring blessing to a whole group of people. If you will trust God and build your life on His Word, you can have a godly influence on your family, student group, or local church. That truth is written many times on the pages of Scripture." (Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay - archive.org allows you to borrow for an hour) (Bolding added) Died at the age of one hundred and ten-- The Greek Septuagint translates died with the verb teleutao which means to finish, to bring to a close, to come to an end or as we might say today "to bring down the curtain" on the "drama" of this great man's life and legacy. Teleutao is from teleo in turn from telos which means goal and makes one think of Joshua's death as attaining a "goal", the goal for which God had created him. How wonderful this would be for every believer to achieve the "goal" for which we were created (cf Eph 2:10+).Joshua had faithfully, obediently run the race with endurance (Heb 12:1+) and crossed God's "goal line". Surely he will hear "Well done, My good and faithful servant." (Mt 25:21) May his tribe increase! Amen. Judges 2:9 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres Jos 19:50 Josh 24:30, Timnath-serah JOSHUA'S BURIAL And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres: This Hebrew word means “extra portion” "portion/image of the sun" and is synonymous with “Timnath-serah,” which means a double portion. The traditional site is at Tibneh, 17 mi NW of Jerusalem. Some scholars suggest that the consonants for Heres (hrs) were deliberately written backwards as Serah (srh) as a reminder of these pagan worship practices. Timnath Serah = Timnath Heres. In the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash - This was in the land given by God to the tribe of Ephraim. George Bush - Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) Buried him—in Timnath-heres. This place is called, in Josh. 24:30, ‘Timnath-serah.’ By transposing the letters of the last word, it becomes, as here, ‘Heres,’ which signifies the sun, and it is not improbable, as the Jews imagine, that it was so called by reason of some memorial, connected with his sepulchre, of the sun’s miraculously standing still at his command. Judges 2:10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. Ge 15:15 25:8,17 49:33 Nu 27:13 De 31:16 2Sa 7:12 Ac 13:36 there arose another generation after them who did not know: Ex 5:2 1Sa 2:12 1Ch 28:9 Job 21:14 Ps 92:5,6 Isa 5:12 Jer 9:3 Jer 22:16 Jer 31:34 Ga 4:8-9 2Th 1:8 Titus 1:16 Related Passages: Psalm 71:16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone. Psalm 71:24 My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long; For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my hurt. Psalm 92:5-6 How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man has no knowledge, Nor does a stupid man understand this: Luke 1:51+ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. Acts 2:11+ Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” Isaiah 63:1+ Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Jeremiah 9:3 “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 22:16 “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares the LORD. Jeremiah 31:34+ “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Galatians 4:8-9+ However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 2 Thessalonians 1:8+ dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Titus 1:16+ They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers - Referring to those who had responded to Joshua's last words in Joshua 24 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” 16 The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 “The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” This godly, obedient generation (who vowed "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods") died. Joshua died in Judges 2:8. And now “that whole generation was gathered to their fathers”. This was the generation that had known victory, blessing, and seen the glory of the LORD. Now abruptly in the middle of the verse we meet the next generation. There is another lesson for all of us (especially fathers) as we ponder the pervasive impact of Joshua's life on the people of Israel - THOUGHT- One man, committed unreservedly to God and His Word, can make an enormous difference for good in the lives of God’s people! One woman, living her life for Jesus Christ, can bring blessing to a whole group of people (Read of Susanna Wesley's influence). If you will trust God and build your life on His Word, you can have a godly influence on your family, student group, or local church. That truth is written many times on the pages of Scripture. (Gary Inrig - Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay - archive.org allows you to borrow for an hour) This begs the question "Will you be that man or that woman?" Another generation after them (Joshua and elders) -- The word for another is 'aher - The adjective is used in both normal situations and in comments referring to Israel's worship of other gods. For example, after giving birth to Seth, Eve declared in Gen. 4:25 that God had appointed, or granted, another seed for her in place of Abel. In Ge 8:10, it says that Noah waited another 7 days before sending the dove out of the ark. Ge 8:12 relates that Noah again waited another 7 days before sending out the dove. Deuteronomy 24:2 talks about a divorced woman becoming the wife of another man. In 28:30, it says that one of the covenant curses involved Israelite males being pledged in marriage to women who would be subsequently raped by other men. In verse 32, it says that Israelite sons and daughters would be given to another people or nation (cf. Dt 29:28). In Deuteronomy 31:18, it says that the Lord would hide his face from his wicked people because they had turned to other gods. (Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary) The Septuagint translates another with the Greek adjective heteros which means another, but of a different kind, a qualitatively different generation specifically in regard to their spiritual condition and heart attitude toward God. THOUGHT - Without LEADERS the past history of God's acts and the future hope based on those acts can be easily forgotten. Lack of leadership and forgetting of history lead to self-centered life where wrong looks right… Black looks White… Upside down looks right sided up! (Jdg 21:25!) Within only one generation after entering Canaan, the Israelites began to practice blatant idolatry. The lesson is clear to all of us -- Even within one lifetime, idolatry is always only a heartbeat away. Each generation must learn and remember what God has done to show He is truly the only God. This means that the parents must teach their children would Who the Lord is and what His works are. If not they are at risk of forsaking God and pursuing ungodliness! Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the best "preventative maintenance" (so to speak) for divine memory loss and the antidote for apathetic living when He gave his parting command to "Make disciples" (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey). Similarly in Paul's parting words to his young disciple Timothy "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (2Ti 2:2+). Who did not know the LORD - Note it does not say they did not know about the LORD, for surely they had some knowledge of Him. The problem was they had no personal relationship with Him, like so many (I fear) in the church today who know about Him but have never been born again! Did not is a sad refrain in the book of Judges (and I fear too often in our lives [including mine!] as believers! George Bush - Which knew not the Lord. Had no practical or experimental knowledge of him; no deep or lively impression of his goodness; no affectionate, grateful, or devout sense of the wondrous manifestations of his power in their behalf. See on Ex. 1:8.Notes, Critical and Practical on the Book of Judges (Judges 2) A SAD GROUP OF "DID NOTS" IN JUDGES did not drive out = Jdg 1:21, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33+ did not know the LORD = Jdg 2:10+ did not listen to their judges = Jdg 2:17a+ did not do as their fathers = Jdg 2:17b+ did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways = Jdg 2:19+ did not remember the LORD their God Jdg 8:34+ did not serve Him = Jdg 10:6+ Know (03045)(yada) has the nuance meaning to "experience in a personal way." The Hebrew is translated in the Septuagint with ginosko which means to know by experience. They had no personal experience with Jehovah! THOUGHT- This third generation of Israel were like so many souls today who profess Christianity thinking that because they KNOW ABOUT Jesus, they have a sure "fire insurance policy," when the fact is they do not TRULY KNOW Him. And the tragic result is that their ignorance will not be bliss! They are among the "many" (Mt 7:22+) who will think they are "okay" with Jesus, but who will hear those horrible words "I never (absolute negation) knew (ginosko) you; DEPART (command in aorist imperative = Do it now! Do not delay!) FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense = habit of your life) LAWLESSNESS." (Mt 7:23+) Why didn't they know Him? One of the main reasons is because they did not obey Him. As alluded to above, they surely knew about Him but they had never experienced Him in a personal way. They had heard the great works but they did not know the Great God Who performed the great works! Their head knowledge never become heart knowledge. In a terse, terrible statement, they forgot God (Jdg 3:7+). We can see this basic principle of the relation between obeying God and knowing God in the words of Jesus in John 7:17 declaring “If anyone is willing to do His will (OBEDIENT), he will know (ginosko) of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself." The third generation had a natural tendency to accept the status quo and to lose the vision of the second generation. The second-generation experience became a secondhand experience for the third generation. Church history is filled with examples of forgetfulness and forsaking God, and, sadly has become the fate of so many churches over the ages, as is flagrantly manifest in many of the once staunchly Biblical mainline denominations like Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians (note - not all, but a large percentage!). In the church today when the parents' fervor for the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the children's formalism it begets the grandchildren's apathy. PASS ON THE BATON - In Joshua 4:22+ Joshua instructs the people "you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground." So what happened to all the godly generation that was alive when Joshua died (Jdg 2:10,11)? Did they not tell their children about the great works of God that the children would learn to fear God forever (Joshua 4:24+)? Or did they tell them and the children were apathetic, hearing but not caring, with the result being that they did not know God or His works. Why might they have been apathetic toward the things of God? It could be that the pleasures of the Canaanite lifestyle were simply too seductive and they couldn't resist and were ensnared by the passing pleasures of the pagan's lust-filled licentious ways. And as Jesus said over 1000 yrs later, one cannot not serve 2 masters, for he will hold to one and despise the other, love one and hate the other (Mt 6:24+). And so when they chose pleasure over God, they served the idol of pleasure and they forgot their God and then forsook their God. And the downward cycle of the book of Judges began. This same declension can occur in any believer's life when they began to be attracted to the godless world's seductive pleasures (passing - Heb 11:25+), and soon the idol of the god of pleasure has usurped the place and power of the God of the universe! Why? Because of the "god of pleasure" doesn't place any restrictions on one's pursuit of pleasure. One becomes his or her own god and that is a deceptive and dangerous path to travel in this short (temporal) life, for the end will be destruction (unless Jesus rescues) in the next life and it will be eternal (cf eternal punishment)! There is a striking parallel in Proverbs 29:18 which could be paraphrased... Where there is no revelation of God's Word the people are undisciplined, out of control (cf Ex 32:25+) and run wild (sounds like Judges 17-21)! But fully satisfied (blessed, happy) regardless of the circumstances is the one who guards the treasure of God's precious word. The importance of "passing the baton" is why Paul was so adamant that Timothy entrust what he had heard to trustworthy men who would then be able to teach others also (2Ti 2:2+). The Word centered, Spirit filled teacher is one of the vital links God uses to pass on the "standard of sound words" (2Ti 1:13+) to the next generation, a call which involves suffering and hardship (2Ti 1:8+, 2Ti 1:12+, 2Ti 1:16+) Daniel Block assesses why there was failure to "pass the baton" - This text is a witness to the apparent failure of the community to keep alive its memory of Yahweh’s gracious saving acts. The priests had failed in their instructional duties (Lev 10:11); and the elaborate system of festivals, memorials, and other customs, designed to pass on the rich spiritual tradition (Deut 6:20) had either lapsed or been reduced to formality. If the Shemaʿ (Dt 6:4) was being recited at all, the following injunctions to the community (Dt 6:5–6) to instruct the children in the fundamentals of covenant faith were obviously regarded more in the breach than in the observance. When people lose sight of God’s grace, they lose sight of God and the sense of any obligation to him. All that follows in the book is a consequence of Israel’s loss of memory. (Judges, Ruth. Vol. 6: New American Commentary - archive.org allows you to borrow this book for an hour at no charge and renew. While you cannot copy and paste, this is still a useful resource.) Gary Inrig sounds a warning call against "second generation" Christianity writing that "In 1963, John Gardner wrote a challenging little book, Self-Renewal. His words are addressed to motivate the renewal of societies and organizations, and he is not writing as a Christian. But he too is concerned with the second-generation syndrome, and his words deserve to be weighed carefully: The renewal of societies and organizations can go forward only if someone cares. Apathy and lowered motivation are the most widely noted characteristics of a civilization on the downward path. Apathetic men accomplish nothing. Men who believe in nothing change nothing for the better. They renew nothing and heal no one, least of all themselves. Anyone who understands our situation at all knows that we are in little danger of failing through lack of material strength. If we falter it will be a failure of heart and spirit.' That applies with even greater force to spiritual things. The challenge of the second generation is dynamic renewal and growth. The danger is apathy and spiritual rigor mortis. Which way are you going? Are you a spectator or a soldier? (Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay - archive.org allows you to borrow this book for an hour at no charge and renew. While you cannot copy and paste, this is still a useful resource.) Had the people remembered Joshua's “farewell speech” given to the leaders and the people of Israel (Jos 23:12-13+) and taken those speeches to heart, they would have known the Law of Moses; for in his final messages, Joshua emphasized the covenant God had made with Israel and the responsibility Israel had to keep it. When you forget the Word of God, you are in danger of forsaking the God of the Word, which explains why Israel turned to the vile, vicious, lascivious, licentious worship of Baal. The majority of the Jews of this new generation were not true believers ("did not know the Lord" and as a result of their disobedience as described in Hebrews 3:18,19+ which emphasizes the relationship of true faith and obedience), and they did not turn to the God of the miraculous deliverance from Egypt under Moses and the victorious conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua. And yet God raised up men (and one woman Deborah), judges who genuinely knew the Lord. THOUGHT- For believers today, the first step away from the Lord is taking your eyes off of Jesus (He 12:2+), failing to guard their heart (Pr 4:23+) and instead being seduced by the "passing pleasures of sin" [He 11:25+] which the world is "drowning" in. Sadly many are like Achan who looked at the spoil that was under the ban of God (Jos 7:21+), which led to coveting, then stealing, then concealing, and eventually loss of life! Do not be deceived [led astray from truth by lusts of the flesh] beloved brethren (Jas 1:16+, Jas 1:14+, cf Gal 6:7-8+). If we do not flee idolatry of the world and youthful lusts (1Co 10:14+, 1Jn 5:21+, 2Ti 2:22+ ,1Ti 6:11+) we naturally (our old fallen flesh "nature") gravitate toward “friendship (affection) with the world” (Jas 4:4NKJV+), which then leads to our being spotted by the world (Jas 1:27+). Then we “love (agapao = sacrificially love) the world” (1Jn 2:15+) and progressively become more and more “conformed" to the corrupt mold of this world and is passing away, even its sensual, sick, seductive lusts (Ro 12:2+, 1Jn 2:17+). This can lead to being “condemned with the world” (1Co 11:32+), the kind of judgment that came to Lot (Ge 19:1-38), Samson (Jdg 16:1-31), and Saul (1Sa 31:3,4, 1Sa 15:35). Nor yet the work which He had done for Israel - They did not even know of God's mighty deeds [see related passages]. Recall of God's mighty deeds should be a frequent practice, for as men see the Lord high and lifted up, and thus have a proper opinion of His holiness and majesty, then they are prepared to place themselves in proper perspective, bOWED down before His holiness, not to mention that it provides a great spiritual "antidote" for forgetfulness and forsaking God! THOUGHT - O God, how we need men of the Book today, emboldened with Your Spirit O Lord, to speak forth about Your great and mighty deeds which You have done and will do again. Lord, let this tribe of godly, discerning men like those of the tribe of Issachar [1Chr 12:32] increase even in our day of apathy and anemic believism, while America rots away at her core. For Thy marvelous, mighty Name's sake Lord God. Amen. Ps 111:2 Great are the works of the Lord; They are studied by all who delight in them. Spurgeon's comment: The works of the LORD are great. In design, in size, in number, in excellence, all the works of the Lord are great. Even the little things of God are great. In some point of view or other each one of the productions of his power, or the deeds of his wisdom, will appear to be great to the wise in heart. Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Those who love their Maker delight in his handiwork, they perceive that there is more in them than appears upon the surface, and therefore they bend their minds to study and understand them. The devout naturalist ransacks nature, the earnest student of history pries into hidden facts and dark stories, and the man of God digs into the mines of Scripture, and hoards up each grain of its golden truth. God's works are worthy of our researches, they yield us instruction and pleasure wonderfully blended, and they grow upon, appearing to be far greater, after investigation than before. Men's works are noble from a distance; God's works are great when sought out. Delitzsch reads the passage, "Worthy of being sought after in all their purposes," and this also is a grand truth, for the end and design which God hath in all that he makes or does is equally admirable with the work itself. The hidden wisdom of God is the most marvellous part of his works, and hence those who do not look below the surface miss the best part of what he would teach us. Because the works are great they cannot be seen all at once, but must be looked into with care, and this seeking out is of essential service to us by educating our faculties, and strengthening our spiritual eye gradually to bear the light of the divine glory. It is well for us that all things cannot be seen at a glance, for the search into their mysteries is as useful to us as the knowledge which we thereby attain. The history of the Lord's dealings with his people is especially a fit subject for the meditation of reverent minds who find therein a sweet solace, and a never failing source of delight. Gary Inrig explains that there are 3 main reasons the second generation failed… 1. They were satisfied with the status quo. After Joshua had led the people in some victorious assaults on the land of Canaan, God came to him and said, "Joshua, you are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed." Then, through Joshua, God gave orders to each of the tribes to take their territory from the Canaanites. The first generation did conquer parts of Canaan, but they left pockets of the enemy untouched. Then the second generation came along. Their reaction was, "Why bother? We have all the land we need. Those Canaanites are not so bad. We can get along with them." God had given them a command to move out and take the land, but they refused to move out in faith. They were content and comfortable with the status quo. There has never been a first generation, no matter how great it is, that conquered all the land, that has been all God wants it to be. But the great temptations are to believe that their experience is either the standard for our experiences or that their ideals are beyond our expectations, and we should settle for something less. That is wrong. God did not plan for the experiences of previous generations to be a diving board from which we go down, but to be a foundation on which we are to build. It is Satan's lie to make us believe that the status quo is all there is. His strategy allows us to say that it does not matter that the Canaanites have the valleys, as long as we have the high country… The first sign, then, of the second-generation syndrome is complacency about the status quo. Watch out for it! The second cause of the syndrome is equally dangerous, one God warned about years before it happened. 2. They took God's blessings for granted and did not acknowledge Him. In Deuteronomy 6:10-12, God issued a warning to His people that still speaks to us, especially in the affluent West… The Lord God does not command us to give thanks because it makes Him feel good, but because it does us good. Praise, worship, thanksgiving, and acknowledgement of God's blessings are the greatest protections against the second-generation syndrome. The solution to the problem is not a joyless asceticism which turns its back on God's blessings. As Paul reminds us, "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude" (1Ti 4:4). Our attitude toward our blessings and possessions is one of the most determinative factors in our spiritual health. To be ungrateful about grace is not only foolish, it is dangerous. We need to recognize the subtlety of our sinful hearts. In our desperation, we call upon God to meet our needs, and, in His infinite grace, He does. Then, with a characteristic display of spiritual amnesia, we begin to take the credit for God's blessing. Israel looked at the land they possessed and said, "Look at what we did!" They became man-centered in their view of life, and, by their attitude of self-congratulation, they sowed the seeds of self-destruction. That is why the Word of God commands us to give thanks in everything. (1Th 5:18+). This is God's expressed will for every Christian. As believer-priests we are to "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (He 13:15+). It is essential then, in our personal lives, in our families, and in our fellowship in the Body to cultivate and nourish a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. Apathy dies where praise flourishes. 3. They neglected God's Word. The third cause of the second-generation syndrome is painfully obvious in Judges. It is astonishing to discover almost no reference to the study of Scripture in this book. What was so central in Joshua is peripheral in Judges. The people possessed Scripture but chose to ignore it. It is almost as if it were not written at all. Ritually, the people did many of the things the Law required, but their obedience was based on tradition, not on personal biblical conviction. There is an enormous difference between a direct and an indirect relationship to Scripture. An issue comes up in conversation, and two people give exactly the same answer. But on the lips of one, the answer is hollow. He is peddling secondhand convictions, something he has heard from parents or preachers or friends. The other person says the same thing, but his answer rings with the authority of personal conviction. He has been in the Word himself, studied and prayed about the matter, and heard the Shepherd's voice. That Christian know the fresh dynamic experience of walking with Jesus Christ. Beware of secondhand convictions and secondhand experiences. Don't neglect the Word of God! ((Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay - archive.org allows you to borrow this book for an hour at no charge and renew. While you cannot copy and paste, this is still a useful resource.) Inrig leaves out the most critical failure (In my humble opinion) - The first generation failed to pass the baton to the second generation! (2Ti 2:2+) Dale Ralph Davis on the attraction of Baal worship and while it is a bit "PG-13," from my reading of the Canaanite's "religion," what Davis says is spot on. The Canaanites gods were not like our God. Davis explains "Baal was the god of storm and fertility, and, for the Canaanites, of course, fertility was the name of the game—fertility of crops and livestock and family. Baal, nature god that he was, naturally had his female consort, Ashtoreth or Ashtart. 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 sexual 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 Canaanites practiced ‘sacred’ prostitution as a part of their worship. A Canaanite man, for instance, would go to a Baal shrine and have intercourse with one of the sacred prostitutes serving there. The man would fulfill Baal’s role and the woman Ashtart’s. The idea was that the copulating of the worshiper and of the holy whore would encourage the divine couple (Mr. and Mrs./Ms. Baal) to do their thing and thus the rain, grain, wine, and oil would flow again. Through sacred prostitution it was possible to assist, to encourage, and bring on the great orgasm of Baal in the sky; thus Baal would make ‘all things new.’ However, nothing would happen unless the fertility powers were properly worshiped. (Here, incidentally, is the great divide between paganism and biblical faith; in paganism the gods must be coerced rather than trusted; see Mt 6:7–8.) (ED: AND OF COURSE THIS COERCION IS ALL FICTIONAL). If we turn on our imagination lights we can readily understand how Israelites would be lured toward Baal worship by the Canaanites they had allowed to remain in the land. (ED: Note the command in 1Co 6:18+) One can almost hear a helpful Canaanite trying to talk a little religion—and "sense"—to his Israelite neighbor: ‘O yes, having Yahweh who brings you out of Egypt, who makes Pharaoh cry ‘Uncle,’ who divides the Jordan—all that is fine; and I’ve got nothing against this Yahweh, mind you; but here in Canaan it’s not always the big bang that matters but getting into the rhythms of nature, I mean trying to manage the day-to-day situation with crops and flocks and so forth. Naturally, I might be able to help you know some of our secrets. Maybe you and your son would like to come with me to the high place for our midweek service?’ (See Ps 106:34-40) We should ask why Israel caved in to Canaanite faith and practice. Can we see any clues that may explain why Israel ‘forsook Yahweh’ (vv. 12, 13)? The reader should remember that I have called this section ‘the continuing emergency of our faith,’ for the conditions that fostered Israel’s faithlessness prove as lethal to God’s people in any age. For one thing, the Israelites maintained no distinctive separation from the paganism surrounding them. Here we hark back to Jdg 1:27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 (see Ps 106:34–35). They did not drive out the Canaanites who remained after Joshua’s conquest. (See the discussion in the previous chapter.) In Israel’s case, God required the most radical separation—the peoples in Canaan must be eradicated, so polluted was their life and culture (Lev. 18; Deut. 9:4ff.). Israel did not do this and so lived with and chummied up to the Canaanites, to Israel’s destruction. Israel failed to properly combat a godless culture. God’s people in our day have no revealed mandate to swing the actual sword of God’s justice at contemporary pagans. But the principle remains—we must retain a distinct separation from our culture while mounting an active opposition to it, else we will blend with it. We are still called to this separation from and combat with our own godless culture. Time was when we used to smile a bit at the fundies who denounced television and the cinema (I mention these because they are very ‘Canaanite’ in their sexual preoccupation), but the more recent pornographic explosion has sobered us. Celluloid is a powerful cultural medium, fully as dangerous to the Christian mind for what it suggests as for what it preaches, as perilous in what it finds laughable as in what it seriously propounds. But that is simply one aspect of our secularised culture. The church needs not only saints who live godly lives but also saints who develop godly minds and thereby critique and expose the whole gamut of the godless culture in which we live, minds that can not only recognise false doctrine (whether it comes via advertising, education, or government pronouncements) but also unmask the assumptions behind Antichrist’s propaganda. Is this not our mandate? ‘Instead of being moulded to this world, have your mind renewed, and so be transformed in nature, able to make out what the will of God is, namely, what is good and acceptable to him and perfect’ (Rom. 12:2 Moffatt). One word more. If the church is going to do this we must cease thinking that God calls only missionaries and pastors. We must ask God to call believers to be artists, journalists, politicians, and historians. That is, if we are to produce an effective counterculture we must begin by holding that all of life belongs to Yahweh (Baal has no royal rights at all in any compartment of Yahweh’s universe). Our congregation has produced a brochure which we give to people we visit, part of which summarizes our beliefs. Among our essential convictions we include that ‘God rules over all of life: nothing is outside his dominion—whether business and politics, economics and education, science and sex, history and harvests, art and affliction, music and marriage. All of life is holy and must be submitted to his reign.’ That will not solve our cultural problem. But if we make any progress it must begin with that conviction. If we assume Baal has a corner on farming and sex, then we have already given the crown rights of Jesus to Antichrist. Another cause of Israel’s apostasy was the lack of experiential religion in the succeeding generation. As Jdge 2:10 says: ‘All that generation was gathered to its fathers as well; then another generation arose after them who did not know Yahweh nor even the work he had done for Israel.’ When we contrast this description with that of the previous generation ‘who had seen all the great work of Yahweh’ (v. 7), we might surmise that the problem was ignorance, that the next generation did not know about Yahweh and his works. But that is surely incorrect (or incomplete). It was not that they did not know about Yahweh but that they did not know Yahweh. The ‘they did not know Yahweh’ of verse 10 is parallel to the same clause in 1 Samuel 2:12, where it describes the two raunchy sons of Eli, who were, unfortunately, priests at Yahweh’s sanctuary. And ‘they did not know Yahweh.’ That does not mean they did not know about Yahweh (obviously they did) or that they were ignorant of his mighty acts according to Israel’s creed (surely they were not). Rather it means that they ‘had no regard for’ (RSV) or that ‘they cared nothing for Yahweh’ (JB). So in Judges 2:10, this next generation ‘did not know Yahweh’ or his works, that is, they did not acknowledge Yahweh; Yahweh and his works didn’t matter to them, had no influence over them. That is a perennial peril. One generation can rejoice in a living faith, enjoy intimate communion with God, revel in the kingship of Jesus over daily life, even delight to teach their faith to those closest them; yet the next generation may come along and care nothing for all that. Not that they will formally repudiate everything. It’s just that they will know about the Lord rather than know the Lord. They may remain within the church in their cold, dead, formal way. But there is no fire in their ‘faith,’ no warmth in love, no joy from hope. What Paul calls ‘the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’ (Phil. 3:8 RSV) sounds utterly foreign to them. They cannot fathom it. Our children must not merely ape our faith—they need to be converted.10 Israel’s loss of historical memory also helps to explain her apostasy. It is a poignant report we read: ‘So they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they went after other gods …’ (Jdg 2:12). The very description unmasks Israel’s ingratitude. Yahweh is called the ‘God of their fathers.’ There is no reason to limit ‘their fathers’ to the exodus generation; the term may well be intended to include the patriarchs. All the pre-exodus stories (beginning with Gen. 12) highlight Yahweh’s faithful preservation of his fragile people (see Ps. 105:12–15). Otherwise there would have been no Israel. Moreover, Yahweh is the one ‘who brought them out of the land of Egypt.’ What but the death and resurrection of the Messiah could compare with that? That was Yahweh’s mighty act in behalf of a hopeless people. Israel abandoned this God! What gross ingratitude! Yet the writer does not make his point by hurling an exasperated prophetic invective at Israel but by simply describing in cold but accusing print the God they had forsaken. The Bible is clear: amnesia produces apostasy. That is why Scripture is so frantic about the church not forgetting what Yahweh has done for us (see Deut. 4 and 6). So Jeremiah diagnosed faithless Israel: They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells? (Jer. 2:6RSV) When we allow either his quiet keeping or his dramatic rescue to slip into oblivion we are on our way toward Baal. Nor is it merely some ancient Israelite problem. The apostle warns us of false teachers who will be ‘denying the Master who bought them’ (2 Peter 2:1RSV, italics added). Which is good reason for us to partake gratefully and frequently of the Lord’s Supper. Lest we forget. (Such A Great Salvation. Grand Rapids: 1990.) Secondhand Faith Another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. —Judges 2:10 Today's Scripture: Judges 2:6-12 When I was growing up in Singapore, I remember that some of my school friends were kicked out of their homes by their non-Christian parents for daring to believe in Jesus Christ. They suffered for their beliefs and emerged with stronger convictions. By contrast, I was born and raised in a Christian family. Though I didn’t suffer persecution, I too had to make my convictions my own. The Israelites who first entered the Promised Land with Joshua saw the mighty acts of God and believed (Judg. 2:7). But sadly, the very next generation “did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel” (v.10). So it was not long before they turned aside to worship other gods (v.12). They didn’t make their parents’ faith their own. No generation can live off the faith of the previous generation. Every generation needs a firsthand faith. When faced with trouble of any kind, the faith that is not personalized is likely to drift and falter. O for a faith that will not shrink Though pressed by many a foe, That will not tremble on the brink Of any earthly woe! | —Bathurst If your faith is not personalized, it’s not faith. Judges 2:11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals, Then the sons of Israel did evil: Jdg 4:1 6:1 13:1 Ge 13:13 38:7 2Ch 33:2,6 Ezr 8:12 and served the Baals: {Baalim,} or lords, seems to have been the common appellation of the Syrian gods; whence we have Baal-peor, Baal-zebub, etc. Jdg 3:7 10:6,10 1Sa 7:4 1Ki 18:18 2Ch 28:2 33:3 Jer 2:23 9:14 Ho 2:13-17 Related Passages: Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. THE EVIL PRACTICE OF BAAL WORSHIP Then - Then marks progression in the narrative. It is almost as if they were waiting for the last godly elder to die so they could pursue their evil path. There may have been some delay but clearly the inspired word implies it was not a lengthy period. The sons of Israel did evil (an intentional evil which hurts those around) in the sight of the LORD - All evil is in God's sight! This alone should serve as a significant impediment to doing evil! They were not impeded by the fact that God's eyes could see the evil because "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Hebrew word for evil is ra' (Lxx = poneros) which also describes the Tree of knowledge of good and evil! (Ge 3:5). The phrase did evil is common in Judges and also 24x in 1 & 2 Kings, increasing in frequency in 2nd Kings! It is as if the closer they got to judgment, the more evil they became. Just a thought to ponder. Note it is also interesting that this phrase "did evil" is not found in 1 & 2 Samuel. Could it be that the reason is that the leaders were godly men like Samuel and David? Note also that the evil began with Baalim (plural) but progressed to the point documented in Judges 10:6! As noted above the Septuagint for evil is poneros which has several shades of meaning: (1) The effort: toilsome (a lot of sweat goes into evil conduct!), grievous and painful. (2) The intrinsic value of this evil: useless, worthless, of no good whatsoever. So you work hard all day… if you’re working at evil it’s worth nothing. (3). The effect: it always means that which is injurious and harmful to others. So when Judges 2:11 says the Israelites did evil the picture is that they worked hard at it, it was useless, worthless and of no good and it harmed everybody that was around them… it was an injurious lifestyle. What a picture… the result of them doing what was ‘’right in their own eyes’’ which in fact was evil! Did evil in the sight of the LORD - sad key refrain in the book of Judges - Jdg 2:11, Jdg 3:12+, Jdg 4:1+ Jdg 6:1+, Jdg 10: 6+, Jdg 13:1+ Did evil - 41 - Jdg. 2:11; Jdg. 3:12; Jdg. 4:1; Jdg. 10:6; Jdg. 13:1; 1 Ki. 14:22; 1 Ki. 15:26; 1 Ki. 15:34; 1 Ki. 16:25; 1 Ki. 16:30; 1 Ki. 22:52; 2 Ki. 3:2; 2 Ki. 8:18; 2 Ki. 8:27; 2 Ki. 13:2; 2 Ki. 13:11; 2 Ki. 14:24; 2 Ki. 15:9; 2 Ki. 15:18; 2 Ki. 15:24; 2 Ki. 15:28; 2 Ki. 17:2; 2 Ki. 17:11; 2 Ki. 21:2; 2 Ki. 21:20; 2 Ki. 23:32; 2 Ki. 23:37; 2 Ki. 24:9; 2 Ki. 24:19; 2 Chr. 12:14; 2 Chr. 21:6; 2 Chr. 22:4; 2 Chr. 33:2; 2 Chr. 33:22; 2 Chr. 36:5; 2 Chr. 36:9; 2 Chr. 36:12; Neh. 9:28; Isa. 65:12; Isa. 66:4; Jer. 52:2 Five terms, simply but succinctly, capture the pattern of these verses. They also summarize the period of the judges because they describe the repeated cycle of 300-350 years. The terms are Sin, Servitude, Supplication, Salvation, Spiral downward. It is as if the children of Israel refused to acknowledge the truth that God was teaching them, and, because they would not learn from the past, they were forced to relive it. Wayne