Judges 1-2

Thursday Evening Bible Study

September 8, 2011

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision

The book of Deuteronomy ends with the death of Moses and the beginnings of the leadership of Joshua. The wandering in the wilderness is over and it’s time to take the Promised Land.

The book of Joshua records the conquering of the Promised Land of Canaan. Through their battles they conquer 31 kings over a period of about five years.

Through Joshua’s leadership, they had done the larger, overall job of taking care of the main resistance and establishing themselves as the dominant force in the land.

(Jos 21:43–45 NKJV) —43 So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

The main battles were over, but there were still pockets of resistance left, still places to be conquered.

It’s kind of like the battle in Afghanistan.

Eight years ago President Bush came out with his “Mission Accomplished” statement and we thought the battle was over in Afghanistan.

Though a new government has been established, there are still battles today.

The book of Judges records the struggles that the various tribes of Israel had in taking charge of the specific territories assigned to them.

The book of Judges gets its name from the men whom God used to help the nation during the period between Joshua and the kings. This would be a period of four hundred years.

The judges themselves were at times men of war, like Gideon and Samson, at other times they were prophets, such as the prophet Samuel.

There was even a woman who served as a judge, Deborah.

These people were not kings as such. The nation considered God to be their king, and that God used a specific man to bring help and leadership to the nation at various times.

The book of Judges is also one of the most frustrating books of the Bible.

In it you see the constant roller coaster ride of the people’s relationship to the Lord (Play “roller coaster” video).

Sometimes roller coasters are lots of fun, but sometimes they are scary.

For Christians, people will be following the Lord for a period of time, then they will fall away. Then they will come back, then they will fall away.

We see the same struggles in our nation today. We had a time during the Jesus Movement when many turned to God in America. Yet today America has gone very, very far from God.

We see the same struggles in our own personal lives.

Part of the process of maturing as a believer is to learn how not to fall away from the Lord so often.

We may want to get upset with the Israelites for having these forty year cycles of following and falling away from the Lord, but for some of us the cycle is every forty days.

Note: Some of the events recorded in Judges are not going to be in chronological order.

There aren’t a lot of time markers in each section. For example, in Judges 20:28 (at the end of the book), Phinehas is mentioned as being the high priest. Yet he was also the high priest at the time of the beginning of the book. We know that the book of Judges covers roughly four hundred years, and Phinehas didn’t live that long.

Judges 1

1:1-26 Canaan Conquest Continues

1:1-7 Judah conquers Bezek

:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?”

:2 And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

:2 the LORD said

How did God speak?

The Jewish historian Josephus records that Phineas, the grandson of Aaron, was the high priest at this time –

After the death of Joshua and Eleazar, Phineas prophesied, that according to God’s will they should commit the government to the tribe of Judah, and that this tribe should destroy the race of the Canaanites; for then the people were concerned to learn what was the will of God.

:3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.

:3 Simeon

The tribe of Simeon was given their tribal land mixed into the borders of the tribe of Judah.

They didn’t compete for land, they cooperated and worked together.

Lesson

Working together

Things go a lot easier when we learn how to work together.

(Php 2:1–4 NKJV) —1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

We are not in competition with the Baptist church down the street. We are not competing with Eastside. We don’t compete with our landlords Friends in Christ.

We are all on the same team.

Sometimes when you meet other people and find out they are Christians (like at work), we can tend to start comparing our churches. We can feel like we need to make our church sound better than their’s.

We are all on the same team.

We all need to be working together to reach a lost world for Christ.

Sometimes people don’t do things as well as we can. So sometimes we just do things by ourselves. That’s not always a good idea.

We can still work together.

Play “Boy Plays Piano” video clip

It’s good to include others in the journey. It’s good to allow others to help.

:4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

:4 Bezek – Bezeq – “lightning”

This particular city of Bezek (there were several) is about 15 miles northwest of Jerusalem

:5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

:5 Adoni-Bezek – literally, “my lord is Bezek”, or, “Lord of Bezek”. This is probably the man’s title, not his name.

:6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

:7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

:7 their thumbs and big toes cut off

The cutting off of this man’s thumbs and big toes was not something that the nation of Israel did as a practice, as a “rule of thumb”.

The object of this kind of mutilation of the hands and feet was to keep a man from ever being able to be an effective soldier.

Here it seems that the reason Israel did it to this man was because he had a reputation of having done it to others.

:7 God has repaid me

Lesson

Reaping and Sowing

This ruler realized that he was getting just what he deserved.

Jesus said we need to be careful how we treat other people. He said that the way we treat others will determine how others treat us:

(Mt 7:1–2 NKJV) —1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

If you treat others harshly and unfairly, don’t be surprised if someone comes around one day and treats you harshly and unfairly.

If you treat others with mercy and patience, you will find that for the most part, people will treat you the same way.

Jesus said,

(Mt 7:12 NKJV) —12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Bible says,

(Ga 6:7–8 NKJV) —7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

1:8-15 Caleb conquers Hebron

:8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.

:8 Jerusalem – Judah had a portion of the city of Jerusalem. They took their portion.

:9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland.

:10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

:10 Hebron … Kirjath Arba – “city of Arba”

Hebron (see map) is about twenty miles south, southwest of Jerusalem.

It was Caleb who conquered the city of Hebron. He was an eighty-year old man when he did it.

:10 Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai

The “sons of Anak”, giants.

Caleb was the giant killer … in his eighties

:11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

:11 Debir – “sanctuary”

The city of Debir is about 8 ½ miles southwest of Hebron. It was a royal city for the Canaanites.

:12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”

:12 Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher

Lesson

Calling all heroes

Caleb knew that there was land to conquer. He put out a challenge to see who would help him conquer the land.

On September 11, 2001, while the crowd ran one way down the New York streets, it was the heroes that ran the other direction, up into the burning buildings.

Back in 2009 in Afghanistan, a young Marine named Dakota Meyer faced a horrific battle as he found his fellow Marines ambushed in a narrow valley as they were trying to negotiate a treaty with Afghan leaders.

Play Dakota Meyer clip

Dakota saved the lives of 38 people that day. The President is awarding him the Medal of Honor on September 15.

God is still looking for brave men and women who will follow Him. Our heart is to take the gospel to a dying world. Our goal is also to save lives.

:13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.

:13 Othniel – We’ll see more of Othniel later. God isn’t finished with him.

:14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”

:15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

:15 Give me a blessing

Two miles north of Debir are where these “springs” are located. The city is completely dependent on these springs during the dry season for their water supply.

Achsah wasn’t satisfied. She wanted more. She asked for more. She got more.

Lesson

Bless me

When Jacob wrestled all night with the Angel, the Angel said …

(Ge 32:26 NKJV) And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

Jacob was desperate for blessing.

A man named Jabez prayed,

(1 Ch 4:10 NKJV) And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

I’ve been wrestling with this concept for awhile now. I’ve heard people say that we should ask God for His blessing.

I’ve heard Pastor Chuck say that every day he expects God to bless him.

But I have a hard time thinking that I deserve His blessing.

The truth is, we don’t deserve His blessing, but He gives it because of grace, because of His great love for His children.

1:16-21 More Judah conquests

:16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

:16 Kenite – “smiths”

The tribe of Moses’ father-in-law settled in the wilderness of Judah.

:16 City of Palms

Another name for the city of Jericho. The city was destroyed by the Lord and Joshua, and wouldn’t be rebuilt until the time of Ahab, but it seems that people still referred to it by its location.

:16 Wilderness of Judah

There is a vast desert south of Jerusalem

:17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.

:17 Hormah – “destruction”

:18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

:18 Gaza … Ashkelon … Ekron

Three of the main five Philistine cities

Gaza and Ashkelon are cities today. Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and Ashkelon to Israel. Ekron is no longer a city.

Even though Judah conquered these cities, they were unable to actually occupy them being unable to drive the inhabitants out …

:19 So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.

:19 the lowland

The “valley” was the low lands along the coast. This land was occupied mainly by the Philistines.

Here we begin to see the failure of the people to take all the land that God had given to them.

:19 because they had chariots of iron – Did God have a problem with chariots of iron? Was this too difficult for God?

The problem doesn’t lie in God’s abilities. The problem lies in man’s ability to trust and obey.

:20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.

:21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

:21 Jerusalem

Shared by Judah and Benjamin

Apparently Judah had done its part (vs. 8), but Benjamin didn’t do its part.

It would be David who would finally drive out the Jebusites when he reconquered the city after becoming the king of Israel. He then made Jerusalem his capital (originally Hebron was his capital).

1:22-26 Joseph conquers Bethel

in verses 22-26 we have the account of how the tribe of Joseph conquered the city of Bethel.

:22 And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

:23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.)

:24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.”

:25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.

:26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

:22 Bethel – “house of God”

This is the city where Jacob saw the angels on the ladder.

The place was originally known as “Luz”, but Jacob renamed it “Bethel”.

This would be one of the cities that Jeroboam would set up a golden calf as a substitute to worshipping in Jerusalem.

:26 Luz – Luwz – “almond tree”

This fellow would go start another town, and give it Bethel’s original name, “Luz”

1:27-36 Conquest Failures

:27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

:27 Beth Shean

One of the very cool archaeological sites to visit in Israel.

:27 Megiddo

A major city, probably location of Armageddon. (show map of Beth Shan and Megiddo)

:28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

:28 under tribute

Someone came up with the brilliant idea, “If you can’t beat them, tax them”. And they did.

Verses 29-36 give us a list of the various places that the tribes of Israel did not finish conquering.

:29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

:30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.

:31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.

:31 Acco – Modern Haifa

:31 Sidon – home of the Phoenicians

See map

:32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

:33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

:34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

:35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.

:35 under tribute

Though they didn’t conquer them, they did eventually force them to pay taxes.

:36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Judges 2

2:1-6 Weeping over disobedience

We now back up a little bit in time to before Joshua’s death.

:1 Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you.

:1 the Angel of the LORD

We believe this is Jesus.

:2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?

Josephus records: (Antiquities, 5:2:132)

After this, the Israelites grew effeminate as to fighting any more against their enemies, but applied themselves to the cultivation of the land, which producing them great plenty and riches, they neglected the regular disposition of their settlement, and indulged themselves in luxury and pleasures; nor were they any longer careful to hear the laws that belonged to their political government;

This reminds me of what we’ll be looking at on Sunday, Jesus’ letter to Laodicea:

(Re 3:17 NKJV) Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

The lukewarm church is the one that thinks they have no need of God. And this leads to much trouble.

:3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”

:4 So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

:5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

:6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

:5 Bochim – Bokiym – “weeping”

Lesson

Repentance

There are times when God needs to remind us that we are going the wrong direction. Sometimes when we realize this, it causes us to “weep”.

Weeping isn’t enough.

(2 Co 7:8–11 NLT) —8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

God is looking for sorrow that results in a change of life.

2:7-10 The Death of Joshua

:7 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.

:8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.

:9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

:10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

:10 another generation arose

Lesson

Each generation must know the Lord.

As parents, we have an obligation to teach our kids about the Lord.

Pass it on to the next generation.

God’s desire is that parents pass on their faith to their children.

(Dt 6:6–9 NKJV) —6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

2:11-23 The Cycle Begins

:11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;

:12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger.

:13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

:13 Baal and the Ashtoreths

These were the gods of the Canaanites. One male, the other female.

– Ba‘al – “lord”.

The plural is actually “Baalim”. These were the gods of the Canaanites. The name “Baal” simply means “lord”, and it is used in a couple of different ways. The Canaanites worshipped Baal as the “sun-god”. Baal was also the principle male god of the Phoenicians. But each city also had its own variation of Baal, and the group of all the “Baals” of the cities could be called “Baalim”.

:13 Ashtoreths –

The Phoenicians worshipped the sun, calling it “Baal”, and they worshipped the moon, naming it “Ashtoreth”. She was the principle female deity of the pagan world. She was called Ishtar by the Assyrians and Astarte by the Greeks.

:13 They forsook the LORD

Lesson

Tolerance leads to compromise

The Israelites had become “tolerant” of the religions around them. Instead of “tearing down the altars” (2:2), they had learned to appreciate the “diversity” in the religions practiced around them.

And as a result, they fell into the worship of these other gods.

Be careful about what you learn to “tolerate”.

:14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.

:15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

:15 calamity

Lesson

Tough Times

Not all difficulties are not like these “calamities”

The book of Job is all about a good man going through difficult times.

His friends assumed that he must have done something bad to deserve such trouble.

Job himself began to question God and ask “why”.

God allowed difficulty in Job’s life because He wanted to show the world that Job would follow Him even if things got tough.

And the difficulty ended up being a maturing process for Job.

“now I see…”

But Job’s difficulties were NOT because Job had sinned.

Sometimes difficulty comes because we have gone astray and God is trying to encourage us to turn around.

(Heb 12:11 NKJV) —11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Illustration

A woman in a supermarket has been walking behind a grandfather and his badly-behaved, 3-year-old grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands full with the child screaming for sweets in the sweet aisle, cookies in the cookie aisle, and for fruit, cereal and soda in the other aisles. Meanwhile, Granddad is working his way around, saying in a controlled voice, “Easy, William, we won’t be long, easy, boy.” Another outburst, and she hears the granddad calmly say, “It’s okay, William, just a couple more minutes and we’ll be out of here. Hang in there, boy.” At the checkout, the little terror is throwing items out of the cart, and Granddad says again in a controlled voice, “William, William, relax buddy, don’t get upset. We’ll be home in five minutes; stay cool, William.” Very impressed, the woman goes outside where the grandfather is loading his groceries and the boy into the car. She said to the elderly gentleman, “It’s none of my business, but you were amazing in there. I don’t know how you did it. That whole time, you kept your composure, and no matter how loud and disruptive he got, you just calmly kept saying things would be okay. William is very lucky to have you as his grandpa.” “Thanks,” said the grandfather, “but I’M William ... the little brat’s name is Kevin.”

Hang in there in the tough times. If God the difficulty is because God is chastening you, then turn around. If you don’t know why things are difficult, hang … just a couple more minutes and we’ll be out of here…

:16 Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them.

:16 judges – shaphat – to judge, govern, vindicate, punish

These “judges” (like the name of the book) were God’s appointed leaders over the nation.

They weren’t kings, because God was considered the king.

They didn’t develop dynasties with their sons and grandsons continuing to rule (though sometimes one generation might follow in leadership).

These men were acting as God’s servants, sometimes even as prophets (speaking for God).

Sometimes these men led the armies of Israel.

:17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so.

:18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.

:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

:20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice,

:21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,

:22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.”

:23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

:17 Yet they would not listen

We’re going to see this pattern through the book of Judges.

One generation does well and follows the Lord.

They fall away and serve other gods.

Difficult times come and an enemy attacks.

The people repent, and God rescues them. The cycle repeats.

Lesson

Stop the rollercoaster

I generally am fine on a roller coaster, but I’m beginning to think I’m getting a bit too old for them. Jungle Cruise is about as exciting as I want to get right now.

Has your life been a giant roller coaster? Are you ready to get off?

Know the Lord

(Jdg 2:10 NKJV) When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Know the Lord personally.

Jesus died on a cross because our sins have separated us from God.

God wants you to trust Him and know Him.

Don’t compromise

(Jdg 2:11 NKJV) Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;

There are things that just don’t belong in our lives.

They grieve the heart of God. He is patient. He waits. He grieves.

Compromise will bring you down.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit will play a huge role in the book of Judges.

When God raises up a “judge”, a “deliverer”, he is a man filled with the Holy Spirit.

(Ga 5:16 NKJV) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Learn what it means to yield to the Holy Spirit.

Serve Him

(Jdg 2:7 NKJV) So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

Have an active walk with God. Don’t just sit on the sofa, get up and do something for God. Serve Him.

They say “Idle hands are the devil’s playground”. I believe it.