Sermon Transcript:

This morning we begin a new series, working our way passage by passage through the book of Judges. Usually, if people preach from this book at all they just highlight some of the events associated with famous people like Gideon or Samson. First, this book contains a lot of shocking and disturbing material. It raises uncomfortable questions such as God’s command to utterly destroy the Canaanites. Also, being set in the early iron age, it is a time and way of life very different from ours and is a collection of narratives covering many different people and events. 

We can understand why even the author of Hebrews says,

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, [and] Jephthah …  (Hebrews 11:32)

But we need this book. Not just a few bits and pieces, but the entire thing. The book of Judges, for all its distance from modern culture, reveals the human condition with vivid honesty. It reveals the deepest need of the human heart while offering both warnings and encouragement about our relationship with God and need for salvation. It ultimately points us to Jesus Christ.

Even the shocking and difficult parts are there to point us to salvation. Paul says in Romans 15:4,

4 …whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

That is the main point of our message this morning. This book of judges was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 

The book records the downward spiral of God’s people as they failed to take the land God promised to them. But through all that, God was continuing to work out his plan of salvation. That is why I called the series broken people, unbroken promises, because the true story of Judges is the faithfulness and patience of God. By the end of the book it would seem the idea of a nation who would be witnesses to the glory and goodness of God was lost.

The book shows that the people needed a righteous king to rule over them and protect them. It is part of the narrative leading to God raising up King David as an anointed king. But David is himself only a pointer to the ultimate king of righteousness and prince of peace Jesus Christ who will 

This points us to God raising up king David. But David himself only points us to the ultimate prince of peace and righteous king Jesus who will be called out of the world to the glory of God. We who are by faith part of the church of Christ have been included in the fulfillment of this promise. 1 Peter 2:9 says to believers in Jesus,

9 …you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

The book of Judges shows us that it would only be through the gracious intervention of God himself, doing an internal work of transformation that the kingdom of God could be established on the earth. Ultimately, the book is a testimony to the faithfulness of God in keeping his promises. It shows the need for God to deliver his people and this moves the story of God’s plan of redemption forward. 

This morning, I hope to do two things. First, I would like you to see that the book is not just a random collection of stories. There is an overall message and movement to the book as a whole and understanding it will help us to better understand each of the individual stories. Second, I would like to highlight several key themes that we will encounter as we work our way passage by passage through the book.

While preparing my summary of the book, I discovered a video by the Bible Project that does an great job of explaining the overall structure of the book. I would like to go ahead and play that for you now. [SHOW VIDEO]

(114) Book of Judges Summary: A Complete Animated Overview - YouTube

As we journey together through this book in the coming weeks it will be helpful to keep the overall book in mind. Israel has failed to be faithful and needs a king to restore her. Ultimately it will be David from the tribe of Judah that will be God’s anointed king. It is his line, culminating in Jesus Christ, the great Son of David, who would save his people, rule forever, and who is coming again to establish his kingdom on earth and judge the living and the dead.

The corruption and evil of sin is so great and our tendency toward unfaithfulness and spiritual compromise is so deeply ingrained in human nature that our only hope is for a savior who can rescue us not only from oppression and failure, but from our own sinful heart and its evil desires. 

The ultimate theme of the book of Judges is human beings are a mess and need a savior. Not just political or military saviors, but a perfect king and judge who will destroy sin and restore the world to the paradise it was created to be. God has provided that king in Jesus Christ. He will deliver us. He is our savior and he is our king. We are not yet what we should be but no sin, no failure, no corruption, no despair, no brokenness is beyond the reach of his compassion or the depth of his love to heal.

God’s patient faithfulness to Israel in Judges should be a constant reminder to us of his patient faithfulness to us. May that grace and love motivate us to worship him and live for his glory. Amen?

That would be enough, but the book probes even deeper in applying our need for redemption to several specific lessons vital to our everyday walk as children of God. I want to highlight 5 of these that we should be aware of as we work through the book together. 

1. God’s people are to be distinct from the culture and the world. 

The temptation to accommodate the values of the world ended up destroying the people and it continues to do so today. There are countless people who think they are at peace with God but whose lives testify that they love the world more than God. If we are united to Christ by saving faith, then we will be growing increasingly uncomfortable and dissatisfied with the world. 

If there is no difference in how we spend our time or our money from our pagan neighbors what makes us think we have died to the world? If our overall social, economical, and political views are those we can readily find on either the liberal or conservative sites and channels of the world, we should have no confidence that we love the truth.

1 John 2:15–17 says,

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We cannot be witnesses to life in Christ if we are indistinguishable from the dying world. We are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind through the word of God. The modern American popular Christian culture is not holy, it is built far more on an appeal to the flesh than the God of the Bible. Judges will show us the subtlety of idolatry and compromise.

Rather than worshiping and living for God the way he said to do it the people thought they could improve on God’s plan. Such compromise is idolatry and like all sin, although it promises blessing it leads to oppression and death. Judges reminds us we are not called to be accommodating, we are called to be holy. We are to be light to the world because we are distinct from the world. 

We are to be in the world but not of the world. We are called to use the means God has given us to do his work. Jude 1:20–23 tells us what that looks like,

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

• The message of God’s redemption must be shared. 

The exodus from Egypt is one of the most remarkable events in human history. It is jarring as we read the Bible how quickly we go from the Hebrews crossing through the sea by the power of God and their grumbling in the wilderness. We go quickly from the early conquests under Joshua to the chaos of Judges. We see a glimpse of how this happened in Judges 2:8–10 which says,

8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

There arose a generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work he had done. We must not assume that our children and grandchildren will know the lord if we do not tell them. If you are a parent it is your responsibility to disciple your children. The church should encourage you, support you, and even help you, but we cannot outsource the spiritual instruction of our kids and grandkids.

Many in the church lament that our country is so ignorant of God and the Bible. The blame for that does not primarily lay at the feet of the government or social institutions. It lays squarely at the feet of parents and grandparents who never shared the joy and hope of redemption in a meaningful way with their children and grandchildren. It lies at the feet of pastors and churches who assumed the gospel rather than proclaimed it and talked about the Bible rather than teaching it. Judges reminds us of the responsibility we have to share God’s message of salvation.

• Our hope is not in not in human leaders but in God.

Judges reminds us that it is the tendency of human leaders to pursue their own agendas. Government cannot solve the deepest problems facing this world. Our hope as believers does not depend upon any king or president or government. Our confidence is in God's care for the good of his flock. Believers are called to trust God and obey his word rather than strategizing how to advance our interests. Psalm 146:3–7 says,

3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry… 

God shows himself to be faithful to his promises despite the foolishness of men. That should be a comfort to us in these unholy days. So long as God is on the throne, there is hope. That sets up the next point.

• God is willing and even delights in working through weak things for his glory

Have you ever wondered why God bothers to go through this whole process of history? Why is he willing to put up with the constant failures and blemishes of sinful people? Why doesn’t he just perfect us immediately? I don’t know the mysteries of God’s mind, but he has revealed that the whole process of our redemption is designed for his glory. 1 Corinthians 1:26–31 says,

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Judges reminds us that salvation is from the lord. We are not saved because we are great, but because God is. We are saved because he is pleased to pour out his infinite grace and love into fallen, weak, and frail sinners. There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us and this leads to God being praised not only as creator, but as a merciful savior.

• God is rich in grace and mercy and abounding in salvation.

We see in Judges a continuing struggle with cycles of sin and oppression but we also see the unending mercy of God in repeatedly raising up judges through whom he rescues and saves his people. The message of the book is that a righteous king is needed, setting up the anointing of king David over Israel. But although faithful, David also shows us a greater king is needed. The apostle Peter says in Acts 2:29–32,

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

I recall when I was a young man studying the Old Testament with one of my pastors, as we were looking at the constant cycles of failure I blurted out “what is wrong with these people?”. Pastor Carl looked at me for a moment and said “it is astounding that people could so quickly forget the goodness of God and pursue sin.” I nodded and then he said, “what is wrong with us”. 

I am comforted when I see the love and patience of God in this book because I know that my own life has often been marked by cycles of faithfulness and faithlessness. I am comforted to know that God keeps his promises even if I often fail in mine. I am grateful that his love for me does not depend upon my performance, but rather from the perfect righteousness of my savior. 

God sent his eternal Son Jesus who lived a perfectly righteous life under the law. He had no cycle of sin and repentance because he never sinned. Then in an act of pure love, he offered himself as a sacrifice in the place of everyone who would ever repent and place their faith in him to save them. For everyone who knows they cannot save themselves and trusts God’s promise to provide salvation for them.

Jesus died on the cross for sins he didn’t commit so that we could receive blessings we did not earn. He died and was buried, but after three days, he rose again and then ascended to heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all who believe. By raising Jesus from the dead, God vindicated his claim to be able to provide salvation for his people.

He was the hope of Israel. The promise given to Adam and Eve, and the one hope among men for us to be free from evil and oppression, even that which we find in our own hearts, and to dwell securely in the kingdom of God forever. I am so grateful for the patience of God working throughout history to bring salvation to earth. I am thankful for the patience of God in my life, working to bring salvation to me. What about you?

I pray in the coming weeks as we continue through this amazing book of Judges that you will be blessed by the grace and mercy of God in providing a king and savior in Jesus Christ. The book of Judges begins with this sentence, 

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” (Judges 1:1)

It ends with this sentence,

25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25) 

Both of these are ultimately resolved in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the warrior king who goes before us and defeats our enemies. Jesus is the one who enables us and equips us to serve God and stand before him in righteousness. These earthly stories all point us to the promise of his coming in the last day to establish his kingdom where all his people will be glorified and perfected because we will be like him.