JO23, JO24 Joshua’s farewell comments:

Advice from Joshua that is still worth heeding!

JO23:3 “ ...the Lord your God ...has been fighting for you...”

JO23:5,6 “...you will possess ...the Lord ...promised you ...Be very firm ...to keep and do all that is written ...not turn ...to the right ...or the left…”

JO23:7 “...not associate with ...or mention ...their gods ...or serve them or bow down to them... “ (no syncretism)

JO23:8 “...cling to the Lord...”

JO23:11 “...take diligent heed to love the Lord your God...”

JO23:13 “...these nations ...will be a snare and a trap to you...”

JO23:16 “...serve other gods and ...you will perish quickly...”

JO24:14 “...fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth...”

JO24:15 “...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve ...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord...”

JO24:23 “...put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord...”

Final resting places.

JO24:29,30 “...Joshua ...died, being one hundred and ten years old ...they buried him ...in the hill country of Ephraim...”

JO24:32 “...they buried the bones of Joseph ...at Shechem...”

JO24:33 “...Eleazar the son of Aaron died ...they buried him...”

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JUDGES

Who are the judges?

Not elected by, or appointed by, the people.

Not from blood lines.

Not the best and brightest.

Just people God selected to partner with Him!

Why were they needed?

JU17:6 “...In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes...”

Humanity repeatedly pursues “their way” instead of “God’s Way”, choosing what is wrong instead of what is right. Arrogance and disobedience cause them to fall from freedom to bondage.

Disconnection from God’s purposes leads to oppression, but the ensuing suffering can lead to repentance. This allows God to provide salvation and restoration. Order can be restored.

The cycle will repeat many times in the book of Judges.

People appreciate God doing His part, but often lack the discipline and courage needed to do their part.

A similar cycle can exist in churches, marriages, workplaces, etc.

JU1

JU1:4-7 “...Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they defeated ten thousand men ...Adoni-bezek fled ...they pursued ...caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes ... Adoni-bezek said ...God has repaid me ...he died ...”

JU1:9-26 Jerusalem and many other cities conquered.

JU1:16 “...The descendants of ...Moses’ father-in-law, went ...with the sons of Judah ...and lived with the people...”

How much favor do you get for partial obedience?

JU1:21,27-36 Failed to drive out Jebusites, Canaanites, and Amorites,

Does Incomplete obedience = disobedience?

JU2

God is faithful. People aren’t. Trouble comes.

JU2:2-3 “...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? "Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you... "

JU2:10,11 “...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 ...the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals...”

JU2:14,15 “... The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; ... they could no longer stand before their enemies ...so they were severely distressed...”

How can people be taught when they refuse to listen?

2:16,17,19 “...Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers ...it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways...”

JU3

Why were the nations left?

JU3:1-2 “...Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly)...”

Are we untrained in the ways and weapons of war?

2 Cor.10:4 “...for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses...”

The sin and salvation of God’s people.

OTHNIEL: 8 years of servitude - 40 years of rest.

JU3:8 “... the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel ...He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served ...eight years...”

JU3:9-10 “... the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer ... Othniel the son ...Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, ...he went out to war, ... he prevailed over ...the land had rest forty years...”

EHUD: 18 years of servitude - 80 years undisturbed.

JU3:13,14 “... the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil ... he went and defeated Israel, and ...The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years...”

JU3:15,21,22,30 “... the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer ...Ehud ...a left-handed man .... took the sword ...and thrust it into (Eglon’s) belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly ...So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was undisturbed for eighty years...”

SHAMGAR

JU3:31 “... After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel...”

[sharp metal-tipped stick about 8 or 10 feet long used to direct animals]

JU4, JU5

More sin and more salvation of God’s people.

DEBORAH and BARAK 20 years oppressed - 40 years undisturbed.

JU4:1-3 “... the sons of Israel again did evil ...the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan ...he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years...”

JU4:4,6,14,21 “...Deborah, a prophetess, ...was judging Israel ...summoned Barak ...Arise! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera ... Jael ...took a tent peg and ...hammer ...and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground ...”

JU5: Song of Deborah and Barak ends with “...the land was undisturbed for forty years...”

JU6, JU7, JU8

More sin and more salvation of God’s people.

GIDEON 7 years hands of Midian - 40 years undisturbed.

JU6:1,3,4 “... the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years ... the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and ...destroy the produce ...and leave no sustenance in Israel ...no sheep ...or donkey.”

JU6:7,8 “... the sons of Israel cried to the Lord ...the Lord sent a prophet ...you have not obeyed Me...”

JU8:28 “... So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, ...And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon...”

The rise and fall of Gideon.

CALLED: JU6:11,12,14,16 “...Then the angel of the Lord came ... Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior ...The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian ...I will be with you...”

God sets the stage: [God + you = victory].

ENCOURAGED: JU6:21-23 “... Then the angel of the Lord ...the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and ...bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat ...bread ... Gideon saw ...I have seen the angel of the Lord ...The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear...”

1st ASSIGNMENT: JU21,26,27 “.. pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold ...because he was too afraid ...he did it by night...”

RESPONSES: JU2128-33 Those who had given themselves to false gods were unhappy. The Midianite and Amalekite armies assemble.

FLEECE: JU21:36-40 Twice for assurance - Wet fleece, dry ground. Dry fleece, wet ground. Be Strong and Courageous?

PREPARED: JU7:2-8 “... The Lord said ...The people who are with you are too many ...Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me...” Reduced from 32,00 to 10,000 to 300.

RECON: JU7:9-14 “... if you are afraid ...go with Purah ...down to the camp, and you will hear what they say ...When Gideon came ...a man was relating a dream to his friend ...This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon ...God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand...”

VICTORY: Three companies of 100 blow trumpets, break pitchers, Midianites fight each other, 135,000 are defeated by 300 + 1.

BRUTALITY AFTER THE FACT: JU8:4-9,16,17 The leaders of Succoth and Penuel refuse to feed the weary troops. Gideon disciplines the men of Succoth and tears down the tower of Penuel and kills the men of the city.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK: JU8:23 “...But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you the LORD will rule over you...”

UNTIL OFF THE RAILS:

JU8:24-27 Gideon makes a gold ephod, which leads to idolatry.

JU8:30,33 Gideon has 70 sons. They turned to the Baals.

What lessons can be learned from Gideon’s story?

Does God’s strategy differ from ours? Trumpets, Pitchers, Torches.

Have you ever felt outnumbered? Does the side that follows God have victory assured?

Does God see us differently than we see ourselves? What can God accomplish through us? Anything He wants, when we obey.

JU9,JU10

Abimelech deviates from “...nor shall my son rule over you...”

JU9:4-6 Abimelech, a son of Gideon, kills all his brothers but the youngest, Jotham, and the people make Abimelech king.

JU9:7-21 From the Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, Jotham calls down fire on Abimelech and the men of Shechem for failing to act with integrity.

More sin and more salvation of God’s people.

JU9:22 “...Abimelech ruled over Israel three years...”

JU9:53 “...But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and fractured his skull...”

JU9:56 “...God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech...”

JU10:1,2 “... Now after Abimelech died, Tola ...a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel; ...He judged Israel twenty-three years...”

JU10:3 “... After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead ...”

JU10:6-9 “... the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus ...the Lord ...sold them into the hands of the Philistines ... for eighteen years they afflicted all the sons of Israel ...so that Israel was greatly distressed...”

What moves God to anger?

JU10:13 “...you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you....”

What moves God to have mercy on His people?

JU10:16 “...So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer...”

How can we avoid being distracted by what we see?

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 “...Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight ...”

JU11 Jephthah

Does having the Spirit of the Lord insure good decisions?

JU11:1-3 Jephthah, the son of a harlot, an outcast, gathered a band of worthless fellows.

JU11:11 “...the people made him head and chief over them...”

JU11:29-39 “...Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, ... Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering ... the Lord gave them into his hand ...When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing ...she was his one and only child ...At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made...”

Why would he say such a thing? Why do we say what we say?

JU12

JU12:7 “...Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead...”

JU12:8,9 “... Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him ... He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years...”

JU12:11:11 “... Now Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; and he judged Israel ten years...”

JU12:13,14 “... Now Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years...”

JU13

JU13 “... Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years...”

SAMSON - Judges 13-16

JU13:2 Born to a barren nameless woman.

JU13:5 Told even before conception, that he would be a Nazirite.

JU13:8-20 God responded to Samson’s dad and the angel of the Lord came to clarify expectations.

JU13:25 The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. What spirit stirs you?

JU14

Can bad choices actually be part of the Lord’s plans.

JU14:1-4 “... Samson ...saw ...one of the daughters of the Philistines ...Get her for me, for she looks good to me ....his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines...”

JU14:6 Samson tears up a lion with his bare hands.

JU14:8 Later returned and ate honey from the lion’s carcass.

JU14:12-18 A riddle can’t be solved until Samson’s wife deceives him.

JU14:19 “...the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them ...gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle...”

JU15

JU15:1-3 Samson’s wife had been given to another.

JU15:4,5 Caught 300 foxes, tied together, torched the Philistine crops. Philistines then burned wife and father, leading to a great slaughter.

JU15:12-13 The men of Judah bound Samson and handed him over to the Philistines.

JU15:14,15 “... the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily ...and his bonds dropped from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey ...took it and killed a thousand men with it....”

JU15:18,19 Samson is thirsty. God provides water.

JU16

Strength and weakness.

JU16:1-3 Visits a harlot. Is surrounded. Pulls apart the city gate and hauls it to the top of the mountain.

JU16:4-16 Loves Delilah, who at the request of the Philistines “...pressed him daily ...his soul was annoyed to death..”

JU16:19-21 Forgetting how he had previously been deceived regarding his riddle, he again is deceived, his head is shaved. The Philistines gouged out his eyes. Was his greatest weakness now removed?

Why did he lose his strength?

Nazirites vowed to abstain from wine and grape products, refrain from cutting hair, and avoid contact with corpses. This vow symbolized the person's dedication and separation to God. He was no longer “set apart”, and he lost the real source of his strength.

JU16:20 “...the Lord had departed from him...”

A final victory.

JU16:30 “...the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life...”

Oppressed	Yrs	Undisturbed	Rest	Yrs
Mesopotamians	8	Othniel	Yes	40
Moabites Philistines	18	Ehud Shamgar	Yes	80 ?
Canaanites	20	Deborah/Barak	Yes	40
Midianites Abimelech	7 3	Gideon Tolah Jair	Yes	40 23 22
Philistines	18	Jepthah Ibzan Elon Abdon	?	6 7 10 8
Philistines	40	Samson	?	20
	114			296

First four periods more “undisturbed” time than “oppressed”.

Last two periods more “oppressed”, and didn’t even mention “undisturbed” or “rest” offered by the Judges.