Scripture: Selected
During our journey through the lives and service of
Israel’s Judges, we’ve learned that there may have been little difference
between them and us – some were faithful, some made tragic mistakes, some had trouble
understanding the difference between their own desires and God’s, they all
served in leadership for varying lengths of time – some for decades, while some
only a few short years, and at least one ignored Godly ways until the very end.
But what did we actually learn from their
stories? I think that the primary lesson
is that the LORD can work through any kind of person, but that life
for the individual always comes out better if they are obedient to God’s call
and His way.
A secondary lesson might have to do with God’s
desire that we might be part of His work in this world, but that He expects
nothing more from us than to do what He calls us to do, and to let Him do
everything else! And sometimes the LORD
intentionally reduces our strengths and abilities to reveal even greater truths
to us (remember the story of Gideon? – Judges 6-8).
But the third lesson for us is the one that came
during those times when Israel didn’t have a judge to lead them. Every time that a judge passed from the
scene, we read that the people reverted to their old, sinful ways, instead of
living in a way that they had witnessed in the faithfulness of the judge! Admittedly, there were times that it would
have been difficult to separate the faithful times from the rest, but the truth
was there, if the people had only sought it!
Today’s final lesson comes from several passages,
and shows us the overall problem that arises when our leadership lacks the desire
and initiative to follow Godly ways.
Read Judges 2:12-17
In Deuteronomy 6:3-9,
Israel is given instructions regarding their relationship with Jehovah God, one
that they must constantly and consistently keep fresh. This passage is so important that it is known
as the Shema, and it tells the people that they must share the truth of God
with their family, with their neighbors, and even with strangers that they meet
on the highways and byways. But it is
one thing to say the words, and a totally different thing to live the
words. And Israel, especially their
leaders, felt that that they understood the correct way of living better than some
invisible God, even though their entire history was filled with God, His gifts,
and His perfect way.
Israel chose to follow the ways of Baal instead of
the words of Almighty God. But over and
over, through the words of God and by the lack of physical evidence, Baal and
all of the other worldly gods were shown to be impotent and totally incapable
of any degree of power and authority (1 Kings18:16-40). Why would anyone choose to worship that kind of deity,
instead of one who is power, and who is authority, and who is infinite
love and compassion?
Periodically, Jehovah God even sent Judges, and
later prophets, to remind them of the covenant and desires that had been set in
place for them. The New Interpreters’ Bible
offers this thought – “What seemed to be a screaming locomotive heading for
Israel’s destruction is suddenly derailed.
God raised up ‘judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who
plundered them’” The presence of
faithful judges would lead the people, or at least many of them, away from
false worship and into faithful lives.
Until, that is, the judge was no longer with them, and then the
destructive locomotive was put back on the track and fired up for the next
journey of false worship.
Read Isaiah 3:12-15
After the period of the Judges ended, several hundred
years of evil would envelop the nation, including the ineffectual leadership of
many kings. And in spite of all the dire
warnings that payment for following the false ways of earth was upon the
nation, they never seemed to be deterred from their worldly ways. But now the LORD turns to the failure of
Israel’s leadership to not only live Godly lives, but to their lack of faithful
leadership for the people.
The condemnations include many issues such as the failure
of experienced leadership to step up to correct all of the wrongs that have
become so prevalent; Isaiah describes the LORD as a Judge in court (if
they wouldn’t learn from the human ones, made they will listen to the divine
One!) And before any legal actions can
be taken by defense or prosecution attorneys, the Almighty presents the charges
Himself.
The vineyard represents Israel, filled with the
bounty that God had prepared for them.
The plundering of the poor represents the poor of
Israel and the leaders who have robbed them of their faithfulness and
subsequently, their salvation.
The people have been robbed and devastated by the
elders and the elite of Israel, they have been led astray from the goodness and
glory of Almighty God.
The charges have been leveled against Israel’s
leaders and all who have proclaimed worship of anything other than Jehovah God,
and there is nothing that anyone can do to defend themselves against the
charges that the LORD brings against Israel’s hierarchy. They are guilty. And they will pay for their sin.
Read Jeremiah 2:7-9
And God reemphasizes the charges of unfaithful
leadership through His prophet Jeremiah.
And He begins by reminding them that He gave them everything they could
possibly need, but that they had polluted His goodness, and they had spread lies
about all that He had given to them, and all that He had done for them, and they
never even cried out to the LORD for His help in their destress.
And now the charges are so serious that the judgment
will not be limited to those who have broken the Law of God, but it will also
settle on the families of those who have broken God’s commands. The leaders of the families, the leaders of
the tribes, and especially the leaders of the nation have failed so miserably
in their assigned task to proclaim God to all, that there will be no hope for
them nor their subsequent generations (Exodus 20:4-6) In the second Commandment, God told them “5 You shall not bow down to them [false
idols] or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the
third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but
showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my
commandments.”
Not only is the judgment proclaimed and dispensed appropriately,
but so are the blessings!
Galatians 1:6-10
The church in Galatia was being led astray by those
who believed that Gentile converts to faith in Jesus must first become converts
to Judaism, including obedience to all of the laws and traditions that Israel
had followed. Of course we know that the
only requirements that the faithful of Jesus have are generally based on Matthew 28:16-20 (the Great Commission)– make disciples of
all nations, baptize them in the name of the Triune God, and teach them to obey
all that Jesus has taught.
But Paul wants the church to understand that a false
gospel is, in fact, no gospel whatsoever – there is no “good news” in it. And it doesn’t matter who is proclaiming it –
it is just as vile, just as misleading, just as deceptive and destructive as
any lie could be, and it is just as condemning as any lie could be. And the
last verse of today’s lesson is actually the point of our series from Judges – who
is our worship being directed toward?
Paul says that it all depends on who the one is that
we worship – a god of earth, or the God of Eternity. The god’s of earth will one day pass away
when the end of the earth occurs, but that if we celebrate and follow the God
of Eternity, He will never end, He will never fail, He
will never leave us alone.
And if our focus is upon worshiping the god’s of
earth, and upon pleasing the people who proclaim those false gods, we can never
have a relationship with the Eternal God.
No playing it safe, no halfway semblance of faith, no fence straddling, no playing
off one against the other! As Joshua
told the people in Joshua 24:14-15 –
14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him
with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped
beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the goods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Have you chosen to serve the LORD,
considering all that we have learned? If
not, perhaps you should rethink the lesson!
