July 26 - Judges 1:1-3:6 - "Vicious Cycles"

MPC 26th July 2020.

Phil Campbell

Have you ever been caught up in a vicious circle? One bad decision. Which leads a bad outcome. Which leads to bad consequences. That then feeds back around the loop. And makes the first thing even worse. And around we go again. Over and over again.

You're not doing enough exercise. So you put on weight. Which means it's harder to exercise. Which makes you feel down. Which makes you eat cake. So you put on weight.

Life's full of them. Relationships are full of them. Marriage is full of them. Our economy is full of them. One little bad decision. Leads another. And another. If only you'd known. At the start.

This morning we're launching our series on Judges. An Old Testament Book that's all about vicious circles. And bad outcomes. Because of that, you could get the feeling that it's a negative kind of book.

There's no doubt it's certainly M Rated. Maybe even MA-15+.

If it was a movie, apart from the bits with great heroes like Samson and Gideon... you might find yourself walking out.

Because there are ugly scenes of violence. There are war stories. Worst of all I reckon there are disturbing stories. Of violence against women.

Which if that resonates with your own experience you might want to avoid. Or at the very least, read ahead, be aware of what's coming; because sometimes you maybe won't want younger kids to be listening.

But rest assured, it's not a book that's in any way affirming that kind of violence. Exactly the opposite. Because it's described for us in shocking detail as a sure sign of how low the cycle of Israel's breakdown has gone.

Because this book. Is the story of a spiral of vicious circles that end up in a vicious mess.

It's a story from way back in the history of Israel. The descendants of Abraham. Who have been promised a land of their own. As the people of God's special blessing. They've been captive in Egypt. Moses has led them to freedom in the book of Exodus and given them God's law.

The book of Joshua tells the story of Joshua who leads them into the first phase of conquering the Promised Land. And now. Joshua is dead and gone. And it's up to the next generation... to finish the job.

It's a sad story. And it's a bad story. A story about their compromises. Their shortcuts. About the way they traded the covenant God made with their forefathers. For convenience. Over and over again. And the cycle that creates. That repeats seven times through the book.

It's about the way in their compromise with the people around them the Israelites are hell bent on keeping up with the Canaanites, and not being distinctive at all.

And let me tell you, if there wasn't some kind of light at the end of the tunnel, it would be pretty grim reading. You'll notice from the very first verse of chapter 1 that after Joshua dies, the Israelites ask the Lord, who do you want to go up first to take on the Canaanites?

And look, right from the outset you might sniff something slightly weird. Because no sooner does God give the tribe of Judah a rousing word of encouragement... something odd happens.

Who do you want to go first against the Canaanites? And God says, verse 2, Judah will go up. I have given the land into their hands.

Now. What more do you want? It's an iron clad guarantee from God.

Well, in verse 3 they're not quite so sure, so they say, we want someone to come with us. You Simeonites come too. Maybe just a tiny little hint that the promise of God isn't quite enough for them.

But in verse 4, they attack the Canaanites at Bezek. and they win.

And just to add a bit of colour and first hand drama, the story of King Adoni Bezek in verses 5 to 7; who ends up missing his thumbs and big toes. Begging in Jerusalem. Which even he admits is poetic justice. Given that he'd done the same to seventy other kings himself.

Now look, already, there's the vibe of the book. Gruesome details. It gets worse. I hope you're coping.

Verse 8; the men of Judah attack Jerusalem as well. The home of the Jebusites. And take it. Which of course is the start of a very long history; the city that becomes Israel's capital, and to this day still is. Kind of.

From there it's down to the south in verse 9 to take on the Canaanites in the hill country, the Negev, the Southern Desert. Hebron, verse 10; against the three generals Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. And then Debir.

Now look, the point is, as a military campaign, so far it's going very well. As the ongoing story of Israel's conquest of the promised land, God's promises... are paying off.

Especially for the happy young couple Aksah and Othniel; who you meet in verse 12 to 15.

Aksah asks her dad for a favour. And dad gives her not just a field but the upper and lower springs of the Negev as well. Which they took from the people of Kiriath Sepher. Not just a patch of dry ground. But irrigation too.

The in-laws of the family of Moses are taken care of in verse 16; a nice patch near Arad. And things are all going along well. At least from the point of view of the invading Israelites.

Verse 17, Zephath falls; Then Gaza. And Ashkelon. And Ekron.

The Lord was with them, verse 19, these men of Judah. Just as he promised.

Until in the middle of verse 19 in the midst of all these huge wins... something unexpected. A sudden change of tone.

Because it seems the iron clad promises of God... are brought undone by the iron clad chariots of the plains.

Just stop a second and take a closer look at it. Judges chapter 1 verse 19. Because it doesn't make any sense. Does it?

19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.

Now you've gotta say, this is a serious upgrade.

The iron age has hit. And suddenly these men of Judah who have been tackling every other army with overwhelming confidence and trusting the promises of God; they're brought to a stand-still. Because surely. The god of Israel doesn't stand a chance against iron wheeled chariots. With all kinds of sharp bits.

Which is where the rot sets in. From verse 21 onwards. With a few small exceptions, from here on in, it's like following the Broncos in the NRL. Loss after loss after loss. With only the occasional bright spot. Worse still, compromise. After compromise.

Verse 21. The Benjamites, however. The tribe of Benjamin. did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. to this day; as these words were being written. to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

Which might sound like a nice example of tolerance. Except that God has already told the Israelites not to compromise.

Verse 27. Manasseh. Another tribe of Israel. They didn't drive out the people of Beth Shan or of Taanach or Dor or Iblleam or Megiddo nor their surrounding settlements. Because the Canaanites were apparently determined to live in that land. Unlike the more obliging Canaanites in other places who were flexible enough to move on. These guys were stubborn. Later on, verse 28 the Israelites press them into forced labour. But the never. Drove them out completely.

Which is going to be the start of a problem.

Verse 29. Tribe of Ephraim. Same story and Gezer. Tribe of Zebulun. Verse 30. Instead of pushing them out, a neat compromise; forced labour. A cheap workforce.

And on it goes. Asherites, verse 31. A whole list of failures. The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, verse 32, because they did not drive them out.

The Naphtalites too, verse 33. And the tribe of Dan, verse 34, not allowed to come down to the plains by the Amorites. Although as the Israelites grew stronger, they pressed them into forced labour.

In short. The Promised Land. Where Israel was meant to be distinctive and separate. And holy to God. Ends up a patchwork. As you can see on the map.

Which brings us to chapter 2. And a message from God. Through an angel who appears at Bokim. Who's going to give us a God's eye view.

Do you really think Iron chariots are too hard for God? I mean, he was fine with the wooden chariots of the Egyptians who drowned in the Red Sea. Is it that iron's just that little bit harder? Just over God's limit?

And those Canaanites who were so determined to hang around? Their determination. Is it just a smidge or two beyond God's limits? Listen to the angel.

I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

The problem isn't the iron chariots. Or the stubborn Canaanites. It's israel's disobedience. The fact they're not prepared to trust the covenant promises of God.

And so God says, because of that. I'm not going to drive them out before you. They'll become traps for you. And their gods will become snares to you.

At which point the people burst into tears. Which is why they called the place Bokim, which means weepers. Cry-Town. Which I suspect limited its future tourist potential. As a happy place for a Honeymoon.

All of which brings us at last to the cycle I was talking about at the start. Or better still the downward spiral. That gives the book of Judges such a distinctive structure.

It's a book that tells seven stories of Israel's regional leaders. The judges. Each structured around exactly the same cycle. As the people of Israel co-mingle with the nations around them.

A cycle that's summarised for us in verses 6 to 23 here in Judges chapter 2. And if you looked at the video linked in the Growth Group Study Guide, was captured perfectly by the guys at the bible project. In a simple little diagram.

With Joshua dead. Verse 8. Everything goes pear-shaped. As the next generation forgets what God has done for Israel. And do evil, verse 11, and serve the Baals. The fertility idol gods of Canaan.

And so God, verse 13, is angry. And hands them over to their enemies. Which brings them great distress. And they repent. Verse 15.

And so the Lord raises up judges, verse 16, who save them from their enemies.

And guess what. Verse 17. As soon as they're safe. They're at it again. And the cycle repeats.

Watch it play out from the Bible Project video on the screen. Or your screen at home if you're Zooming. Take a look...

That. Is the story we're going to see over and over again in Judges. Getting worse and worse. Don't know if you noticed the repeated words.

Did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. Verse 11. Forsook the Lord and followed and worshipped various gods of the people around them. Verse 12. Forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. Verse 13. Prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. Verse 17. Following other gods and worshipping them. Verse 19.

Which is why, verse 21, God's not going to bother driving the enemies out before them. He's giving them exactly what they've chosen.

And so the iron wheeled chariots will get in the way. And the strong willed Canaanites. But most of all just the simple temptation to compromise. And where they can, domesticate the temptation. And make the Canaanites around them their gardeners. And their cooks. And their housekeepers. And their husbands. And their wives. Because life's so much easier that way. It's a lifestyle choice.

And of course ultimately. Make the gods of the Canaanites... their own.

Which is where we end with the summary in chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.

Chapter 3 verse 5, among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. As if there's no difference.

They took their daughters in marriage, verse 6, and gave their own daughters to their sons. Which sounds like a great example of multicultural tolerance. Unless you're convinced that the God of Israel is the rightful God of everyone. Because you'll notice the natural consequence in the last four words of verse 6.

They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons. and served their gods.

No difference. As tiny decision by tiny decision in a more and more vicious circle. They decide that keeping up with the Canaanites is better and easier and much more desirable. Than being the distinctive people of God.

Now please keep in mind, here we are in Episode 2. On the screen there's a diagram you might have seen in the study guide. And hopefully before.

We're here in the very early days of the old covenant that God made with Israel.

And you might have noticed explicitly at both the start and the end of chapter 2, that covenant is already in trouble.

God says to them "I said I'll never break my covenant with you; but you've disobeyed me and made a covenant with the people in the land instead."

It's a covenant relationship that's rocky from the start. These earliest days. And the problem is Israel. A problem the judges can't fix. Always just a stopgap solution.

And it's not until we come to Jesus and episode 3... that we meet the one Israelite leader who comes to save; who lives faithfully himself all the way through. And does something that brings the prospect of permanent change. And a breaking of the cycle. Of sin. And death. And God's judgement.

In his death on the cross; punished for his people. A purifying sacrifice. That brings forgiveness. And his resurrection to a new kind of life. And his pouring out of the long promised Holy Spirit. That brings the real prospect of a change of heart.

As the people of the new covenant. In episode 4.

So I want to ask you today: what about your own vicious circles? What about your own downward spirals?

Have you given up? I'm not saying there's an instant way out of them. Because we're still terribly human, aren't we? And we're not yet living beyond our struggles in episode 5. But we are on the way there. And there is hope. And there is change. Because of the Holy Spirit. Who'll actually join in fighting our struggles with us.

Maybe you're caught up in the pornography cycle. And you just struggle to get out of it. You don't want to be in it. But it's like a vortex.

Maybe it's an argument cycle in your marriage. A cycle of frustration and anger and resentment and explosion and then making up and forgiving and trying again. So hard. And yet before long you're finding it hasn't changed. And the frustration and anger are building all over again.

And so you know all too well, cycles are so easy to fall into. But look, here's the hope in those situations.

It all starts with that decision to stop worshipping the same gods the world does. And set your eyes on Jesus instead.

Not so much stone idols. As idols of the heart.

The idol of fitting in.

The idol called "love is love" and you can just love what you like. And that makes it right.

The idol of comfort. Of prosperity. The idol of food and luxury.

The idol of family. And home. To the exclusion of anything and anyone else.

The idol of self. Self fulfilment. Satisfaction. The most important person in the world is me.

Eugene Peterson puts it this way. He says, look at the world around us.

There is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines.

Aimless. Bored. Self amusing lives. Lives spent living for nothing bigger than the number of likes on their Instagram post. Is that what you really want?

We're called to step out of that. When we turn to the Lord Jesus. As new covenant people. That's what breaks the cycle. But of course there's a battle involved.

Paul says in Galatians 5 it's the battle fought with the help of God's Spirit. In putting to death our sinful human nature. Crucifying it. Here's what he says. To new covenant people like us.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won't gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Working through the book of Judges is going to challenge us. As New Covenant followers of Jesus. To get serious about breaking the cycle in the power of God's Spirit.

Not just living like the Canaanites do. But getting serious. About keeping in step with the Spirit. And putting to death our own sinful natures.

Getting serious. About what it actually means to put Jesus first over and above the subtle idols that end up pushing him aside. To break out of our vicious circles and cycles live in a way that marks us out as different in a lost and empty world that's worshipping all the wrong stuff.

Judges a tough book. But it's going to be worth the ride. So still with us over the next few weeks as we're reminded that keeping up with the Canaanites was always a bad idea. And always will be.