Courage then Compromise then Consequence then Christ
Preached by Jason Abbott
June 7, 2015
Introduction to Judges
Context: The Book of Judges reports to us the period of Israel’s history from the death of Joshua to the rise of its monarchy. The Israelites have left slavery in Egypt and their forty years of desert wanderings—in order to (finally!) possess the Promised Land.This should be a triumphant moment. Yet what starts with great expectations eventually ends with profound disillusionment! For Israel failed, again and again, to follow God’s command to take the entirety of the land—to completely drive out the foreign peoples living there (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). In a very unique manner, they were called to be God’s arm of judgment against years and years of both individual and institutional evil.However, when the Israelites compromise this calling in multitudes of ways, they become the focus rather than the instrument of God’s judgment. Therefore, the Book of Judges pictures a slow spiral into ever worsening depravity as Israel, forsaking God’s calling, continues to do whatever it thinks best (Judges 17:6).That’s our context in a nutshell.An Apologetic Aside: Often times today, God’s command for the Israelites to judge the Canaanites comes under intense scrutiny by those outside (and inside!) the church. It has even been likened to an ancient and divinely instituted genocide. The objection might be stated something like this: “How horrid that Israel butcher innocent Canaanites, wreak havoc and misery, grab their land—and all, allegedly, at Yahweh’s command!”1There are many, many problems with this supposed modern, moral outrage. I’ll highlight just two. (1) The Canaanites are not understood to be innocent, at all! They were being judged by God for a long list of sins—including incest, bestiality, and child sacrifice, among many others (Leviticus 18:6-30; Deuteronomy 18:9-14). (2) Such human judgments promise way more than they can—in the end—deliver since they assume that limited, sinful creatures can better judge right from wrong (what’s just or unjust!) than can an omniscient and holy Creator.Well we could go on for a long, long time about such introductory matters, but, instead, let’s read the first extended passage in the Book of Judges then pray that God would teach us from it.
Judges 1:1-2:5
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?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. 12 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.16 And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20 And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 And he showed them the way into 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 and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.27 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 persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.2 1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
As we move forward, I want to lay out how this passage fits into categories of courage, of compromise, or of consequence; and, in each of the three groupings, I want us to consider how this isn’t a pattern that is comfortably far off from us but, rather, dangerously near to us.
1. Courage (1:1-18)
Here, we’re being told about the final stages of a mostly finished conquest. Under Joshua’s leadership, God had already given Israel possession of the land. Now, Israel—following Joshua’s death—needs to bring this victory to completion as tribe by tribe they fully take their specific inheritances. Chapter one essentially outlines this finishing work.It might be easy for us to assume then that this finishing work is no big deal. It might be easy to assume that Israel really faces no great challenge in this passage since they basically already possess the land. Yet, we would be wrong to assume that that is the case.After all, our opening verse places this finishing work in its general context: “After the death of Joshua…” (1:1), or: after the death of Moses’ right-hand man, or: after the death of Israel’s God-ordained leader. And, that’s the dark backdrop against which this finishing work is set.In light of this, what we see in the first 18 verses of our passage is courage—even faithful courage since Israel immediately turns to the Lord for his direction. They don’t back away from their calling. Rather, they begin to fully take the land, and the Lord blesses this endeavor.Friends, there’s a subtle but deep lesson here for us. Real courage comes through faith in the Lord alone and absolutely no one else. One scholar explains it in this way:
Joshua died, but “Yahweh said, ‘I have given the land into Judah’s hand’” (v. 2). Joshua died, but “Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand” (v. 4). Joshua died, yet “Yahweh was with Judah so that he possessed the hill country” (v. 19). The point should not be lost on contemporary Christians. Your help is in the name of the Lord, not in the name of your favorite Christian hero.2
Far too often, we hitch our proverbial Christian cart to a charismatic leader, and, then, when that leader fails us or leaves us or dies (as will inevitably happen!), we are shaken and discouraged. Yet, friends, this should not be the way with us. Abraham, Moses, David, and Isaiah—died. Peter, Paul, James, and John—died. Clement of Rome, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Augustine of Hippo—all died. Yet, God is not surprised, and his kingdom moves forward in power.So, trust the Lord and gain courage from his promises! Human heroes come and go, but “God is no mere human. / He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. / God always keeps his promises” (Numbers 23:19, CEV).Yet, at this point in the story, Israel begins moving from courage into:
2. Compromise (1:19-36)
What do we read constantly about in this text? We read about compromise. The author laboriously records it
(1:21) But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
(1:27) Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants…the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
(1:28) When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
(1:29) And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites…so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
I could go on for another seven verses of this. The author is making a point. Sometimes we’re annoyed when we read repetitive biblical passages like this one. But, rather than be annoyed, we should be careful and begin paying close attention because this repetition is like an ancient highlighter. There’s a lesson here!Note that there are two things leading to the Israelites’ repeated compromise. First is conflict. When Israel faces stiff opposition, they begin to compromise. “They’ve got chariots of iron! …Well, we’ve conquered most of our inheritance. Those Amorites on the plains are tough dudes! …Well, let’s just stay in the hills.” So we see conflict can lead to compromise.Second is convenience. How often do we read that Israel has enough power to win, to drive out the nations, yet chooses, instead, to accumulate a slave force? Over and over again we read something about this or that foreign nation remaining but being “subjected to forced labor” (1:28, 30, 33, 35). This is simply compromise for the sake of convenience.Friends, all our seats should be getting a bit uncomfortable at this point. Compromise for conflict is merely believing God isn’t big enough to give victory. And, compromise for convenience is merely believing that we really know better than God does.
Conflict Compromise says: I could not lead in that way or in that ministry so I will sit immobile for years wasting my God given gifts and calling without getting into the spiritual battle.
Convenience Compromise says: In the Bible, God has instructed me to use my time or my money or my intellect or my imagination or my possessions or my sexuality or my gender in this or that way, but I believe it’s far better and more beneficial for me to use it in this way.
So it was in the days of the Judges and so it is today in our own time—“Everyone [does] what [is] right in his [or her] own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). And consequently, with Israel in our passage, sinful compromise has its:
3. Consequence (2:1-5)
And God, through his angel, pronounces his verdict:
What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you (2:2-3).
Israel’s sin has its consequence. They will literally have wars and idolatry because of their sins. Yet, more severe than this is the ongoing spiritual alienation they’ll experience with God.Our sins work this way as well. We will encounter natural consequences from sin: broken marriage, alienated relationship, lost career, real consequences. But, there’s also the far worse consequence of a broken relationship with God.In his commentary on Judges, Tim Keller points out that Israel has put God into a seemingly impossible situation. God promised to never break his covenant with them. He has promised he will dwell with his people in the Promised Land. However, he has simultaneously and equally promised that he will never do so with a disobedient and sinful people.3 How will God keep both his promises?The answer is that God will keep these promises through the cross of Christ. Jesus’ cross is where our sins meet justice. And Jesus’ cross is where we get grace. At the cross of Christ, God keeps both his promises simultaneously. Amen!
1Dale Ralph Davis, Judges: Such a Great Salvation, 16.
2Ibid, 20.
3Tim Keller, Judges for You, 26-28.
