It makes the lure of the world, the power, position, entertainment, the fruits of the ‘flesh’, stand before us in full contrast to the fruit of the Christian life. 

We see clearly that men have the power to choose, and that invariably they choose the fruit of the ‘flesh’ which leads to death, even though they will say sometimes that they want the fruit of the Spirit. 

This book shows us clearly what God wants of us, who He is, who we are, what we normally or always do, and what we could be, if we allowed ourselves to be instructed in righteousness. 

We see what is likely to happen and what often happens when there is generational change, when the baton is passed from one generation to the next. 

We are shown that each and every generation has to fight the same old war as the previous generation and what happens when they choose not to learn from the mistakes or the experience of the previous generation. 

The issue as to why God does not do away with our problems, or act quickly when we are hurt, is dealt with in this chapter. 

The book of Judges covers a period of about three hundred and thirty years, when Israel showed an overwhelming preference to wanting both worlds. This despite Joshua’s warning about the futility of struggling to serve the gods of the Egyptians, the gods of the Moabites, and the gods of Baal, as well as paying lip service to serving Yahweh.

 It is difficult to understand the book of Judges without always keeping in mind the Covenant that God made with the people of Israel, which included both the blessings and cursings spelled out in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28 and repeated in Joshua 23 and 24.   

Israel knew that God had promised blessings for those that obeyed his commandments and curses for those who disobeyed him.  Despite this knowledge, when the older leaders died and their firm hand was no longer there, when the new generation was on their own, it was soon revealed that they had no personal relationship with their God. 

This new generation certainly knew Yahweh’s name, knew the rituals of worship, had information about him, but they did not know how to trust God in all the many detailed activities of their life.  It was rightly said of them; they did not know Him.  Weakness and compromise followed. 

We learn that at first they did not completely abandon Yahweh. We also learn that they attempted to combine their worship of Yahweh with the religion of the local gods. They foolishly attributed the success of the Canaanites to the local gods and so lusted after these gods to gain the same success, while retaining the benefit of knowing Yahweh. 

We will also look at how God sometimes allows us to have what we want in our disobedience, then tests us to see what we will do with what we have received.   

Unfortunately for us, when we get what we want, these things become “a thorn in the flesh”.  We will be forced to repent, scream in pain, live with these irritants and learn to depend on God for strength. 

Of course, all of this could be avoided.  If we follow the terms of the Covenant and obey God, we will not suffer as disobedient children. 

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

PARTIAL VICTORY

Let us look closely at the context of our lesson. 

Joshua had led the nation in conquering much of Canaan.  He had defeated thirty one Kings, settled the land and given each of the twelve tribes their section of inheritance.  

But there was still work to be done, for there were pockets of resistance from the Canaanites, Philistines, and Hittites.  Joshua commanded the leaders to finish the job and exterminate all their enemies.  When Joshua died, God assured the tribes that they should fight their enemies and that He would be with them. 

The tribes of Judah and Simeon fought well and had some success, but not total success.

Benjamin did not succeed in driving out the Jebusites in Jerusalem, and they settled with living with them.

In chapter one we are told that the tribe of Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan did not succeed in completely conquering and destroying the Canaanites in their section. In fact it is said that the Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country and not in the coastal plain. 

So with partial victory, the people of Israel settled for coexistence with their enemies.

GOD’S PLAN FOR CANAAN

When the Israelites entered Caanan they were to have completely expelled or wipe out the Caananites, but instead settled for what amounted to coexistence. This settling for coexistence is really worse that it appears on the surface.  Moses had warned in Deuteronomy 7:20-24, that when they went into the land God would expel the nations little by little, for otherwise wild animals would overrun the land.

When Israel entered the land their population was not sufficient to occupy all the land area, but as the population grew they would have to expel the Canaanites and control the entire land.   

So God seemed to have envisioned that the Canaanites would be allowed to remain for some probably brief period of time.  Nevertheless Israel was also told not to tremble at the presence of the Canaanites for God was present with the nation and since he was great and awesome, He would give the remaining kings over to them and erase their very names from memory. 

So Israel had no need to even dream of coexistence for political expedience or survival, forming agreements and intermarrying with the Canaanites, for this directly violated the commands of God and the assurances of God for their continued protection and support. 

Unfortunately they did otherwise.  Thus it is recorded that when they lived among their enemies, they entered into agreements and associations with them. These were not necessary.  These actions were not wise.  Israel thus legitimized the right of the Canaanites to live in the land, even though God had commanded them to rid the land of Caananites. 

We will see in our next lesson one such terrible agreement that Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law made, when he allied himself with Jabin, who was the oppressor of Israel. 

God thus would emphasize his expressed intention to leave the Canaanites in the land for little time as a test for Israel, and a teaching tool.  The presence of the Canaanites would be a test of the commitment of the people to follow the requirements of God's law and Covenant.  It would show up the extent of the determination of the people to finish the job Joshua had started, remain separate from the pagans, and reject pagan worship. 

There is yet another reason for not immediately exterminating the Canaanites. God seemed to have wanted to make sure that the Israelites learned how to conduct holy war, to become and remain strong, so that they could defend their country from the surrounding pagans. (Deuteronomy 3)  

So the Canaanites were used by God to train His people, as well as to test them.  Moses had instructed the people about God's intention and warned the people (see Deuteronomy 8:1-4) about faithfully following God’s instructions and pointing them to God's faithfulness in providing for them at all times. 

God considered Israel's deviation from his instructions to be so awful that we read in chapter two that an angelic messenger, in a powerful statement of symbolism, came up from Gilgal. Gilgal was that part of the land on which Israel stepped when they crossed the Jordan on entering Canaan and Joshua set up the Memorial Stones, twelve in the dry riverbed and twelve on the bank of the river. Gilgal was also the place where every male was then circumcised. 

The angel gave the people a history lesson on what God had done for them. He rebuked them strongly and declared that they had not obeyed him, warned the people that disobedience to the terms of the Covenant would result in the Canaanites ensnaring them and their gods and turning them away from Yahweh.  On this occasion we are told they repented but their repentance was short-lived. 

They were warned that because of their disobedience God would not drive out the enemy completely and their enemies would become thorns in their side. (See also 3:2) Israel thought that they would live at peace with their enemies and so rejected God's instruction to exterminate them, but they would now have no rest or peace. The gods of the Canaanites would be a trap and would destroy them. 

In chapter 2 we read of the dreadful situation which developed when the new generation came to power.  They did evil before the Lord, began to imitate the Canaanites in their behavior and worship, intermarried with them and instead of being holy and remaining separate from the sinful ways of the people of the land, embraced all the sins of the Canaanites.  They did this despite knowing that they were to exterminate the Canaanites because their sin was ‘full’.

 (See Genesis 15:16). 

Note that the Canaanites Baal worship was the most degrading form of worship ever practiced. They participated in temple prostitution, fertility rites, drunken sexual orgies, idolatry, snake worship, homosexuality, and human sacrifice, even taking their firstborn babies and throwing them into the fire as an act of worship. 

It is interesting that chapter two records one reaction of the people to the dreadful announcement of the angel that the curses of the Mosaic Covenant was now going to be applied against the nation of Israel.

They wept, and one would have thought from this that they understood what God meant, but this was not the case.  It seems that one can outwardly show repentance by weeping but without ever repenting inwardly. 

We must understand that real repentance shows itself in actions.  A person can be sorry for the consequences that their sin brings on them, without being sorry about the sin itself. 

The famous preacher Spurgeon said in this matter:

“the tear is the natural drop of moisture, and soon evaporates; the better thing is the inward torrent of grief within the soul, which leaves the indelible mark within…. One great of faith is better than a gallon of tears.  A drop of genuine repentance is more precious than a torrent of weeping.” 

One writer warns us to remember that true Christianity is not biologically transmitted.  The new generation must have their own personal relationship with God. 

The people forsook the Lord and embraced the sins of the pagans. The presence of the pagans among them led them into idolatry and the people became offensive to God. God was angry and divine discipline followed. They should not have been surprised, for God promised in the Covenant that he would do exactly that.  

So because of his great love for them, God acted in judgment to bring them to repentance. God delivered them into the hands of those that they had loved, but who would now oppress and plunder them. They would now be greatly distressed.  They would cry, weep, and suffer.  Their enemies dominated and afflicted them. 

In the New Testament there is a similar teaching that if a member does not behave in godly fashion, he or she should be expelled . So that when Satan buffeted them, they would repent and come back to the brethren, fully prepared to obey the Commandments of God.  Israel was now about to experience that same kind of punishment to bring them to repentance. 

Romans one warns us that when God expresses his wrath, he takes off his hands from us, stop protecting us, and “gives us over” to the things that we insist on having.  He doesn't stop the consequences of what we are doing from coming on us. 

So when we stop listening, make friends with those that we should be avoiding, depending on others for security, hope, and success, God lifts his hand from over us, and gives us what we ask for, with life shattering consequences. 

It is perhaps difficult for many to grasp that God is a jealous God.  Those that have been joined in Covenant with God and who turn from God are described as a wife who treacherously departs from her husband.  That person is now described as a harlot. 

It is clear that there is much difference between what men regard as evil in their sight, and what God regards as evil in His sight. 

Jesus pointed this out to the Pharisees on the matter of murder and idolatry, declaring that the sins begin in the heart. God sees the heart and for him these evils begin in the heart, not when the act is publicly committed. Jesus warned the Pharisees that though they claimed to follow the principle of loving their neighbor and hating their enemies, if they wanted to be like the Father in heaven, they should love their enemies and do good to those that persecuted them. 

We need to understand that the standards of God and the ways of God are quite different from those of the world and of the ‘flesh’.  It is most distressing to forsake the Lord and serve the Baals.  Both actions are one and the same. 

Verse fourteen records that disobedient and idolatrous Israel, who mixed themselves with pagans, and participated in pagan worship were “sold” into the hands of their enemies.

Verse fifteen makes the even more terrible statement that wherever Israel went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil.  God had determined that they would not succeed.  God was fighting against them.  It was not simply that the pagans were against them, now God was also against them. 

It was made abundantly clear that because they had violated the Covenant, the evil that God had “sworn” would happen was now happening. 

Nobody can successfully fight against God, or defend themselves against God.  Israel was now learning that lesson.  Logically the Scriptures state that they were “greatly distressed”. This was misery par excellence. 

Let us take careful note. Before, the enemy could not stand before Israel or before us for the hand of God was with Israel and with you. When one begins to disobey, God suspends his favour, true successes don't come, and the enemy is no longer driven out from before us.  God will freely deliver you up. 

Hebrews 10:38 states clearly:

“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul”. 

Just remember that He is true to his promises, whether to bless or curse.

It might be difficult to accept the principle from Hebrews twelve that says that God disciplines us for our own good so that we can share in His holiness. 

THE TEXT

Verse 16.   We are now introduced to another aspect of the personality of the Covenant God of Israel. 

It is good that God is an infinite God, and so his attributes are unlike ours. 

God wants repentance, which means a true and lasting turning to him, and he will do whatever it takes to ensure that His elect, those who he has called, repent when they sin.

So this God of infinite mercy took pity on them.  They groaned and he heard.  But He knew their frame, and he knows ours.  He knew that they were not as “good” as they thought they were.  So in His mercy, in His grace, He raised up deliverers to save them from the hand of those that were oppressing them. 

This word ‘nevertheless’ is a powerful one, for they did not deserve to be delivered. They were crying out to God and depending on Him only because this was a critical emergency.  Because of God's great love, he acted to save the undeserving, raising up heroes to rescue them. 

Clearly, it is comforting to know that a God who is angry, is also a God who cares, who is so involved with his people, that he hears their cries and their weeping, and sees their suffering.  He is not a God that is afar off, but one who is near and is merciful and one who is moved to pity by the cries of his people. 

The deliverers are called “judges” but they were not like our judges who specialize in handling legal disputes and making decisions on points of law. 

These “judges” primarily went to war to fight to free the people of God from the tyranny of their enemies. Of course, some of them would have to guide the people, and command the rule of justice once they came on the scene, but generally their primary function was that of ‘deliverer’. 

Note that the word is in the plural, indicating that God had to show his mercy over and over again.  The judges did their work well.  But the state of the heart of the people was something else. 

The theme of the cycles of failure that would be repeated is now referred to. One writer describes what would happen for there would be: “The pattern of sin and bondage, deliverance, blessing, followed by sin and bondage again in the days of the judges.”

Verse 17.  The people sadly failed every test.  As soon as they were freed they started to disobey, they would not completely listen to the judges but still went back, to again bow down and prostrate themselves before the gods of the heathens.  Once they had some relief from the difficulties they quickly began to rebel against God.  Once the pain was gone, there was no more obedience to the commandments of the Lord. 

This depressing characteristic is also often seen in the lives of Christians today.  Though we are under the New Covenant and have the indwelling Holy Spirit, we still grieve the Spirit constantly.  We are unfaithful, follow the sins of the world and break every rule in the book with no feeling of remorse. 

Verse 18.  It was the Lord that raised up the judges.  Note that he did not send angels to rescue them, but raised up men from among them, who had human weaknesses, but who followed the instructions of God.  So we note that even when times are desperate, there are still some who will serve the Lord and who will make themselves available for the service of God. 

When God raised up the judges he was with them.  He didn't call them to do difficult work and leave them on their own.  He gave them wisdom and courage, blessed them and called them his own. 

They needed this special strength from God, for even during the life of some judges the people would not listen to the judges but were ready to backslide.  The people were committed to spiritual adultery and quickly turned back to Baal worship. 

It was again stressed that God had divine compassion, so that when they groaned from their oppression and the vexation of their enemies, God reversed the punishment.

Verse 19.  What reformation took place in the society during the rule of the judges was not long lasting, but was short-lived.  As well, when the judges died they went back to their iniquity. 

Each time the folly of the idolatry by the people worsened. They continued to increase the amount of strange gods that they worshipped and were even more corrupt than before.  Their wickedness increased, and each generation seemed to want to outdo the previous generation in their impious behavior. 

The people were stubborn and stiff necked.  The memory of their pain was not sufficient to stop them.  They never abandoned their stubbornness. They were determined to go back to Baal, that is, live according to the way they wanted, trying to live in both worlds, serving the ‘flesh’ primarily, while paying lip service to God and using Him for insurance purposes.

Verse 20-23.    God gave the people what they wanted.  Because they repeatedly rebelled and because their heart was inclined to the Baals, God left the source of their problems in place, the pagan nations, to teach them lessons, test them, and He left in place circumstances that would make them repent. 

God did not even call them “my nation” anymore but called them “this nation”, indicating that they were not in relationship to Him anymore.  They showed that they loved the Canaanites, so God left their loves right there.  He gave them “over”. 

The covenant terms were now in place. God would no longer drive out the nations that Joshua had left behind, but would leave them in the land to prove the mind and ways of Israel, to show whether or not they would walk in the faithful ways of Joshua. 

Note that God resolved to use a rod of correction in continuous fashion.  There is a price for continuing transgression and sinful compromise. 

The Book of Judges tells us that Israel was delivered by more than a dozen people.  In our next lesson we will look at one prominent judge Deborah.  Other prominent ones are Gideon (chapters 6-8), Jephthah (10:6-12:7), and Samson (chapters 13-16). There were others we know nothing much about such as Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.   

They had to battle with the nations that God left behind to purify Israel.  It was not an easy job.

CONCLUSION

So what can we say?  We can learn several lessons.  We must first understand that there's evil all around us and no matter how we redefine evil it is still evil in the sight of God.  We must never get our definition of evil from men and we must never try to define it to suit our selves.   Anything that is contrary to God's will is evil.  It is that simple! If we know the will of God, we know what is evil.  At the same time, if we know the will of God, we will also know what is good. 

In fact, we today have the perfect example of how to walk, for God has sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. 

What we do know is that it is probably not a good idea for God to remove every problem from us.  The people of Israel wanted prosperity, peace, enjoyment, comfort and the finer things of life and they were willing to sell their souls.  God wanted worship from them, and he wanted them to be a witness for him, so that others would come to know and understand him and have faith in Him. 

The depths of human wickedness are indeed remarkable.  The people of God are capable of wickedness that is unbelievable. 

Israel was not against using God's name and pretending to be good while operating in the middle of tremendous abomination.  Unfortunately, this is found all too frequently today. 

We can learn several other critically important things. 

First, a person cannot inherit faith in Jesus Christ.  There must be a personal relationship with Christ, and this has to be experienced on an individual basis. 

Second, when we know Jesus Christ we would understand and be able to recognize evil.  The laws and Commandments of God express who Jesus is and we should know them because they help us to understand him. 

Third, we must never forget that when we get into Covenant with him, Jesus Christ, he will deal with us when we are disobedient. 

Fourth, when we know Jesus Christ and are in Covenant with him we will often experience his mercy and his grace. 

Fifth, we should certainly be aware of the fact that when we are in Covenant with Jesus Christ he will test us, not to destroy us, but to purify us, and to develop his righteousness in us. 

Sixth, when we are in Covenant with Jesus Christ we will know for sure that only His power can deliver us from evil. 

Evil is very attractive and very seductive. It has not subsided over the years.  It has only changed forms. 

It is very difficult to make each other understand that evil has been redefining itself and it is difficult for us to take the many forms nowadays seriously.  Evil seems so benign.  It is often so quiet, slick and smooth. So we can hardly resist the temptation to move in the path of idolatry and compromise.   

Undoubtedly many of the Canaanites were nice attractive people.  Their daughters and sons were beautiful and handsome, and were ready to please. Their gods would allow anything.  For them anything goes.  A person did not have to follow strict rules or deny themselves anything. 

But from sad experience we know that it is only the ways of God that will save.  So let us resist the temptation to compromise and let us err on the side of caution.