The Story October 26, 2014 Chapter 8

A Few Good Men … and Women

"The Period of Judges"

Chapter 8

Key Question

How can we keep from repeating the Israelite’s sin cycle in our own lives?

Othniel: Pages 103–105

 
The book of Judges explains what happened to the Israelites during the first few centuries after Joshua died. Most of the Israelite tribes did not finish driving out the Canaanites as God told them to do.[1] They allowed the Canaanites to live among them, but subjected them to forced labor. It wasn’t long before the people intermarried with the Canaanites, adopted their practices, and ignored God’s commands.



[1] Judges 1:27–36.


1. (a) What happened after Joshua’s generation died (Judges 2:10–12)? (b) The author of Judges summarized the tale he was about to tell in Judges 2:13–19. What strikes you most about this summary? (c) Why did God raise up judges (2:16)? (d) What happened to each generation that abandoned God, in comparison to their fathers (2:19)?


The first judge God called to rescue and rule his people was Othniel.

2. (a) What did the Israelites do in Judges 3:7? (b) What was God’s response (3:8)? (c) What did the Israelites do next (3:9a)? (d) What was God’s response (3:9b–10)? (e) What happened to the land as a result (3:11)?


This cycle repeats throughout the book of Judges, which covers the time period between the taking of the land and the first king (called the “premonarch period” in the chart below). Over and over, Israel abandoned God and began doing evil, particularly by worshipping Canaanite gods, participating in the highly sexualized Canaanite worship practices, and oppressing the weak. God punished them by no longer protecting them and by delivering them into the hands of their enemies. The Israelites groaned under their hardship and cried out to God. God relented and gave them a judge who delivered them. But when things got good, the people once again committed apostasy by abandoning the true God for false gods.

The New American Commentary charts it like this:[2]

[2] Diagram from Daniel I. Block, New American Commentary—Volume 6: Judges, Ruth, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1999), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 133.



3. (a) The Israelites turned to God when they were afflicted and oppressed, but left Him when life was good. What does this suggest about the type of relationship they desired to have with God? (b) What would you think about a friend who treated you well only when he or she wanted something from you? (c) Do you find yourself spending more time with God when you want something badly from Him? Why or why not? (d) What practices could you implement to be sure you don’t seek God only when you want something from Him, but rather have a true relationship with Him?



Deborah: Pages 105–107

After a couple more judges, the Israelites had peace for eighty years.

4. (a) After this time of peace, what happened (Judges 4:1)? (b) If the Israelites had driven out the Canaanites, would they have fallen to a Canaanite king from within their midst (4:2)? (c) What happened under Sisera, the commander of a Canaanite army (4:3)? (d) How can allowing “small” amounts of sin to stay in our lives lead us to be enslaved and oppressed by that sin?


Out of compassion, God raised up another judge: the prophetess Deborah.

5. According to Judges 4:4–5, what positions did Deborah hold?


6. In what ways did Deborah and Jael show courage?

Gideon: Pages 107–112

The Israelites continued their cycles of abandoning God whenever life seemed good. Eventually they fell under the oppression of the neighboring Midianites.[3]

[3] The Midianites were not Canaanites. They were the descendants of Abraham through Keturah, whom he married after Sarah died. 

 

7. (a) What did God do when the Israelites cried out to Him (Judges 6:7–8a)? (b) Was God unable to deliver them (6:8b–9)? (c) Why had God allowed Midian to oppress them (6:10)?



The angel of the Lord appeared to an unlikely hero named Gideon.

8. (a) Despite the prophet’s explanation for the Midianite oppression, what did Gideon ask the angel of the Lord (Judges 6:13)? (b) Why do you think Gideon didn’t accept the prophet’s explanation for their oppression (see previous question)? (c) If possible, give a modern day example of someone disobeying God and then wondering why God allowed unpleasant consequences (please do not give names).


Gideon didn’t consider himself a mighty warrior, yet God chose him.

9. Why do you think God often uses “weak” people to accomplish mighty things[4] (Judges 6:15)? 

[4] See also 1 Corinthians 1:27–29. 

10. (a) Why did God reduce Gideon’s army from 32,000 men to 300 (Judges 7:2, 7)? (b) What do you think God wanted to teach the Israelites through this?


God worked a mighty victory and freed the Israelites from Midian through Gideon and his three hundred men. The land had peace … until Gideon died.

Samson’s Rise: Pages 112–116

The cycle repeated, with each rebellious generation becoming more corrupt than all those before. Even some judges followed the practices of the people among whom they lived, as was the case with Samson.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s parents in the midst of forty years of oppression under the Philistines.[5] He said Samson was to be set apart from birth for God’s service.[6]

[5] The Philistines migrated to Canaan from the Aegean and also wanted to occupy Canaan.

[6] Samson was to be a Nazirite. People could take Nazirite vows for short times, such as thirty days. Samson, John the Baptist, and perhaps Samuel were called to be lifelong Nazirites. 

 

11. What commands did the angel of the Lord give regarding how Samson was to live (Judges 13:5)?


Despite his calling, Samson didn’t take seriously God’s commands not to marry those who didn’t worship the Lord God.[7]

[7] Deuteronomy 7:3–4.  

 

12. In what ways did Sampson’s chasing after foreign women illustrate Israel’s chasing after foreign gods?



Samson delivered the Israelites from the Philistines, but his confidence in his own strength left him seeing no need to rely on God’s strength. That led to his downfall.

Samson’s Downfall: Pages 116–119

Samson continued to chase women who worshipped other gods. Eventually he fell in love with Delilah, and the Philistine rulers saw their opportunity. They bribed Delilah to find out the secret of Samson’s great strength.

Delilah tried her best. Each time Samson told her how to subdue him, she waited until he slept and tested what he told her. Samson treated her attempts like a game. One day, though, he told her his hair had never been cut because he was a Nazirite dedicated to God, and if she shaved his head, he would become as weak as any other man.

Samson knew Delilah would shave his head, but he didn’t know the Spirit of the Lord would leave him as a result.

13. (a) What might be reasons Samson told Delilah she could weaken him if she shaved his head, even though he knew she would attempt this deed which was forbidden to him? (b) Samson’s strength wasn’t in his hair; what was the true source of Samson’s strength (Judges 16:20)? (c) What were ways Samson took the Source of his strength for granted? (d) How can Christians keep themselves from taking God for granted?


As the hair which was the outward sign of Samson’s dedication to God left him, so did the Spirit of the Lord. Samson discovered too late his strength depended on God’s presence. The Philistines gouged out Samson’s eyes, bound him in shackles, and imprisoned him.

One day the Philistine rulers and three thousand people gathered on the temple roof to mock Samson and celebrate their god having delivered Samson into their hands. As Samson leaned against the temple’s supporting pillars, he prayed.

14. (a) What did Samson’s prayer show he now understood about his strength’s source (Judges 16:28)? (b) What lessons can we learn from Samson about the gifts God gives us for serving Him and helping others? (c) What can we learn from Samson about additional reasons God uses the weak more than the strong?


God had called the Israelites to be His people and to make Him known to the surrounding peoples. But many Israelites let the culture influence their ideas of right and wrong, rather than God’s commands given through Moses. The differences between Canaanites and Israelites diminished.

15. (a) In whose eyes were the peoples’ actions considered evil (Judges 2:11)? (b) In whose eyes were the peoples’ actions considered right (Judges 21:25)? (c) What steps can we take to be sure we’re doing right in God’s eyes, and not just our own?


16. What steps can we take to keep from repeating the Israelite’s sin cycle in our own lives?


Both Moses and Joshua warned the Israelites that if they didn’t drive out the inhabitants, then they would be seduced by their evil practices; if they did, God would drive the Israelites out too.

Sadly, the Canaanization of Israel marched on.


Disobedience always brings judgment. The Israelites present a perfect example of what we are not to do. Instead of learning from experience that God will always punish rebellion against Him, they continued to disobey and suffer God’s displeasure and discipline. If we continue in disobedience, we invite God’s discipline, not because He enjoys our suffering, but “because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son" (Hebrews 12:6).

The Book of Judges is a testament to God’s faithfulness. Even “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13). Though we may be unfaithful to Him, as the Israelites were, still He is faithful to save us and preserve us (1 Thessalonians 5:24) and to forgive us when we seek forgiveness (1 John 1:9). “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).But all was not lost. Some Israelites still wanted to follow God in the Promised Land. They mourned over the depths of Israel’s sin and committed themselves to obeying God’s commands. We’ll see faithful God followers shine in this dark era next week as we watch God make Himself known.



Our lesson outline:

Chapter 8: The Call vs. The Culture

The call vs. the culture: a never-ending battle between being different (set apart) and being the same as everybody else. 

 

As you read through the Book of Judges, a recurring, 4-phase cycle becomes apparent.

1. First, the people of Israel would rebel against the Lord.

2. Second, God would punish the people by delivering them into the hands of evil oppressors like foreign nations or tribal groups.

3. Third, the people of Israel would cry out to the Lord for deliverance. This crying out to God implied repentance on their part.

4. Fourth, God would rise up a judge to deliver the people of Israel from their oppressors. This was the pattern of disobedience in Israel and it would happen again and again and again.



So what happens when I do not obey God?

Judges is the source of some of our most familiar Old Testament stories. Remember the tales of Samson and Gideon. Our familiarity of the stories makes it likely that some will miss its very message. In Judges there is a demonstration of a basic theme (Ai, now magnified and repeated over and over again) of Obedience and Disobedience.

Is partial obedience – obedience?

Judges 1:27-36

27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond. (NIV)



How do these verses show the Israelites’ partial disobedience? 

 

According to verses 27-36, what happened because the Israelites didn’t remove all of the inhabitants of the land?

God had promised Canaan to the Israelites, but they had to follow His instructions and get all of the pagan people currently living in the Promised Land out of it.

Judges 2:1-5

1 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. 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? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." 4 When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD. (NIV)



Why did God not help the people? Should the people have been surprised that God said He would not help them? What would happen as a result of their disobedience to remove the pagan people from the land? What are some possible things that God does not want in our lives?

Music, media, internet, activities, friends, acquaintances?

Judges 2:10-14

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. (NIV)

Judges 2:16-19

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. (NIV)



This is a pretty sad description of the people of God. How does this description compare to our society today? How was God involved in the Israelites’ suffering?



3 Failures of the Israelites

1. Incomplete Obedience

2. Apostasy Deflection from the faith, an act of unpardonable rebellion against God.

3. Intermarriage


How have you substituted partial obedience for complete obedience in your relationship with God?



It wasn’t too long after Gideon died that Israel began to (1) forget the Lord, (2) turned back to serving idols, and (3) was judged by God again.



The Philistines (1) ransacked the crops of Israel, (2) took away all their weapons and (3) made life miserable for the Israelites. God sent an Angel to a godly couple living in a tiny mountain village to tell them that they would have a son.

Judges 13:5

“You will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines." (NIV) 

 

 

 

Was he just a He-Man with a She-Weakness?

God defeated a leader in his strength.


You say he did what? Why would He do this? God defeated Israel’s enemies by using a leader that needed to be defeated himself. A leader whose strength became a source of pride, cockiness and arrogance.



What do you know about Samson?

• Samson was a Nazirite, consecrated from birth who had never had alcohol or a haircut and kept to a strict diet. What was the purpose of the Nazirite? The purpose of the Nazirite vow was to raise up a group of leaders devoted completely to God. 

• He tore a lion apart with his bare hands 

• After his riddle he struck down 30 men 

• After his father-in-law gave his wife to another man, he lit the tails of foxes who ran through the fields and burned all the grain

• When those enemies killed his wife and her father, he slaughtered them 

• He took the jawbone of a donkey and killed 1,000 more men

He was an intimidating man, but…let’s just say he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.

• His first wife nagged him long enough to get the secret of the riddle. 

• His second wife, Delilah, a Philistine spy, tried three times unsuccessfully to get him to tell the secret of his great strength. You’d have thought by now Samson would have caught on. You would think just her repeated badgering of him for the secret might have tipped him off just a little. Smell the coffee Samson!

How is the story of Samson's birth like the story of Jesus' birth? What parallels do you see?

• He does things in the power of the Lord, things that we would have to call miracles. 

• His whole life is a miracle. 

• His birth was announced to his mother by an angel, he lived his life as a Nazarite (someone set aside for special service to God); he is described as someone God chose to use to set Israel free from their oppressors.

What were Samson's weaknesses?

• Lusts for women
• Violated his vow and God’s laws on many occasions
• No purpose in life
• Wasted his God given gifts
• Confided in the wrong people

What were his strengths?

• Tremendous potential
• Born as a result of God’s plan
• Enormous physical strength

How could God ever use a person who was so influenced by lusts of the flesh and emotional extremes?

• The Bible doesn't cover up any of these faults in Samson, and yet it tells us that God was behind many of the decisions that Samson made. God wanted Samson to infiltrate the Philistines, and He evidently used Samson's weaknesses for women to accomplish His ends. He began to free Israel from the Philistine oppression.

What lessons can we learn from Samson's life?

• Great strength in one area of life does not make up for great weaknesses in other areas
• God’s presence does not overwhelm a person’s will
• God can use a person of faith in spite of his or her mistakes

The point to see in the story of Samson is this: God defeated a leader in his strength to deliver His people. Now you might say, why would God do that? Why wouldn’t God use a gift that He Himself had given Samson to rescue Israel? It’s because of this:

1. No strength you have is ever enough to make up for your weaknesses.
2. People sure of themselves have no need of God’s power.
3. If your strength is not consecrated to God, it becomes your weakness.

God gives us gifts to honor Him and serve the Kingdom and the world. If your gift is management, you bless your company by exercising that gift well. If your gift is compassion, you bring glory to God by loving your marketplace and your family. But what happens when we forget the Giver of the gift? What happens when I’m so good at something, I stop honoring the One who gave it to me? The answer is - I become Samson.


Samson tended to rely on his own strength instead of acknowledging God as the source. What strengths or resources do you tend to rely on more than entrusting your life into God’s care?



This leads us to today's Equipping Point: Surrender your gift.

Only when our gifts are submitted to the Giver can they be fully utilized for His glory, not ours. This is incredibly difficult, because our strengths are what come to us most naturally; it can never occur to us to surrender the very thing we do most easily. But if you're like me, and like Samson, you've used your greatest gifts, whether it's management, empathy, discernment, or teaching, to elevate yourself.



How do we keep from doing this? How do we offer our strengths, our greatest talents to God?

1. We need to repent for the times we've used our gifts sinfully, or selfishly.

2. We need to pray before exercising it.


If you're particularly talented at counseling, make sure you pray before each session. If you're gifted at the mechanisms of management and building infrastructure, make sure you pray before every meeting, whether at work or on a volunteer committee at church, to ensure your strength doesn't become a stumbling block to yourself or to others.


God is never bashful about His intentions for His people. He never tolerates sin and, at the same time, never breaks His covenant with His people. Israel may not have fully understood God’s discipline, but over and over He had to bring them to their knees in order to bring them to Himself.

PRAYER OF COMMITMENT

God, give me the wisdom to recall Your saving and healing work in my life. Give my trust in Your faithfulness so I might put away fear. When fear overtakes me, help me cry out to You for deliverance. Fill me with Your Spirit so I might not forget You, and always follow Your ways, which are good. Amen.

See you on Sunday!


David & Susan