The Failure to Apply Total Faith

Judges 1 &2

There is a special message for us as we look at the events that followed Joshua’s leadership of Israel.

In the first two chapters of the book of Judges we see that seven of the tribes did not completely drive out the Canaanites from their allotted area. The Israelites had conquered the people but they did not destroy them as God had directed. The Canaanites became slaves of the Israelites.

Having disobeyed God’s instructions, they would suffer the consequences.

· Judges 2:10-11, 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.

This happened because they had allowed the Canaanites to remain among them and took up their idolatrous ways.

So God no longer fought their battles for them. But His mercy was still available. So He began to provide judges to rule over the Israelites and as long as the judge lived they were protected from their enemies. But as soon as the judge died the nation fell back into their old idol worshipping ways. So for a period of 400 years the history of Israel was one of ups and downs so far as obedience to God was concerned. The lesson for us is clear: If after we know the truth of God through Jesus, and we do not follow Him, then there are judgments to fall on us.

The people of Israel did what was wrong in the sight of God, and they forsook Him who was the God of their forefathers. They followed the gods of the heathen around them and thereby provoked the true God to anger.

· Judges 2:12-14, They provoked the LORD to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

God simply took away His protective hand from them. In effect God was saying that they had refused to take what He wanted to give them, so He would let them have what they wanted.

What did they get? They got bondage. They were made to serve the heathen and God let them stay that way.

However,

· Judges 2:16,  Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

This is very much the course of the Book of Judges. Some 14 times God permitted the people of Israel or a part of the nation, at least, to succumb to their enemies. Then after they would cry out to God and began to be more obedient, God would send a judge. He was a leader who in the name of the Lord would claim victory and lead the people. So they would be free for a time until that judge died.

· Judges 2:18-19, 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.

Their spiritual condition was up and down and this lasted for some 400 years. God was long-suffering during this period and sent them judge after judge to deliver them. In this respect the judges are a type of Jesus.

· Judges 2:20-23, Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did." 23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

The Consequences of Unfaithfulness

1 Samuel 15

One of the grimmest lessons in this connection begins back in the seventeenth chapter of Exodus.

The first time we met Joshua was as the leader of the forces of Israel against Amalek. God gave some very explicit instructions to Moses concerning Israel and he was to write those instructions down and be certain to cover them with Joshua. One thing that He promised to do was to blot out any recollection of Amalek.

500 years later Saul was the king of Israel and God chose to do something more about Amalek. We have seen that His instructions were to totally destroy Amalek because they were outstanding aggressors against the Lord. So, since the Amalekites’ cup of sin was full, God’s patience had run out.

Amalek was the grandson of Esau. You remember Esau. He was the twin brother of Jacob and he traded his birthright for a bowl of food. Later he regretted this trade and there was animosity between the brothers. But that which is seldom discussed in this case is that the birthright was mostly spiritual, since the one who inherited the birthright was to be the spiritual head of the family.

· Hebrews 12:15-17, See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Amalek is a type of the “old nature”. We have said repeatedly that the believer has two natures: the old nature which is sinful and the new nature that is granted at the time of confessing belief in Jesus as their Savior.

So Saul was instructed by God to get rid of Amalek. But he, too, failed to be obedient.

· 1 Samuel 15:7-9, Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

· 1 Samuel 15:18-19, And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"

· 1 Samuel 15:20-21, "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

The matter of Saul’s disobedience did not end there. Later there was a battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. Saul had gone to a witch to ask about the outcome of the battle. The battle went against the Israelites and Saul was wounded. At that point he asked his armor bearer to kill him with the sword, but the armor bearer was unwilling. So Saul attempted to kill himself by falling on his sword. Though wounded, he was not dead.

In the 1st chapter of 2 Samuel we learn that a certain young man came upon Saul and saw him leaning on his sword in his injured condition. The young man was reporting to David what happened. Saul had asked the young man to finish killing him, which he did. The young man expected to be rewarded for what he had done, but when David found out that the young man was a Philistine, he was killed for confessing his role in Saul’s death.

One more incident of disobedience: Not only did Saul spare the life of Agag the king of the Amalekites, but apparently his household as well. Another descendant of Agag was a prominent man named Haman. He very nearly accomplished his purpose of wiping out the entire Jewish nation, but God stepped in and Haman lost his life instead.

Obedience to God is the way of all blessing. He has provided all we need to make such obedience a reality.

· Romans 8:32, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

SUMMARIZE :

· Israelites freed from Egypt and leave. (A type of being freed from sin)

· They wander in the desert for 40 years. (A type of the believer who does not mature spiritually.)

· The Israelites cross the Jordan River. (A type of the believer deciding to take on the battles against the old nature.)

· The Israelites camp at Gilgal. (Gilgal is a type of the need for believers to have a time and place of spiritual rest and refreshment.)

· After each battle the Israelites returned to Gilgal. (A type of renewal)

· Israelites take the city of Jericho without a battle. (This is a type of how God, by the Holy Spirit, aids the believers in their battles against sin.)

· The Israelites were deceived by the Gibeonites. (A type of the ease with which Satan can deceive the believers.)

· The Israelites failed to completely destroy the Canaanites and their animals. (This is a type of the impact of the believers failing to utilize the Holy Spirit in our battles against sin. Therefore, the old nature, the Canaanites, are still active in our behavior and disobedience.)

The message of the Book of Joshua is that the believer is to be strong and courageous. Being strong and courageous is essential to being obedient to God, which is the theme of this book.