When Victory is a Sign of Weakness Jdg of 5

Transcription

1 1 of 5 Text: Jdg We began to look at Judges last week. Our theme for the book is: God s people living in a pagan world. A one-word theme could be: worldliness. I want to look into Judges and think about what it is like when God s people live in a pagan world and set the rules themselves. That was the problem with the Judges period and it is the problem today. Many of the same assumptions the people of Israel made in this period are the same as Christians make today. The results will be the same also human nature and the world have not changed, in spite of vastly different technology. Last time we worked through chapter one and the first part of chapter two following an outline developed by the verb to go up. We saw how it was used in vv. 1-3, then in v. 4, v. 22, and 2.1. Judah went up Joseph went up The angel of the Lord came up Today we are going to look at the first section a little more closely. We touched on some of these ideas the last time, but I want to emphasize them in more detail this time. Our title today is this: When Victory is a Sign of Weakness Obviously we all want to have victory in our spiritual lives, but we need to have the right kind of victory some victories only seem to be victories. I. The success of Judah and Simeon (3-4) A. The union of Judah and Simeon 1. The patriarchs were full brothers (sons of Leah) 2. Tribal allotment of Simeon contained within the borders of Judah (Josh ) NAU Joshua 19.1 Then the second lot fell to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah. 3. Incredible shrinking Simeon slowly absorbed into Judah

2 2 of 5 a. Numbered 22,000 fighting men at end of Numbers (less than half the average of other tribes) b. Not mentioned by Moses in Dt 33, blessing of the tribes c. Not mentioned by Deborah in Jdg 5 d. (But, curiously, included in the 144,000 of Rev 7) B. Success in union 1. They defeat 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek a. Round number may mean a whole lot b. Or may stand for a great victory: compare song of women when David slew Goliath c. Or may mean they actually killed close to that number We always want to give a literal interpretation a legitimate place in our possibilities. 2. Notice a similar joint effort with success in v. 22 Each time Israel acted in some sort of tribal unity Yahweh granted victory. the unity of Israel seems to be one of the author s primary concerns. 1 (Note: just quoting an observation haven t checked out the claim.) The genius of church fellowship: You may be weak in some ways, you gain strength by like-minded fellowship (must discipline the fellowship so as not to pull one another down) Your participation in the body involves you in accomplishing spiritual goals (God s goals) if your church is a faithful church Accountability counteracts worldliness Loneliness is a breeding ground for worldliness 1 Dale Ralph Davis, Judges: Such a Great Salvation (Geanies House, Fearn, UK: Christian Focus, 2000), 20.

3 3 of 5 Do we have too much independent thinking among Christians today? II. The matter of Adoni-bezek (5-7) A. Notice the repetition in v Hebrew way of telling a story: general statement, specifics follow 2. Introduces extra details (name of king) B. The rough justice administered to Adoni-bezek 1. The practice may have been common in that era treat defeated kings like dogs 2. Adoni-bezek claims it as a common practice for himself (70 another round number) 3. Many commenters have called this as lex talionis an eye for an eye a. God s standard for Canaanites was not lex talionis but extermination (Dt 7.1-2, ) b. Can this be Judah discovering Adoni-bezek s past and showing him justice by keeping him as a trophy? c. If so, they learn this practice from the Canaanites 4. Note the irony of putting the comments of Adoni-bezek in Scripture rather than the words of a leader of Judah a. Here is a pagan talking about justice and god b. Note that he uses Elohim (God) may be referring to YHWH, but probably to his own pagan god c. His comment sees Judahites on the same level as himself the first hint of the Canaanization of Israelite society in this period. the newly arrived Israelites (including the tribe of Judah) have quickly adopted a Canaanite ethic. instead of looking to Yahweh for ethical guidance, the Israelites use the Canaanites as models when deciding how to treat captives. 2 What spiritual profit is it to adopt earthly methods in spiritual battles? 2 Daniel Block, Judges, Ruth (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999),

4 4 of 5 While we agree with the goals of AA, they fail to address the root cause of addiction and use humanistic methods in their programs. Because it works is not a spiritual slogan it is human pragmatism. Christians need to gain victory by faith: because God said so not because it works III. The victory at Jerusalem (8) A. This record looks sound 1. Fought Jerusalem and captured it (ancient city, possibly as far back to 3000 BC) 2. Put city to the sword (in accordance with the Lord s commands) 3. Burned it with fire (destroying idols and pagan symbols?) B. But compare v. 21 Conclusion: 1. Benjamites fail to drive out Jebusites (and no one will until David does, 2 Sam 5.6-9) 2. Why is Judah attacking a city in Benjamite territory? Remember our title: a. City is on the border b. Judah victory eliminates enemy in their part of the city c. Benjamite failure allows Jebusites to retake the fortress, bolster its defenses and occupy it for centuries The victory here looks less impressive when all is considered. When Victory is a Sign of Weakness The problem Israel faced is one we face: will you follow God wholeheartedly or not? When under Moses or Joshua, the people were forced to follow God s will (or else). On their own, they were now under the test: would they follow God or not?

5 5 of 5 The book ends with the theme of everyone did that which was right in their own eyes. The theme seems to be set right here in the beginning. It seemed like a good idea to treat Adoni-bezek as he had treated others. It seemed like a good idea to turn Adoni-bezek into a captive It seemed like a good idea to leave Jerusalem and go on to other battles Slowly, Israel became more and more like the world around them. By the end of the book, much of Israel is acting like the other nations they cry out to Samuel, give us a king like other nations the only thing left. Worldliness occurs when: The people of God do not follow the word of God The people of God copy the ungodly ethic of surrounding peoples The people of God rely on their own wisdom to guide thought and practice