July 11, 2023

Actions have consequences.

Judges 2-3

Patrick Seegers
Tuesday's Devo

July 11, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

July 11, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

July 11, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

July 11, 2023

Big Idea

Failure: Doing what's right in your own eyes.

Key Verse | Judges 2:2-3

"'[A]nd 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? 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."

Judges 2-3

Israel's Disobedience

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. 1 2:5 Bochim means weepers And they sacrificed there to the LORD.

The Death of Joshua

6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The LORD Raises Up Judges

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

1 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

Othniel

7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit 2 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch 3 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

Footnotes

[1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers
[2] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
[3] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

"Is Gilgal or Bochim significant?"

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Judges 2-3

How easy is it for us to wake up, go to work, go home, and not once talk about Jesus with someone we interact with? We don't want to make waves with the people around us in the name of our faith, oftentimes out of a fear of how they may respond, or how their perception of us may change. Yet, this is falling short of the life to which God has called us.

The Israelites, like us today, didn't want to make enemies of the people around them because of their faith. Numbers 33:55 was a warning to the Israelites that they were called to destroy the Canaanites, who were currently occupying the land. Despite the promise of consequences, the Israelites did not obey the commands of God with their actions. We do this every day as we live in sin and fall short of the expectations of God. 

But God is sovereign. He uses those consequences to display the narrative of Christ coming down from heaven to redeem His chosen people. As the Israelites forgot the goodness of God, the Lord "raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them." (Judges 2:16) Luke, the author of Acts, uses similar language to describe how "God raised [Jesus] up, loosing the pangs of death . . . ." (Acts 2:24) 

This act of rebellion by the people of Israel is no different from our rebellion every day through sin. The consequence of our sin is spiritual death, or eternal separation from God. And yet God, in His mercy, raised up Jesus Christ to "save us from the hands of our enemy" as a payment for our sin, so that we can have a restored relationship with Him.

We know God desires that we pursue Him with all we have by giving Him glory in all we do. But we can also trust that when we stray from His desires and return to Him, He will both welcome us with open arms and use our restoration from rebellion to glorify His name.

This month's memory verse

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

– James 3:17

Discussion Questions

1. Judges was likely written over 3,000 years ago. And yet, it is still markedly relevant to what is going on in the world around us. This text is so rich because it is a reminder of what is true today. We live in a world where everyone does "what is right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6, 21:25), and this has never rung more true. Where in the text do we see this play out? What parallels do we see to our society today?

2. Throughout the book of Judges, we see that God raises judges to save the Israelites from their sin. Time and again, even as they are reminded of God's love for them, they fall into a habit of not obeying God. In what areas of your life do you continue to fall short of what God calls you to? What small step can you take today to remind yourself of God's love for you?

3. Like the Israelites, oftentimes we are content with living a comfortable, Christian life and not responding with truth to those around us. How can you be bold in sharing your faith or taking dramatic steps to pursue the life of faithfulness you are called to?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Patrick. I’m with you on wanting to keep to myself rather than have spiritual conversations with strangers. But family members and close friends are even tougher. I am always hesitant, but never sorry. Q1-Q3 answers imbedded below. A few years ago we had a sermon series where we heard a thought-provoking statement- “If you don’t want to know God more, I wonder if you know Him at all.” That’s a real spiritual gut check. And a bucket of ice-cold water in my face. I was still early in my faith. The self-created chaos in my life had been minimized and I was blessed to be in some good discipleship relationships. Looking back, I was hanging out in the right-hand lane at 55 MPH. In other words, coasting. God was issuing me an invitation to get on the Autobahn. It hit me that I was leaving so much life and abundance on-the-table. The dichotomy imbedded in that statement was clarifying. In Judges 2 and 3 I see the same kind of dichotomy that God has repeated several times. -“drive out the inhabitants…”. -“the anger of the LORD was kindled…” -” the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” So what happened- Just as I am prone to wander…for the Israelites, the passage of time, a new generation, and lots of prosperity in the “land of milk and honey”, all combines with a ton of temptation…and you get what you imagined.
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Hugh Stephenson

In Prodigal, one of the key Biblical truths we teach is that all provisions come with boundaries. If you violate the boundaries then you can lose part of the provision, (See also Genesis 3). If you’re rebellious enough you can lose it all. Tragically, Amy and I had to execute that mandate in the case of our two adult children. I note the statement of the angel of the LORD- “What is this you have done?” I link back to Genesis 3:13, 26:10, 44:15, and forward to 1 Samuel 13:11. In each case the verse refers to a serious error in judgement. Soon after, the tragic consequences are evident. Even so, I note the preamble to the angel’s statement, “I will never break my covenant with you.” And in Judges 2:18, “For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning.” I see a great example of the faithfulness of God verses the faithlessness of man. In Judges 2:22, 3:1 and 3:4 I note God citing these consequences as tests. Judges 3:2 seems critical- "It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before”. It’s easy to see that the topic at hand is traditional kinetic war. Yet I don’t think that it’s too big of a stretch to link that to the spiritual warfare that is ever present, Ephesians 6:10-20. A friend says this, (paraphrased)- The Great Refiner of silver and gold will continue to refine it until He can look at it and see His image.” Lastly, I am not sure what to make of Shamgar in Judges 3:31. I just want him, Samson, and David on my team. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’d urge you to study the GQs pieces on Baal and Asherah. We’ll be hearing a lot about them over the next few months. https://www.gotquestions.org/who-Baal.html https://www.gotquestions.org/who-Asherah.html https://www.gotquestions.org/who-was-Othniel.html https://www.gotquestions.org/who-was-Ehud.html https://www.gotquestions.org/who-was-Shamgar.html
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Michael Sisson

Re: Jdg 2:1 Jdg 2:1 (NASB) Now >>>the angel of the LORD<<< came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, >>>“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers<<<; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, See “I am the LORD” in Lv 11:45 and “Yeshua” (“Jesus”) in Jude 1:5. When comparing “Angel of the LORD” in Jdg 2:1 with the aforementioned references, the verse hints at a Christophany, Who is Israel’s Deliverer. Re: Jdg 2:2-3 Jdg 2:2-3 (NASB) and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But >>>you have not obeyed Me<<<; what is this you have done? “Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and >>>their gods will be a snare to you.’ ”<<< Israel failed to drive out the indigenous peoples as G-d commanded, instead allowing them to remain as “forced labor.” (Jdg 1:27-34) Now, Israel incurs the L-RD’s judgment for it. (Jdg 2:2:3) Ironically, it is Israel who will end up serving the gods of those they made forced laborers. (Jdg 2:3b; Jdg 2:11-13). >>>Again, G-d has a habit of repaying people in their own coin. (Jdg 2:14)<<< Re: Jdg 3:10 Jdg 3:10 (NASB) >>>The Spirit of the LORD came upon him<<<, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. Evangelism Tip: In Christian (and Messianic Jewish) translations of the Bible the Hebrew word “ruach” is frequently translated “Spirit,” with capitalization acknowledging its occurrence to be a reference to the third person in the triune G-dhead. Whereas, because traditional Judaism rejects the notion of G-d being a compound unity of persons, Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible will render “ruach” as “spirit,” believing it to be an impersonal reference to the spirit of prophecy. (cf Rev 19:10)
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Sue Bohlin

Thanks so much, Patrick. Such a sad, sad verse: "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel." Which is why we need to share our God stories with our friends and with the next generation! The reason people didn't know the Lord or His deeds was because they weren't telling Yahweh stories.
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Michael Scaman

Othniel, Caleb's younger brother is judge for 40 years. The people already doing evil a generation or so since coming in the land. God delivered them with some very strange ways at times. Oxgoads? A heavy man with a smuggled sword? A left handed man? All involved someone or something looked down on being used by God in these cases and not stepping back and letting God work (although that does happen sometimes in history) It's an irony that God says break their altars and the man who was chief contractor for the Solomon temple became King of the northern tribes after Solomon's death and built two worship centers both with idolatrous alters. God did break one. God still had a purpose: " Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. "
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Amy Lowther

1. They rebelled the Lord and served the Baals. They made the Lord angry by bowing to “gods” amongst them. People believe in the things they see and things that are near them versus God. Some people do this because it is easier for them. 2. Scheduling and maintaining a balanced day is something I can continue to work at everyday. Reading the Bible and using God’s values in daily life remind me of God’s love. 3. Scheduling and attending church consistently on Sunday mornings can be a great conversation.