Putting Themselves in Need of Rescue - Judges 1

Sermon Series: In Need of a Greater Rescue

Exactly two years ago today, on August 5, 2010 a mine caved in in the South American country of Chile trapping 33 miners 2,050 feet below the earth’s surface. Those miners spent a total of 69 days trapped in the mine, the first 17 of which they were all believed to be dead. But after it was discovered that these 33 men were alive the Chilean government went to work in heroic fashion to formulate a rescue plan. The rescue these men required was great. These men needed to be brought out of the mine – but that clearly wasn’t going to happen quickly. So in the mean time these men needed food, they needed water, and they needed things to help occupy their minds as they were forced to wait for their rescue in an incredibly difficult environment. That rescue ultimately did come after rescuers were able to bore a hole, reinforced with metal casing, down to the miners and then lower a capsule into the mine that was just wide enough for one man at a time to enter into and then slowly be pulled out by. On Wednesday, October 13, 2010 one by one those men began to emerge from their entrapment to the cheers of loved ones, friends, co-workers, and supporters who were all rejoicing in this unbelievable rescue.

One of the articles I read about this rescue caught my eye first when I saw it on the right hand side of my computer screen while I was reading another article about the rescue. The title of the article was, “Oldest of Chile’s rescued miners is ‘reborn.’” The title of the article caught my attention because it used the word ‘reborn’ – a word that called to mind a phrase that Jesus, Himself, once used in a conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus in John 3. In John’s gospel account he tells us that Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Interested in how this particular Reuter’s article used the word ‘reborn’ I clicked on the link to read what the article had to say. The article was about the oldest of the trapped Chilean miners, a 63 year old man named Mario Gomez. I’m not exactly sure what I was hoping for when I was reading the article, but I was disappointed to see that the article only once made a reference to ‘rebirth’ and that the ‘rebirth’ that the article made mention of was not the same ‘rebirth’ that Jesus talked about with Nicodemus. Listen to how the article made its one and only reference to the idea of ‘rebirth.’ “Chileans have spoken about the miraculous rescues that are pulling miners to the surface from the darkness deep below as dramatic rebirths. And he [Gomez] is the oldest of the group of 33 miners being ‘reborn’ for a second time.” (Wade, Terry. “Oldest of Chile’s rescued miners is ‘reborn.’” Reuters. Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2010. Web. Accessed Friday, August 03, 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/13/us-chile-miners-gomez-idUSTRE69C3BU20101013.)

The use of this language in this particular article caused me to think about one thing in particular. While it was certainly true that these men needed to be rescued from the mine in which they were trapped, these men were in need of an even greater rescue. These men, trapped in the mine, were facing certain death if no one was able to rescue them. And while I don’t want it to sound like I am down playing the seriousness of either their need or their situation, it was only their physical lives that were at stake – lives that we only possess for a short amount of time. In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus tells us that there is another rescue that every individual needs – a rescue that has more at stake than just our temporal physical lives. The rebirth Jesus was talking about was a spiritual rebirth and a rebirth that had eternal consequences – he wasn’t talking about the emergence of an individual from a mine 2,050 feet below the earth’s surface.

This week we are beginning a new teaching series through the OT book of Judges. It’s a book in which we find God’s chosen people (the Isrealites) in need of constant rescue. From a historical perspective the generations of Israelites leading up to these particular generations had known God’s rescue and deliverance in extraordinary ways. After being enslaved for 400 years in Egypt God worked through a man named Moses to deliver and rescue the Israelites from the powerful hand of Pharaoh and his great army. Years later, after the death of Moses, God raised up another man by the name of Joshua through whom He was able to work to give the Israelites their promised inheritance – the Promised Land. God had promised an incredible piece of land to His chosen people whose boarders were roughly the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River, and the Dead Sea on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. When it came time for God to give His people possession of the land, He used Joshua to lead the nation into the land, to overpower and destroy the pagan peoples and nations that were residing in the land, and to occupy the land themselves. A few months ago we walked through the OT book of Joshua and saw the remarkable way that Joshua led the Israelites to be exceptional followers and how God honored their obedience by giving the nations into their hands and giving them possession of the land which He had promised them. But what we find in the book of Judges is that Joshua has died and the Israelites have failed to obey completely by failing to drive out all of the nations from the land that God had given to them. As a result we find God’s people time and time again doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, living with and around the pagan nations, and turning their hearts to chase after and serve other gods. Throughout this book we will see other nations intimidating, overpowering, and suppressing the Israelites in the very land that God had given them. But each time that the Israelites cry out to God for help God responds by sending a deliverer to rescue them from those who had suppressed them and had caused them to suffer.

In regards to the name of this OT book it’s important to make sure that we rightly understand why the book was given this name, but also make sure that we don’t misinterpret the name. The name is derived from chapter 2, verse 16, “Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.” The word ‘judges’ is an accurate translation of the Hebrew word but it isn’t used in the way we understand it today in 21st century America. The judges weren’t men and women who presided over courtrooms and determined the guilt or innocence of those who were on trial. The ‘judges’ were men raised up by God who fulfilled the role of ‘deliverers’ – men who delivered and rescued the Israelites out of the hand of their enemies. So when you think about the title of this book it’s important that you don’t project onto the book the idea of our modern day judges but that you understand this book to be about those whom God raised up to deliver and rescue His people from their enemies. So with a few of those things in mind, let’s jump into the introduction to this book (chapter 1) and see what God has to reveal to us.

Judges chapter 1, verse 1 begins with one of the most important questions of all time, “After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” After Moses, who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, had died God raised up Joshua. Joshua then led the Israelites to take possession of the Promised Land and led the nation to follow God in exceptional obedience. Now Joshua has died and the Israelites want to know who God will raise up to lead and deliver them next. They ask God who He is going to use as His means of deliverance for them now because there are still Canannites in the land that need to be dispossessed. This is an important question to ask because of its implications for the people and their possession of the land. But the question reveals even more to us about the Israelites understanding of God and His plan. Listen again to the first part of their question, “Who shall go up first for us . . .” We can look critically upon the Israelites for their constant lack of obedience, but one thing we can’t be critical of in regards to this generation in particular is their understanding of God’s plan for rescue and restoration. The Israelites understood that God’s plan of deliverance and rescue was always a plan to work through an appointed individual. It goes all the way back to the promise that God made to Satan in Genesis 3 after he had deceived Adam and Eve and convinced them to eat of the tree from which God had forbidden them. Listen to God’s promise to Satan in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” In Genesis 3:15 God promises Satan that one, singular individual is coming and that He will be the One to crush Satan and his kingdom and to provide deliverance, rescue, and restoration for God’s creation. Then we can begin to work our way through Genesis and other OT books and see how God’s plan has always been to foreshadow this coming deliverance through individual men. In Genesis 6-9 God uses Noah to deliver his family and mankind from God’s punishment for their sin – the flood. In Genesis 22 we see God foreshadow this coming deliverance through the story of Abraham and Isaac. In that story the man whose name once meant ‘exalted father’ and whose name was changed to ‘father of nations’ takes his only son to offer him as a sacrifice for the atonement of sin. We see the father place the very wood of the sacrifice upon the back of his son and then see the son ascend the hill where the wood that he has just carried will be the very device upon which he dies and where his blood will be shed for the atonement of others. In Genesis 37-45 we see the story of Joseph, whom God uses to deliver not only his own family from famine, but the entire Egyptian empire and many of those in the surrounding areas. In the OT book of Exodus we are introduced to a man named Moses whom God uses to rescue and deliver the Israelite people from the mighty hand of Pharoah. And in the OT book of Joshua we meet a man whose name means ‘God saves.’ This man, because of his courage and exceptional obedience caused the Israelites to take possession of their promised inheritance. And in 1 Samuel 17 we hear the story of an unlikely rescuer coming onto the scene of a great battlefield. There this small, young man by the name of David encounters an enemy of extraordinary size and power. Goliath, because of his unparalleled strength and might, has basically taken possession of God’s people, who are paralyzed with fear and have no champion to fight their enemy. Yet this unlikely hero goes out to the battlefield and sets out to battle this extraordinary enemy by the most unconventional of means. Then, with God fighting for him, David strikes the giant dead and delivers the Israelites from their great enemy. Over and over again the message of the OT is that God’s plan is to deliver, rescue, and restore His creation through an individual – a deliverer whom He has appointed for His people.
So the question the Israelites ask is a good one – it demonstrates their knowledge of God and His means of working through individuals to lead, deliver, and rescue them.

God answers in verse 2 with what first appears to be a surprising response. Rather than identifying an individual, God answers their question by identifying an entire tribe. “The Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.’” In identifying an entire tribe God seems to establish a new means of delivering the Israelite people – a means that He has not used in the past. But look carefully again at the pronoun God uses at the end of verse two. “I have given the land into his hand.” Pronouns, while most of the time seem incredibly insignificant, often times have unbelievable significance. Perhaps the greatest example in all of Scripture comes in the creation account when God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The beginning of that verse causes us to think of God as a singular individual, but the plural pronoun gives us even greater insight into God. The plural pronoun helps us to understand from the beginning of the Bible that while there is only one God, that one God has always existed in three Persons (God the Father, God the Son [Jesus], and God the Holy Spirit). So the pronoun in Judges 1:2 plays a significant part in our text. While God answers by calling on an entire tribe to lead the Israelite nation, He identifies this tribe as one individual (allowing Him to continue foreshadowing the coming of the one Deliverer who will bring the ultimate deliverance and restoration).

In verses 3-21 the text focuses on Judah’s initial efforts which are largely cast in a positive light. Judah partners with the tribe of Simeon and verse 4 says that “the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek.” So just as the Lord fought on behalf of His people in the book of Joshua the Lord continues to be the One fighting for and giving the land into the possession of His people. In verse 8 they have success in capturing and striking down the city of Jerusalem. And in verses 9-10 they have success capturing and striking down several cities in several different regions.

Verses 11-15 interrupt the recounting of Judah’s military accomplishments with an account that seems at first to be entirely out of place. Joshua’s good friend and fellow spy and soldier, Caleb, has grown old and is perhaps unable to continue to lead and fight as he had been able to in the past. So verse 12 tells us that he makes a unique offer – “And Caleb said, ‘He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter.’” Now take a minute to let the shock of this kind of crazy arrangement sink in. Arranged marriages were the common practice at the time and an offer like this would have actually ensured a heroic and honorable husband for his daughter. So while it seems like a bizarre and strange offer it’s not actually as outrageous as it first strikes us. But listen again to the offer and then step back and consider the offer as a part of the narrative. “And Caleb said, ‘He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter.’” We see in this narrative a father who offers his daughter as a bride to the one who can go up against his enemies and defeat them. Then verse 13 tells us that a man named Othniel takes Caleb’s challenge, defeats and captures the city, and is given Achsah as a bride. That’s the extent of the role that Othniel plays in this particular text, but Othniel will play another significant role later in chapter 3 when he becomes the first judge appointed by God to deliver the Israelites. So Othniel in the book of judges is both the conqueror of a father’s enemies who receives the father’s daughter as a bride on account of his victory and a God appointed deliverer of the Israelite people. These descriptions are hugely significant because they are both foreshadowing Christ. God gave to Jesus, the One who conquered Satan, His daughter – the church – as a bride. And Jesus is also the One who is appointed as the ultimate deliverer of God’s people. So while these verses seem to break into the recounting of Judah’s accomplishments in a strange way, the narrative they share starts the book of Judges off by foreshadowing for the readers a picture of the greatest deliverer – the only one who can really “go up for us” – Jesus Christ.

The first half of chapter 1 concludes in verses 16 through 21. Judah was still having success overpowering the peoples and cities which they set out to destroy because “the Lord was with Judah” (vs. 19). However, while God was willing and able to fight for Judah so that Judah might fulfill its calling to completely destroy the pagan nations within its portion of the land, Judah began to act in small degrees of disobedience. Verse 16 reveals that they permitted Kenite allies to settle with them and verse 19 reveals that there were some that they did not drive out because of their perceived strength and seemingly superior military technology (i.e. iron chariots). So while Judah and the tribe’s endeavors are painted in largely positive terms, the author of Judges still reveals to the reader that Judah has fallen short of the obedience demonstrated by their last appointed deliverer – Joshua. And while their disobedience may seem small and insignificant, the disobedience of the leading tribe seems to set the stage for the disobedience of the other tribes of Israel as they encounter pagan nations in their efforts to take possession of the land which had been promised to them.

In verses 22-36 the text shifts its focus away from Judah’s efforts to shed light on some of the other tribes of Israel. Unfortunately though the efforts of these tribes aren’t painted in a positive light – the author seems to indicate a progression in disobedience, starting with a tribe sparing one individual and concluding with a tribe that is completely unsuccessful in exerting their control over the land that is supposed to be theirs. Verses 22-26 begin by focusing on the tribe of Joseph. And verse 22 starts off this short section with good news that anticipates good results, “The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.” The foundation was certainly in place for the house of Joseph to have success in taking possession of their portion of the Promised Land. God was with them and that was the biggest factor for success. But the complete obedience of the tribe was a contributing factor as well and in these verses we see that when the house of Joseph missed the mark by just the smallest of degrees, it had consequences greater than what they anticipated. The text tells us that the house of Joseph sent spies to scout out a city formerly called Luz, which they were to destroy and take possession of. As the spies were going in, they saw a man, an inhabitant of the city, coming out. The spies asked the man to help them get into the city to spy it out and in return promised to deal kindly with him. He agreed, and later the house of Joseph was able to strike down the city and take possession of it. The text also reveals to the readers that they did as they had promised and let the man who had helped them and his family go. God’s instruction for the tribes of Israel was not to leave any living. When they came into contact with a city they were to completely destroy all who lived in it. Only by killing all of the inhabitants would they be able take complete possession of the city. The house of Joseph failed to do that here and as a result we find that while it appeared that the city had been destroyed – the reality was it was just re-located. Look at what happens according to verse 26, “And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz.” The man from Luz, relocated to another area where he built a city and called it by the same name. The house of Joseph hadn’t conquered this city entirely – by sparing the one man they had simply allowed it to be re-located.

Moving on through the remainder of chapter 1 the failures of the other tribes are recounted one after another. “Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants (vs. 27) . . . And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites (vs. 29) . . . Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants (vs. 30) . . . Asher did not drive out the inhabitants (vs. 31) . . . Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants (vs. 33) . . .” And finally in verse 34 it tells us that “The Amorites pressed the people of Dan . . .” Because of their failure to drive out all the inhabitants of the land we will see throughout the book of Judges that the Israelites continually find themselves in need of deliverance and rescue from their physical enemies. Unfortunately though, even when we see the Israelites rescued from their physical enemies we also discover them still choosing to live in disobedience to God. And what we’ll discover as we see this cycle lived out over and over is that these Israelites aren’t all that different from the Chilean miners. Like the Chilean miners who had a real, physical need to be rescued out of the mine, these generations of Israelites had real, physical enemies that they needed to be rescued from. But these generations of Israelites had a need for an even greater rescue – a rescue that had eternal significance – a rescue and deliverance from their sin. This was the greatest rescue that the Israelites needed. This was (and is) the greatest rescue that the Chilean miners needed. And this is the greatest rescue that every individual in our community, in our nation, and in our world needs – rescue and deliverance from our sin.

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. Think about a time when you had a great need for help or rescue.  What kind of help or rescue did you need?  Was there someone who came to help you or rescue you, and if so who was that person?

2. In Judges 1:1 the Israelites ask God, "Who shall go up first for us . . . ?"  It was suggested in the message that the Israelites asked this question because (a) they had a need for a rescuer / deliverer, and (b) they understood that God's plan was always to work through an individual.  Do we really believe these ideas, and if so what biblical evidence do we have to support them?

3. The statement was made in the message that while we may be able to look critically on the Israelite's lack of obedience, we could not look critically on their understanding of God's plans and the means by which He accomplished His plans.  But what about us, the modern day Church?  Can the Church be criticized today for its lack of understanding of God's plans and the means by which He accomplishes them?  If so, why - what evidence do we have?  Can the Church be criticized today for its lack of obedience to fulfill God's call to the Church?  If so, why - what evidence do we have?  What steps does Escalate need to take to know God's plans better and to be more obedient to the call that God has given to us?