Partial Obedience = Disobedience

Joshua/ Judges: Partial Obedience Equals Disobedience

Last week we transitioned from Era 3 (Exodus) to Era 4 (Conquest). This week we move from the Conquest Era to the Era of the Judges. This era, Era 5, includes Judges, Ruth and 1 Samuel 1-8.

As we finish up the book of Joshua, we see Joshua following The Book of Instruction to the very letter. He conquers Canaan with complete faith in the Lord. Joshua drives out the people and destroys them completely as God had told him to. God has set apart His people to be holy and He wanted to give them a land that was set apart as holy. It seems harsh and sometimes ruthless when we see God calling for the destruction of a whole people group. God has seen the wickedness of these people and knew their unrepentant hearts. The land had to be purified, just as the people had been, from all unrighteousness.

  In chapter 10:1-15, we see God display His power over the universe when He makes the sun and moon stand still at Joshua's prayer in order for Joshua to finish the battle.

At the end of Joshua's life, he calls the people together and  reminded them of all that the Lord had done. he called them to follow the instructions of the Lord.

Joshua 24:14; “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods."

Joshua dies not long after and is buried in the Promised Land, along with the bones of Joseph which they had brought from Egypt. Joshua's only mistake was not mentoring someone and raising up a godly leader to follow after him.

 The first chapter of Judges shows Israel disobeying God from the start; beginning with Judah not trusting God alone when they enlist the help of the tribe of Simeon to conquer their land. They disobey God when they choose to maim their enemies rather than destroy them. Partial obedience is the same thing as disobedience.

Chapter one records  over and over how Israel failed to drive out their enemies. It was their failure to obey... not the Lord's failure to conquer. In Judges 1:2, the Lord tells them that He has given them victory. And yet they fail to do what God told them.

The same thing rings true in our lives, doesn't it? God has given us victory in Jesus Christ and yet we choose not to obey Him by walking in defeat. We allow sin and strongholds to remain in our lives and we are held in chains. Captives and oppressed by Satan. We can be believers in Jesus and be saved for eternity and still be held captive to sin. If we do not drive out all sin and evil from our lives we give Satan a foothold into our lives. Just as Israel is tormented and tempted by the evil they left in their midst, so we are tormented and tempted by sin left in our lives. Satan cannot do anything to pluck us out of God's hands but he can keep us from walking in victory and living the life God has for us!

      Judges 2:2b, "But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? 3 So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you."

                 2:10, After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord.

Judges 21:25b, "all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." During the course of the next 320 years, Israel lives in 7 cycles of sin. Seven apostasies lead to seven servitudes to seven idolatrous and cruel nations leads to seven deliverances.  Within each cycle man sins (idol worship), God allows oppression, man cries for deliverance , God raises up a judge/prophet/deliverer. As long as that judge lived there was peace in the land. As soon as that deliverer died, Israel reverted back to sin and idol worship and the cycle began again.

Israel turns away from God twelve times and God raises up fourteen judges. God responds to repentance.

Luke 4:16-21

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

    that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"

Jesus came to set captives free. This scroll that He read from is Isaiah 61:1-2. The whole passage says this:

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

   because the LORD has anointed me

   to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

   to proclaim freedom for the captives

   and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

   and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

   instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

   instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

   instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

   a planting of the LORD

   for the display of his splendor.

 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

   and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

   that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

   foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,

   you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

   and in their riches you will boast.

 7 Instead of your shame

   you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

   you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

   and everlasting joy will be yours.

 8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;

   I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

   and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

   and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

   that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

 10 I delight greatly in the LORD;

   my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

   and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

   and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness

   and praise spring up before all nations."

This is our inheritance from the Lord. God responds to repentance. When we have Jesus in our hearts and lives and allow Him to be the LORD of our lives, our broken hearts are bound up. We are free from whatever holds us captive. We are comforted in our mourning. We have a crown of beauty instead of ashes. We wear a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. We will be like ancient ruins that have been rebuilt. The places within us that have been devastated will be restored! Instead of shame we will receive a double portion... everlasting joy will be ours! All who see us will say that we are blessed of the LORD!

This is ours in the LORD! Why give it up for earthly pleasure and sin that so easily entangles us? What God has for us so outweighs the pleasures of the flesh. As Joshua told Israel before they crossed the Jordan in Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”   Consecrate means, "to make or declare sacred or holy; sanctify". We need to set ourselves apart. Make ourselves holy...

The way up is down. God exalts the humble.