Who Will Deliver Us? a study on Judges. Homework Questions, Week 3 Judges 2:6 3:6

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1 1 Read Judges 2:6 3:6 Homework Questions, Week 3 Judges 2:6 3:6 Many of these questions were taken from the following resources: Judges for You, by Timothy Keller Judges: the flawed and the flawless, by Timothy Keller (a 6-week Bible study) Judges and Ruth: there is a Redeemer, by Sarah Ivill (a 13-week Bible study) This passage is a second introduction to the book of Judges, to be read parallel to 1:1-2:5. It also gives a summary of the pattern we will find again and again in the book of Judges. But this time, instead of ending with some recognition of their sin as in 2:4-5, it ends on a much more depressing note about the spiritual state of God s people (3:5-6) (p. 29, Judges for You). The stage has been set to see the slow downward spiral of a people without a king, a people who refuse to follow God. 1. Judges 2:6-11 How does a people who have seen what Israel has seen become what they end up becoming? 1. What is the difference between the generation under Joshua (v. 7) and the following generation (v. 10)? 2. Read 1 Sam. 2:12, 17, 22. Here we read about the priest Eli s two sons, who are priests themselves. It would be hard to believe that these priests didn t know something about God, so what do these verses imply about what it means to not know the Lord? 3. What does forgetting God and his actions lead to? (see v. 11) 1 4. Read Deut. 7:17-24, and think about what happened in last week s passage (1:1-2:5). How should this passage have encouraged/bolstered the second generation if they had actually remembered it? Application 1. It s not clear if the loss of faith in God was a fault in the previous generation (and their failure to teach it to their children), or in the current generation (and their rejection of it). Perhaps it was a combination of both. Read Deut. 6:4-15, What does God tell the people to do, and how? What might this look like in your life today, either with your own children or with others around you? 2. Tim Keller says that this passage in Deuteronomy (above) shows us that the following things need to be done in order to faithfully parent/live in a way that shows God: 2 1 Those of you who attended the September 2014 Women s Retreat on True Stories may remember that we talked specifically about this! If you d like to go back and re-listen to the recordings of that retreat, you can do so at: 2 LET S BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THIS: there is no way that you can parent that guarantees your child s salvation! God alone changes hearts. That is HIS job, not ours! But as we attempt to faithfully

2 2 1. We ourselves must love God whole-heartedly, not being hypocritical or inconsistent in our behavior. 2. We are to apply and reflect on the gospel practically, showing how God relates to daily, concrete living. 3. We are not only to speak of beliefs and behavior but of our personal experience of God (from pgs of Judges for You). How have you seen these things modeled in the lives of others? How could you implement them in the way you parent, or if you are not a parent, in the way that you speak about and live out your faith? 3. Why is it that we are so prone to forget what God has done for us? Sometimes, we actually forget what God has done. But more often, we do remember, but it s as though we no longer care what he s done. Tim Keller notes that the second generation in Judges did not know the Lord, but this probably does not mean that they did not know about the Exodus, the Red Sea, the crossing of the Jordan, and the walls of Jericho falling, but rather that the saving acts of God were no longer precious or central to them (p. 30, Judges for You). How can you take care to remember who God is and what he has done in your life? How can you keep his saving acts as precious and central in your mind and heart? 2. Judges 2:10-19 the Cycle of Sin Use the chart below to fill in the cycle of sin that we will see again and again in the book of Judges (and may start to feel eerily similar to our own experience, as well!) parent in a way that actually shows God for who he is, and to faithfully represent him to our children, it is important to think through how we actually portray him and our relationship to him and its importance in our lives to our children (or others).

3 3 We will break this cycle down a bit further, looking first at the people s actions, and then at God s response. What the people do 1. What qualifies as doing evil in the eyes of the Lord in v. 11? When we think of doing evil, is this usually what we think about? What does it say about the nature of all sin? 2. How are the actions of the people of Israel characterized in vv (what word is repeated)? In light of this, does it seem right that God, the one who saved them out of Egypt and gave them this land, should be angry? Why or why not? 3. In v. 17, what word is used to describe the actions of the people as they followed other gods? We often think what s the big deal, why is God so demanding that we follow only him? How does the use of this term help us see the very relational nature of following anything other than God? 4. In v. 19, what do you notice about what would happen after the judge died? How would the people act? What God does How does v. 15 and the reference to God being against his own people strike you? Remember that God had promised them that if they forsook him, he would respond with punishment. Do we tend to respect parents who follow through on their word? What do we learn in v. 16 that challenges the formula obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings curses? Anger is not always the opposite of love; it can be the outworking of it. God here is like a parent whose child has completely rejected them. (p. 33, Judges for You) Reread vv Who is the agent who provides rescuing for the people from their own choice of enslavement? Who is emphasized again and again in these verses? Who is doing the delivering? Who always does the delivering? In v. 18, we read that the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. Read Ex. 2:24, 6:5. When else did the people groan, and how did God respond? Take a moment and reflect on the words, attitudes, and actions that characterize the people of Israel in this section. Then reflect on the words, attitudes, and actions that characterize God. What stands out to you? What do you notice?

4 4 Commentary: When we stop and consider how the people acted, and how God acted, there is a stark contrast. Even in his judgment and rightful anger at his people (who have abandoned and betrayed him, committing adultery/idolatry), he does not break off relations with Israel. His discipline is always with a view to restoration. It is never vindictive (p. 61, David Jackman, Judges, Ruth, The Communicator s Commentary series). And yet, as the book progresses, Tim Keller notes: The rebellion becomes worse, the oppression heavier, the repentance less heartfelt, the judges themselves more flawed, and the salvation and revivals they bring weaker (p. 34, Judges for You). He concludes: It is a reminder, of course, that we need something better than a human judge; something more permanent than a leader who dies; something that can deliver the soul, as well as the body. We will not find such a rescuer in the book of Judges! (p. 34) Application: 1. How have you seen the Judges cycle in your own Christian life? How does the reality of your sin and of God s grace prompt you to praise and thank him today? 2. How does the description of sin as spiritual prostitution make you take your own sin more seriously? 3. To whom or what do we attribute deliverance and salvation in our lives? How do we respond to God s grace and deliverance in our lives? Do we cry out for relief from the Lord only to return to our old ways after he graciously delivers us? Or do we cry out in true repentance, turning from our sin to worship him? 4. Tim Keller says, The greatest danger, because it is such a subtle temptation which enables us to continue as church members and feel that nothing is wrong, is not that we become atheists, but that we ask God to co-exist with idols in our hearts (p. 38, Judges for You). How can we tell when something is functioning as an idol something that pulls us away from full and complete allegiance to Christ? How can we tell when we have started to follow Christ plus something else? 3. Judges 2:20 3:6 God s response to their sin 1. Testing of Israel Think back to last week s passage, with the repeated phrase that the various tribes of Israel did not drive out the Canaanites, but instead lived among them, or subjected them to forced labor. In vv , we read that the Lord intentionally left these nations there. Which is it as a result of the people s sin, or as a result of God s decision? Can these both go together? Notice that the concept of testing Israel comes up 3 times in this section 2:22, 3:1, and 3:4. Why do you think God might want to test Israel? What is the function of a

5 5 test? What does it accomplish? (Remember the people have already been saved, they have already been given the land, and God continues to deliver them even in their disobedience.) What might the purpose of a test be? (see also what God says in 2:22, 3:4.) What might the Israelites inability to pass the test have revealed, or shown to them, about who they were, what their hearts were like, and what they needed? What would it encourage them to hope for / long for / how to relate to God? How is that ultimately met for us in Jesus? 2. To learn war Sandwiched in the middle of this testing explanation are two confusing statements. It s almost as though the writer changes his mind and says actually, the Canaanites were left so that the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before (3:2). So which is it? Were the peoples left for testing to see if they would obey the commandments of the Lord (3:4), or to teach war? The answer is: yes. Both. What might it be that God wants the people to learn about/via warfare? Consistently up to this point in the story of the Bible, we see that it is only God who delivers his people in the time of war. He consistently tells them to fight mightier armies, and what does he arm them with? Not with superior fighting skills, not by might, but with himself. Think of the battle of Jericho. Think of the story coming up of Gideon s army (Judges 7), in which God sends a small army of 300 Israelites (whittled down from 32,000!) against the entire nation of Midian. Think of the Deut. 7 passage we read at the beginning of the homework don t be afraid of greater nations, he says, because I am the one who will fight! So what is it that warfare is to teach the people of Israel? Commentators Keil and Delitzsch put it this way: In the wars of Canaan under Joshua Israel had experienced and learned, that the power to conquer its foes did not consist in the multitude and bravery of its own fighting men, but solely in the might of its God (p. 200, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Commentary on the OT series). The presence of an enemy which stood opposed to God and his people forced Israel to think about their relationship to God (p. 39, Judges for You). Or as David Jackman puts it, God will teach them to know war in the hope that this will develop their dependence upon him in every situation of need (p. 61, David Jackman, Judges, Ruth). Going to war would test the people it would reveal whether or not they were wholly dependent on God for their needs, and whether or not they were willing to fully obey him regardless of the cost, regardless of whether or not they thought, logically, that they could win. It would reveal their commitment to God, and whether or not they truly trusted in him.

6 6 Application 1. The passage ends by describing how the Israelites fully integrated themselves into the other peoples around them serving their gods and intermarrying until there seemed to be no distinction between them and the Canaanites. What should we take from this passage about the dangers of living amongst non-believers? Should we be separatist? Shun them? How should we interact with the culture around us? 2. Over and over in Scripture, we see that humanity cannot pass any test. With every person in the Bible, it is revealed at some point that they have a sinful heart in need of a Savior. It is no different for us. Our hearts are the same idol-factories that the Israelites were, even if our idols look different. How has this passage opened your eyes to your own need for a Savior, and for the ways in which God meets humanity s need for a Savior? 4. WRAP-UP From this passage What do you learn that humanity is like? What do you learn that God is like? What is one of your takeaways for this week? (Something you d like to think more about, something that really stood out to you, something new to you, etc.)