JUDGES #4 - Introduction - Part 4, Deterioration of value systems affects leadership. (3-15-26) скачать в хорошем качестве

JUDGES #4 - Introduction - Part 4, Deterioration of value systems affects leadership. (3-15-26)

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at cbcbrenham@gmail.com Joshua, then, is known for the conquest of the land. What is needed for a nation is land, a body of law or a constitution and the will to keep it. The people were brought out of Egypt at the Exodus, given a body of law or a constitution at Sinai which is reiterated to the second generation (The first generation went into bondage for refusing to cross the Jordan River because they were afraid of the people on the other side), but the second generation were not afraid, so they were given the land. This goes back to the land promise in the Abrahamic covenant. Joshua relates to us the conquest of the land as God gives the land to the nation Israel. Judges, then, is the history book that records how Israel has responded to God. In this case, it is in negative volition, but we still see God’s grace despite Israel’s failures. So, Judges will begin the prophetic analysis of history. We have seen in Deuteronomy 17 that the king was required to make a copy of the law and to read it on a daily basis. This emphasizes the fact that the ultimate authority for any judicial or political system must be derived from God’s Word. When that absolute base is cut loose from the nation, then it is set adrift on a sea of relativism, and that leads to the internal collapse of the nation. Judges will portray for us what happened in Israel and what also is happening in our own nation. The introduction to Judges will review and summarize the entire history for us and outline the cycles of deliverance. The main section shows the breakdown of the leadership of the nation and shows that when people’s value systems have deteriorated, it affects the leadership as well. The leaders come out from the culture, they are not distinct from the culture as a whole, so that when we have leaders and we look at them and see their value systems, their morals, and their character. They are often a mirror of the culture as a whole. The last four chapters of the book show how the spiritual values of the people have completely broken down. The point of this in terms of application as Church Age believers is that this portrays the principles of warfare. We know that as believers we are in spiritual warfare. It is our task to have victory over thought processes in our lives. We are to take captive every thought for Jesus Christ. We need to look at Israel’s going into the land in terms of a new believer looking at our mind and our thinking in the same way Israel looked at the land. God has given them the land. He has promised it to them, it was theirs by right, He gives them the title deeds, but it was their responsibility to take control of the land, just as it is the believer’s responsibility to look at his mind which is the basis for living life—everything we think determines what we are. So, it is our task to go in and to root out every single aspect of human viewpoint thinking, every single false concept in our minds so that we can think as God thinks about life around us. That is a phenomenal task, and we can only do it if we have absolutes, if we have the Word of God. Causes for National Failure; Judges 1:1-36 From Judges 1:1-36 where we have the introduction to this entire book the main theme is Israel’s failure in the holy war. The mandate was to go into the land and to completely annihilate the Canaanites. Immediately that runs contrary to modern concepts of warfare—wiping out the women, children, & animals. God did not want the Jews to be dependent in any way, shape, or form on a pagan culture. God was going to demonstrate that He was completely sufficient for everything in the nation Israel. They did not need to borrow anything from a pagan culture. They did not need to get their cattle, sheep, or anything; God would provide for Israel. Yet they failed to trust Him and the result was national discipline and national disaster. So, the first three chapters are going to summarize the entire period of the judges. We are going to see the basic trends of history that go through this period. Chapter one will summarize Israel’s military response to the problem of Canaanite possession of the land. What we will see here is that they decide to become comfortable and to settle down and co-exist with the Canaanites. That is typical of most believers: during the first two or three years they decide what their terms of spiritual growth might be. They decide what their priorities are, how committed they are, how positive they are, and how far they really want to grow in the Christian life. What happens is that they decide that maybe they will take out the major parts of human viewpoint thinking, but golly, they do not want to seem to be too enthusiastic or radical, or somebody might think they are fanatics. “Let’s just deal with the basic issues of the faith and not get carried away with these things!”