And It's a Jealous Love

[0:00] If you would take your Bibles and go to the book of Judges.

[0:18] Book of Judges, now we're going back, although we went forward. We're going forward and went forward, now we're going back. Right? Right? Yeah.

[0:30] We're going forward and we went really forward and we're coming back to chapter 10. There you go. Judges chapter 10, if you're visiting with us, the Bible in the chair in front of you, there's a black Bible, you can pull that out and find page 189, starting Genesis and then page 189, you'll find Judges chapter 10.

[0:53] And this morning we're going to study the first 16 verses of Judges chapter 10. Judges chapter 10, verses 1 through 16. Judges 10, 1 through 16.

[1:08] By the way, so we're leaving tomorrow to go to San Jose to visit with Chris's parents for a couple weeks. So next week, Zach Moore from Northwest Community Church.

[1:22] Some of you might know Ellen. She's a member there at that church. So their associate pastors are going to come up and preach for me next Sunday. And then Jason Drum, you guys are very much more familiar with Jason.

[1:33] He's going to be here two Sundays from now and then three Sundays from now, unless he gets a call out. Just kidding.

[1:44] Caitlin's going to preach. So there's the three that are going to be preaching for you. So we'll be back, I think, August 10th. I'm going to take that third Sunday off and then we'll get back in the saddle come, what's that, August 22nd, right?

[2:00] Yeah. Back in the book of Judges. Which we're going to be done with Judges, like, I think we're done in August, if my memory serves me right. So we're going to have to figure out what we're going to do from September at that point.

[2:11] So you'll be praying for that as I think about that on vacation. What's going to be next? Judges chapter 10 for today, though. Let's read the first 16 verses. I'll read out loud as you follow along with me in your Bible.

[2:24] Now after Abimelech died, Tola, the son of Pua, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel. And he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. And he judged Israel 23 years and he died and was buried in Shamir.

[2:40] And after him, Jair, the Gileadite, arose and judged Israel 22 years. And he had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys. And they had 30 cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havath and Jair to this day.

[2:55] And Jair died and was buried in Kaman. Then the sons of Israel, verse 6, again did evil in the sight of Yahweh. Serve the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines.

[3:14] Thus they forsook Yahweh and did not serve him. And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel. And he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and to the hands of the sons of Ammon.

[3:27] And they shattered and crushed the sons of Israel that year. For 18 years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan and Gilead in the land of the Amorites. And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim.

[3:44] So that Israel was greatly distressed. Verse 10, then the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh saying, We have sinned against you for indeed we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.

[3:58] And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and Manoites oppressed you, You cried out to me and I delivered you from their hands.

[4:12] Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen.

[4:22] Let them deliver you in the time of your distress. Verse 15, And the sons of Israel said to Yahweh, We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.

[4:34] So he put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And his soul was short with the misery of Israel.

[4:49] Excuse me. Excuse me. Riley and Alyssa are going to celebrate their anniversary on Tuesday.

[5:04] Three years. Hey, alright. Three years. So let's paint a scenario for Riley.

[5:16] Can we do that? We're going to do this for you, Riley. Riley gets flowers. Gets a great gift. Gets chocolate. Chocolate's good. Always makes everyone happy.

[5:29] He gets on one knee. He says to Alyssa, Alyssa, It's her anniversary. And he says it with like this deep Hispanic voice.

[5:41] Because it's sexy. Alyssa. No, that's something I would do. Alyssa, it's our anniversary. Alyssa. So I have to give this to you.

[5:54] Oh, Jim told me I had to do this. So I would not be a good husband. Probably don't want to do that, brother. No, that wouldn't be good. Versus him doing this.

[6:07] Oh, I love you so much, Alyssa. You're my one and only. I want you and you alone. You're an amazing gift from God given to me. Now, Alyssa won't say to him, Don't say stuff like that.

[6:23] That's sinful. You won't say stuff like that, right? Of course she's not going to say that.

[6:34] She'd say, Aw, I love you too. You should say that about me. Oh, no, no, no. I want you too, Riley. See, that's why marriage is a perfect picture of Christianity.

[6:54] Marriage was instituted by God, and he did that as a vivid, you can touch it, physically see it, happen before your eyes, this thing that he instituted called marriage between male and female, because it depicts his love for his bride, Christ and his people, Christ and the church.

[7:26] That we say to God, we say to our Father, Jesus, the Spirit, I want you more than anyone or anything. It's all you, Lord.

[7:37] You're my all. He wants you to want him. That's, there's a word for that.

[7:50] It's called worship. Worship. God's overwhelming, never-ending, relentless love for his people. That's the book of Judges.

[8:01] That's what it's about. And in these 16 verses, we're going to see today a little bit about that love. It's a jealous love. Riley's jealous for Alyssa's love.

[8:18] Alyssa's jealous for Riley's love. Well, how come we don't think that way with our Lord? That his love for you is jealous. He wants you to want him.

[8:32] It's a jealous love. We've talked about this before. The sub-theme of the book of Judges, he wants us to chiefly and solely want him, and he'll discipline us to make that happen.

[8:46] He disciplines us so that he would be our one and only love. How much do you want him? He's jealous for your love.

[9:00] He's jealous for your desire that you would take pleasure in him. Well, that's not how I view my relationship with God.

[9:11] Why? Why? You do that with your spouse. How much do you want him?

[9:27] Another way you can put this passage now, that's kind of like the sub-theme of the book of Judges, and now moving into these 16 verses, let me give you this statement.

[9:38] He wants us to want him because of who he is and because he'll satisfy us, not because of what he'll do for us or give to us. Give me this and give me that.

[9:59] He wants you to want him for him. Of course, you enjoy those gifts that he gives to you. It's not that you don't enjoy those.

[10:11] Of course, in the marriage, you enjoy the gifts that your spouse gives to you, but it's not about those gifts. It's about her. It's about him.

[10:25] It's about him. And yet, we fall short, don't we?

[10:36] And yet, he will still show us his great undeserving compassion because when he disciplines us, he cannot bear to see his people crushed under his own hand, which still glorifies him because it shows that he's so merciful.

[10:59] He's so merciful to us. He's so compassionate and gracious to us, not because of you, but because of him and because of Jesus who paid the price for us so that now you can want him.

[11:16] And now those times where you don't want him, that's why Jesus had to die so that you would want him. See? He still gets all the glory.

[11:30] Amid Israel's constant, irritating faithlessness, God remained patiently faithful.

[11:42] Why? Because he'll always keep his promises. being faithful, good, compassionate, and long-suffering so that we would love him, admire him, relish in his glory, and desire him alone.

[12:06] His love is jealous for our admiration of him. His love is jealous.

[12:18] I mean, God's focus is himself. He's gonna display how awesome and great and gracious that he is. He's gonna be and you get to be a part of that by giving him the glory that he deserves.

[12:37] When you don't, he doesn't need you. He'd be fine without you. But he pulls you into this love. He pulls you in so that you will savor his glory.

[12:49] Be like, wow, I'm just so satisfied. Like when you're satisfied with the love of your wife, you're satisfied in the arms of your husband.

[13:01] You're satisfied satisfied with your Lord. And, and, I'll just say this very carefully.

[13:12] That's why God created sex because it's the picture of that intimacy. It's that picture. You have Tola and Jair, these minor judges.

[13:28] Minor judges because there's less narrative and info about them. And then you see how Israel goes back to their idolatry. And you see Yahweh severely rebuking them.

[13:38] And you see his, showing his amazing compassion because of their misery. So this is what we're going to look at this morning. So let me, let me bring before you how we can break down these verses in different points.

[13:54] And, and the ironic part is it's going to begin and end with the same point. The first point you have is Yahweh's compassion in verses one through five.

[14:06] And it's going to end with Yahweh's compassion. And you'll see how this is all connected in just a moment. Notice God's compassion. Now after Abimelech died, that's important.

[14:20] Tola, the son of Pua, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, rose to save Israel. His judgment was the longest of any of the minor judges. And he seemed to be a man of prominence because of the name of his father, which is listed out here.

[14:35] His judge time probably overlapped Jair, even though his began first. But notice, it says he rose to save Israel. Well, how did Tola save Israel?

[14:47] Samuel doesn't tell us. Now, the word, excuse me, the word save implies some kind of military victory. But we're not given those details.

[14:58] Samuel's vague. But what is clear, though, is this. It happened after Abimelech died. So it seems that with his saving, it came after Abimelech's destructive stupidity.

[15:13] You remember that a few weeks ago. Remember we talked about Abimelech? That guy was a nutcase, a psychopath. He was on a rampage with people. Remember that?

[15:23] Yeah. Yeah. So we can almost rightly assume, rightly assume that Tola, by some military victory, he saved Israel, but also he gave peaceful, stable leadership after that Abimelech ran amok in the nation.

[15:44] So Tola was raised up by Yahweh. Abimelech was not raised up by Yahweh. Tola was. He saved Israel. He gave counsel guidance in a time when emotions and tensions were high in Israel because of that clown.

[16:00] He brought calm. Here you see how God was so good to his people. He didn't allow this self-centered, self-seeking jerk Abimelech have the last word.

[16:13] Tola saved. God allowed this as a way for him to show his compassion to his people and then notice the next one verse 3, 3-5 Jair.

[16:27] Even in the midst of this God still showed his compassion because notice some of the things you see here with Jair as judgment was 22 years getting pretty long.

[16:39] His time was in Gilead east of the Jordan. He was probably very wealthy because he had 30 sons which means what? It implies he had multiple wives.

[16:54] Well I've seen that before. This tells us he went down the road of establishing his kingly rule over the nation.

[17:05] Remember we saw this same foolishness with Gideon. That's how the whole my dad's king Abimelech that's how he came remember that? Moses had warned any future king not to have multiple wives in Deuteronomy chapter 17.

[17:23] Jair wanted to establish his position in Israel which is a subtle warning to us all. Are we extending our influence and displaying our status at the expense of personal holiness at the expense of the gospel when we should be making much of Christ?

[17:39] Christ. And yet God still showed Israel his compassion mercy and grace because remember it's not about Israel but it's about God and them wanting him.

[17:54] He was very compassionate to them. and the passage keeps trekking along because notice Israel's lack of desire verse 6 then the sons of Israel again did evil and the sight of Yahweh oh heaven again but this time it was really really really really really really really bad notice they served the Baals and Asher the gods of Aram the gods of Sinon the gods of Moab the gods of Sons of Ammon the gods of Philistines they forsook him or another way you could put it which you see this in other places they played the harlot this was just how faithless Israel had become a complete disaster and you see it just got worse and worse remember we had the examples that we looked at in chapter 17 through 21 we had those examples that's how bad it had become so you have this lack of desire from Israel and then notice the next point that comes in

[19:13] Yahweh's jealousy look at verse 7 the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel he'd had it and he sold them at the hands of Philistines and at the hands of the son of Ammon he wanted them to want him but they would not have it so he sold them into slavery big time double oppression now Philistia and the sons of Ammon both and this is the first time oppression was from the Transjordan on this side of the Jordan Jordan rivers on this way here's Israel it's on this side of the Jordan they came in look at the verbs that are used here in verse 8 Israel Israel

[20:14] Israel really faced Yahweh's discipline by means of these nations you're going to go after these gods I'm going to squeeze you but discipline you so you would want me and notice it didn't just stay on this side it went now to the west verse 9 and the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah Benjamin the house of Ephraim Israel was greatly distressed lost Yahweh was jealous for their love because he is passionate for his own glory so should we be passionate for his glory we should be passionate for him and his glory we should desire him they became greatly distressed and notice the people became desperate they had nowhere else to turn no one else to help them so what did they do you read it before they cried out verse 10 the sons of the sons of they cried out to

[21:22] Yahweh we've sinned against you for indeed we've forsaken our God and sir our Baal here's Israel's cry of confession we've seen this before but this time the people confessed their sin to Yahweh they actually admitted they done something wrong we have forsaken our God and served Baal obviously this is what God wanted from them right right you sure about that see this is how we treat God God he's naive we treat God he's just big teddy bear in the sky I just want to go one writer he put it like this this is how we treat God we treat him like a quote a great warm vending machine in the sky into which you need only drop a token or two of repentance before he spits out the relief you currently crave because you don't really want him get me out of this stinking mess just put the quarters in alright awesome

[22:50] Israel assumed that when things went south for them all they got to do is go back to Yahweh and he'll take us back he'll get us out of this mess they were patronizing God that's no big deal one writer he put it like this and I have it up on the screen for you I changed the wording a little bit but this is how he put it this is good there's a huge difference between the prodigal son who came to his senses and a whore who wants the security of her husband only until another man comes along to take her and that's how we treat God we're the whore and we go seek somebody else we can't do this to God put this on the screen and I say this carefully it's not necessarily about pure repentance it's about your desire that spouse doesn't just want the other spouse back that wife that husband wants the spouse to want her she wants him to want her he wants her to want him

[24:37] I want you to want me not just not just you seek me out when you need a place to say because the other guy was abusing you and kicked you out you want him his love for his people is a jealous love you see and then you see this jealous rebuke coming from Yahweh in verse 11 through 14 here's the jealousy here's the fervency from the Lord verse 11 he said to the sons of Israel is this what I want from you no he recites back to them I saved you from the Egyptians the Amorites the sons of Ammon Philistines Sidonians Amalekites Maonites maybe that meant the Midianites they oppressed you you cried out

[25:40] I delivered you verse 13 yet you have forsaken me and served other gods I'm not going to deliver you anymore go to those gods let them deliver you let them get you out of this jam let them save you they were on the edge of being totally forsaken by Yahweh friends have we become accustomed to mercy like it's just no big deal are we treating God as just safe instead of truly desiring him and him alone do you have a passion for truth for Christ for the gospel for the body for each other if we make God simply as a safeguard this is how one writer put it we end up worshipping someone or something else every time he wants you to want him that's the essence of

[27:10] Christianity see that's why Christianity is different from all these other religions in the world it's personal it's relational that's what makes it different trucking through you see verse 15 Israel's cry of confession and or cry for deliverance verse 15 they said Yahweh we've sinned do just whatever seems good to you only please deliver us this day we've sinned do whatever pleases you deliver notice those verbs I mean we see this and we automatically think okay now they're really repentant right which is why God was moved to have compassion on them right I mean they were they're really serious now I mean look at the next part Israel's their supposed repentance or act of repentance you can write down so they put away the foreign gods from among them and serve

[28:16] Yahweh here was their action behind their repentance they truly acted and this is what moved God right no their repentance did not move God and notice I told you we're going to end the same way we began because here you see in verse 16 the same point first point Yahweh's compassionate but notice the difference and this is how it's translated from the Hebrew which you should have it there in your margins his soul was short with the misery of Israel repentance didn't move God to have compassion on them no no no it was her misery her suffering that's what moved

[29:19] Yahweh to have compassion one writer he says this quote our hope does not rest in the sincerity of our repentance but in the intensity of Yahweh's compassion well if I just work up enough repentance God will be compassionate towards me if you think that you're thinking wrong that's not a biblical principle remember this huge principle repentance is a condition of God's restored favor for us as Christians it's true but it's not the cause repentance is vital but it's not the reason he's the reason it's because it's about him God cannot bear to see his people crushed

[30:27] God cannot bear to see his people crush he vindicates them why because of his gracious compassion that's why and and if you look hard or if you put your gospel glasses on now you'll see a small little window into the gospel God delivered his son from his misery and the key is that God was the one who brought the misery on his son but it wasn't because the son didn't want him it's because you didn't want him and that was placed on Jesus do you see that gospel truth in there God delivers the misery of his people and vindicates his people because he's going to vindicate his son from the misery that Jesus faced on your behalf because how much you've fallen short of wanting him see upon

[31:50] Christ God poured out his wrath and judgment because of our sin he shattered and crushed his son so you can be given compassion he shattered and crushed his son so you can be given mercy all because God loves himself and he wants to see himself proclaimed and glorified to display that I want you to see and he says I want you to glorify me because I am a compassionate gracious God and you're overwhelmed with his glory you're overwhelmed with the unswerving value of his grace and of his righteousness his holy righteousness demands justice but his compassion moves his heart to spare and vindicate his people you see this tension between God's judgment and yet his good grace and you see see both of these characteristics of God displayed at the cross

[33:15] Jesus received God's wrath and we receive his compassion he's crushing his son not because his son didn't want him but because you didn't want him that's why he crushed his son so you can come to a place where you will want him he is the best and he wants us to see that he is the best for us now I'll give you a disclaimer here's the little footnote the bottom of the message here's my disclaimer don't get me wrong God is pleased with genuine repentance and repentance is the only way by which we receive forgiveness of sins it's true that is true it's not simply just about repenting per se it's about saying oh Lord

[34:21] I love you I want you I desire you as a deer pence for water so my soul longs after God my God he wants us to want him because of who he is and because he'll satisfy us not because of what he'll do for us or give to us it's about him he wants you to want him for him and we'll fail it happens my Lord children I write these things so you will not sin but if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous one who's a propitiation for our sins he will still show us his great undeserving compassion because he cannot bear to see his people crushed under his own hand he'll discipline you and he'll deliver you because he's compassionate which still glorifies him because it shows he's compassionate see it shows how wonderful that he is

[35:44] I'll leave you with two thoughts first a story and then lyrics to a song I have a friend who's a lesbian we were talking about Christianity and I told her within the conversation this was some months ago at the beginning of this year or something like that or the end of last year I told her Christianity is not about becoming a heterosexual it's about loving and desiring the Lord

[36:48] Jesus Christ above everything you want him above everything that threw her off she didn't quite know what to do with that but that concept of wanting him is good to see you Kaelin glad you're here brother of wanting him is is one of the songs that I enjoy listening to from City of Light of course right Christ is mine forevermore listen minor days that God has numbered I was made to walk with him yet I look for worldly treasure and forsake the king of kings but mine is hope in my redeemer though I fall his love is sure for Christ is paid for every failing I'm his forevermore minor tears in times of sorrow darkness not yet understood through the valley I must travel where I see no earthly good but mine is peace that flows from heaven and the strength in times of need

[38:04] I know my pain will not be wasted Christ completes his work in me minor days here is a stranger pilgrim on a narrow way one with Christ I will encounter harm and hatred for his name but mine is armor for this battle strong enough to last the war and he has said he will deliver safely to the golden shore and mine are keys to Zion city where beside the king I walk for there my heart has found its treasure Christ is mine forevermore come rejoice now oh my soul for his love is my reward fear is gone and hope is sure Christ is mine forevermore come rejoice now oh my soul for his love is my reward fear is gone and hope is sure Christ is mine forevermore and mine are keys to Zion city where beside the king

[39:07] I walk for there my heart has found its treasure Christ is mine forevermore will you pray with me our father it seems that our desires are not strong but weak we seek after foolish things when we could have a holiday by the sea and breathe the wonderful air of the beach but we're satisfied making mud pies and yet thank you that you crushed your son because of our sin because we act like whores and we go seek pleasure with someone or something else we are prone to leave the

[40:32] God we love and yet thank you Jesus because that's why you had to die that's why you were crushed not because you didn't want the father but because we didn't want you father we renew once again our desire for you and our love for you much will take place over this next week these next few weeks these next few months years we don't know where things go we cannot tell the future but in all these things we pray as we face your disciplining hand sometimes because of our own foolishness sometimes you're just bringing that about in our lives all of it to drive us to this truth you want us to want you chiefly solely do that in us and we we pray that really carefully because we really don't like it when you discipline us it doesn't feel good and yet thank you that your grace sustains us even when we're acting foolish you give us grace to be sustained under your crushing hand discipline us because we're not wanting you so we will want you this is just confusing all because you're just going to get the glory and because you're just gracious and merciful and compassionate that's who you are help us to see and the savior the unswerving value of your name

[43:04] I encourage you in these next few moments as we do each week fill your mind with the promises of God fill your mind with the truths of his word maybe reiterates your passion for him maybe you were convicted say oh Lord I'm not wanting you as much I'm not in your word or I'm not praying and seeking you out in that way help me whatever may drive you to to fill your mind with truth to knowing that there's forgiveness and crying out to him saying Lord help me to want you like you want me to want you let your mind ponder on these things over these next few minutes and we'll sing we'll pray but please take this time to do that would you please do that now to love and