Groundhog Day is an obscure tradition in North America.
It's in little parts of North America.
It's not right across North America.
It was popularized by the 1993 movie which starred Bill Murray.
It's celebrated on the 2nd of February when the groundhog,
which is really just this furry creature thing,
comes out of its hole from hibernation.
And if the animal sees a shadow, that is if the weather is sunny,
it goes back into its hole because there's six more weeks of winter weather to come.
If not, apparently spring's coming early.
No scientific fact to it, but a good reason for a party, I suspect.
Now, Groundhog Day also describes a situation
in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events
to reappear again and again and again in exactly the same way.
And that's what you feel when you put up the book of Judges
and as you read through it, it's like, oh, here we go again.
We're back into the same cycle again.
And that's what we're going to see as we launch into Judges.
We have this depressing and this familiar cycle in chapter 10, verse 6.
Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord
and they served the Baals and the Ashtoreths
and the gods of Aram and the gods of Sidon,
the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites
and the gods of the Philistines.
So again, we have this picture of idolatry and slavery with Israel.
The Baals and the Ashtoreths, they were the gods of the native Canaanites.
This is the land in which they're in.
And so this is their native gods, their idols.
But notice there are other idols, other gods that are mentioned here as well.
Notice that it says the gods of Aram, they weren't, these are not part of Canaan.
This is Aram, they're up to the northwest.
Sidon, they're up to the north.
Moab and Ammon are to the east.
And then the Philistines are to the south.
And all of these nations belonged outside of Canaan,
but they came into Canaan to oppress the Israelites.
Now, if you've been listening all the way through this series,
then you will remember that in chapter 3, way back then,
we saw that Othniel, remember him?
He helped Israel out of its bind with the king of Aram.
Ehud, we all remember him because he's the guy stuck the sword in the fat guy.
He was against the Ammonites and the Moabites.
And Shamgar, we just went straight over him.
He only got one verse, really, so we just missed him.
He helped Israel against the Philistines.
And in chapter 5, it was Deborah against the Canaanites.
So what we get here is that every time Israel worshipped the idols of a nation,
that nation ended up oppressing Israel.
And this time, it's the God of the Ammonites and the Philistines.
Verse 7 tells us that this is the consequence of them worshipping their gods.
He, that's God, became angry with them.
He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites.
This is the key idea here.
Idolatry leads to enslavement.
And enslavement leads to idolatry.
Now, that doesn't seem logical.
Let's unpack that.
That does not seem logical.
You would think that once a nation like Israel was oppressed by these other nations,
Israel would hate the gods of the nations who they were worshipping that led them into slavery.
They'd wake up one day and go, oh, we hate those gods.
They've not been good to us.
But that's not the case.
The Ammonites had oppressed Israel in chapter 3, verse 13.
And here is Israel serving their gods, which in turn leads to enslavement to the Ammonites once again.
Despite their pain and their misery, Israel continued to worship the same idols that brought them the pain and the misery.
It makes no sense.
It is so easy to sit back here and look at the futility of Israel's behaviour.
What's wrong with you guys?
I wonder whether we can see ours in the same way.
Let me remind you of our definition of idolatry.
You'll find it right there in the little, you know, fine print at the bottom of your service outline.
Idolatry is taking a good aspect of creation, a gift from God, marriage, days at the beach, business, family, money,
and turning it into the ultimate source of security, comfort, identity and power.
It's taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing.
I've given you a chart there on idolatry and a whole different bits of idolatry.
Ripped it straight out of Tim Keller and his book, Gospel Driven Life.
It's really helpful.
The point here is that our hearts still assure us that when an idol leads to slavery and misery,
that we seem to think that we need more of that idol.
For instance, imagine someone who seeks value and purpose in relationship.
That's where their real sense of worth is, is when they feel loved by someone else.
And they live that out by sacrificing everything in order to get into a marriage.
And that marriage fails.
What happens then?
What normally happens, what we see in our world,
is that they think that what I need now is another relationship.
But what I need is a better relationship than the last one.
But I need another relationship.
And so the cycle repeats.
Again and again and again.
We don't seem to ever think that the issue is, in fact, idol worship.
Our behavior tells us that the issue is not our worship of idols,
but that we are not worshiping the idol enough.
And that is Israel's behavior here.
Verse 7 tells us that God, in his settled anger at idolatry,
sold them into the hands of their enemies.
That's a very strong phrase.
In fact, it's the strongest phrase so far of God's dealing with his people in the book of Judges.
You see, when you sell a car to another person,
it means that that new owner can do with it what they want to do with it.
It's theirs.
They can do with it.
You know, you might have caught it gertie or whatever.
You know, no longer does that apply.
It might have been your child, you know, extra member.
You might have treated really well and washed it and polished.
Once they get it, it's theirs.
They can drive it into another car if they want.
They can do whatever they want.
You no longer own it.
Now, we know from the history of God dealing with these rebellious people
that this doesn't mean that God had abandoned them or canceled his promises to them.
It does mean that he stopped protecting them
so that the things that they chose to serve began to dominate them.
And in fact, in Romans chapter 1, verses 23 to 25,
is a passage that really has the same idea.
It speaks of people who exchange the glory of the immortal God
for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles.
That is, it's a description of idolatry.
Reject a God, create our own gods.
And what was the result?
The very next verse, Romans 1, 24,
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts.
He let them do it.
He abandoned them to their desires.
And the phrase desires of the heart means to have an overwhelming desire,
drive, an uncontrollable and therefore an enslaving desire.
For God to give them over means that he has allowed the things
for which they have put their hope,
things for which are not God,
to become the ruling powers of their lives.
And in fact, Romans 1 describes all of humanity.
Once God gave them over because of their idolatry in Romans 1, 24,
what's the next thing that happens?
Romans 25, 1, 25,
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie
and they worshipped and served created things rather than the creator.
The judgment for idolatry is more idolatry.
Idolatry and slavery go hand in hand.
Idolatry leads to slavery and slavery to idolatry.
Let's take money for an example.
God says to us,
If you live for money instead of me,
then money will rule your life.
Money will control your life.
It will control your heart.
It will control your emotions.
It will enslave you.
And what you think is the answer to that solution
is I just need to have a bit more
and then it won't control me.
Then I will have freedom if I have a bit more
and then a bit more and a bit more.
Then I'll have freedom.
Idolatry leads to enslavement
and enslavement to more idolatry.
Or popularity.
If you want to live for popularity instead of me,
God says,
then popular came
and social media lacks
will rule you and control you.
And there has been some awful scenarios in recently
in the media where we've seen
that people have been controlled
by social media likes.
Even death.
God says,
If you want another God besides me,
go ahead.
Let's see how merciful it is to you,
how effective it is at saving you
and guiding you
and enlightening you
and affirming you.
It will control you
and it will make you sacrifice everything for it
and it will make you miserable.
Idolatry and slavery go hand in hand.
And so in verse 8,
it tells us that Israel's oppression
was the worst oppression to date.
And the sad thing here is
that the way Israel treated their idols
was the way they treated their God as well.
They treated God like one of their idols.
Worst oppression yet,
the Philistines,
the Ammonites,
it says,
shattered and crushed them.
For 18 years,
they oppressed all the Israelites
on the east side of the Jordan
in Gilead,
the land of the Amorites.
And again,
Israel cries out to God.
Verse 10,
We have sinned against you,
forsaking our God
and serving the Baals.
And what we see here
is that God doesn't immediately forgive them
or He doesn't jump in
and solve their problem.
In chapter 6,
when the people cry out to God,
He sent them a really stern warning.
And here,
the warning's a little bit harder as well.
They have consistently
turned their backs on God
and He has consistently saved them.
And this time,
we get the crushing line
in verse 13.
I will no longer save you.
Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen.
Let them save you
when you're in trouble.
Despite a confession of sin,
God has heard this song
and this dance before.
Israel's sin,
as we've seen,
as judges progresses
and we'll see the next couple of weeks,
Israel's sin is not so much a cycle
as it is a plunge.
It's like a ball gathering momentum.
It's just a plunge.
And it is a sheer tragedy
when people become so accustomed
to the mercy of God
that they end up despising it.
Even,
and especially,
in the act of seeking His mercy.
They just despise His mercy.
Again,
here,
Israel is sorry
for the consequence
of their sin
rather than the sin itself.
They are turning
from idolatry
in idolatrous ways.
They are treating God
like this great,
warm,
vending machine
in the sky
into which you need
to just drop a token or two,
one or two tokens of repentance
and He will spit out
the thing that I really want
which is relief
from my troubles.
That's what I really want.
I want relief.
How often do we treat God
like that?
I remember doing this so much
before I was a Christian
and especially whenever I knew
that I was going to need help.
So exam times,
you know,
exams are coming up
and so in those moments,
pray to God.
Sorry,
I've been rejecting you
a bit lately
but if you can help me here,
you know,
it's going to be different
beyond this.
So it's like treating God
like this vending machine,
throwing some repentance,
acknowledgement,
haven't been kicking
the goals lately
but you help me in this exam
and then we'll be fine.
So help me pass this exam
and I'd walk out of there
and I would pass the exam
most of the time
and I'd go,
man,
I studied,
you know,
I just ignored God
and I had this sense
that when I did that,
for some strange reason,
I thought God was on my side
in that exam room
but not on anyone else's side.
The rest of the pagans,
I bet you they didn't think
about praying to God,
you know,
helping with the exam
so I've got a leg up here.
I've definitely got a leg up
over the rest of these people
because God's on my side.
I remember the time
that my attitude
struck home to me
was that I was always
trying to manipulate God
to get on my side
when it was when I
was actually a Christian
and I was at Bible college
and I remember
sitting down for an exam
and praying a similar thing,
God help me with the exam here
and then looking around,
God's on everyone's side here.
That's no help to me.
I really should have studied.
And Israel's here
trying to push the right buttons,
trying to make the right sacrifices
in order to get God,
to manipulate God,
to exert power for them.
And God wants to shatter
those false views
that have been crafted of him.
He's not a Baal.
He's not an Asherah pole.
Israel just assumed
that whenever things got bad,
they'd always just put the right things
in the slot machine
and they'd get God back.
Now Israel seems to get their point.
They're requesting verse 15
is different than verse 10.
Have a look at it.
We have sinned.
Do with us
whatever you think best.
But please rescue us now.
Now that shows
at least an element
of a change of heart.
Before they were focused
on their condition,
on their comfort.
Now they admit
that God is under
no obligation whatsoever
to solve their problem for them.
It's like they're saying to God,
we want you
even if it means
we will keep suffering.
Although we'd rather not.
It is much more
a sign of real faith.
You see,
if we say to God,
I want you
because I want
or I need you
to give me
this particular thing,
whatever it is,
we reveal
that that particular thing,
whatever it is,
is our
ultimate
God.
Our ultimate hope.
Our ultimate sense of security.
God, you exist
to give me
this stuff.
That means that
this stuff
is more important
than God.
That's idolatry.
Things like God,
your job is to make me
happy.
God,
your job is to
give me a family.
God,
your job is to make
the current family
I got better
than what it is.
When we say that,
we're saying,
God,
you exist
to exert
your power
to give me
what I want.
That's idolatry.
God's
God,
and so God
responds to his people
with mercy in verse 16.
He now
acts to save
Israel.
The Ammonite
and the Israelite camps are drawn up for battle.
The men of Gilead search for the person
who's going to lead them into the battle
and beyond the battle in verse 18.
And we're introduced to him in chapter 11, verse 1.
The new judge is now coming to the fore.
It says here, Jephna, the Gileadite, was a mighty warrior.
His father was Gilead.
His mother was a prostitute.
Gilead's wife also bore him sons.
And when they were grown up,
they drove Jephna away.
You're not going to get any inheritance in our family,
they said, because you're the son of another woman.
So Jephna fled from his brothers
and settled in the land of Tob,
where a gang of scoundrels gather around him
and followed him.
Now there's a, if you like, an unsurprising
and at the same time surprising choice of a judge
with Jephna.
Jephna, like Gideon before him,
is described as a mighty warrior.
It seems like brawling and stuff's his thing.
On the other hand,
he's the illegitimate son of a prostitute.
He's been driven out from his home,
most likely as a young person by his half-brothers.
And then he's out there living in the wilderness
and he surrounds himself with a band of robbers.
Jephna, as it turns out,
is into organized crime
and he's the crime boss.
And so he's the natural choice.
He's a complete outcast.
He's a criminal from a broken home.
And despite all of that,
God chooses him to be the saviour.
And the leaders of Gilead go to him,
but Jephna was not so easily convinced.
Verse 7,
Didn't you hate me?
Aren't you the same guys who hate me?
You drove me out from my father's house.
Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble?
Does that at all sound familiar?
There are so many similarities here
between the way Israel has treated their God
and the way that they are treating their judge,
their leader.
And so what Jephna wants to do here
is he, before he does anything,
before he picks up any sword,
he resets the relationship
between the leader of God's people,
the judge, and the people.
Verse 8,
The elders of Gilead said to him,
Nevertheless, we are turning to you now.
Come with us to fight the Ammonites
and you will be head over all of us
who live in Gilead.
Then Jephna clarifies the point in verse 9.
Jephna answered,
Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites
and the Lord gives them to me.
Suppose we win.
Will I really be your head?
And the elders of Gilead replied,
The Lord is our witness.
You will certainly do as,
we will certainly do as you say.
In other words,
as we've seen already in this series,
rescue and rule are inseparable.
If I'm your saviour,
I am also your ruler.
If you look to an idol
to be your saviour and your hope,
it will rule you.
You don't ask it to,
it will,
because salvation
and rule go together.
If you look to God
as your saviour and your hope,
he will rule you.
And all of these judges
point us ultimately
to the greatest judge,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
The way people treat Jesus
is the way that they are treating God.
It is impossible
to respect God
or to truly repent
without acknowledging
Jesus' rule over your life.
It's impossible.
As I said earlier in this series,
Jesus cannot be your rescuer
if he isn't your ruler.
And so,
here in the text,
the battle lines are drawn up,
but Jephthah doesn't go up
to war immediately.
Turns out that this guy
who's the crime boss
actually happens
with some negotiation skills.
And so,
his first option here
is to go for a peaceful resolution.
Who would have thought?
The Ammonites
neither respond nor retreat.
So,
diplomacy is exhausted,
war is inevitable.
And once the spirit of the Lord
came on Jephthah
in verse 29,
the outcome is certain.
The victory is won
before swords are even drawn.
And then there's something
terrible happens.
As Jephthah advances
to meet the army,
he makes this vow to God
in verse 30.
If you give the Ammonites
into my hands,
whatever comes out
the door of my house
to meet me
when I return in triumph
from the Ammonites
will be the Lord's.
and I will sacrifice it
as a burnt offering.
The Lord gives him his victory.
He returns home
as a victorious judge of Israel.
What should now follow
is the celebration
of the victory
and a time of peace.
But instead,
we have verse 34.
When Jephthah returned
to his home in Mizpah,
who should come out
to meet him
but his daughter
dancing to the sound
of timbrels.
She was an only child
except for her.
He had neither son
nor daughter.
And when he saw her,
he tore his clothes
and he cried,
Oh no!
My daughter!
You have brought me down
and I am devastated.
I have made a vow
to the Lord
that I cannot break.
He is distraught
and yet at the same time
he kind of hard blames
his daughter for it.
And his daughter
remarkably insists
that he keeps his vow to God.
After two months of mourning
with her friends,
she comes back
and Jephthah keeps his vow
and he sacrifices her.
It's a terrible story.
In fact,
it's the worst so far
in this terrible
section of Israel's history.
It's going to get worse
in the next two weeks
but up to now
this is the worst.
And there is at least
three big questions here.
What did Jephthah
actually promise
in his vow?
Why did he promise it?
And why did he keep
the promise?
Firstly,
some people have thought
that he just promised
to sacrifice
anything that came out
the door
and he was anticipating
an animal sacrifice.
He was expecting
the family dog
to run out
or maybe the cat
or something like that.
And there are,
and I'm not going to go
into all the details
of this
but there's a multitude
of reasons
as to why
that's not the case.
They range from it
being unlikely
that animals
were first of all
even allowed
in the homes
through to
if that was
what he was thinking
then he would never
have been distraught
by his daughter
coming out.
He would have been
waiting for the first
animal to come out.
The reality is
Jephthah promised
to make a human
sacrifice to God
if he was victorious.
That was his promise.
It was a human sacrifice.
He was probably hoping
for a servant
rather than his daughter.
Secondly,
why did he make
that promise?
Deuteronomy 12
says that human sacrifice
is a detestable thing
to God.
Jephthah would have
known that.
God is so clear on it.
Jephthah had
clearly been
deeply desensitized
to the violence
and the atrocities
of the pagan cultures
that surrounded him
and that he was
participating in.
He's obviously
become desensitized.
It's such an awful
example
of how
believers
in the one true God
who profess
faith in him
hold to some
truth
but allowed
the world
to squeeze
them into
their own
mold.
It's such an awful
example of
churches right
throughout our world
who have the word
of God
who knows what
God's word said
and yet
allow the world
and its priorities
to squeeze the scriptures
out.
these days
it's more likely
as the church
as Christians
we're more likely
to allow worldly
attitudes to sex
and money
come in
and live
alongside
biblical truth.
in his culture
it was different.
But Jephna
wasn't just
impacted by
the moral codes
that surrounded him
he was also
impacted by
their
idolatrous
works
righteousness.
Human sacrifice
is how
all those
gods
that surrounded
Canaan
human sacrifice
is how they
would buy off
their pagan gods.
It's how
it's the tokens
that they would
put in
to the vending
machine
to give God
to give them
what they wanted.
Jephna
thought
Israel's
God
needed to be
impressed
he needed
to be bought
he needed
to be controlled
through a lavish
gift
of human
sacrifice.
And the
tragedy
is
God
had already
decided
to save
his sinful
people
before he
even made
the vow
to God.
He'd already
decided to use
Jephna
as
his
savior.
So why
did he go
through with it?
this is
probably
the more
difficult
thing
to look
at
or to
answer
it's
hard
to know
but
except to
say that
he had
no concept
of the
God of
grace.
He
sees
God
in the
same
way
as
the
nations
around
them
as
all
the
other
pagan
gods
and
idols
he
sees
the
true
living
God
in
exactly
the
same
way
a
being
whose
favor
has
to
be
earned
through
flattery
and
lavish
sacrifices
and
that's
why
in
this
moment
he
can't
just
break
down
and
he's
distraught
he doesn't
just drop
on his
knees
and confess
his
error
and
repent
and save
his
daughter
it's
because
he
simply
doesn't
trust
this
God
that's
why
he
goes
through
with
it
because
he's
trapped
by
his
mistrust
of
this
God
it's
like
he
believes
that
if
he
doesn't
go
through
with
it
if
he
doesn't
strike
his
daughter
down
this
God
will
strike
him
down
and
this
has
been
the
problem
for
every
human
being
ever
since
Adam
and
Eve
it's
our
problem
in
the
garden
of
Eden
the
very
first
line
that
comes
out
of
the
serpent's
mountain
Genesis
3
is to
cause
human
beings
to
disbelieve
that God
has their
best
interests
at
heart
you
cannot
trust
this
God
and
ever
since
then
the
default
position
of
our
heart
the
wiring
is
to
feel
like
we
have
to
control
God
that
we
have
to
pay
God
that
we
have
to
deserve
God
that
we
have
to
do
something
to
put
something
in
the
vending
machine
to
spit
out
for
us
what
we
want
from
God
our
default
is
never
simply
to
trust
God
to
love
and
to
bless
us
we
instead
turn
from
him
to
other
things
turn
from
him
to
other
things
for
the
acceptance
of
the
love
that
we
crave
it
is
always
worth
asking
ourselves
the
questions
in
what
ways
would
I
live
differently
more
radically
more
restfully
if I
really
believe
that
God
was
completely
committed
to me
to
love
me
to
bless
me
and
to
work
what
is
best
for
me
how
would
that
impact
everything
the
way
I
live
if
I
truly
believe
death
to
my
heart
that
was
true
the
Bible
makes
it so
clear
that
this
God
is
for
us
and
so
this
episode
is
tragic
in
fact
the
great
victory
against
the
enemy
is
even
barely
mentioned
it's
overshadowed
by the
tragedy
of the
loss
of
Jephna's
daughter
this
victory
is like
a
it's
a
flawed
victory
it's
an
imperfect
salvation
instead
of
dancing
in the
streets
it's
like
there's
this
dark
cloud
this
doesn't
feel
like
a
salvation
it's
an
imperfect
salvation
by an
imperfect
savior
and so
it won't
last
it's
not
worth
celebrating
but it
should
well
in us
a sense
of
where is
the
true
salvation
where is
the
perfect
salvation
where is
the one
that's
worth
celebrating
and if
we want
a
perfect
salvation
we have
to look
beyond
Jephna
to one
that is
greater
than he
the
imperfect
savior
Jephna
points us
to the
perfect
savior
Jesus
Jephna
didn't
rise
to be
judged
despite
his
rejection
and his
suffering
he is
fitted
for
his
role
as the
judge
of
Israel
through
his
rejection
and his
suffering
and in
this he is
a pale
shadow
of the
greatest
savior
Jesus
John
1 11
tells us
that Jesus
came to
that which
was his
own
but his
own
did not
receive
him
this is
the Jesus
who spent
his time
in the
wilderness
and was
tempted in
every way
but was
without
sin
according to
Hebrews
4 15
he was
rejected
and unlike
Jephna
lived a
holy
righteous
life
a life
of
perfection
and both
his
rejection
and his
perfection
prepared him
for his
ultimate
act of
weakness
a criminal
death
on a
cross
the death
of a
criminal
on a
cross
and it
also
qualified
him
for
his
greatest
victory
the
great
victory
where
he
bore
our
sin
as
the
human
sacrifice
through
his
death
so that
he could
give
his
people
his
righteousness
and lead
them
into
peace
you
see
Jesus
the
son
of
God
is
the
great
savior
who
chose
to
offer
his
life
as
a
sacrifice
for
the
sin
of
the
world
he
wasn't
trapped
into
it
wasn't
surprised
by it
his
dad
didn't
all of a
sudden
pop
it
on
him
and
go
well
okay
he
chose
it
was
his
plan
to
pay
for
the
sin
of
humanity
and
turn
God's
anger
away
from
us
his
sacrifice
was
once
for
all
time
for
all
people
that's
why
we
celebrate
that's
why
we
sing
what
we
sing
and
because
of
this
sacrifice
there
is
only
one
sacrifice
that
God
requires
of
you
and
me
he's
not
the
great
vending
machine
it's
the
self
sacrifice
of
offering
God
lordship
over
every
area
of
our
life
because
with
salvation
comes
rule
and
this
is
not
done
to
secure
his
favour
we
don't
offer
him
lordship
he
doesn't
take
it's
not
it's
not
to
secure
his
favour
Jesus
has
already
secured
the
favour
of
God
for
us
our
sacrifice
is
in
response
to
him
Romans
12
1
calls
us
to
deal
with
our
idols
when
it
says
I
urge
you
brothers
and
sisters
in
view
of
God's
mercy
because
of
his
mercy
to
offer
your
bodies
as
living
sacrifices
holy
and
pleasing
to
God
this
is
your
true
and
proper
worship
do
not
conform
to
the
pattern
of
this
world
Jesus
perfect
sacrifice
results
in his
perfect
rule
he
can
be
trusted
his
rule
is
the
only
rule
that
is
not
oppressive
Matthew
11
28
it's
Jesus
who
says
to
us
come
to
me
all
who
are
weary
and
burdened
and
I
will
give
you
rest
take
my
yoke
upon
you
and
learn
from
me
for
I
am
gentle
and
humble
at
heart
and
you
will
find
rest
for
your
souls
for
my
yoke
is
easy
and
my
burden
is
light