Judges 1:1-3- The Warning Signs Of A Coming Declension

Judges 1 can be divided into two sections. The first twenty-six verses focus upon the southern tribes and Judges 1:27-36 focus upon the activities of the northern tribes. One person described Joshua 1 in this way, “Joshua 1:1-26 gives an account of the general, though imperfect, obedience of the southern tribes. Joshua 1:27-36 is an account of the general disobedience and failure of the northern tribes.” Although the southern tribes

As you read through Judges 1:1-26 there are a couple of responses that you might have. First, you might approach this text pragmatically and dismiss any warning signs of disobedience because the southern tribes are having some success and we are told several times that God is with them and giving them this success. Secondly, you might approach these verses with a less pragmatic view and notice that there are real warning signs that Israel’s faith is weak and this means that trouble is on the horizon. I have taken this second view as I have considered Joshua 1.

In Joshua 1:1-26 there are some subtle warning signs that Judah should have noticed and addressed. For example, they begin by praying and seeking God’s instruction but then they do not continue praying and God’s instruction is not fully obeyed. Another warning sign is that Israel engages in retributive justice against Adoni-bezek and then he is allowed to live in Jerusalem until the day of his death. We also see Israel burn down Jerusalem which they did not have to do, they failed to take the plains because they feared the chariots of iron, and they made a covenant with a man to allow him to live if he showed them how to access the city. This man went on to found a city within Israel. In doing these things Judah was not careful to obey all that God had told them and eventually these things would keep Israel from having total victory over the enemy. (Deut. 7; Joshua 23-24)

Even with all these warning signs there are several reasons why we may take a more pragmatic view regarding the things that we read in these verses. One of the reasons we may not be as alarmed as we should be is because in this chapter we are told that ‘the LORD gave the enemy into their hand’. (4) We read that the ‘LORD was with Judah’. (19) And we read that ‘the LORD was with them’. (22)

Due to the limitations of time that we have today I want to focus upon Judges 1:1-3 and the initial warning sign that we see in the opening verses of this book. We read, “After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.”

Our text begins with these words, “After the death of Joshua…”, which let’s us know that Israel is in a time of transition. Israel’s great leader Joshua has passed away and his death is setting into motion events that everyone had expected to happen. Joshua had brought the people into the Promised Land and given them their inheritance and now this next generation was to complete the task that was set before them. They were to respond to God’s word with obedient faith and vanquish the remaining peoples from these nations that remained in the land. Israel had dealt a severe blow to these nations ability to wage war but they were still a huge threat to Israel’s spiritual well-being. If they are not removed Israel will be tempted towards idol worship and provoking the LORD to anger.

As we continue to read we discover the first thing that the nation of Israel does during this time of transition, “After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord…”. Isn’t it encouraging to see the people of God begin to pray to the LORD for wisdom about what they are to do next? Israel does not assume that they know what to do in this situation as they begin this next step. In these early days, after the loss of their leader Joshua, they look to the LORD- their King who alone can give them victory.

How often in these moments, like Martha in the New Testament, do we begin to busy ourselves with the tasks that have been set before us without taking the time to pray and seek God in His word. Israel could have fallen into this trap at this time but they do not do so in these early moments of transition.

We ought to be encouraged when we read that all the people of Israel inquired of the LORD. The entire nation, with one heart and mind, lifts up their prayers to the LORD. Let’s be honest, you and I will probably never experience a moment like this in our lifetime among the people who live in America. The good news is that as Christians we can experience many moments like these every time we gather together intentionallty to pray for God’s wisdom and direction as a church.

Application: Israel had been told what they were to do by Joshua right before he died. Joshua gave them these words in Joshua 23:1-5, “A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.”

Not to long after these words were spoken, when their emotions were running very high because of the death of Joshua, God’s people don’t immediately react in haste but they pause and take time to pray to the LORD. My friends, there will be times in life when we have all the facts to act upon but this does not mean that we do not need to pray. It is easy to take the facts we have and then set off doing whatever we think we should do without prayer but that would be a mistake. (Some of these other warning signs that are seen in Joshua 1 show up because the people fail to pray again and seek God’s wisdom.)

Israel ought to be commended for praying because they are doing what you and I often fail to do in similar moments. In this moment they chose the better thing and it will not be taken from them. When Joshua dies they do the right thing and they pray and inquire of the LORD for His direction. (Notice: Being willing to pray does not mean that we have a heart that is willing to obey carefully what the LORD says. {James 4:3})

Question: Does God really care if His people stop and seek Him through prayer and His Word?

On March 16th Ray Haas preached a sermon entitled, “The Next Step-God helps us take our next step in life.” In that sermon Ray had three important points.

1. God directs us in our next step.

2. God will show us how to take that next step.

3. God will show us who will help us take that next step.

Question: “Does God direct our steps, does He show us how to take that step, and will He show us who is to take that next step?”

In our text the people have prayed and if God remains silent, if He does not direct their next step, then we can assume that at least on some occasions God may be indifferent about such things. If this is the case, we can spend the majority of our life living according to our own wisdom. However, the biggest indictment against Israel in the Book of Judges is expressed in these words, “In those day there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (21:25)

As we continue to read we see that God does answer Israel’s prayer and He gives them very specific instructions. We read, “The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” (2-3)

Question: Ray told us that God directs our next step. Does God do this in our text? Yes, the 12 tribes of Israel were given a large inheritance in the Promised Land and all of the tribes, except Levi, were going to have to vanquish the remaining hostile pagan nations from their land. However, notice that the LORD’s response is directed primarily to just one tribe- the tribe of Judah. Judah is to be the first to go and take the territory. All of the other tribes are not given any instructions to begin doing anything at this time. And yet, the seeds of their failures listed in Judges 1:27-36 probably begin at his time.

Observation#1: Notice that God does not lay out a massive detailed plan before His people. No, the LORD speaks to all the tribes but at this time He only addresses Judah with a short and simple message, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

Consideration: If God gave the people a long detailed plan to follow it may have been confusing to them. The LORD does not give them a complicated and inter-twined plan of attack at this moment. Very often the LORD does not do this for you and I either. We simply are to take that first next step by faith.

Question: Why doesn’t God do this? I can think of a couple reasons.

• First, detailed plans can be good but God knows His people. He does not overwhelm them with information but gives them just what they need. Perhaps He does this because He knows, as we will soon see, they are lacking faith. Can you imagine the confusion and overwhelming feeling they would experience if God’s people lacked the needed faith to hear and obey a large complicated list of instructions. It is hard to get confused with a message that is as short as, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And yet, without faith even these instructions become confusing and are disobeyed.

• Second, this is not supposed to be the one and only moment that the people come together and pray. No, God’s people are to pray continually without ceasing. God’s people are to be dependent upon God all day and every day to receive their marching orders.

Observation#2: Notice that the whole nation prayed together and God has responded to them all. This instruction was primarily for Judah but the other tribes could now support and encourage them as Judah takes this next step. They do not do this, however, and unfortunately they will stand quietly like Adam stood by Eve in the garden as Judah adds to God’s words and makes a covenant with Simeon.

Observation#3: Judah is given a very short and simple message, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” These words, even as few as they are, were intended to give God’s people the ability to obey with faith. God gave Judah a promise that the land was given into his hand. The battle had not been fought yet but if they obeyed in faith the victory was assured. If I were called into battle I would love to have the advantage of knowing that the victory was already assured! Isn’t this the assurance of every believer?!

Observation#4: Some of us like to have a lot of information and these few words would not make us happy. Perhaps these words would have left you with more questions than answers. You would wonder, “What about us, what are we to do? Who will lead us into battle? How will we attack? What will we do when we face those iron chariots? What will we do when we face those giants of Anak?”

You know Judah had questions like these because they add to God’s plan to give themselves some security in this moment. However, when these questions arose they should have returned to prayer and sought God in His Word. Instead they immediately say to Simeon, ““Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.”

Israel should be commended for their prayer in verse 1 but already as we come to verse 3 we see they have already stopped praying and become like Martha. They busy themselves with their own plans ad they forsake the more important things.

Question: Wouldn’t it have been better for them to have gone back to prayer and waited upon the LORD? Ray’s second point was, “God will show us how to take that next step.” If Judah needed anything more from God they should have approached God humbly asking for wisdom and they would not have been refused or rebuked for doing this. James said that if we lack wisdom we are to ask because God gives generously without finding fault. If they wanted more details they could ask. (James 1:5-8)

Observation#4: It would seem as though Judah should have remained in prayer not only for wisdom but also so that their faith could be strengthened by the LORD. I say this because the LORD tells Judah to go up and take the land all by himself. Judah, though they are the largest tribe, lacks the faith to obey God and they immediately seek the help of his brother Simeon.

Ray’s third point was that when we are called upon to take a next step the LORD will show us who we are to take that step with. Again, our text confirms that Ray’s third point is true. God intended that in this moment Judah was to go out on their own and finish this task by looking to the LORD and trusting in Him. Judah, however, does not have the faith to do this and he immediately and with no hesitation seeks someone to go with him. My friends, it may be easy for us to justify what is being done here we should see that this is the first sign of many that there is a real problem with the faith of God’s people.

Observation#5: Finally, Since the LORD’s message is short and clear then we must ask why none of the other tribes do not object to Judah’s proposition? God had just given a very short and clear command to Judah and no one raised any questions at this point or expressed any hesitation about this small deviation from what God has said?

Question: Why was there not one person who said, “Did you not listen to what the LORD just said, ‘I have given the land into his hand.’”

Notice that God was talking to everyone with these clear instructions. The LORD said to all the tribes, “I have given the land into his (Judah’s) hand.” The LORD did not say, “I have given the land into your hand”. But in this crucial moment there was not one person who objected when Judah suggested a change in these plans. All Israel is showing signs of a serious problem that will lead to the declension of Israel.

If God gave pages and pages of instruction then we might say that such a misstep at this point is warranted and understandable because they just got confused. But it is hard to argue with the fact that already we are seeing a problem with the faith of God’s people, a lack of clarity with the simplest of messages, and a problem with the peoples ability to hear and obey God’s clear commands. All of these things will soon lead to bigger problems.

Israel is content to be pragmatic at the expense of being careful to be obedient at every step in this process. In this moment Judah did not have any trouble getting Simeon to join in this new and improved plan that would appear to be very successful. The end of verse 3 ends with these words, “So Simeon went with him.”

This was a problem back then and it continues to be a problem today. Pragmatism is our modern replacement for real faith that will faithfully serve God in whatever He may ask of us. Pragmatism may give us little victories and temporary success but eventually we will, as Israel was, hear these words from God, “You have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” (Judges 2:2b; Genesis 3:13)

This question that the LORD asks here is sobering. These little pragmatic things we do because we lack faith have real consequences and terrible ramifications for our generation and others who follow. Because of this the LORD would say to all of us, “You have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” The only proper response to this is to admit our sin and look to Jesus Christ our righteous Judge for help.

This morning we looked at Israel’s first sign of a problem. This misstep would lead to others. At any point Israel could have repented and sought God’s forgiveness and help, however, they did not. Let us learn from their sin and respond differently to the sin in our lives. Amen.