1. Staying on Higher Ground: Keep the Way of the LORD

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Hymns: 115 Constantly Abiding 116 Higher Ground 117 In Tenderness He Sought Me 

Judges 1

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meatunder my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 8 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher: 12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. 22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 36 And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

Keep the Way of the LORD

OUTLINE

  • Vigilance (v1-20)
  • Disobedience (v21-35)

INTRODUCTION

We have entitled this new series of messages – Staying on Higher Ground: Keep the Way of the LORD.

When the works of God is not rehearsed for the next generation, the word of God is not taught and exemplified for the next generation, there will arise a new generation who is oblivious of her spiritual heritage and inheritance…the conclusion is that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)

Joshua and the elders who outlived Joshua were dead and buried. The legacy they left behind were clean forgotten by the new generation. What happened? 

Judges 2:6 (KJV) And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

Judges 2:7 (KJV) And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

Judges 2:8 (KJV) And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Judges 2:9-11 (KJV) And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:

Judges 2:12-13 (KJV) And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

They fell into the chastative hand of God. He corrected the wayward who fail to keep the way of the LORD.

Hebrews 12:5-11 (KJV) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave themreverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Judges 2:14-15 (KJV) And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

Judges 2:16-23 (KJV) Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, thatthey returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

We are exhorted to be holy because God is holy. One little disobedience leads to another. When we allow that one “little” sin to fester in our heart, the disease spreads and infects destroying the body.

What is the solution? Keep the way of the LORD, stay out of fellowship with the world, stay on God’s Word!

Psalm 1:1-2 (KJV) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Take Time to Be Holy

  • Make Not Ungodly Friends (v1)
  • Make Scripture Your Delight (v2)
  • Make Time to Bear Spiritual Fruit (v3)
  • Make Sure to Walk the Way of the Righteous (v4-6)

Holiness is the character of the godly. The cultivation of godliness or holiness in the believer’s life is taught here. Psalm 1 begins by pronouncing the blessing of the spiritual man who walks in holiness and the miserable end of a wicked man. 

The way of godliness begins with separating from the ungodly – choosing correctly our friends is the thought in verse 1.

The psalmist presents it by the negative in a triac “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Notice there is an increase of sense in successive phrases.

The first are ungodly, as to their mind, the second are sinners, who not only think, but carry out the workings of their evil mind. The third scorner glorying in their wickedness and scoffing at righteousness. The first continue in that mind of taking evil counsel, the second carry it out, as the principle of their walk and the third settle down in their evil, as on a seat.

Remember the first commandment of God delivered to our first parents were in the negative in Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” How appealing and pleasurable is the enticement to sin.

The attack comes first in the mind – the “counsel of the ungodly”, most deadly. The serpent said to Eve, Genesis 3:4 -5″Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ungodly counsel inclines our heart to sin, to disobey God. Eve “saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise.”

Therefore, we see here that the mind must be fortified with godly counsel. How can we receive it if we do not restrain our wondering feet is the thrust of this first phrase!

The next step of rebellion to stand in the way of sinners. A logical progression in the slippery downward slide to destruction, to “stand” here means to have made a choice, to choose the way of sinners. To stand with someone is to agree with him and to take the side of him, who? The sinner! The way of the world, ruled by the prince of this world, Satan himself. Eve chose to stand with the lie of Satan instead of the truth of God’s Word. That influenced her to pick the forbidden fruit and eat.

Thirdly, his “seat in the sit of the scornful“. Having listened to the enticement of the Serpent, now Eve becomes chief advocate for Satan, she gave the forbidden fruit that she has eaten for Adam to eat, plunging all humanity into total depravity and utter hopelessness.

A study of the word “scorner” used in the Bible tells us that he is one who is proud and haughty, delights in boasting, deriding, mocking, incapable of discipline, reproof or rebuke, cannot find wisdom, is an abomination and should be avoided.

Hence the importance of separation from sinful companion, such is the potency and influence of evil companions, separation from the world.

Dear friends, we must be careful to choose our friends, and help our loved ones in the choice of friends, especially for every father and mother our children!

  • Vigilance (v1-20)

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 

It was after the death of Joshua when the children of Israel consulted that LORD how they are to conquer and possess the land of their inheritance. God gave the instructions.

By this time, we may suppose, they were so multiplied that the places they were in possession of began to be too strait for them, and they must thrust out the enemy to make room; now they enquire who should first take up arms. Whether each tribe was ambitious of being first, and so strove for the honour of it, or whether each was afraid of being first, and so strove to decline it, does not appear; but by common consent the matter was referred to God himself, who is the fittest both to dispose of honours and to cut out work. [Matthew Henry]

God appointed that Judah should go up first, and promised him success (v2): “I have delivered the land into his hand, to be possessed, and therefore will deliver the enemy into his hand, that keeps him out of possession, to be destroyed.” And why must Judah be first in this undertaking? Judah was the most numerous and powerful tribe, and therefore let Judah venture first. 

Matthew Henry observed well, “God appoints service according to the strength he has given. Those that are most able, from them most work is expected. 

Judah was first in dignity, and therefore must be first in duty. He it is whom his brethren must praise, and therefore he it is who must lead in perilous services. Let the burden of honour and the burden of work go together. 

Judah was first served; the lot came up for Judah first, and therefore Judah must first fight. Judah was the tribe out of which our Lord was to spring: so that in Judah, Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, went before them. Christ engaged the powers of darkness first, and foiled them, which animates us for our conflicts; and it is in Him that we are more than conquerors.

The service and the success are put together: “Judah shall go up; let him do his part, and then he shall find that I have delivered the land into his hand.” His service will not avail unless God give the success; but God will not give the success unless he vigorously apply himself to the service. 

God gave them great success. Whether they invaded the enemy, or the enemy first gave them the alarm, the Lord delivered them into their hand (v4). Though the army of Judah was strong and bold, yet the victory is attributed to God: he delivered the Canaanites into their hand; having given them authority, he here gives them ability to destroy them – put it in their power, and so tried their obedience to his command, which was utterly to cut them off.”

Their lives as it were will be hazarded so that their inheritance can be secured. It will be made clear that with the Lord guidance, they shall inherit the land.

Their task was to keep themselves pure from the defilement of the inhabitants of the land.

Deuteronomy 7:1-26 (KJV) When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

The blessing of faithfulness and the exhortation to faithfulness is thus delineated.  

If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid. Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. 

Their conquest will be as they were able to handle!

And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. 

The LORD gave Israel the strategy for the conquest of the Promised Land. It was “by little and little”. It would take time for the children of Israel to increase in the land. Though they have become a great multitude, however, in comparison with the size of the land, Israel will need to further grow to effectively occupy the land.  The reason given is lest the land becomes desolate and the beast of the field multiply against His people.

The LORD told Israel that they will not drive them out in one year. It will take longer. They would be settling in the land first, the manna would stop, they would be eating of the produce of the land. They would become farmers and they are also ready soldiers for the Lord. In other words, there is a need for constant vigilance for the continuing task of possessing the Promised Land. Their continued existence under God will be a witness to the nations that the LORD is indeed the living and true God in their journey from utter slavery to becoming landowners. The LORD showed them the boundary of the land allotted to them that they are to possess. He promised that they will have the victory. What encouragement of a glorious future with God!

There is also a need for patience to plod on for the work is yet undone. They are not to run before the LORD rather they are to engage in the battle according to His stipulations when to move and when to rest and prepare for the next battle.

Here is the great danger that will threaten the progress of their possession of the land, the unequal yoke!

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take itunto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

  • Disobedience (v20-35)

One little disobedience leads to another. When we allow that one “little” sin to fester in our heart, the disease spreads and infects destroying the body.

These are the evidences of Israel’s downfall which we must learn so that we do not make the same mistakes.

(a) “…but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron.” (Judges 1:19) Did God not promise to help them against their enemies? “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 20:1) Why were they not standing up by faith against their enemies, in the strength of the LORD?

(b) “The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.” (Judges 1:21)

(c) “they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.” (Judges 1:25)

(d) “Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of …. but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

(e) “Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites…” (Judges 1:29)

(f) “Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites…but the Canaanites dwelt among them.” (Judges 1:30)

(g) “Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants…for they did not drive them out.” (Judges 1:31-32)

(h) “Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants…but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land…” (Judges 1:33)

(i) “…the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain…But the Amorites would dwell in …so that they became tributaries” (Judges 1:34)

“A holy life is not ascetic, or gloomy, or solitary life, but a life regulated by divine truth and faithful in Christian duty. It is living above the world while we are still in it.” observes a conservative Christian pastor. 

“Holiness is not exemption from conflict, but victory through conflict” – Israel failed to fight the good fight of faith against sinful idolatry and they paid dearly with their wrecked lives.

Why does God want the inhabitants to be driven out so completely? 

The reason is seen in their wicked worship system. They practice a demonic and licentious worship system. Baal worship was a combination of sexual activity and human sacrifice. The inhabitants of that area of the world were farmers and herdsmen. Their income and livelihood were tied to the land, whether they were Canaanites or Israelites. So, the most important thing to all the people was fertility. Baal means lord and Baalim means lords. Baal was the god of storm and the god of fertility. He was often pictured riding on a bull, one of the Canaanite symbols of fertility. One way in which Canaanites sought to pacify Baal was to offer their children as sacrifices. The children were to be offered without any display of emotions otherwise the sacrifice was worthless. Ashtoreth was the Canaanite goddess of regeneration and fertility. She was also considered as a goddess of war. Temple prostitution was a widespread practice and one that is thoroughly degrading. Also, intermarriages also led to former recognition of the gods and gradual infiltration of pagan ideas into the community of Israel.  

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, their enemy engaged the prophet Balaam to cursed Israel (Numbers 22-24). Balaam could not succeed because God would not allow him. Israel were a people kept and protected by God. They only way by which Israel will fall is when they chose to defile themselves in the immoralities and idolatry of the land. In Numbers 25, it was recorded that when Israel was in Shittim, they began to commit whoredom with the daughers of the Moab.

Numbers 25:2-3 (KJV) And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

God sent a plague to slay them – those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand (Numbers 25:9). It was a lesson of spiritual vigiliance that Israel learned for a season but were clean forgotten!

The tribes of Israel failed to destroy the idolatrous nations as instructed by the LORD (Judges 2:2). 

Judges 2:2 (KJV) And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

The idolatrous influences of the remnant nations were too overwhelming for the weak faith of each new generation. The failure to obey God’s instructions fully results in utter failure in just one generation. How difficult it is to build and how easy it is to destroy! 

What was the failure of Israel? 

Firstly, their forefathers failed to obey the doctrine of biblical separation both personal as an individual and ecclesiastical separation as a people. 

  • They were to make no alliance with the inhabitants of the land. (Judges 2:2a)
  • They are to destroy all the altars of idolatrous worship for the sake of their purity. (Judges 2:2b)

“…but ye have not obeyed my voice…” (Judges 2:2) was the rebuke that came through the angel of the LORD. 

Secondly, “they did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim and forsook the LORD God of their fathers…and followed after other gods…of the people that were round about them and bowed themselves down to them, and provoked the LORD to anger…. they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth” (Judges 2:11-13)