How Do I Get Rid of my Idols & Find Jesus? A meditation on the book of Judges
[Jdg 2:11 YLT] 11 And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh, and serve the Baalim,
[2Th 2:3 NASB20] 3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For [it will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
Big Idea: The root of every sin in our lives is idolatry.
Only by repenting of the idols of our heart and turning to Jesus Christ instead can we consistently overcome repetitive patterns of sin by the power of a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ based on his sacrificial death and resurrection from the dead.
Only the Holy Spirit can give us such faith and repentance. We need HIS revelation and power to stop believing in false “saviors” and trust instead in Christ Jesus alone to save us in all aspects of our lives.
Three options
1. Idol directed life – Unbeliever.
2. Double minded life – Unstable weak believer.
3. Christ directed life – Mature believer.
Recommended Reading: Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Mattersby Timothy Keller
“In the 1830s, when Alexis de Tocqueville recorded his famous observations on America, he noted a “strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants . . . in the midst of abundance.”2 Americans believed that prosperity could quench their yearning for happiness, but such a hope was illusory, because, de Tocqueville added, “the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy [the human] heart.”3 This strange melancholy manifests itself in many ways, but always leads to the same despair of not finding what is sought.”
Keller, Timothy. Counterfeit Gods . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition
Summary of the book of judges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOYy8iCfIJ4&t=449s
Commentary on Judges: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/judges/
OUTLINE of the book of judges: [1]
I. Introduction to era of the judges, Chapters 1, 2
II. Era of the judges, Chapters 3-16 - Seven Seasons of Apostasy
III. Results of era of the judges (confusion), Chapters 17-21
A. Religious apostasy (the temple), Jdg 17, 18
B. Moral awfulness (the home), Jdg 19
C. Political anarchy (the state), Jdg 20, 21
Apologetics Concerning Judges:
Judges is an X rated book of the bible. Just because God uses a man does not mean that he endorses all that the man does or says. This is real history, but the point is that even the leaders God is using are very “double minded” and unstable in all their ways.
[Jdg 3:1-11 NLT] 1 These are the nations that the LORD left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. 2 He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle. 3 These are the nations: the Philistines (those living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. 4 These people were left to test the Israelites--to see whether they would obey the commands the LORD had given to their ancestors through Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 6 and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods. 7 The Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight. They forgot about the LORD their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. 8 Then the LORD burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. And the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, the LORD raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother, Kenaz. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel's judge. He went to war against King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram, and the LORD gave Othniel victory over him. 11 So there was peace in the land for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
First Apostasy: Judges 3:5-7
First Oppressor: Cushan-rishathaim - 'Cushan' or 'Chushan' may indicate Cushite origins. 'Rishathaim' means 'double-wickedness'("resha" רשע - "evil" or "wickedness" + "im" יים - doubling suffix). -
The First Judge: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother
Results – 40 years of שָׁקַט shâqaṭ, - Rest, peace, and security – Yahweh is their KING and Othniel is HIS judge.
Second Apostasy - Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Judges 3:12
Application:
Read the book of Judges prayerfully and carefully. Note anything that strikes you while reading it.
What sins do you find hard to release? Remember they come in two forms. Lawlessness and Legalism.
What is the “idol” that is the source of this sin? Apply the gospel to the idol.
[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mcgee_j_vernon/notes-outlines/judges/judges-outline.cfm