Preaching portion:  Judges 2:10-15

Subject:  Turning from God.

Theme/Proposition:  What happens when the people of God turn from God?

 

Introduction:

            Flag half mast for 30 days:  Gerald Ford.  Soviet Union.  What was once the Soviet Union had since the time of Lenin forgotten God and His Word.  Marxism said religion is the opiate of the masses and fought hard for a classless society.  It came to the point that in order to make the Soviet military a career one had to be an atheist.  But it did not work.  As more and more attention was placed on government and the military, less and less attention went to the people who made up the nation.  Alcoholism, starvation, and revolutions finally brought Communism to its knees and it can all be traced back to the time when this nation turned from God.

            In the book of Judges, chapter two, the nation of Israel had just divided up the land which God had gave them on the east bank of the Mediterranean (clear ou the inhabitants/bronze v. iron).  Joshua died and was buried shortly after, leaving the newly planted nation with no real leader.  Israel then went through a (7X) cycle of rebellion, oppression, repentance, and deliverance all because they turned from God.

 

1A  They forget God  v. 12

            1B  The God of their fathers

                        1C  Those who had told them of all God's works (pass it down)

                        2C  We forget what God did through

                                    1D  Paul

                                    2D  D.L. Moody

                                    3D  Harry Ironside

                                    4D  Jonathon Edwards

                                    5D  John Wesley

                                    6D  John Calvin

                                    7D  Martin Luther

                                    8D  John Wycliffe

                                    9D  Jon Hus

                                    10D  William Tyndale

            2B  The God which brought them out of Egypt (God help me!)

                        1C  Where they were in bondage for 400 years

                        2C  Where they served those who disdained them

                        3C  We forget where we came from

 

2A  They follow other Gods  v. 12

            1B  The Gods of the people that were around them (you serve something or someone; David in his choice for punishment)

                        1C  Baal--fertility god; chief vegetation god

                        2C  Ashtaroth--female fertility deities

                        3C  We let material things around us take our mind off God (Lot and Abraham)

                                    1D  Cars

                                    2D  Houses

                                    3D  Money

                                    4D  TV

                                    5D  Success

                        4C  There's only one true God (like one CINC or 6)

            2B  They bowed to these other Gods (history)

                        1C  They were in subjection to them

                        2C  They were under the control of them

 

3A  They infuriate the Lord  vv. 12-14

            *God is a person and has emotions (intimately involved in you)

            1B  He delivered them into the hands of spoilers

                        1C  They took things they had worked for, labored for, cherished

                        2C  The world will take our joy, our hope, our possessions

            2B  He sold them into the hands of their enemies

                        1C  To control their lives

                        2C  They possessed them

                        3C  To do with as they wished

                        4C  Alchohol etc. does with us as it wishes

            3B  They could no longer stand before their enemies (lost moral authority)

                        *U.S. dropped leaflets on Iraq to divide them

                        1C  They gave a divided front to their enemies

                        2C  When we turn from God and divide our enemies shout for joy--don't give them that opportunity

            4B  He was against them for evil wherever they went  v. 15

                        1C  God made sure they understood they were doing wrong (Eph. 4:30)

                        2C  When we find ourselves in constant misery, it could be we have turned from God

 

4A  They fall into distress  v. 15

            1B  Distress--bind, tie up, be restricted, cramped (can't be used of God)

            2B  No wonder Russia is eating up the Bible as fast as possible--they have been distressed for so long they crave that word

 

Conclusion:

            Israel turned from God--the same God that brought them out from the bondage of Egypt.  They followed other gods.  They were turned on to the gods around them which seemed to please their senses.  They infuriated the Lord so much so He was against them for evil wherever they went.  They fell into distress, bound, tied up, restricted, cramped.

            Do you constantly find yourself bound, tied up, restricted and cramped?  Is your soul distressed everywhere you go and in everything you  do?  God is a person and has emotions.  When we choose to turn from the God who saved us and serve those lusts and pleasures which appeal to our senses, God must do something to correct that.  Choose God and turn not to the right or to the left--choose God and serve Him all the days of your life.

 

 

Judges 3:26-31

 

I.          Did what he could

II.          Did what he could where he was

III.         Did what he could with what he had

 

 

Judges 16:21

Power of Sin

 

1.  Blinding

2.  Binding

3.  Grinding