WHAT GOD CANNOT ENDURE – Judges 10:6-16

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 8, 2015 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group; July 8, 2015 from Judges 10:6-16

Theme: The mercy of God is shown in that He could not endure the misery of His unfaithful people.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

In this morning’s lesson, we begin a study of the story of another of Israel’s great judges—Jephthah. His story runs from Chapters 10 to 12. There are lots of great lessons to learn from the story of Jephthah. But the story of this great man of faith begins with a lesson about God Himself.

It begins in a way that has grown sadly familiar to us. After the period of the two judges Tola and Jair, we’re told that—once again—the people became unfaithful to God. And it would be hard to find a passage that reveals more of the hurt and anger that God feels toward His people when they ignore Him and turn from Him. But it would also be hard to find a passage that shows more to us of what it is that inclines God’s heart toward His disobedient people and moves Him to have mercy on them.

This passage shows us something remarkable. It shows us what it is that God cannot endure. Note first . . .

I. THE UNFAITHFULNESS OF THE PEOPLE (v. 6).

Same song—a different verse. After Tola and Jair had died, we’re told, “Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him” (v. 6). The situation is like many that we’ve already read in previous stories in Judges—except with one important difference. In other cases, the people are said to have turned to one particular idol of one particular paganistic people group. This time, it seems that they turned to a whole variety of different gods of a whole variety of different people groups. Count them. There are seven different categories of idolatry mentioned. The range of their apostasy is staggering. And the key to it all is that “they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him”. Such “diversity” is no virtue. When we will not stand with the Lord, we truly will fall for anything.

II. THE JUST PUNISHMENT FROM GOD (vv. 7-9).

God’s heart must have been greatly broken and deeply offended. We’re told—and with justification—“So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon” (v. 7). If they wanted the gods of other people groups, then the one true God would sell them into the hands of other people groups. “From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead” (v. 8). Gilead is important to mention; because that was the home of the previous judge Jair. But it would also be the home of the next judge Jephthah. That land became the target of the enemy of God’s people. But it wasn’t isolated to just Gilead, because we’re told, “Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed” (v. 9). The land was crisscrossed with oppression because of the people’s unfaithfulness.

III. THE CONFESSION OF THE PEOPLE’S SIN (v. 10).

Note what was told us in verse 9—that the people were severely distressed. Their trouble is like what was said back in 4:3—how, in the times of Deborah, the people were “harshly oppressed”. The remarkable nature of the suffering of God’s people under the hands of various pagan enemies brought them to a truly desperate state of misery. And in their misery, they cried out to God. “And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!’” (v. 10). Can we dare to say that anything—even such suffering for sin—that causes us to cry out to the God that we have forsaken is, in reality, a great blessing?

IV. THE RESPONSE OF THE LORD TOWARD THEM (vv. 11-14).

God’s initial response, however, didn’t look like one of mercy. Instead, it looked like a display of great hardness—as if it were an act of shunning from a betrayed lover. God reviews their past—reminding Him of all the various pagan oppressors from which He had already delivered them. “So the Lord said to the children of Israel, ‘Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand’” (v. 11-12). Count the number. Seven! Shouldn’t that ‘perfect number’ have been enough times to have learned? “’Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more’” (v. 13). What horrible words! But they were just, weren’t they? And then, God tells them—in almost a mocking way—“’Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress’” (v. 14). They, of course, couldn’t. This sounds like something that Moses said to the people of Israel long before—when he gave a stern warning of the judgment that would come if they departed from God:

“He will say: ‘Where are their gods,

The rock in which they sought refuge?

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

And drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise and help you,

And be your refuge’” (Deuteronomy 32:37-38).

But as we will see shortly, God is never really deaf to the cries of the people on whom He placed His eternal love. We might think of this as a test—much like that time when God appeared to have “repented” at the appeals of Moses after He threatened to destroy the people (Exodus 32:7-14). Will these doomed apostates respond with true repentance in the face of such words from God?

V. THE REPENTANCE FROM APOSTACY (vv. 15-16a).

They did. We’re told that they uttered a confession with their words; “And the children of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray’” (v. 15). But they also put action to their words through genuine repentance; “So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord” (v. 16a). Let’s learn from this that, so long as we are in the day of grace—so long as we have breath and body—it’s never too late to repent!

VI. THE THING THAT MOVED THE LORD’S HEART (v. 16b).

Note God’s gracious response—and marvel at it. “And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” What a merciful God we serve! But note carefully—it was not the repentance of the people that we’re told finally broke God’s heart. Rather, we’re told that He could no longer endure the misery of His people. It was not their repentance that ‘earned’ God’s mercy. He is always a faithful lover of His people; and His mercy was always there—waiting for the right moment to be shown.

* * * * * * * * * *

As we will be see next week, that mercy was shown in the provision of a deliverer. Let’s learn the lesson of this passage. What moves God to show compassion to us in our sin is not our repentance. It’s not something in us, but rather something in Him. He cannot endure the misery of the people He loves!