Prayer: Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we live among a proud and insolent people who have rebelled against You and Your Christ. But we know that Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead for nations like ours because we are standing here by Your great mercy. And so we are bold to ask You to turn us back to Yourself. We know that this means nothing short of resurrection, and so on this resurrection day, we ask for that. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Introduction
This nation was built by Protestant Christians – puritans and presbyterians who believed in the sovereignty of God. They believed that God was sovereign over the great movements of nations and civilizations because they believed He was exhaustively sovereign over every detail of the universe, preeminently the salvation of every man, woman, and child. 

Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Witherspoon all preached this sovereign grace rooted in the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – and this was central to the greatness of our nation. We have been great because we knew that all that we had was from the Lord Jesus Christ. America must return to this sovereign grace if we hope to be great again.

The Text: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:4-10).

Summary of the Text
The center of the Christian message is God – who is rich in mercy and full of great love for men who know themselves to be sinners (Eph. 2:4). He made us alive – He raises sinners from the death of their guilt and shame – and He did this in the resurrection of Jesus Christ – which means it was already accomplished and secured 2,000 years ago, for by grace you are saved (Eph. 2:5). He raised us from the dead and has made us ascend with Christ into the heavens, where He plans to show off the riches of His grace forever (Eph. 2:6-7). It is grace from first to last and everything in between, which means everything is a gift (which He planned to give to us before the foundation of the world, Eph. 1:4); we achieved nothing for ourselves – including our faith, so that there is not the tiniest scrap that we can boast about (Eph. 2:8-9), including all the good works He has prepared and is sculpting into us (Eph. 2:10).

American Heresy
One of America’s great heresies (among many) is that we have come to believe that we have a hand in our salvation. The message that many churches have come to preach is that Christ has done a great work by His death and resurrection that gives man “a chance” to be saved. The message is that God has “made it possible” if only you will believe, make a decision, etc. Sometimes, the verse from Revelation about Jesus standing at the door and knocking is used to try to make this point (Rev. 3:20) – as though Jesus is pleading with men to accept Him. The worst versions of this imply that God needs man and that man ought to have pity on God instead of the truth which is that man needs God and that God has had pity on man (Eph. 2:4).

This has resulted in the preaching of an impotent Christ, and an arrogant and self-centered and self-assured nation. The implication is that salvation ultimately depends upon man and so all of the emphasis has shifted to this goal, which also accounts for much of our therapeutic culture. But the problem is not that man is sick and needs medicine. The problem is not that man merely needs God’s helping hand. The problem is not that man has low self-esteem and needs more positive thinking.

Dead in Sins
The message that the Bible brings to the world is that apart from Jesus Christ, men are dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1, 5). The problem with so much modern American preaching has been a tendency to downplay this, to explain it away, and to do so for egalitarian reasons. They want everyone to have a chance. And so they preach that Christ died to give everyone a chance, and then they plead with everyone to give Jesus a chance. 

But the problem is that the Bible teaches that no one has a chance. Because of Adam’s sin, everyone is born in the death of guilt and sin and they cannot do anything to save themselves, and in that state, they do not want to: no one seeks God (Rom. 3:9-23). Even the righteousness of sinners is like filthy menstrual rags (Is. 64:6). The carnal mind is “hostile against God” and cannot submit to the law of God – it’s incapable of it (Rom. 8:7-8). The natural man “cannot understand” spiritual things – they are folly to him (1 Cor. 2:14). 

A Valley of Dry Bones
God pictures the problem of human depravity in Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones (Ez. 37). Dry bones are not freshly dead men; they are long dead men. And the Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones of Israel telling them to hear the word of the Lord (Ez. 37:4). That is what preaching is. It is Jesus at the grave of Lazarus, but it’s a Lazarus skeleton, completely picked dry by the bugs and parasites. 

Jesus is absolutely clear: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn. 6:44). This is no impotent Jesus. Jesus did not go to the Cross to make salvation merely possible. He went to the Cross as the Good Shepherd to give His life for His sheep and guarantee their salvation (Jn. 10:11), and those who do not believe are not His sheep (Jn. 10:26). “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (Jn. 10:27-30). 

Conclusion
J.I. Packer says of this message: “It announces, not merely that men must come to Christ for salvation, but also that they cannot come unless Christ Himself draws them. Thus it labors to overthrow self-confidence, to convince sinners that their salvation is altogether out of their hands, and to shut them up to a self-despairing dependence on the glorious grace of a sovereign Savior, not only for their righteousness but for their faith too.”

So this is the message to you, to America, and for the world. Christ did not die and rise again for all men everywhere in some vague, desperate hope that many would accept His offer. He is not dependent on us for His salvation to go forth. This is a hard word, but it is hard on our self-righteousness and self-confidence. God is God, and we are not. But it is such a wonderful word for those who are being saved.

Christ came and died and rose again for His own. Christ laid His life down for His bride, the Church, and so she will be sanctified to complete perfection (Eph. 5:25-27). Christ has entered the heavenly sanctuary with His efficacious blood and has secured the “eternal redemption” of His own (Heb. 9:12) and has perfected them for all time (Heb. 10:14). All that the Father has given to Christ will come and Christ will not lose a single one (Jn. 6:37-39). 

You cannot lift a finger to save yourself, but all who come to Christ will be saved to the uttermost. It is all grace. So how is salvation possible? God’s grace gives what He commands. And so ministers of this gospel have been authorized to command that all men must repent and believe with this sure promise: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

And when you call it is because you were called. When you believe it is with a faith that you were given. And if you love Him it is because He loved you first.

Because it is all grace flowing from His empty tomb.

Prayer: Father, we praise You for confounding all the leaders and powers of the first century. You confounded the mighty and the rich and the wise, and You in Your great wisdom and power and might threw down the gates of death. You defanged our Enemy the Devil, and You took away all our sins and raised us from the dead with Your Son, Jesus Christ. And so we are bold to ask that You would look upon our land with that compassion and raise our neighbors, our city, our nation, and every nation from the dead. We ask in the name of Jesus…

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30).

Father, please give us Your Holy Spirit now so that as we consider these words, You might reveal Your Son Jesus Christ to us in great majesty, so that we may worship Him, as our crucified and risen Lord and King. Amen.

It is finished. Tetelestai. It’s a Greek word that was found on ancient papyruses, stamped on bills of sale and tax documents, meaning “paid in full.” It’s related to the word telos – which means end, goal, completion, or purpose.  It is finished. It is fulfilled. Mission accomplished. 

Jesus said, it is finished, and then He gave up the ghost. Notice that verb: He gave. It’s active. Jesus had said, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (Jn. 10:17-18). 

Jesus not only willingly allowed Himself to be betrayed, allowed Himself to be bound and taken before the Jews and before Pilate and Herod; He not only willing allowed Himself to be beaten and mocked and spat upon and finally nailed to the Cross, but He did it all while remaining in control. He had authority over it all. He had power over it all. And this authority and power continued even while suffering on the Cross, bleeding out, suffocating. 

No one took His life from Him. When He had suffered for the sins of His people, then, and only then, did He announce that the debt was paid. The work commanded by His Father was complete. It was finished. And then, and only then, did He freely and authoritatively relinquish His life and gave up His spirit. 

No other human being has done that. No other human being has authority over His own death. All other humans ultimately relinquish authority and power, and there is an important sense in which our lives are taken. But Jesus gave His life. He laid His life down because He is Lord of all. 

The next verse in John says that the Jews asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the three men on the crosses so that the bodies could be taken down before the Sabbath (John 19:31). And so just after Jesus announced that His work was finished and He gave up His life, they came to break the legs of the men, and they did so with the robbers on either side of Him. But the text says that when they came to Jesus, He was already dead. This certainly underlines the historical veracity of the account of His death. It also fulfills the prophecy from Psalm 22 that not one of His bones would be broken.

But it also implies that Jesus has completed a new creation. “It is finished” is what the Lord said at the end of the first creation and He rested from all His labors on the first Sabbath: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which He had made; and rested on the seventh day…” (Gen. 2:1-2).

Matthew and Mark do not record this final word of Jesus, but they say that He cried out and gave up His ghost and then they immediately add that at that moment the veil in the temple was torn it two from top to bottom and there was a great earthquake (Matt. 27:50-51). That veil in the temple was covered with ornate woven cherubim representing the separation of God and man going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when God had sent Adam and Eve out of the garden for their sin and placed cherubim there with a flaming sword to guard the entrance. 

Ever after, God’s presence was fiercely guarded. Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. But this had to happen again and again, year after year, for thousands of years. But when Christ gave up His life, that was finished. The system of separation and those rituals of exile were finished. The debt of our sin was paid in full, and a new creation had come into existence. The Old Covenant sacrifices and rituals were finished, completed – what they pointed to had come in Jesus Christ, our High Priest and our perfect sacrifice once for all. 

Hebrews says that the blood of bulls and goats never could take away sin. They were just signs of the need for shed blood to take away our sins, to make peace with God, to satisfy His holy justice. Those ancient priests served daily, sprinkling animal blood all around the altars, which could never take away sins. “But this man [Jesus] after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). He sat down because He was finished. The work was finished: the way back into the Garden and into the Holy of Holies was torn wide open. “For by that one offering He has perfected forever them that are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). 

It is finished. Debts paid in full. New Creation. Sabbath rest. Full access. Perfected forever – those who are being sanctified. 

These are the doctrines of justification and sanctification side by side in the same verse. “He has perfected” those who are “being sanctified.” And you might ask, which one is it? Are we perfect or do we still need to grow in holiness? And the Bible’s answer is yes. 

John Calvin said that justification and sanctification are the double grace that Christ gives and He always gives both – at the moment of conversion. Christ is the sun, and He always gives light and heat. Justification is that “perfected forever” status, and sanctification is that becoming holy process. This is what theologians sometimes call redemption accomplished and applied. 

And that application includes the certainty of the process completed. When Christ died, He not only paid for the sins that would separate us from God, He also guaranteed the holiness and perfection of all His saints. Justification is the declaration at the beginning of the Christian life of what God promises He will complete and will most certainly say at the end. It is the judgment of the end of the world come forward into the middle of history. 

This means that when Jesus cried, “It is finished” and gave up His spirit in death, He declared then, on a mountainside outside of Jerusalem the verdict He promises to declare at the end of history over every single one of His people. He paid for it in full. He guaranteed its completion – the perfection and holiness of His saints – a new creation, a new heavens and new earth and perfect Sabbath rest. 

All who love Him, all who bow before Him, all who sincerely worship Him, and look to Him in faith as their Lord and Savior – you have heard already what Christ has promised to say to you on the last day, at the Great Judgment, seeing what He has worked in your life by His Spirit. Like a great Artist, standing back in admiration, looking upon His masterpiece, He will smile and this time with great joy, He will cry out: It is finished. It is complete. This is what I paid for. Mission accomplished.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Prayer: Father, teach us to sing like You sing. Teach us Your songs of war and joy. And take this song written by Your Spirit and teach it to our hearts and make us strong and joyful like You. Amen.

Introduction
The song of Deborah is a song of jubilant praise for God’s deliverance of His people. God used men and women who were willing, but the whole story and this whole song emphasizes that God is the One who fought for His people. And in this ancient song – celebrating Jael’s victory, we are reminded of an even greater victory won by the seed of the woman.

The Text: “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying…”

Summary of the Text
Deborah sings this song like Miriam on the banks of the Red Sea (Ex. 15:20-21), and Barak joins in, presumably with all the people (Judges 5:1). It’s a song of praise to God who fought for His people with a great rainstorm and triumphed over their enemies (Judges 5:2-5). This was during the days of Shamgar the Judge and Jael and Deborah, when their enemies had made travel dangerous and had confiscated all their weapons (Judges 5:6-8). There is particular jubilance for the leaders and the tribes that joined Deborah and Barak in the battle, but scorn for those who refused (Judges 5:9-18). 

The stars came down and fought at this original Armageddon (“Har-Megiddo”), and the angel of God cursed Meroz who refused to fight (Judges 5:19-23). Jael is blessed above all women because she gave Sisera milk to put him to sleep and crushed his head so that he fell down dead (Judges 5:24-27). Deborah’s song mocks Sisera’s mother and her women in waiting, comforting themselves with the thought that the men must still be raping women and gathering clothes for spoil (Judges 5:28-30). And it closes praying that all of God’s enemies perish like that but let those who love Him shine like the sun – and so they had rest from their enemies for forty years (Judges 5:31). 

The Stars That Fought
This is clearly a poetic text, but the question remains: what does it mean when it says that the stars came down and fought (Judges 5:20)? This could be referring to angels as there is a close association between angels and stars throughout Scripture (Job 38:7, Rev. 1:20). And the “angel of the Lord” is mentioned almost immediately after (Judges 5:23). This could be referring to the rulers of Israel, all the “kings” that Deborah has just celebrated – since rulers are associated with stars (Gen. 37:9-10, Num. 24:17). This could also be referring to the weather – the powers of the heavens, which would link back to angels who are also associated with the weather and storms (Ps. 18:10ff, Ps. 104:4, Rev. 7:1). And I think it is a poetic way of referring to all of the above. God sits enthroned in the Heavens among the “heavenly host,” and therefore when He acts and comes down, the stars and the angels and the clouds and His people all act in unison, as a great storm of glory and judgment (e.g. Psalm 18). 

On the one hand, this is a glorious reminder that we are surrounded by heavenly armies: “Fear not, for those who are with us are more than those with them” (2 Kgs. 6:15-17). In fact, in Christ, the whole universe is on our side: all of creation joins its Maker (think of St. Patrick’s Breastplate). 

This is also a reminder that in Christ, God’s people have been seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). This was the promise to Abraham, that his descendants would be like the stars (Gen. 15:5). That isn’t just numbers; it’s authority and power and rule. To know the Creator and Lord of the Universe, to have His Spirit dwelling in you, is to have access to the wisdom that rules all things, and the prayers of the righteous avail much (Js. 5:16-18). 

The Seed of the Woman
It is impossible to read this story of Jael and Sisera and not recall the promise to Eve: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). This is the central theme of the whole Bible: God’s promise to crush the head of the dragon. But the promise is that it will come through the seed of the woman; it will come through the surprise of apparent human weakness. It will come through the barren womb. It will come through a woman making her home. It will come through a shepherd boy. It will come through a virgin.

In fact, when Mary is called “blessed among women” (Lk. 1:42), Elizabeth is quoting Deborah’s song about Jael (Judges 5:24). Elizabeth is saying that Mary is a new Jael. But how is that? Mary doesn’t literally pound a tent peg through anyone’s head. Mary is the new and greater Jael because she bears the Seed who will fully and completely crush the dragon’s head. And how did Jesus do that? Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15).

But follow this closely: when Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, he lifted up a serpent pierced on a pole (Num. 21:9). And Jesus said that just as Moses had done that in the wilderness, He (Jesus) would be lifted up and pierced like that so that we might not perish. 

Satan is not merely a “bad guy” that can be lured into a tent and killed. Satan’s power is sin and death. He accuses of sin and punishes with death: the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). And because God is just, He cannot let sin go. He cannot merely wave it by. For God to be just He must punish sin, but if God were to punish mankind for our sin, we would all be under His wrath forever. 

So because of His great love, He devised the most glorious solution. He determined to become a man like us, so that He could bear God’s wrath in our place, instead of us, and because He is fully God, He can bear that wrath – and so He did. The Judge took our penalty. They pounded a crown of thorns into His head, and they drove stakes through His hands and feet and shoved a great spear into His side. But God arranged it such that when Christ was pierced, the head of that great dragon of old was crushed. 

Conclusion: And So We Sing
So, like Deborah and Barak, we sing. Singing is what God’s people do – they always have. Singing is what Christians do. Singing is not optional. Singing is not merely for the gifted. Singing is for the saved. Singing is for the delivered. Singing is for those who know they should be dead, they should be under the curse, but God Himself has come and fought and triumphed over the enemy that was too strong for us. God has won. God struck down sin, death, and Satan. He has crushed his head. And they have fallen down, and they are dead. 

Every one of us will still face death. The only question is whether that day will be the most glorious day for you or the worst day of your life. Death is coming, and you are either prepared to meet your Savior-Judge or else you are preparing to meet a Condemning-Judge. Which is it? The difference is what you see on the Cross. Do you see your sins crushed? Do you see your Savior’s love? Does it make you want to sing?

Closing Prayer: Father, please give us Your Spirit so that we might understand these things in the depths of our hearts. Strike down every remnant of Satan’s tyranny, and give us the grace to know the victory of Christ, who taught us to pray…

Prayer: Father, remind us this morning of Your goodness and your greatness. Use this wonderful Bible story to cause Your Spirit to kill remaining doubt and fear in our hearts, so that we may know Christ as the King of kings. Amen. 

Introduction
The Bible teaches that God decreed the history of the world before it began:

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Is. 46:9-10).

“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). 

This plan is for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28), and it is demonstrating God’s wisdom and power through the weak things of this world: “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:27ff).

This episode in Judges is one of those stories that highlights the goodness of the sovereignty of God. Calvinists should be the happiest, bravest people in the world. 

The Text: “And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh…”

Summary of the Text
So Barak went up to Mt. Tabor with ten thousand men as Deborah had counseled, and Sisera was told and he gathered his forces along with his 900 iron chariots (just as God said he would) (Judges 4:10-13). At Deborah’s signal, Barak led his men down the mountain, and God disturbed Sisera’s chariots such that his army was routed and annihilated (Judges 4:14-16). But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, whose family had a treaty with Jabin, and Jael welcomed him warmly and agreed to watch out for anyone looking for him (Judges 4:17-20). When the general was fast asleep, Jael pounded a large nail into his head, so that when Barak arrived, he found him dead (Judges 4:21-22). So God delivered His people from Jabin king of Canaan (Judges 4:23-24). 

Jael Wife of Heber
Deborah had foretold that the glory for the victory would go to a woman, but if you’re just reading the story, you might think that means Deborah. But clearly Jael becomes the hero. 

It is worth noting once more that Jael is perfectly justified in lying and deceiving Sisera since this is war. She reminds a bit of Rahab hiding the spies or the Hebrew midwives who lied to Pharaoh to save the baby boys. 

It is also worth pointing out that while we stand by the Biblical prohibition against women in combat, we do not at all object to women being equipped to defend themselves in extremis. As Father Christmas told Susan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: “You must use the bow only in great need… for I do not mean you to fight in the battle.” The trick is to have some preparation while remaining entirely feminine. There are some classes that jettison the very principle they claim to be wanting to protect (e.g. men fighting women). 

Heber the Kenite, related to Jethro, Moses’s father in-law, had flagrantly disobeyed God who had forbidden His people from making treaties with the Canaanites (Ex. 23:32-33, Dt. 7:1-2), and this is why Sisera assumed he would be safe (Judges 4:17). It is also possible from the text that Heber or members of his family were the ones who tipped Sisera off to the location of Barak and his forces at Mt. Tabor (Judges 4:11-12). All of this underlines the courage of Jael. She was not merely very fearless in welcoming the general and killing him, but apparently, she did it all in defiance of her husband.  

Unlike Sapphira who went along with her husband’s disobedience (Acts 5), Jael, like Abigail, knew that her loyalty and submission to her husband was “in the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). All human authority is limited by Christ, and no human authority is absolute. While a Christian woman is required by God to ordinarily seek to win her husband over by her submissive and gracious conduct (1 Pet. 3:1-6), this is not a mindless submission and may sometimes require a woman to disobey a disobedient husband. 

But notice where Jael was when this opportunity came: she was busy keeping her home. Jael is not an example of a proto feminist. She was not getting her “boss babe” game on. She was making her home. She was serving her disobedient husband. She is model of an Arch-Homemaker – doing exactly what 1 Pet. 3 tells wives to do. She was being faithful to her husband, her calling, and her sex, and God brought her an unusual opportunity. As the Song of Deborah celebrates her, “blessed above women in the tent.” 

The Sovereignty of God
This story underlines the sovereignty of God. Deborah had promised that if Barak gathered ten thousand men at Mt. Tabor, then God would “draw” Sisera and his chariots to the River Kishon where God would deliver them into Barak’s hand (Judges 4:7). Even though Barak did not have the greatest faith, he obeyed (with Deborah along for moral support), and God did exactly what He promised. That is encouragement to all who are sometimes fearful in their obedience. 

But notice that Sisera did not think that he was being drawn into an ambush: his scouts told him that Barak was at Mt. Tabor (Judges 4:12). Sisera believed he had Barak trapped, when in fact, it was God luring him into a trap. During the Korean War, American forces were surrounded by the Chinese, and General Chesty Puller said, “All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us… they can’t get away this time.”

On the surface, ten thousand poor, untrained Israelites would not appear to be a match for Sisera’s 900 iron chariots and presumably a multitude of well-armed and trained soldiers. It may be the Barak’s attack caught Sisera off guard, but the real kicker was that God “disturbed” Sisera’s chariots (Judges 4:15). And we learn in the Song of Deborah that God did this with a great rainstorm, which caused the River Kishon to flood and all the chariots got swept away or stuck in the mud (Judges 5:21). This explains why Sisera had to flee on foot (Judges 4:17). 

The great irony is that the Canaanites worshipped Baal, the storm god, but Barak (whose name means “lightning”) served the true God of the storm. This story reminds us a great deal of Pharaoh and his horses and chariots (Ex. 14-15). But even though Sisera initially escaped, God’s storm still found him. This is the sovereignty of God down to every detail, including the sinful intentions of Heber the Kenite.  

Conclusion
The text is clear: “God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan…” In fact, “king of Canaan” is repeated three times (Judges 4:23-24). Who is the true king of Canaan? God. He uses weak military leaders. He uses storms. He uses ragtag armies. He uses the plots of wicked men. He uses corrupt apostates. He uses women busy at home. He uses whomever and whatever He wants. He is God. He is King over all the kings.

He uses our frail efforts. He uses conniving politicians. He uses CNN. He uses slanders on the internet. He uses medical emergencies. He uses the preaching of the gospel. He works all things after the counsel of His own will for our good and His glory. 

And the central example of this is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, the Jews all gathered together against Jesus, “to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28). Every detail is sovereignly ruled by our gracious God. 

The example of Joseph is the same: “What you intended for evil, God intended for good” (Gen. 50:20). God draws straight with crooked lines. 

Stonewall Jackson understood this principle well. That is how he got his nickname “Stonewall,” from soldiers watching him standing fearless in the face of the great din of battle. When he was asked about it, he replied: “My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

This applies in both directions: for men called to the battlefield of the world, the sovereignty of God is your comfort and shield. You are invincible until the day that God has determined for your death. Do what is right and leave the results to God. But this also applies to women at home: your assignment is glorious and powerful. Do not fear the taunts and lures of the world. You are on your assigned battlefield. God uses the seemingly weak things of this world to confound the strong. 

Closing Prayer: Father and God, press these truths into our souls, and so shape us into men and women who are busy faithful at our stations, joyful and confident in Your goodness and power. Raise up generations in our midst that are immoveable and strong. In Jesus’ name, who taught us to pray…

God created the world, and even before sin and evil entered it, there was going to be trouble. The world needed to be tamed and cultivated. There was work to be done. Eden was a paradise, but God told Adam that His mission was the rule and cultivate the whole world. That was a lot of trouble. And then God allowed a talking dragon into the garden. Talk about trouble. 

The story of Job illustrates some of these same themes. Job is presented kind of like a new Adam in the beginning of the story: he lives a very idyllic life. He is very successful, and God sends him trouble. He allows Satan to strike his world. Like Adam, even Job’s wife tempts him to sin, but Job refuses to curse God. He insists on receiving both the good and the evil from the hand of God. 

And the terrifying thing is that God clearly loved Job. He is the One who pointed Job out to Satan. Have you considered by servant Job? And if we’re honest, we all hope that God does not love us quite that much. God seems to think this is fun. 

But of course all of that is only the beginning of the trouble. Then, in that place of suffering, three men show up, claiming to be comforters, but they are nothing of the sort. They begin accusing Job of sin, of doing something that caused God to strike him, which Job denies, and most of the book of Job is taken up with this argument, which sort of feels like the comment thread under certain Youtube videos. 

You’re honestly not sure it’s worth it. And meanwhile, Job begins crying out to God, pleading for God to meet with him. He has been struck, and he is being persecuted unjustly, and He would like to speak to the Lord about it. 

One more man shows up, and he says that Job is crazy. You cannot talk to the Lord. You cannot have a meeting with the Lord of the Universe. Elihu says that God is like a great storm, a tornado, a hurricane, and you cannot schedule a meeting with the storm. 

And then the next verse says, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind…” It’s one of my favorite parts of the whole Bible. God is a storm, and yet God speaks to Job from the storm. 

And it really is overwhelming for Job. For how does a mere man stand and talk to the living God? We are like whisps of breath compared to Him. We are like specks of dust, and He is the Sun of the Universe. As C.S. Lewis asks, how can we meet Him face to face till we have faces? And yet God spoke to Job, and called him to stand on his feet, to gird up his loins. 

The Lord begins asking Job all kinds of questions: were you there when I made everything? Have you been to the bottom of the ocean? Can you bind the stars in their constellations? Can you control clouds? And of course many of the questions are obviously impossible for Job, but some of them are not quite as impossible: Do you know how many months mountain goats take to gestate? What about deer? Can you tame eagles? Ultimately, God comes to a couple of monstrous beasts: Behemoth and Leviathan, asking if Job can tame them, if he would give one as a pet to a little girl.

God is a wild and exciting storm, a whirlwind of glory and beauty and creativity. It’s like He’s running through a catalogue of all of His favorite things in creation. Job admits that all of these things are too wonderful for him, and he covers his mouth in humility. 

But the end of the story is remarkable: God rebukes the three wicked friends and says that they did not speak rightly like His servant Job. God exonerates Job and restores his household. 

And the message is clear: God plays with trouble. God plays with dragons and tornadoes. God rides on the wings of the wind. He walks on water. And He made us to learn to walk with Him. He made us to learn to delight in the glories of His creation with Him. He made us to play with trouble with Him.

Sin gets in the way of this. Sin slows us way down and distracts us and makes everything worse. Sin is going the other way. Sin is boring and returning to the darkness of death and silence. But God is alive. God is life itself. And His life is bursting with energy, bursting with adventure, bursting with trouble. Not bad trouble at all, good trouble – the trouble of hard work, mystery, exploration – the best kind of trouble – the trouble of wind and rain and dirt – the trouble of life.

So that is what we are celebrating today, the beginning of a lot more of that kind of trouble. And yes, in a fallen world, that includes some of the hard troubles and sad troubles, but we face all of it with the One is completely untroubled. Jesus falls asleep in the back of the boat in the middle of the storm and then wakes up and tells the storm to cool it. He suffers the death that we all deserve for our sin, and He woke up on that first Easter morning alive and started some really wonderful trouble for the men who were supposed to be guarding His tomb. And that gospel message has been troubling the world in the best way ever since. 

So Andrew, my charge to you is to be lean into this and be a godly troublemaker. Lead your wife and your family in the great adventure of following Jesus Christ. Jesus is not afraid of death, and He is at war with all sin. So you must imitate that fearless martial spirit. Jesus rules the heavens and the earth, and He invites us to learn to rule with Him. And that is a lot of work and a lot of trouble, and so you are called to work hard with all your might to provide for your family, and do it with joy in your heart. Smile at the wind and the rain. Inhale deeply and smell the glory of Christ. Love your wife like Christ loves His church, which doesn’t mean doing whatever she wants, but means doing what she needs to grow in godliness and grace and wisdom. 

Miriam, my charge to you is actually the same: you need to lean into this as well, and you too need to be a godly troublemaker. But you do this a little differently as a woman and as a wife. You are called to love the trouble of making a home and it a place of rest and beaty and abounding life. Do not think of the dishes and laundry as bad trouble; think of them as good trouble, the trouble of making life, making people. And of course, God-willing, you should make a number of new people as well. And that is some of the most glorious trouble of all. In all of it, look up to Andrew. Follow his lead, as he follows Christ, and do not fear death or pain or any terrifying thing because you know the One who rules it all, the One who plays with trouble but only does it for our good. 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.  

Prayer: Father, I ask that You would be pleased to use this Word, Your sword, to kill our sin today. I pray that wherever sin continues to hold us captive, You would graciously put it to death. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction
The Bible is not a book of sweet and pious aphorisms. This episode is one of those places that underlines this point: it’s earthy, violent, and crass. The Bible is the truest book because it tells the truth about our vile sin, and it tells the truth about the only way out of the shameful pits we have dug for ourselves. 

Ehud is a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus: a little savior who points to our Great Savior. 

The Text: “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD…” (Judges 3:12-31)

Summary of the Text
The cycle continues with the children of Israel again doing evil after Othniel dies, and God gave them into the hand of Eglon King of Moab for 18 years, who made an alliance with Ammon and Amalek and set up his rule at Jericho (Judges 3:12-14, cf. Dt. 34:3). When the people cried out to the Lord, He raised up a “savior,” Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite (which is a bit of a joke – and apparently there were lots of them, Judges 20:16), who plotted with the people to assassinate their oppressor (Judges 3:15-18). After giving his gift, he feigned to have some secret message for the king, who dismissed all of his servants (Judges 3:19-20). Ehud stabbed the fat king (described in gory detail), locked the doors to the inner chamber, and escaped through the porch (Judges 3:21-23). Eglon’s servants assumed he was using the facilities, but after a while, they opened the doors with a key and found their king dead on the ground (Judges 3:24-26). Ehud then called the men of Israel to war, and they slew ten thousand Moabites, and the land had rest for 80 years (Judges 3:27-30). After Ehud, God also raised up Shamgar, probably a Gentile convert, who delivered Israel from the Philistines (Judges 3:31).

Judges as Civil Magistrates
We will continue to unpack what “judges” are in the coming weeks, but it’s important to note that these were not just random folks who deputized themselves or merely charismatic leaders who had supernatural authorizations. Rather, these were part of the broad network of judges initially proposed by Jethro, Moses’ father in-law in Exodus 18: “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (Ex. 18:21). Moses indicates that he followed this advice when he reviews it in Deuteronomy: “So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him” (Dt. 1:15-16). Interestingly, putting these two texts together, we learn that the people chose and Moses confirmed (cf. Acts 7:5-6). This whole structure establishes the rudimentary elements of a republic.

This is also related to the Spirit being upon the judges (e.g. Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, etc.). In Numbers 11, the Spirit that was upon Moses came upon the 70 elders of the people, which may have been an additional high court of judges above the “captains of thousands.” Later, we see the Spirit coming upon Saul when he is anointed king (1 Sam. 10:10), and David prays that the Spirit will not leave him after he sinned with Bathsheba (Ps. 51:11). This is not the Spirit of salvation; it is the anointing Spirit of office (1 Sam. 16:13-14).  

Protestant Resistance Theory
Some Christians have a hard time with this episode not merely because it is very earthy and crass, but also because they are troubled by Ehud’s deception and assassination of a king. Didn’t David refuse to strike God’s anointed? Isn’t deception a breach of the 9^th Commandment? 

The Christian tradition has studied these questions for many centuries, and we really do need to study them again because America was founded on explicitly biblical grounds of resistance to tyranny and we are increasingly in need of applying those principles again. 

First off, the Bible teaches that lying/deception is an act of war, which is why it is ordinarily forbidden (Eph. 4:25). But in war, lying and deception are part of the plan (ambushes, camouflage, etc.) (e.g. Ex. 1:15-21, Josh. 2:4). 

Second, while Jesus clearly teaches that individuals are not allowed to take personal vengeance on enemies (Mt. 5:38-39), the Bible also teaches that civil magistrates are God’s servants for taking vengeance on evil-doers (Rom. 13:4). Therefore, this includes accountability between magistrates, and the right and duty of lesser magistrates to interpose on behalf of the people if some magistrates are abusing their power. 

Martin Bucer wrote in 1530, “If a superior falls to extortion or causes any other kind of external injury, [lesser magistrates] must attempt to remove him by force of arms.” John Calvin, Phillip Mornay, the Magdeberg Confession, the Scottish Covenantors, and many colonial American pastors agreed. 

In this case, Ehud was not a random guy with a vendetta; he was an authorized magistrate of the people. The King of Moab did not have a lawful right to rule over that land or to oppress God’s people. Therefore, Ehud was justified in assassinating Eglon and leading the Israelites in war against them. 

Conclusion: From Shame to Laughter

This story is clearly meant to be funny. A really fat king gets stabbed, and he’s so fat that his belly rolls close over the dagger and as he dies loses all bowel control. The assassin escapes while the fat king’s servants wait outside the door smelling the stench, growing increasingly embarrassed. When the nations rage and plot against the Lord and against His Anointed, God sits in Heaven and laughs (Ps. 2:4). And this story invites us to laugh with Him. One way to think about turning back to evil is to stop laughing at it (cf. Judges 4:1).

But this is also a very vivid picture of what it looks like to be enslaved to sin. It’s shameful; it’s foul; it’s unclean. Your sin is a fat king that sucks the life out of you and oppresses you. 

It doesn’t seem like an accident that Ehud turns around at “Gilgal” near the Jordan River, and that is where he gathers the army to fight (Judges 3:19, 28). Gilgal is the where the men of Israel were circumcised just before the battle of Jericho, and there God had removed the shame of Egypt (Josh. 5:9). Eglon had made the destroyed Canaanite city (Jericho) his new capital, and it must have been a great embarrassment to Israel. So Ehud led Israel back to the Jordan where God had removed their shame and began the conquest anew. 

Of course, the Jordan is where Jesus our Great Judge and Savior was baptized and anointed with the Spirit to deliver us from all the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil. In His death, He became our sin and shame, in order to destroy it all – so that our sin and shame might be crucified in Him. This is our Gilgal – the place where our shame was taken away. Look at the cross. See the shame. See your shame. And then see Jesus “despising the shame,” and laugh. 

This is the most “left-handed” assassination in the history of the world. And with all our shame dead on His cross and buried in His grave forever, we are clothed in His righteousness to join Him in the conquest of the world (Rev. 19:11ff). This is how God turns all our sorrow to laughter. Prayer: Father, please do whatever it takes to set us free from our sins. We know our nation is enslaved to its lusts, and we are not immune. We are a nation fat with envy and shame, malice and murder. Come set us free. Strike down our idols and turn us back to Yourself. We cry out for this in Jesus’ name, who taught us to pray…

But sin infects everything, including this. It infects both our different perspectives and how we think about the differences. It affects how we develop these perspectives and how we evaluate them. So part of sanctification is constantly checking ourselves and our perspectives.

We’ve been drowning in the mantra of “diversity” for a few decades now, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that this was always incoherent. You cannot have any kind of healthy diversity without meaningful unity. The human body really is a diverse factory of cells and functions, but it is fundamentally a unified project. Everything works well because there is one mind working well. Cancer is a kind of diversity, but that only lasts temporarily and then everything returns to the monotony of death.

Humanism has to constantly make peace with sin and evil. Since humanism has no solution to evil, it must call evil good and good attempts to overcome evil, it calls evil. This is why it is “good” for children to explore deviant sexuality, but it is “evil” for children to be told they have sexual assignments from God embedded in their biology. But since humanism has no solution to evil desires, it must make peace with them and identify attempts to stop them as the problem. “It’s not the cancer; it’s all your attempts to treat the cancer.” 

This goes back to the Freudian lie that if you try to repress desires, that will cause dysfunction, but if you release desires when they are small, people will function somewhat more normally. But it turns out that there are no breaks, and the sinful heart conjures increasingly deviant desires. Even Freud would probably be horrified with how far it has gone. 

But the gospel has the audacity to say that sin can and must stop, including the foundational sins of pride, self-seeking, arrogance, rebellion, complaining, factions, and bitterness. And therefore, the gospel includes the call to true likemindedness. The world will accuse us of being a cult, and we must not care.   

“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:5-6).

Literally, the word for “likeminded” is “wise in one another.” We are to study one another, seeking to understand one another. A husband is to study his wife and be wise in her, parents need to study their children, and so too the church as the body of Christ is to practice unity and like-mindedness by being wise in one another. The word for “one mind” is literally “one passion or fierceness.” The word apparently literally means something like “breathing hard” or “out of breath” – so you might think of some kind of team sport like crew where each man is breathing hard with one passion – they call that moment “swing” – that magical moment when the entire crew moves as one—every catch, drive, and recovery perfectly timed. Rowers describe it as an almost transcendent feeling where the boat seems to surge forward effortlessly, the individual efforts disappear into the collective rhythm, and everything just clicks. Different actors/athletes are acting freely, playing their unique part, but as one. 

Paul develops this theme in greatest detail in Philippians 2: “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil. 2:2)

It was Paul’s great joy to see his people being likeminded. As shepherds, we ought to make this our joy and tell our people when they do. The words he uses are “same thinking” and “one spirit/soul” and “one mind.” Some churches accomplish this by watering down the mission – talk about fewer things, try to do fewer things (e.g. keep it only about “the gospel” — don’t apply God’s Word to culture or politics). This is like deciding that your crew team will just sit in a boat and paddle very slowly, maybe just avoid water altogether – but now you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do. 

Sometimes this is what is happening when all the focus in a church is on “community,” but community ought to be thought of as more akin to “swing” – that synchronization that occurs when everyone is pulling toward the goal with intensity. The church really is a body with many different parts, or to change the image, a great army with many different assignments. The cooks and doctors must not resent the mess that comes with feeding and healing the soldiers. When pastors attack sin and folly, sometimes the cries go up that it’s destroying the unity and community, but they are fulfilling an essential function.

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

Strife can mean contention or factions. Vainglory means empty glory, so literally making a big deal about things that are worthless or empty. And in context, the implication seems to be self-glory. Lowliness of mind means exactly that. To “esteem” is actually the Greek word “hegoumenoi,” which is where we get the word “hegemony,” which means rule or govern. Here the verb is in the middle voice, which means it’s not quite active or passive (which is interesting). How are we to govern/rule in relation to others? It’s exactly active, but it isn’t passive either. It’s both. There is give and take. We really ought to meditate on that more. And this is to be done such that others are ranked above ourselves. Not everyone focusing the most attention on their own concerns, but everyone focusing on the needs of others. 

 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…” (Phil. 2:5-7)

So the exhortation is to pursue true biblical likemindedness. Do not believe the humanistic lie that says it’s impossible. Don’t believe the liberal lie that says it’s only possible if we water down what we think and do. What we’re aiming for is a kind of “swing” that is only possible when everyone is pursuing Christ with all their might, out of breath, chasing the mission of Christ, the glory of Christ.

Amen.

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash

It’s a lot like the nose-piercing phenom of a decade or so ago. When it first started, there was not a little bit of teen-angst married to weaponized verses from the Bible. “You can’t say it’s a sin, mom, Rebekah had a nose ring in the Bible!” And a bunch of young women dishonored their parents openly, brazenly in the name of a Bible verse. Which is what we call a sin. Yes, I know some of your mothers took you down to the store and happily got you that bling, and that really is a different scenario, but I would still like to point out that our culture was not exactly experiencing a third great awakening. The piercing culture was definitely pushing towards defacing the image of God, and many Christians went along like they often do by just putting one little toe in the water of rebellion – or in this case, one nostril. 

A Sloppy Regiment
Which brings us back to Ogden. I don’t think the men there have become orcs or gone over to the dark side – otherwise I couldn’t transfer members from my church to their church in good conscience. But I can and I do. At the same time, when members of my church ask me about it, I tell them that I have significant pastoral concerns. My hope and prayer is that my concerns will turn out to be filed under a category you might call “experience,” meaning that with some additional experience, they will see and understand the dangers we’ve tried to point out and make course corrections. What do I mean? I mean being naïve about malice and bitterness. I mean not making it absolutely clear that they don’t think edge-lord angst is cool or based. 

Hebrews says that bitterness is a root that springs up and defiles many (Heb. 12:15). You can’t go soft on bitterness or it will spring up and split your church, divide families, and eventually turn into a nuclear meltdown. What do I mean by bitterness? I mean the White Boy Summer videos that slip little clips of fascists and Jew-hate into them. I mean comment threads full of foul vitriol that purports to be supporting the Ogden vibe and occasional high fives from Ogden pastors in the comments mocking pastors warning about the gunk. 

Now, here’s the thing. In the big picture, I still assume that Ogden is an ally, but they are a regiment on the battlefield that has gotten really sloppy. They are on our side, on the side of Christ, and the Lord Jesus is the General running the whole operation. But God does not expect us to turn off our brains. He puts us in a church that is full of different kinds of people, some wise, some foolish, some false brothers, some brothers that get turned around backwards or get a little off course. He wants battle-ready warriors, and part of that battle-readiness includes being willing to check brothers in arms. You can call it “counter-signaling,” but we simply think they’re being foolish. We’re not trying to be underhanded or passive aggressive or anything like that. We’ve just spoken up here and there when we see something that looks dumb. That doesn’t mean we hate those men. If anything, it means we actually love them. We could be silent when we see danger signs, but we refuse to go along with what seems extremely sloppy or worse. And they might have an accident. They might end up with a meltdown in their church. They might end up with a pile of members who are full-blown Kinists or Jew-haters, and then CNN will have a field day. We think that would be very unhelpful for them and for the Kingdom, even though (obviously) we don’t care what CNN thinks. 

Well-Trained Warriors
All that may be as is, but the real point of this piece is to say that I don’t think the divisions are necessarily to be entirely lamented. Either Ogden will learn some lessons and scare more of their dank bros away because they are not extreme enough and make some course corrections and there may be room for more future collaboration or else they will contract ecclesial AIDS and die a sad, slow death (which I sincerely hope doesn’t happen). But in the meantime, the sparing keeps everyone on their toes. I do not mean to say that all of the jabs have been above the belt (they haven’t), nor do I say that all the participants in some of the cafeteria exchanges have been exercising the fruit of the Spirit (definitely not), but I do know that God wants His people to be well-trained warriors. This requires carrying on the war with spiritual meekness, which is not at all the same as weakness. 

Of course, I’d much rather be fighting Canaanites and Philistines, and that is where I believe most of our efforts are still aimed. But we here in Moscow think that some young men in conservative circles are getting cozy with the Amorites and the Ogden brothers seem to be holding out hope that they might come along and join one of our tribes soon — what we’ve called Revoice for Nazis. We’re concerned that all the snarling in their audience betrays a mini-Amorite invasion – sort of like what Biden was trying to pull on our southern border.

When the west-side tribes got wind of the east-side altar in Joshua 22, they mustered the army and marched on what looked like a glaring act of idolatry – it looked like an Amorite shrine. When they arrived and made their declaration of war, the two-and-a-half tribes on the east-side of the Jordan assured the other tribes their altar was just a memorial and not a pagan shrine. The other tribes accepted the explanation and went home without a shot fired. On the one hand, I love how easily entreated everyone seems to have been. The accusers accepted the explanation of the accused and the accused accepted the accusers’ explanation. At the same time, one does wonder what became of that memorial altar and given the history of Israel one suspects that it might have eventually turned into an Amorite shrine. 

Conclusion
And if you want to know how I think that story applies, I would say that Moscow has called out some troubling looking altar-things, and while the Ogden brothers have insisted everything’s fine, we’re pretty sure it’s not. We haven’t gone to war and we aren’t really worked up about it, even though we have publicly pointed out concerns we have. But the best sign that the east-side tribes were in a good place spiritually was how apparently unoffended they were by the west-side tribes. All the indications are that they respected the intensity and ferocity of the west-side tribes. And so even if an Ogden brother (or fan) thinks Moscow is wrong, a good indication that you’re actually in a good place spiritually would be the amount of appreciation you have for the warning. The more you appreciate it, the better your heart. But if you’re just mad about the whole thing and looking for every opportunity to dump on Moscow, you might want to look in the mirror and make sure an Amorite is not staring back at you. 

Prayer: Father, we are so easily exhausted and discouraged by the challenges and difficulties you put in our lives. But we know that you are a faithful Father who only assigns those things that we actually need to grow in wisdom and holiness and virtue. So give us Your Spirit so that we might learn to fight evil, in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction

Despite human rebellion, God is determined to raise up a warrior people – nations trained for battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. In Christ, God has raised up the Great Judge of all the earth, who fights for us, and gives us His Spirit so that we may learn to fight evil like Him. 

The Text: “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof…” (Judges 3:1-11).

Summary of the Text

The Lord left certain nations in the land of Canaan in order to teach the generations of Israel the art of war and to test whether they would listen to God’s commands or not (Judges 3:1-4). And for the most part, they did not learn war or obey God’s commands; instead, they intermarried with the pagans around them and served their gods (Judges 3:5-7). Therefore, God was angry with Israel and gave them over to the king of Mesopotamia (Cushan Rishathaim is probably a mocking nick-name since it means “Ethiopian of double evil” from Mesopotamia which means “Aram of the double rivers”) who enslaved them for eight years (Judges 3:8). When Israel cried out to the Lord, He raised up Othniel, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him, and He judged Israel and went to war and gave rest to Israel for forty years (Judges 3:9-11). 

The Christian Life is War

Beginning in the Garden, God declared a great war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). But even in a perfect world, God allowed a serpent into the Garden, that Adam was supposed to fight. God wants His people to be a people who are constantly on guard, prepared for battle, trained for war. In the gospels, Jesus is often telling the disciples to stay awake, to be vigilant.

And the point is clear: this is God’s way of testing whether His people trust Him or not (Judges 3:4). Notice that the “commandments of the Lord” go together with “teach them war” (Judges 3:2). Do you think like that? Do you think that reading your Bible is learning war? The Bible is teaching you how to fight evil.

This is exactly what the New Testament teaches: the sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). Frequently we over-spiritualize this, but the word is really a sword because obedience will bring you into conflict with the world. The world says well everybody gets angry and loses their temper sometimes; but the Bible says in your anger do not sin and an angry word can put you in danger of Hell. So Christians fight sinful anger by constantly confessing it. 

The world says, everybody lies a little bit, but the Bible says that lies are forms of hatred and violence. So Christians refuse to lie even when everyone at work wants them to (or all their friends), and if they tell a lie, they confess it and tell the truth. And that makes trouble. Obedience brings you in conflict with the world.

Or maybe it’s complaining or sexual immorality or the shows you watch or the music you listen to…

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Cor. 10:5).

This is how God tests our battle-readiness: do you resist when the world tries to press you into its mold? The world is trying to press you into its mold: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). Whether it’s fashion or entertainment or politics or finances, obedience is war. And obedience to God is defiance of all tyranny.

“Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me” (Ps. 119:133).

The Siren Song of Christian Community

Sometimes it’s people in the church who are trying to get you to stop fighting.

Some Christians will say that they know that sometimes it’s necessary to defend the truth, but they prefer to emphasize community and beauty and a positive vision of the Christian life. Can’t we just focus on what we’re for and less on what we’re against? But this text teaches that Christian peace is only possible through constant vigilance and battle-readiness (Judges 3:11). 

Some folks will move to Moscow and will say something like, I really love the community but I wish there wasn’t so much fighting – maybe referring to Psalm-sing protests or hard-hitting ads or online skirmishes or doctrinal distinctions. And it’s certainly true that it’s possible to fight or divide over silly or trivial things, but many people do not understand that the glory of this community has been hard-fought for. To plead with ministers to put their swords down is to plead for the end of the community. You should be praying that your elders will never put their swords down.

When the tribes of Israel heard that Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had built an altar on the other side of the Jordan, they didn’t shrug and assume the best, they gathered themselves for war and confronted them (Josh. 22:11-20). And they were easily entreated (Js. 3:17).

But does this means we are at war with everything in the world? 

“What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?”

In the third century, one of the early church fathers named Tertullian, penned the now famous question, “What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” To which he answered something along the lines of “nothing.” What he meant was that Christianity had no need for Greek philosophy. He was concerned that too many pagan elements were being imbibed by the Church. 

Augustine came along later and said that there were some true elements in Plato and Aristotle that had prepared him for Christianity. He argued that the task of Christians was to “plunder the Egyptians.” Christians can take “gold” from pagans, but they must make sure to build tabernacles and not golden calves. The problem is that many Christians are just like the ancient Israelites and say they are plundering the Egyptians, and five minutes later their dancing naked around a golden calf. 

Another analogy Christians have sometime pointed to is the law of the war bride, where a man might take a wife from a pagan tribe (that had been conquered), but she had to have her head shaved, nails trimmed, be given new clothing, and allowed to mourn for at least a month before marriage (Dt. 21). Christians said that is a picture of the kind of critical care we ought to have with pagan culture. 

An example would be the names of the days of the week… so the task is to “take every thought captive” and then carefully strip every vestige of sin and evil from it. 

Applications: Christianity vs. Paganism

The temptation in the days of the judges was intermarriage and idolatry, and the temptation in our day is still the same: we are tempted to be overly friendly with the world, which is spiritual adultery and idolatry. 

So here are three areas of antithesis that we need to keep front and center:

Creation vs. Evolution: Either everything has meaning and value because it was created and is upheld by God’s personal, intelligent Word (Jesus Christ) or else it is random debris in a careening cosmos. Marriage, parenting, art, entertainment, education, and politics are meaningful because they are part of God’s good creation. Attempts to soften this through theistic evolution only serve to water down the doctrine of creation. If order can “evolve,” out of chaos, why can’t we cut corners? Don’t say anything in your life “doesn’t matter.” 

Free-Markets vs. Marxism: The doctrine of creation establishes two fundamental economic glories: the source of all value (God and His creation) and the image of God. In the beginning, Adam had no money in any bank account, but he had two hands, two feet, a brain, and a wife, and the world full of raw resources. You don’t need a handout or a leg up; you just need to get busy. Banish every envious complaint. You live on a treasure planet. 

Christian Education vs. Secular Propaganda: Christian education is fundamentally about discovering and remembering reality as it has been given. But if you don’t believe in God or creation, there is no inherent order or meaning to reality, and therefore everything is reduced to “usefulness” or else manipulation. This is why Christian education matters: everything in all of creation coheres and holds together in Christ (Col. 1:16-17). Make sure your kids are being taught every day that everything has meaning because of Jesus Christ. And as you do that, you’ll find yourself at war. 

Prayer: Father, we know that Jesus Christ appeared to destroy the works of the devil, and we know that His death and resurrection has struck the great blow to the power of the kingdom of darkness. But you are still determined to raise a great army that follows in His train. So stir us up by His Spirit. Grant us courage and joy to fight sin and evil all our days, thought Jesus Christ…

Prayer: Father, we are easily discouraged because of our sins. So I ask You to send Your Holy Spirit of Comfort now to accompany this Word. Give us courage for the battles You have assigned to us, and give us victory, in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
The people of Israel during the era of the judges largely failed, and they failed because they refused to seek God with their whole heart. They did not destroy their idols and the pagan nations around them, so they would have mild success during the lives of strong leaders and then immediately fall back into their idolatry over and over again. But Christ has come to call His people to true repentance. The message of the gospel is that Christ is our Judge who is risen from the dead – our deliverer will never die.

The Text: “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 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?…” (Judges 2:1-23)

Summary of the Text
Judges 2 is often considered a sort of second introduction since it zooms out and gets another running start, going back to before Joshua died (Judges 2:6-8). The word “messenger” sometimes refers to an angel in Scripture and sometimes it refers to a human messenger (prophet), but the reference to Gilgal seems to be alluding to the “captain of the Lord’s host” – an angel-warrior who appeared to Joshua in or near Gilgal in Joshua 5:13-15. It is likely that “Bochim” is another name for Bethel, since the oak tree where Rebekah’s nurse was buried was named “The oak of weeping” (Gen. 35:8). It is also where the people gather and weep at the end of the book and where the ark was (Judges 20:26).

The angel particularly condemns the “league/covenant” that the tribes have been making with the Canaanites – likely referring to those that they had enslaved and put under tribute (cf. 1:28, 30, 33, 35), and the Lord says He will no longer drive out the Canaanites because of their disobedience (Judges 2:1-3). The people respond with great weeping and sacrifices, and all of this happened before the death of Joshua (Judges 2:4-10). But after the death of that generation, the people of Israel went back to serving the gods of Egypt and Baals, and the Lord sold them into the hands of their enemies (Judges 2:11-15). 

However, God would raise up judges who would deliver them, but after the judges died, the people would go right back to their idols (Judges 2:16-19). Therefore God was angry with His people and determined to leave many of the nations in the land to test His people constantly to see if they would walk with the Lord or not (Judges 2:20-23). 

False Repentance
This chapter introduces the basic pattern that will continue throughout Judges: the people turn away from the Lord and serve idols, the Lord delivers them into the hands of their enemies who oppress them, the Lord has compassion on His people in their oppression and raises up a judge who fights for His people and delivers them (even though the people do not really listen to them), and after the judge dies, the people turn away from the Lord and serve idols (and repeat) (Judges 2:14-19). 

This cycle illustrates well false repentance and worldly sorrow. There are certain hard-hearted pagans who do not even pretend to repent. They hate God, and they hate His ways and they say so and aren’t sorry. But there are many people who say they are sorry for their sins and many who even say they are Christians and go to church on Sundays. They may confess their sins, maybe even set up meetings with a pastor or elder or Christian counselor, and there may even be tears and sacrifices. But they refuse to actually change. 

Paul describes the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

It is possible to feel sorry and sad about your sins and be getting worse. It’s possible to feel sorry and sad about your sins and to be smearing death all over yourself. Godly sorrow works repentance. What is repentance? Repentance means turning, change, going the other way. Repentance does not mean perfection, but it means there is a clear break. 

What Does Repentance Look Like?
Jesus said that repentance means plucking out the eye that is causing you to sin and cutting off the hand that is offending you (Mt. 5:29). Colossians says that you must “mortify” the deeds of the body, works of the flesh – that means put them to death (Col. 3:5). In other words, repentance is violent, extreme, radical, and conclusive – you must utterly hate and destroy it. And the reason Jesus gives for this kind of repentance is: it would be better to go to Heaven missing an eye or missing a hand, than to go to Hell with both eyes and both hands. You must kill sin or sin will kill you. This means you must hate sin.

The immediate context of this exhortation is the warning about lust (Mt. 5:27-28). But Jesus also warns about the sin of wrath leading to Hell (Mt. 5:22). He also warns about causing little ones to stumble into sin, and repeats the same exhortation to pluck out that eye or cut off that hand (Mt. 18:8-9, Mk. 9:42ff). In other words, whatever the sin, you must do whatever it takes to stop. Whatever the idol, you must tear it down.

The fundamental difference between worldly sorrow that merely stops sinning momentarily and godly sorrow that truly changes is the root cause. Worldly sorrow is sorry to have been caught, sorrow for some of the immediate consequences, sometimes mixed with a prideful sorrow that resents those things. But Jesus warns His disciples not to fear those who can merely harm your body (trouble in this life), but rather fear God who is able to destroy soul and body in Hell (Mt. 10:28). Godly sorrow trembles before God (Ps. 51:4).

Conclusion
The “captain of the Lord’s host” is the pre-incarnate Christ. Jesus said that He was at the burning bush as the “I am” (Jn. 8:58), and Paul says that Jesus was the One leading and feeding Israel in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:4). This passage indicates that Jesus was with His people as they went into Canaan, but they sinned against Him, they turned away from Him and turned to idols. 

In Revelation, Jesus Himself addresses the seven churches, and He says repeatedly, “I know thy works…” and He calls upon those churches to “repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them…” (Rev. 2:16). 

Godly sorrow trembles before Christ who is with you always. Do you tremble before Christ or your wife? Christ or your parents? Christ or your teacher/pastor/counselor/friends? Or do you tremble before your fear – fear of feeling out of control, fear of never being satisfied, fear of never changing?

The one/the thing you tremble before is your god. And ironically the more you tremble before it, the more influence it wields over you. 

Why tremble before Christ? Because Christ fights for you. He was crucified for Your sins; He has the power to deliver you from every evil thing. To tremble before Christ is nothing like trembling before your sins/fears/failures/other humans. When Christ is your fear, all your other fears fade away. When Christ is your fear, you always find mercy and love and power that fights for you. 

Why does God not usually take away all our temptations immediately and miraculously? Why does He allow Canaanites to remain in our land? He is testing you to see whether you will walk in His ways or not (Judges 2:22). And it’s important to underline the fact that temptation is not itself the sin. But temptation is where you must fight. Many people think they are fighting sin when they are really already in sin. Fight temptation – do not let the enemy even have a chance. 

And list to this promise: with every temptation – God promises to always provide a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). The lie of the devil is that you can’t take it (too hard), that it’s too late, that there’s nothing else you can do – but those are the lies of idols that cannot save you. But Christ bled and died to set you free. And He is always there. He is the Captain of the Armies of the Lord. If He is with you, what can stand against you?

Prayer: Father, please do whatever it takes to bring us trembling before You. We know that you have assigned particular struggles and battles to everyone in this room because You want us to turn to You. But we are stubborn and foolish creatures, so I ask that You would turn us to You now. Do not let us get off the point because we ask in Jesus name, who taught us to pray…