Transcript of Radio Show #397:
Book of Judges, Part 2
Continuing from last week, on the series in the Old Testament, with the book of Joshua...

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics of Bible studies and theology such as end times, prophecies, Old Testament, New Testament, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....

And remember this radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched is broadcast every Sunday at 7 am and 7 pm pacific time... and if you unfortunately miss it for whatever reason at any time, you can hear the program any time after that for 4 weeks...at my web site TimingRevelation.com

So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...

And I did mention to you before that with this series begins the start of the 8th year of these radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched.

As you already know In this series we look at the four gospels in a new light as they are presented by chronological events taking place within the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which are presented separately in the Bible ...

It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these events taking place in the gospels.

So, we continue today, with the new series from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament, which is the book following Deuteronomy.

We will begin here right after this opening music, prayer and worship...

Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music

Narrative 1

Alright, so last week we ended with details about the many places and peoples that were left still in the conquered land of the promised land the people of God had reached...

and you can read a review of this in your Bible in chapter 1...

So today we pick up with chapter 2 where we will read about Israel's unfaithfulness – in spite of God's faithfulness.... and His provision of judges...

So let's begin,
chapter 2, verses 1 to 10

2 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.

2 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?

3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

So here God tells the people that He is no pleased with the performance He had told them to do back in the book of Deuteronomy that we read before, about when they got into the Land, to clean out the land, but they disobeyed His instructions... and for this reason they were not able to drive out all of the enemies. Now these enemies that Israel had made deals with, etc. will be thorns in their side and the gods snares unto them.

So the people of course cried out in repentance – well sort of repentance... and we will see in days to come. And so they called the place Bochim (Bokeem) which means “weeping”, and they offered sacrifices there to the Lord.

And then in verses 6 to 10, we have a summary of what had taken place just prior to the tribes reaching the promised land here:

verse 6_“And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.

8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

So the story continues now with the next generation that will be taking over from here... and we will continue from here right after this:

Music Interlude

Station ID

Narrative # 2

Alright, so let's continue here and read about Israel's apostasy as recorded
still in chapter 2, from verse 11 to 15:

verse 11_”And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baal (Baalim):

Can you believe this, they immediately jumped into the gods of the enemies and I looked it up this so called god we will see mention many times yet in the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles... wow talk about “thorns in the flesh” the true God knew this and warned them... anyway we'll see that as we go on... and the word Baalim means “the supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites”.

So let's continue,

v.12_”And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

Wow, unbelievable! -- Remember they had not driven all of them out and made deals and kept them as tributaries, etc... instead of believing God for His Word... Sometimes we do that too... we don't work hard enough to achieve what God told us He would do... and we end up disappointed – or worse, end up in trouble...

Let's go on,

verse 13_”And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth (false gods of the Canaanite – Ashtaroth means “star” -- so “astrology”.

14 And the anger of the Lord (“Jehovah, the existing One") Jehovah was hot (the word here is “khaw-raw” which means furious, burn with anger”) against Israel, ... why? Because they didn't do – they were not doing what God had told them to do ... let's move on...

and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers (plunders) that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.” And God had worn them of all that.

Wow... we need to respect Jehovah! And look how people today are taking God lightly – some even calling Him “Daddy”... no the Bible never refers to God as “Daddy”... that's false teaching and I have an article on that on my web site if you are interested in reading it. He is Father with a capital F, Father, but He is “Jehovah, the existing One, the Creator of the universe and everything in it!

Verse 15_Wherever (Whithersoever) they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

You see Jehovah the Existing One cannot tolerate evil nor sin – again another reason to know the Old Testament... so that we appreciate even more what God in the Flesh did on the cross for us – each one of us... knowing the Old Testament means knowing God – the God of the Old Testament... there's a saying that say that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed... and yet we have people today who say that the Old Testament is not relevant anymore today – very important, very critical – otherwise we miss half of what's in the Word of God....

Music Interlude

Narrative #3

So, “Wherever (Whithersoever) they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.” (v.15).

now v. 16 we continue,

16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

So now, even though they had messed up their mission and angered God in so doing, God, the Lord is still working with them... He is providing leaders that He raised up for that specific purpose...

It reminds me of the verse in the New Testament that says, “All things work out for good to those who love Him” (Romans 8:28)... even when we are unfaithful in what we are supposed to do according to His Word, He still helps us out of our messes!

He is Faithfull to His Word—to His Covenant... when He makes a covenant with His people, He keeps it no matter what! Isn't that amazing and awesome! But we have to be sincere with Him – He does not like “fakes”! He is a Perfect and Just God, so we better treat Him as such.

So, verse16_”Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

Now we saw last week that “judges” were leaders that the Lord provided for the people. But these are more than just leaders, they were chieftains or warriors – these were like guerilla commanders, and their stories read like hero stories... they filled a void of leadership in this evil time in Israel's history.

“And yet they would not listen (hearken) unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.”

Unbelievable! But you might say “I would never do that”... No? Well, WE've done it. We're doing it right now...most countries today have already done exactly that and the people...

So verse 18, ”And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

So the Lord God “repented” -- WE'RE supposed to repent... you see now why God is said to be a good God by those who love Him and respect Him and work with Him!

v.19_”And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, -- in other words they were falling back into their own selves again – even after the judges were brought to help them out of their mess.... to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

And some say “oh how bad they were”... well we do the same today as I already mentioned above... look how God delivers people and countries – leaders from judgment, and yet they continue in their rejection of God's grace and mercy!

Verse 20_”And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

... and we wonder why we see the same things happening here, now today...

verse 23_”Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

Yes, we need to know and realize who God is – the whole world needs to know – but it will continue on right into the end days which we are now already entered... it's all in the Bible – in the Word of God... the book of Revelation... it's not there for nothing – it's there because we need to read it and we need to change... God gives us all the times and all the warnings... but the world does not listen.... we need to know and realize Who God is !

Music Interlude...

Narrative #4

Alright so let's continue in the book of Judges, now in chapter 3 where we will start to hear about the “judges” God had prepared to take on leadership of God's people...

So there were all these nations left in the land that we saw earlier which had not been driven out by Israel because they were afraid to war against them without their earlier leaders Moses and Joshua. Now they were on their own and afraid... so God raised up leaders when those nations would come against them...

So let's go on, in chapter 3, verses 1 to 7:

1_”Now these are the nations which the Lord left to prove (to test) Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;

...in other words it's saying here all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan... remember this time period we are in is a whole new generation of younger men that had grown up under Moses and Joshua....

2_”(NKJ), “So that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it.

3_”Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.

v. 4_”And they (those nations) were to prove (or to test) Israel by them, to know whether they would (listen) hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 And so the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:

6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. There they go again.

7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baal (Baalim) and the groves.

So now these people had really let themselves go low among all these evil people that had been left in the land by the previous generations...

So the first judge that we will read about is Othniel which we read about in
verses 8 to 11 of chapter 3 right here...

So because of the state of living had gone so low...

8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served this king (Chushanrishathaim) eight years.

Imagine that, so we are now eight years down the road in the time they've lived in this new land... that they did not (or their fathers) did not totally clean up of evil as the Lord had told them...

Wow, that's interesting... in hard times – like we have today -- we often hear people say that they are fighting for the children and grand-children, not wanting to leave a mess for them.... well this is the children and grand-children that God has to deal with now... because the fathers did not obey God's directions....

verse 9_”And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even that is right now, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

So who was Othniel... I looked him up and here a summary:

Othniel was the first judge of Israel. He was a warrior from the tribe of Judah and the younger brother of Caleb. He delivered the Israelites from the oppression of King Cushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia, after which Israel had peace for 40 years.

So verse 10_” And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim (koo-shan' rish-awthah'-yim) king of Mesopotamia into his hand; he and his hand prevailed against this king Chushanrishathaim.

And his name (koo-shan' rish-awthah'-yim) means “twice-wicked Cushan”

11
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

So we don't know how long was the conflict that went on with him, Othniel, but we know that after this they had peace for 40 years.

And so we will have to leave it here for today, but will pick up next week on the next judges the Lord will raise up to deal with the next enemies.

Music Interlude

Closing Narrative…

Oh how wonderful to appreciate what Jesus has done in our lives to save us from sin by Grace... and how He continues to keep us by His on-going and unlimited Grace...

...that wonderful Grace that comes into our life the moment that we receive Him as for who He is -- the Saviour of mankind and of every individual like you and me personally...

... and this Jesus the Son of God who came to give His life for you and me is the same Jesus who's life we've been reading about in these series of programs right now, and who's death on the cross we will see as we go through the gospel story to where He gave Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God that took the sin of the world...

...but right now, the question is:

...do you know this Jesus that we're talking about? If you don't know the Lord...

...Just say this prayer, “Lord come into my heart, come into my life, I turn to you right now and ask for forgiveness, I repent of my sins and receive your work on the cross... I receive your gospel as it was delivered through your blood shed on the cross in my place, and I thank you, Amen...

The Blessing

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

/DMH

Click here to hear the song "Standing on the Promises of God".

click on the graphic just above to share your thoughts...

click on this graphic to go to Christianbook affiliate store products:

P.S.: For your information I am a participant of the Christianbook affiliate program and as such will receive a small commission on purchases made by my readers. I want to thank you for buying your Christian products through here... all of this helps me with the expenses of providing this important ministry and operating this web site.
Blessings,