¹¹ “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹² And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴  So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. ¹⁶  Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰  So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹  I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²² in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.”

The events recorded in The Book of Judges take place over a period of about 425 years from the death of Joshua in 1475 BC to the time of Samuel, Saul, and David about 1050 BC.

Judges is the story of eleven men (thirteen, if you count Barak and Samuel among the Judges) and one woman whom God raised up to deliver Israel from their enemies. Among them are some famous and some not-so-famous names like Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephtah, Ibzan, Elan, Abdon, and Samson.

While we see lots of things about them, including both good and bad – and sometimes, very bad (think Samson); these were real people who faced real challenges as God used them to restore His rebellious people when they repented of their sins.

The Book follows a famous and well-known pattern of behavior. This five-part pattern is as follows:

Part #1 Rebellion!

Part #2 Recompense!

Part #3 Repentance!

Part #4 Rescue!

Part #5 Repetition!

Over and over again we see this pattern being vividly portrayed in the life of God’s people. Sadly, no – make that tragically, God’s people (including those of us in America today) still repeat this pitiful pattern!

The purpose of the Book, and the purpose of my sermon is to remind us of this pattern; help us individually (and Nationally) understand where we currently are; and, determine what we need to do to escape this, “Merry-Go-Round of Misery.”

I hope that you will take time to read over this passage several times and prayerfully seek the Lord to reveal to you where you are in this cycle and what you can do to move on to a new and higher level in your relationship with God!

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!