MPC, 27th January 2002.The Bible in Four Easy Lessons.
Part 3: Joshua-Judges-1 Samuel - "Being
Different"
Phil Campbell MPC, 27th January 2002.
Kermit the frog sang a very famous song. Kermit's the frog on Sesame Street. And the song he sang is called, IT ISN'T EASY BEING GREEN. I'm not going to sing it for you. But it's a sad little song; everyone else on Sesame Street's either black or brown or white. Or purple. And Kermit's green. It's tough being different. And all he wants is to be like everyone else.
You probably know the feeling if you've been a Christian a while. One Christian girl I knew, she was a senior high-school student, she said she was the only one in her class that wasn't sleeping around. And parties are only for getting drunk. So what do you do if you're not interested in getting drunk? You stand out. You're different. And it's not easy. You're committed to honesty at work. Nobody else is. You're different. You stand out. Being different's tough. And as Christians, DIFFERENT is what we're meant to be.
Going with the flow is easy. There's a famous Chinese proverb that says even a DEAD FISH can swim with the tide. Just lie there and wash back and forwards with the flow. Might even fool people into thinking you're flipping. It's being different that's tough.
You know, as we've looked at the story over the bible over the last couple of weeks, there's one thing that stands out. We've followed it right from the start. The good creation. Man's rebellion. And we've seen how God chose Abraham to be the start of something new. You follow Abraham's family line, they grow into a great nation, just like God promised. And they come to the borders of the promised land, where MOSES reminds them if they're going to be the people of God, there's just one thing they've got to keep in mind. And that's to LIVE LIKE IT. Serve GOD. And not the idols of the nations around them. They've gotta BE DIFFERENT.
Moses put the challenge in the chapter we finished at last week. He said, MAKE UP YOUR MIND. And JOSHUA says the same.
Joshua takes over from Moses. To lead the people of Israel. And the book of Joshua tells the story of the CONQUEST of the PROMISED LAND. The way God leads his people into battle. A raggy sort of crew. And how time after time, they WIN. Piece by piece, the promised land is theirs. Just like God said. And as the smoke clears and they look around the land they've fought for under God, Joshua makes a speech. In JOSHUA chapter 24 - from verse 14. See if you can turn over to it and take a look.
JOS 24:14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Are you going to be DIFFERENT? Or NOT?
JOS 24:16 Then the people answered, verse 16, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
ARE YOU GOING TO BE GOD'S PEOPLE? ARE YOU GOING TO BE DIFFERENT? Decide NOW! And they say, YES WE ARE!
Keep flipping your way through Joshua and you get to the book of Judges.
Where we'll see two SPECIFIC ways Israel is meant to be different. Two ways they're meant to stand out from every other nation around them. If they're serious about being the people of God.
We've seen number 1 already. In the commandments. And it's the one JOSHUA warned them about. Commandment Number 1. Don't go worshipping other gods. Up in the hills their neighbours worshipped Asherah, the fertility goddess. Had orgies; week long drunken sex parties. You do that, your crops are GUARANTEED TO BE FERTILE. You're invited. You want good crops as much as the next guy. And it sounds like FUN. What do you say?
Over the west a bit they worshipped BAAL. Who said you had to sacrifice your KIDS to make the crops grow. And the neighbours crops were looking GOOD. See, the temptation of false gods was everywhere. And the big thing was back then, people would say, well, why not mix and match? I mean, why not be flexible? Why not have an each way bet?
What's God say? He says NO! He says to the Israelites, when you go into the promised land, drive out the idol worshippers. Get rid of them. And don't have anything to do with them. BECAUSE I'M GOD! And they're not. So DON'T DO ANY DEALS. And that's the first thing that's meant to make Israel distinctive. No other gods.
Well, it's a question I asked last time, and I'll ask it again now. How do you reckon they're going to go? How do you reckon they'll perform, these Israelites who God's saved out of Egypt, who he's brought through the desert, who he's give the land to... how do you reckon they'll go at avoiding the idol trap? We'll see in a couple of minutes.
Now there's another thing in the book of Judges that marks Israel out from everyone else. And it's absolutely unique. It's a funny little thing in a way, and something that you mightn't even notice.
They reckon if you want a straight answer on something, you go right to the top. So when you go into an office sometime, or a busy shop, and you want to know something, you might look around; and you'll ask someone, WHO'S THE BOSS? Who's in charge round here?
Well, it's a funny thing, you walk into one of the cities of the Philistines, say, or the Perizites - they were your next door neighbours if you were in Israel - if you walked in there, you'd have no trouble at all picking out WHO WAS THE BOSS. Because there'd be this whopping great big palace, with soldiers all round outside, with slaves running round inside - and in there on the throne, there was the KING. Maybe not quite as flash as Buckingham palace in those days, but equally CLEAR.
Same with the Philistines, same with the Perizites, same with the Amonites. The King was the boss. Same everywhere. BUT DIFFERENT WITH ISRAEL.
See, the funny thing was, you walk into Israel in those days, and you wouldn't see a palace. And you wouldn't see a king. Not that they didn't HAVE a king. But that GOD WAS THEIR KING. The nation of Israel was THE KINGDOM OF GOD. God was their ruler. And instead of having a king in a palace, all they had were these judges who'd sort out disputes. Which is how the book of Judges gets its name.
Two marks of uniqueness. No other gods. Only the one TRUE God. And no KING. Only God. The two things that most of all set Israel apart as the Kingdom of God. And different from everyone else.
Well, that's the theory, anyway. That's the idea. That's how it was MEANT TO BE. Which doesn't mean that's the way it is! In fact, if you read through the book of Judges, it's the story of one disaster after another. One failure on top of another on top of another.
Things are okay for a while. But pick it up from verse 7 of Judges chapter 2 and you can see what happens. The people kept on serving God through the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who had outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel."
Okay so long as the first generation were alive. But what happens when they die? Then what? Verse 10. "After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. THEN THE ISRAELITES DID EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD AND SERVED THE BAALS. They forsook the Lord the God of their fathers who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped the various gods of the peoples around them."
Just exactly what God said NOT to do. So he hands them over to their enemies for a good hiding. They're plundered, they're ransacked; God's punishment. Until they REPENT. Until they realise what they've done and they turn back to God and ask for mercy.
Over and over again through the book of Judges, you get exactly the same pattern. Over and over again. You'll see it in chapter 3 from verse 7. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs." Verse 8 - the anger of the Lord burns against them. Verse 9 - they come to their senses; they cry out to God. And he HEARS THEM. And raises up a deliverer. It's a new Judge - the spirit of the Lord comes upon Othniel, it says in verse 10, so he becomes Israels judge, Israels new leader, and leads them into war. And they're saved. Because God gives them a great victory.
Now that's not just an isolated story. It's not just a one-off mistake. You'll see it over and over again. Read through Judges sometime and you'll see the pattern. Go to verse 12. Same pattern again. Chapter 4 - same thing. Verse 1. After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Chapter 5. Same again.
Time after time, the same stupid pattern. As soon as God's got 'em out of a scrape, it's back into it. Worshipping idols. Joining in the pagan festivals. Sacrificing things to a bit of carved wood they called "Baal" to make the crops grow. All that, from the nation that's meant to be the people of God.
Well, there were two things I said were meant to mark out Israel as being different. And they're not doing too well at number 1. So what about number 2? Remember Number 2? Even though all the nations round them had kings, Israel didn't. Why not? Because GOD WAS THEIR KING.
Well, flip over the page to chapter 6, and you'll see it's the start of the story of Gideon. Gideon's just an ordinary everyday guy. And we're still in the middle of this cycle I was just talking about. Over and over again. The Israelites sin, God lets another tribe come in a whop 'em in a battle, let's the Midianites and the Amalekites next door come in and ruin the crops... and finally, the Israelites cry out to God. Same story. They've figured it out again. They've gone off the tracks.
And here's this guy Gideon out in the paddock. And an angel comes to him in verse 12 of chapter 6 and says GUESS WHAT? The LORD IS WITH YOU. You're going to be a mighty warrior. And God's going to use you to save his people.
Well, verse 15, Gideon protests. He says, "How can I"... he says, "My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the least in my family?" Funny thing, isn't it? God always seems to make a habit of saving his people with the weakest thing around. Like the way Jesus was born in a cow shed. And crucified on a Roman Cross.
Gideon doesn't even work out at the gym. But God sends him anyway; and over the next couple of chapters there's the story of God's great victory. Because it's not really GIDEON leading the army; it's GOD. It's not really Gideon winning the battles. IT'S GOD.
But if you turn over to chapter 8 verse 22, and it's an important verse, you'll see a sad thing happens. Because the Israelites have MISSED THE POINT. Verse 22; read what they say. "The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us - you, your son, your grandson - because YOU have saved us out of the hand of Midian."
Must have been tempting! They're saying, BE OUR KING! Rule over us; live in a palace with slaves and gold and hot and cold running water. Set up your family for life. But Gideon knows. That's not the way it is. And he spells it out in verse 22. "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you... THE LORD WILL RULE OVER YOU."
Don't go looking for a king. 'Cause GOD'S THE KING! Gideon's got it right. But time rolls on. Gideon's long dead. And things go from bad to worse.
I reckon it's a funny thing, when you're a Christian some people treat you like you've got no idea about the seedy side of life. Like, they apologise if they accidentally swear in front of you. But the fact is, if you want to see what SEEDY's all about, if you want a close up view of the destructive power of sin, if you want to see ten times worse than Kings Cross on a Saturday night, read the rest of the book of Judges. It's all there. And it's all summed up by a sad little sentence that repeats over and over again through the last 4 chapters.
It's a sentence you'll find first of all in chapter 17. Verse 6. In the middle of a story about an idol worshipping priest. A key verse, and if you've dozed off I want you to find it. And it says this. Chapter 17 verse 6. "In those days Israel had NO KING. Everyone did as he saw fit." Chapter 18 verse 1, you'll see it again. Same words. "In those days Israel had no king." And the story of more idolatry. Spreading through the whole tribe of Dan. And exactly the same words again in chapter 19. Verse 1. "In those days Israel had no king." And a horrific story about a man and his concubine. The sort of story that you wouldn't even see at the movies. Because Israel had no king. They did exactly what they liked. And God could go jump in the lake. Judges 21; turn over there. The last chapter in the book. And the very last verse. You can see it again. "In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did as he saw fit."
The nation that was meant to be different; the nation that was saved by God to be ruled by God. They've come to this. Everyone doing exactly what they liked.
Well, I want you to pick up the story a bit further on. Skip over the little story of Ruth, and you'll come to 1st Samuel. Samuel's the last in the long line of Judges, and you can read his life story in chapter 1 to 7. But it's chapter 8 I want you to look at. 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 5. Cause here's where it's all leading.
The elders of Israel get together, they come to Samuel, and here's what they say to him. "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways... NOW APPOINT US A KING TO LEAD US SUCH AS ALL THE OTHER NATIONS HAVE."
See, it's like water dripping away on a stone, isn't it? They tried it with Gideon, he said NO. Now they're doing it again. Cause the fact is, they're just NOT INTERESTED in having God as their king. Give us a King like everyone else. That's what they say. BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO BE DIFFERENT to everyone else. They want to be the same.
Samuel's pretty peeved. He's angry. So he prays. And in verse 7 God answers him. And reminds him of exactly what we know already. "The Lord told him," it says in verse 7, "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it's not you they have rejected as their king, BUT ME!" I'm the one who ought to be upset! But listen to them, says God, warn them, then do what they ask for. Let 'em go.
And so they choose King Saul. Because he's the best looking guy they can find. And yet in the end, he's a disaster. Because Israel was meant to be DIFFERENT. And now they're not.
Friends, let me tell you, that's what makes what I've been talking about this morning relevant to YOU AND ME. It's not just boring old Jewish history. It's history with a lesson. A lesson for US. A lesson about what it means to call ourselves the PEOPLE OF GOD. Because if you're a CHRISTIAN, the fact is you're saying you've accepted JESUS CHRIST as your KING. And you're living under God's RULE. In a way Israel FAILED to do.
Funny, it's only when you get to the New Testament and the book of Acts that you see people getting it RIGHT. Because Paul and his friends - and we saw this last year - are travelling around the Roman empire preaching CHRIST. And it's causing a RIOT. Because while Israel wanted to put another King in GOD'S PLACE, Paul's preaching is doing the exact reverse. They're in Thessalonica. And there's a huge commotion. And there's a huge mob. Listen to the charge against them.
These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is ANOTHER KING - ONE CALLED JESUS." 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
Now I just want to finish by asking the question this morning, HOW DIFFERENT ARE YOU? When it comes to the crunch, is there ANY COMMOTION where you are… even the slightest bit of evidence that you're saying and living like there IS ANOTHER KING - one called Jesus. And that he's KING OVER YOU?
There should never be any excuse for people looking at us Christians and saying, "Well, there's NO KING HERE. Everyone does what's right in his own eyes." Because WE HAVE GOT A KING. And it should be obvious. In the way we live our lives.
Everyone else in my class at school's sleeping around. Must be okay. Everyone else at work cheats on their Timesheet. Must be okay. Well let me ask you, what does your KING say? Or are you just going to go with the flow?
Being followers of Jesus means being DIFFERENT. It means having DIFFERENT AMBITIONS to the rest of the world. Not just hell-bent on making yourself COMFORTABLE. And successful. Because we've got much bigger ambitions than that… in serving our KING.
It means having different ACTIONS. Not just doing what's easy. But actively CARING. And actively SHARING. Doing what's not comfortable. Because we're serving our KING. Not ourselves.
It means having whole different ATTITUDES. Like kindness and patience. Because of who we serve. And that's what HE'S LIKE.
And sometimes it's tough. It's not easy being green. But remember this - even a DEAD FISH can swim with the tide.