Sermon Notes – Jan 8th, 2023
Introduction to Judges
January 8, 2023
Pastor Val @ Renewal
Our era can be characterized by the phrase which sums up the book of Judges: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, ESV).
Judges can be described as “__________ people doing deplorable things” and as “__________ tales about dysfunctional characters.”
Judges Main Themes
- God ___________ offers his grace to people who do not deserve it, or seek it, or even appreciate it after they have been saved by it.
- God wants ____________ over every area of our lives, not just some.
- There is a _____________ between grace and law, between conditionality and unconditionality. We find in Judges a seeming contradiction.
- There is a need for continual spiritual ___________ in our lives here on earth, and a way to make that a reality.
- We need a _________ Savior, to which all human saviors point, through both their flaws and strengths.
- God is in _________, no matter what it looks like.
Judges means
- To ___________ or Save eventually included adjudicating legal disputes (not their primary task)
- People who judged or ________ a tribe or a group of tribes
- _____________ or saviors of their people
- Instigators, catalysts, or stimuli of change against Israel’s enemies
- Purpose was NOT judicial but rather _________________.
Authorship & Date
Main author may have been ___________ or an associate of Samuel’s.
The author lived and wrote probably during the early _____________________.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the Book of Judges is to show that Israel’s ______________ condition determined its political and material situation.
Chronology
The period of the judges began with the death of Joshua and ended with the coronation of Saul (i.e., the beginning of the monarchy). The actual time was probably a little over _________ years!
The Cycles Section
The major/cyclical judge cycle is composed of the following basic components:
1. Israel does evil in the eyes of Yahweh.
2. Yahweh gives/sells them into the hands of oppressors.
3. Israel serves the oppressor for x years.
4. Israel cries out to Yahweh.
5. Yahweh raises up a deliverer (i.e., judge).
6. The Spirit of Yahweh is upon the deliverer.
7. The oppressor is subdued (reversal of component 2).
8. The land has “rest” for x years.
Basic Principles of Application & Interpretation.
(1) Every book of the Bible must fall within the overall arc of God’s ____________ story. The historical, and literary context of this book must be fully understood and appreciated before any application can be employed.
(2) Furthermore, to fail to put the individual cyclical (“major”) judge narratives into their larger context and the overall __________ of God’s Storyline within the cycles section of the book endangers the proper understanding of the particular cyclical judge narrative
(3) Another danger to avoid is the common fallacy of _______________ the message of the Old Testament.
(4) We don’t believe idolatry is ___________ and well in Modern Society.
(5) There is a misunderstanding of the nature and especially the ________of ancient Baal and Asherah worship.
(6) There is an unawareness that at the heart of idolatry is the concept of __________.
The apostasy of the Israelites in their worship of Yahweh finds particular relevance to the modern problems of materialism, hedonism, and narcissism.
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