Fruitful & Faithful
Today we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the Bible called Judges. We’re calling this series Broken Saviors, and it’s about how everybody needs a savior at some point. Sometimes things happen in life that are beyond our control, and we need a savior to help us. So the question isn’t do we need a savior, since everybody needs a savior at some point. Instead the question is, will the savior we turn to be a true savior or a broken savior?
Now what we’re talking about specifically today, is being fruitful. We’re talking about being fruitful, which is something everybody wants in life. We want our marriages to be fruitful, we want our families to be fruitful, we want our careers, businesses, and ministries to be fruitful. We don’t want our lives to be fruitless; we want them to be fruitful, to be prosperous, which is exactly what God wants for us! He wants our lives to be fruitful, but he also wants us to be faithful! Today’s text is going to teach us that God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, so let’s turn to Judges chapter 1 and get into it. If you’re new to the Bible, just open your Bible to the middle and keep turning left until you find the book of Judges. We’ll be in Judges Ch. 1-2, and for those of you taking notes, the title of the message is Fruitful and Faithful. The big idea of the message is God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, but he’ll sometimes pause the fruit to grow our faith... God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, but he’ll sometimes pause the fruit to grow our faith...
Here’s your context. The book of Judges records some historical events that took place after Israel entered the promised land. God used Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, and he promised each of the 12 tribes of Israel different territories to live and reflect God in those territories After Moses freed them from Egyptian slavery and led them through the desert, his apprentice Joshua led them into the promised land where God wanted them to be fruitful and faithful. But in ch’s 1-2 we’ll see they tried to be fruitful, without being faithful. Let’s check it out.
Judges 1:1 states, “After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, ‘Who will be the first to fight for us against the Canaanites?’” When the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land, there were two primary people groups in that region, and the Canaanites were one of them. They very hostile people, who engaged in things like child sacrifices. They worshipped other gods and goddesses like Anath, the goddess of war and sex. She was once described as, “Wading in blood up to her neck, washing her hands in human gore, and all with a heart of joy!” They also worshipped a god named Moloch, who historians have described as: “The image of a human figure with a bull’s head, and outstretched arms ready to receive children destined for sacrifice. The image of metal was heated red hot by fire, and the children would lay on its arms rolling off into the fiery pit below. To drown the cries of the victims, flutes were played and drums were beaten; as their mothers stood by without tears or sobs, to give the impression of the voluntary character of their offering.” The Canaanites were very hostile people, and God wanted the Israelites to drive them out of the land because of their sinful hostility. So they’re asking God which tribe to send.
Vs. 2, “The Lord answered, ‘Judah is to go. I have handed the land over to him.’ 3 Judah said to his brother Simeon, ‘Come with me to my allotted territory to fight against the Canaanites, and I will also go with you to your allotted territory.’ So Simeon went with him.” What’s happening is God says the tribe of Judah is to go, but Judah flinches. Maybe it’s because of how vicious the Canaanites were, or maybe they were outnumbered. We don’t know why, we just know Judah flinches, and he asks his brother Simeon to go with him. God said the tribe of Judah is to go, but now it’s the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon that’s going. They’re being strategic militarily, but they’re being unfaithful spiritually. They aren’t trusting that God can give Judah the victory. They think they know what’s best, instead of doing what God said was best. Isn’t this what we do? Don’t we sometimes think we know what’s best, instead of doing what God’s word says is best? God wants them to be fruitful and faithful, but they’re trying to be fruitful without being faithful.
Vs. 4, “When Judah attacked, the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They struck down ten thousand men in Bezek...6 When Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adoni-bezek said, ‘Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. God has repaid me for what I’ve done.’” God graciously lets them be fruitful militarily, even though they were being unfaithful spiritually. God kept his word that Judah would have victory, even though they didn’t fully trust his word. When they catch the king, when they catch Adoni-Bezek, they cut off his thumbs and big toes, which is something they did to prevent their enemies from picking up weapons to fight again in the future. Some skeptics think God was being cruel for letting the Israelites do this to him. But it’s the Canaanites who were cruel for sacrificing babies, and for cutting off the thumbs and big toes of 70 other kings like Adoni-Bezek admits. Even the defeated king admits God’s being fair in paying him back for the things he’d done. So God judged the Canaanites fairly, but he also graciously allowed Israel to be fruitful militarily. In vs 8-18 God graciously allows them to be fruitful in defeating more Canaanites in other cities, but he’s about to pause their fruitfulness.
Vs. 19, “The Lord was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they couldn’t drive out the people who were living in the plain, because those people had iron chariots.” Notice God pauses their fruitfulness. The text says the Lord was still with Judah, but God hits the pause button on their fruitfulness so that they couldn’t drive out the people with the iron chariots. The issue isn’t that the iron chariots are too strong; it’s that Judah’s faith in God’s strength is too weak. They didn’t believe God could give them victory over the Canaanites without Simeon, and they didn’t believe God could give them victory here because of the iron chariots. In fact a lot of scholars say the mentioning of the iron chariots is their attempt to cover up their lack of faith. So the issue isn’t that the iron chariots are too strong, it’s that Judah’s faith in God is again too weak. What are some of the areas in your life where you’re doing this? What are some of the areas in your life where you’re doubting God’s strength? You can say you believe God’s strong, but do you faithfully believe that when you’re in a battle? Tim Keller states, “It isn’t our lack of strength that prevents us from enjoying God’s blessings...it’s our lack of faith in God’s strength.” Judah didn’t trust God’s strength in the battle. So God’s pausing Judah’s fruitfulness, because he wants them to be both fruitful and faithful. He’s about to do the same with other Israeli tribes.
Vs. 21, “At the same time, the Benjaminites didn’t drive out the Jebusites in Jerusalem…28 At that time, Manasseh failed to take possession of surrounding villages…29 At that time, Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer...30 Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol...31 Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, and other areas…33 Naphtali didn’t drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.” Their fruitfulness has definitely declined, and it’s because of their continual unfaithfulness. The text repeatedly says they didn’t drive out their enemies, or they failed to drive out their enemies. God is pausing their fruitfulness, because they’re still being unfaithful. In fact they even start putting their enemies into forced labor, which isn’t something God told them to do. These battles weren’t about forced labor and ethnic cleansing. They were about a spiritual cleansing where God was punishing sin, while also offering salvation to anyone who put their faith in him like the Canaanite prostitute Rahab did. But the Israelites are putting people into forced labor, which isn’t something God told them to do. They’re being unfaithful and they’re becoming just like their enemies! They’re becoming just like the Egyptians their ancestors fled from in the desert! Their ancestors would’ve never dreamed their grandchildren would’ve turn the promised land into a land of enslavement like the Egyptians. This isn’t what they wanted or what God wanted! So God pauses their fruitfulness, and in ch. 2 he disciplines them for being unfaithful.
Ch. 2:1, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I promised to your ancestors. I said I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You’re not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land, and you’re to tear down their altars. But you haven’t obeyed me...3 Therefore, I will not drive out these people. They’ll be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.’” God is disciplining them for being unfaithful with several different things. They were unfaithful when Judah asked Simeon to join the fight. They were unfaithful when they put their enemies into forced labor. They were unfaithful when they started making covenants with the Canaanites, and when they let Canaanite altars remain so people could make sacrifices to their blood thirsty gods and goddesses. God told them not to do those things, but they did them anyway, and God’s disciplining them for being unfaithful. So God pauses their fruitfulness and tells them he won’t drive out the Canaanites from the Promised Land. Instead of driving out the Canaanites, they become a thorn of constant warfare, and their gods become a stumbling trap for the Israelites faith.
Vs. 11, “The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals 12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt...” Vs. 15, “Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly...” Vs. 18, “The Lord was moved to pity, whenever they groaned, because of those oppressing and afflicting them.” So Israel continued to be unfaithful to the Lord, they started worshiping other gods, and as a result they suffered greatly. But vs. 18 says the Lord was moved to pity, and vs. 16 says God raised up judges to help save Israel. He raised up judges, different leaders to help save Israel. But as we study the book of Judges, we’ll learn that these judges end up being...Broken Saviors...They end up being broken saviors, and many of them end up being unfaithful to the Lord just like the Israelites. It’s because what they need and what we need is to rely on God as our Savior. We need to rely on Jesus as our Savior, instead of relying on ourselves or any other broken human saviors. Our need for relying on Jesus instead of on broken human saviors, will be a major theme in the book of Judges. In fact there are 3 major themes, 3 major truths we’ll learn as we study the book of Judges.
#1 God remains faithful, even when we’re unfaithful. - God remains faithful and keeps his promises to us, even when we’re unfaithful and break our promises to him. In Ch.’s 1-2 and the rest of Judges we’ll see a constant tension between God promising to remain faithful to his people, but they keep being unfaithful to him. He can’t break his promises to them, because that would make God a liar. But he also can’t bless them with fruitfulness if they’re being unfaithful, because that would make God unholy and unjust for letting them get away with whatever they want. So will his promises override his commands, or will his commands override his promises? In today’s text we learn he upholds both his promises and his commands. He remains faithful to his promises, but also pauses their fruitfulness for being disobedient to his commands. So God remains faithful, even when we’re unfaithful. But he’ll pause our fruitfulness if we’re being disobedient to his commands. He’ll pause our fruitfulness, so we’ll repent and turn back to him.
#2 God is willing to be Lord of our life, not replaced in our life. - God is willing to be Lord of our life, not replaced in our life like the Israelites were doing. As we study Judges, we’ll learn things fall apart whenever the Israelites try to replace God in their lives. Things fall apart whenever they let something else to sit on the throne of their hearts instead of God. In Matthew 6 Jesus said you can’t serve two masters. You’ll love one, but not the other. You’ll be devoted to one, but not the other. Things fall apart for the Israelites and for us, when we love and devote our lives to two masters. They fall apart when we let something else sit on the throne of our hearts instead of God. He’s willing to be Lord of our life, but he isn’t willing to be replaced in our life.
#3 God is willing to be a Real Savior in our life, not a Broken Savior - God is willing to be a real savior in our life, not a broken savior. As we study Judges, we’ll learn there are only a few good Judges, such as Othniel and Deborah. But they’re only temporary Judges, temporary saviors, because they eventually die and leave Israel searching for more saviors again. Jesus is the only one who rose again to prove he’s an eternal Real Savior, not a temporary broken savior. When all the other temporary broken saviors are failing your life, he's the only eternal Real Savior who can continually save your life. He offers eternal forgiveness, eternal restoration, eternal salvation, and eternal fruitfulness in heaven through faith in him. So if you’re a skeptic, put your faith in him today, and you’ll have eternal forgiveness, salvation, restoration, and fruitfulness in heaven with him. You’ll have a Real Savior, not a Broken Savior. If you’re a believer, he’s willing to be a Real Savior in your daily life, not just in your eternal life. If you believe he can take care of your sin problems on the cross, then shouldn’t you also believe he can take care of your daily problems in life?...If you believe in him for your eternal life, then shouldn’t you also believe in him for your daily life?...If you can trust him as a Real Savior for your eternal life, then trust him as a Real Savior for your daily life. Trust he’s a Real Savior, not a Broken Savior.
The big idea of the message is that God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, but he’ll sometimes pause the fruit to grow our faith...In ch.’s 1-2 we learn God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, but he’ll sometimes pause our fruit to grow our faith...Which of these two are you pursuing more, is it fruitfulness or faithfulness?...Which are you pursuing more, is it fruitfulness in life, or faithfulness in God?...Like the Israelites, most of us are probably pursuing fruitfulness in life more than faithfulness in God. But God cares more about our faithfulness than our fruitfulness. God wants us to be both fruitful and faithful, but he cares more about our faithfulness than our fruitfulness. In the words of Mother Teresa, “God hasn’t called me to be successful; he’s called me to be faithful.” What would it look like for you to be more focused on faithfulness than fruitfulness?...What would it look like for you to live a life, that’s both fruitful and faithful to God?
Like I said in the intro, everybody wants to be fruitful in life. We want our marriages, families, careers, ministries, and other areas in our lives to be fruitful. God wants us to be fruitful in those things, but he also wants us to be faithful. So he’ll sometimes pause our fruit to refine our faith. He’ll sometimes let us experience pauses, delayed progress, and hardships, to turn our hearts away from the sins, idols, gods sitting on the throne in our hearts. He’ll sometimes let us experience pauses, so we’ll turn away from our Broken Saviors, and turn to Jesus as our Real Savior.
Communion is a reminder that Jesus is our Real Savior who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, so we can enjoy a fruitful relationship with him. It’s a fruitful eternal relationship with him, for anyone who puts their faith in him. If you don’t believe he died for your sins on the cross, if you haven’t put your faith in him, then please refrain from participating in communion so you don’t go through the motions of this. Instead use this time to reflect on the message and consider putting your faith in Jesus so you can have a fruitful eternal relationship with him too...If you’ve already put your faith in Jesus, we have three stations set up, and in a few minutes I’ll invite you to come forward to the station closest to you. If you have a gluten allergy the table in the back has gluten free bread. When you come forward we’ll give you a piece of bread as a symbol of the body of Christ broken for your sins, and you’ll dip it in the cup of juice as a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for your sins. After that you can eat, drink, and head back to your seat to pray before we close in worship. If you’re helping with Communion you can start heading to your stations, as we prepare to remember and receive the good news of Jesus again.
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, and gave thanks for it saying “This is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done.” Respond to this good news by remembering and receiving. Remember what he did for you on the cross, and receive the joyful fruit of his grace for your life again. Come as you feel led...