The Last Resort
Today, we’re continuing our 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 in life. Sometimes we face situations beyond our control, and we need a savior to save us. But we often turn to things that aren’t a real savior; they’re a broken savior.
In today’s text we’ll learn the Israelites started turning to broken saviors too, instead of turning to God as their real savior. They started using God and only turning to God as a last resort when they desperately needed him. It’s like the old saying there aren’t any atheists in foxholes, but sometimes there aren’t any believers desperately seeking the Lord until they’re in a foxhole. Sometimes we treat God like he’s a spare tire. He’s in the trunk if we need him, but we’ll only pull him out to desperately seek him when life breaks down. In today’s text we’ll learn that God doesn’t want to be treated like a spare tire. He wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Judges Ch. 10 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning left, you’ll find the book of Judges. We’ll be in Judges Ch. 10:6-12:7, and the title of today’s message for those of you taking notes is The Last Resort. The big idea of the message is God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives...God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives...
Here’s your context. The book of Judges records the historical events that took place after the Israelites were freed from their Egyptian slavery and entered the Promised Land. They were supposed to live and be faithful to the Lord in the Promised Land, but instead they started being unfaithful to the Lord. They started going through a continual cycle of sin, suffering, and crying out to the Lord for salvation. So the Lord raises up some judges, some leaders to save them, but they’re all broken saviors, including Jephthah who we’re about to study now. As we study this text we’ll learn God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives. Let’s check it out.
Judges 10:6 states, “Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not worship him.” The same cycle we’ve seen throughout the book of Judges is happening again. The Israelites again did what was evil. They again abandoned the Lord and did not worship him. They start worshiping broken saviors, worshiping other gods instead of the Lord, and their sin leads to their suffering.
Vs. 7, “So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to the Philistines and the Ammonites. 8 They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for eighteen years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan…” Notice their sin leads to their suffering. They chose to worship broken saviors and other gods instead of the Lord, so they started suffering oppression from the Philistines and Ammonites for 18 yrs! The text says the Lord sold them to the Philistines and Ammonites, which means he allowed them to be enslaved by the broken saviors and gods they were worshiping. He doesn’t allow them to be enslaved forever; he allows them to be enslaved temporarily. He allows them and us to sometimes be enslaved and consumed by the things we’re worshiping, so we’ll realize they can’t save and satisfy us like him.
For example, if you worship sex, he’ll let you become so enslaved and consumed by sex, that you’ll never feel satisfied with sex...If you worship success, he’ll let you become so enslaved and consumed by success, that you’ll never feel satisfied with any level of success...If you worship money, he’ll let you become so enslaved and consumed by money, that you’ll never feel satisfied with any amount of money. Like the Israelites, the Lord sometimes allows us to be enslaved and consumed by the things we’re worshiping, so we’ll realize those things can’t save and satisfy us like him. Sometimes God lets us hit rock bottom, so we’ll finally realize he’s the solid rock we really need. It’s like the old hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!” In the words of C.S. Lewis, “Nearly all that we call human history, is the long and terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” We sometimes think that sex, success, money, the next business deal, the next promotion, the next bump in church attendance, and so many other things will make us happy, but they’ll eventually bring us slavery and misery. If we choose to worship those things more than God, they’ll eventually bring us slavery and misery like it did for the Israelites. The Israelites thought the broken saviors and gods they were worshiping would make them happy, but it brought them slavery and misery.
Vs. 9, “Israel was greatly oppressed! 10 So they cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.’ 11 The Lord said to the Israelites, ‘When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, 12 Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites, oppressed you, and you cried out to me, did I not deliver you from them? 13 But you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you’ve chosen. Let them deliver you whenever you’re oppressed.’” So they finally cried out to the Lord, but the Lord says I will not deliver you again. It’s because he knows they aren’t really sorry for their sins. He knows they don’t really want him, they want what he can do for them. They want to be able to keep enjoying their sin, while also treating God like a spare tire in case they need him. So God tells them to seek the other gods they’ve been worshiping to see if those gods can save them, which they can’t because they aren’t real gods. So what we’re learning here is God wants us to love him for who he is, not just for what he can do for us. Remember the big idea of the message is God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives. But we’re a lot more like the Israelites than we’d like to admit. We often treat God like he’s outside our daily events instead of at the center of them. When it comes to your life are you treating God as the Lord of your life, or are you treating God as the last resort in your life?...
Vs. 15, “But the Israelites said, ‘We have sinned. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today!’ 16 So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the Lord, and he became weary of Israel’s misery.” Notice the difference between vs. 10 and vs. 15. In vs. 10 they admit they sinned against God, but they don’t submit to him being Lord of their lives. In vs. 15 they admit they sinned against God, but this time they submit to him being Lord of their lives. They say, “Deal with us as you see fit!” They’re admitting their sin, but they’re also submitting to whatever the Lord decides to do with their lives. They’re still pleading for God to rescue them, but they’re submitting to God whether he rescues them or not. They’re essentially saying, “We want you to be our Lord, even if we keep suffering. We hope you’ll rescue us, but we still want you to be our Lord even if you don’t.” They’re finally worshiping God for who he is, instead of using God for what he can do. Tim Keller states, “If we say to God: I want you because I want you to give me X, then we reveal that X is our real god. When we say: I want you regardless of whether you give me X, Y, or Z, then we’re making the true God our God again.” The Israelites started making the true God their God again, and they started getting rid of all the broken saviors and false gods they were worshiping. They started showing that they wanted God to be the real Lord of their lives, not the last resort in their lives. So God has mercy on them and decides to rescue them through a rejected leader named Jephthah. In vs. 17-18 the Ammonites are preparing to attack the Israelites, which sets the stage for God to use rejected Jephthah as the next Judge to deliver them.
Ch. 11:1, “Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 2 Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, ‘You will have no inheritance in our father’s family, because you are the son of another woman.’ 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some worthless men joined Jephthah and went on raids with him.’” Okay so Jephthah was a valiant warrior. He was a guy who could scrap and throw down if he needed to. But he was also the son of a prostitute, which caused his half-brothers to reject him and drive him out of their home so he couldn’t receive any inheritance. This forced him to learn how to survive on his own. It says worthless men joined him, meaning outlaws, thieves, and thugs, and they went on raids with him. So Jephthah’s a leader, and these men are following him like a Narcos crime boss. The difference is he’s a raider, not a drug dealer. But God is about to use him as Israel’s next Judge and deliverer.
Vs. 5, “When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to him, ‘Come, be our commander, and let’s fight the Ammonites.’ 7 Jephthah replied, ‘Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s family? Why have you come to me now when you’re in trouble?’” What he’s saying is, “You rejected me, but now you want to use me as a last resort because you’re desperate. You don’t really want me, you want to use me when you’re in trouble.” It’s similar to how the Israelites treated God in Ch. 10, and it’s possibly why God uses Jephthah as the next Judge and deliver. Their rejection and desire to use him as a last resort should remind them not to reject and use God as a last resort again. In fact most scholars recognize that they chose Jephthah to be their Judge and deliver, instead of trusting God to be their deliver or seeking God’s counsel on who to appoint next. So they really turned Jephthah into their next broken savior, and in vs. 8-11 Jephthah agrees to help them. In vs. 12-28 he tries using diplomacy before using the sword. He sends a messenger to the Ammonite king, but the king rejects his message, forcing the Israelites to defend themselves with the sword.
Vs. 30, “Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: ‘If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me, 31 whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.” This is where Jephthah makes a mistake and why he’s considered a broken savior, not a real eternal savior like God. The mistake is with his vow to the Lord. It’s that he’s trying to make a deal with the Lord, thinking he can bargain with God. This tells us he’s adopted some pagan beliefs about God and how to relate to God. Remember in Ch. 10 the Israelites were worshiping all kinds of pagan gods, which means they were being taught they had to earn the favor of those pagan gods by making vows and offering sacrifices to them, including human sacrifices. This is exactly what Jephthah is doing here! He’s trying to earn God’s favor by making a vow and offering to sacrifice the first person who comes out of his home to greet him. He wants God to give him victory over the Ammonites, but he’s treating God like all the other pagan gods. He’s going to the right God, but he’s treating and viewing God in the wrong way. He’s treating and viewing God like the pagans.
Now in the rest of Ch. 11 we learn the Israelites defeat the Ammonites, and the first person to come out of Jephthah’s home to greet him is his daughter. He’s crushed because he remembers his vow. If he follows his pagan beliefs, then he’ll have to sacrifice his daughter. But if he follows his biblical beliefs, then he should follow what it says in Deuteronomy 18:9-10, “When you enter the land the Lord is giving you, don’t imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one is to sacrifice his son or daughter...” But what does Jephthah do? He follows the pagan beliefs, and sacrifices his daughter, because he thinks God will curse him if he doesn’t follow through with his vow. But that isn’t how the God of the bible works. We don’t have to make vows and promises to God, because it’s God who makes vows and promises to us. We don’t have to earn God’s grace, because it’s God who freely gives us his grace. The greatest example of this is Jesus on the cross! We don’t have to make sacrifices to earn God’s grace, because it’s God incarnate, Jesus in the flesh, who sacrificed himself on the cross to freely give us his grace. Jephthah’s going to the right God, but he isn’t walking in the grace of God. He’s living a sinful life, practicing pagan beliefs, which leads to the death of his daughter and the death of thousands of his own people in Ch. 12.
Ch. 12:1, “The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, ‘Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites but didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house with you in it!’” Now the fighting is coming from within, and Jephthah ends up fighting his own people. In vs. 2-7 he defeats the men of Ephraim, thousands of people die in the process, and he remains Israel’s Judge for another 6 years. All of this is a reminder that when we aren’t putting the Lord first in our lives, things will eventually fall apart in our lives, like it did for Israel and Jephthah. But I think there are 2 primary things we can learn from them.
#1 You need a better savior than your broken saviors. – You need a better savior than your broken saviors. Like the Israelites we all have broken saviors, things we turn to hoping they can give us joy, satisfaction, salvation from whatever struggles we’re going through in life. For the Israelites it was different pagan gods, but for us it’s different gods called our careers, success, money, sex, bourbon, recreational marijuana, and the list goes on. Those aren’t all bad things, but they become bad things when we turn them into god things. They become bad things when we think they’re a better savior than the real savior Jesus. A continual theme in the book of Judges is that everyone and everything we turn to will eventually prove to be a broken savior except for God. So we need to put away our broken saviors like the Israelites did in Ch. 10, and turn to God as our real savior. We need to turn to Jesus as our real savior, because he’s the only God who lived, died, and rose again to prove he’s a resurrecting savior, not a broken savior. We need a better savior than our broken saviors, and Jesus is that better savior who can resurrect our broken lives.
#2 God doesn’t want your vows and deals; he wants your devotion. – God doesn’t want your vows and deals; he wants your love and devotion. He wants you to love him and to remain devoted to seeking him as the Lord of your life, instead of seeking to use him or manipulate him to get what you want in life. Many people think they can earn God’s grace and favor for their lives by making vows and deals, or by doing good deeds. They say things like, “Lord if you help me make more money, I’ll give more in the offering basket...If you help me with this issue I’m dealing with, I’ll start going to church more...If you don’t expose my sin to my spouse or others, I’ll stop sinning in that area of my life...” People doing things like that aren’t really seeking the Lord; they’re seeking to use or manipulate the Lord to get what they want. What we learned in this text is you can seek him as the Lord of your life, but you can’t use him or manipulate him to get what you want in life. God doesn’t want your vows and deals; he wants your love and devotion.
The big idea of the message is God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives...God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives...If you’re a skeptic, you’ve been turning to other things to save you, transform you, give you satisfaction and purpose in life, but it’s all been broken saviors. Instead of repeating that same cycle like the Israelites, turn to Jesus as your real savior today. Put your faith in him, make him the Lord and Savior of your life, not the last resort in your life. If you’re a believer, what areas in your life are you still treating Jesus like he’s your butler instead of your savior?...What areas in your life are you still treating Jesus like he’s your spare tire, instead of your Lord and Savior?...In the words of A.W. Tozer, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress, is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and we’re interfering with God’s work within us.” We’re still trying to give orders like we’re the Lord of our lives. But if we want to enjoy God’s rescue, then we need to accept his rule. We need to seek Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives, instead of only seeking him as the last resort in our lives...