Grace International Baptist (5 Jan 2025).
Recently, Taylor Swift ended her Eras tour in Vancouver with 3 concerts. Today, I’d like to do an Eras tour of my own but this will not be a rock concert. In human history, we have seasons, eras and epochs. The eras I have in mind are biblical eras and in the OT, we have the era of slavery in Egypt; we have the era of 40 years in the desert wilderness; then the era of settling in Canaan; and I want to land on the era: the era of Judges.
Judges describes that time just before the rise of the monarchy with the first king, Saul. This in-between period in the history of Israel is known as the period of Judges. These judges did more than dispense justice but also gave spiritual as well as political leadership. For today, I want to speak on:
2.1. The Warnings
Israel was in transition and that usually happens with the passing of a great leader. Much earlier, we witness that passing of the torch from Moses to Joshua and it is Joshua who leads them across the Jordan. The Jordan is unlike the Red Sea. It is narrow but like the Red Sea, the crossing marks the symbolic passing from one era to another; and here, it is from wanderings in the dessert to the arrival of a new home. Joshua brings them over and settles them, each tribe to its allotted land. This is the blessing: Yahweh uses a leader and provides for them. Joshua lives to 110 years and before death he gathers the tribes to Shechem and speaks to the elders.
He reminds that of the blessings that Yahweh bestowed on them:
“Not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God has promised concerning you” (Josh 23:14).
The Lord used Joshua to guide them, to fight their battles, and after settling them to use him to apportion the land. If he provided for them during the 40 years in the desert, he will provide and prosper them in their new home But, there also comes a warning:
“If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.”24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day….at Shechem.” (Josh 24:20-25)
It is a transition of history as the nation is led by Judges. It was not Yahweh’s intention to have Israel ruled by kings because he knew that when humans are elevated to positions of absolute power, they tend to abuse their powers and enslave their people. The last significant judge of Israel was Samuel but his people were dishonest and took bribes and the people began asking for a king. Before he died, Samuel warned the people about the abuses of power that a king would inflict: he will take your sons and you shall be his slaves, take your daughters and the best of your fields. And you shall cry out! (1 Sam 8: 18). In other words, by their own rebellion, they inflict harm or a curse on themselves.
2.2. The Seriousness of Covenant: I chose this excerpt from the OT on this first Sunday in 2025 to highlight the seriousness of entering into a covenantal relationship with Yahweh. The people are given a choice, they are not pressured into the covenant. We have also to remember that Yahweh is a jealous God who takes covenant seriously and who expects his people to be serious in rejecting the gods of the land. These gods will be a snare and temptation. Don’t the words of Joshua resound in our ears even today: put away the gods of the land and incline your heart to Yahweh. Decades earlier, before they crossed the Jordan, Yahweh promised him:
“Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” (Josh 1:5-7)
Joshua goes down in history as being faithful and who didn’t deviate to the temptations and distractions that came from all directions. What are some of the curses that came?