Today we turn to the Book of Judges. This marked a major turning point in the history of Israel. Chapters 1-2 sound a great deal like the Book of Joshua. The people of Israel continued to take the Promised Land by force, defeating the indigenous people, but we see trouble brewing. In most of the battles the Israelites left some of the people. They were unable to drive them out totally. This became more and more prevalent as we move from chapter 1 to chapter 2. Chapter 2 records the death of Joshua once again, and tells us Israel remained faithful to God for as long as the people who knew Joshua remained alive. The statement seems to have a sense of foreboding, and indeed it does.
When that generation died, chapter 3 tells us a new generation arose who didn’t remember Joshua, or the works of the Lord. They quickly rebelled against God and started following after the Baals and Ashteroths and the other gods of the indigenous people. They did precisely what God commanded them not to do. He had warned them the consequence of such disobedience would be He would turn them over to the peoples of the land. That is precisely what the LORD did. As we read chapter 3, we read the first several of many “cycles” of events that went like this: 1) the people abandoned the LORD and went “whoring” after other gods. (This label that equates the people’s sinning with other gods with sexual immorality is found throughout the Old Testament. God considered the people of Israel His “bride,” just as Jesus considers the Church His “bride.” That makes the language of sexual immorality apropos for the situation.) 2) God turns the people over to slavery to the very people they had defeated during the days of Joshua. 3) After years or decades the people of Israel cried out to God for deliverance. 4) The LORD provides a deliverer a “judge” to redeem them–that is to set them free. 5) During the life of the “judge” and for years or decades thereafter the people had peace and followed the Lord. 6) The people abandoned the LORD… which started a new cycle.
The reason I put the word “judge” in quotation marks is these leaders were not judges as we think of judges. They were charismatic leaders, gifted by the LORD to lead the people of Israel to overcome their enemies. Some are mentioned by name such as Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar in chapter 3. Others are not named. As we read through Judges we will see this cycle repeat over and over. We might ask ourselves, “Why didn’t they ever get it? Why did they keep turning away from God? Why didn’t they remain faithful to Him? But then, if we’re honest, we need to ask ourselves the very same questions. Why don’t we ever get it? Why do we keep turning away from God? Fallen human nature is sinful. Even after we’re redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we still struggle with the flesh, so it’s no wonder the Israelites who lives so long before the coming of Jesus struggled, and failed so often.
As we return to John 12, let’s focus on one particular verse, because it sums up the entire chapter. It is John 12:24: Jesus said, 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 (ESV) Jesus’ words applied to Him and they apply to us. Jesus death which was coming in less than a week from the moment He made this statement, would bring “much fruit.” Millions of people have been saved from sin and death, through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Millions more will be, if Jesus tarries in His return.
But what does it have to do with us? For us to bear fruit, we must “die” to ourselves. We must put our sinful nature to death daily, and live in the newness and power of the Holy Spirit. If we fail to do that, we will continue to be nonproductive. I have heard many people say Jesus doesn’t call us to be fruitful. He calls us to be faithful. The truth is Jesus calls us to be faithful and in so doing we will be fruitful! When we faithfully die to ourselves, pick up our crosses daily and follow Jesus, the result will be fruit. The fruit will come in the form of our own spiritual maturity, and in others trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord through our witness. This is a hard teaching. No one wants to “die,” literally or figuratively. But it’s the only way to be reborn, and to produce abundant fruit for Jesus and His Kingdom!