The Danger of Deceiving God • 03.13.22
Nick Lees   -   March 13, 2022

The Danger of Deceiving God

Judges 10-11:11

Understand the consequences of unrepentant sin

  1. You can exasperate God
  2. You will do irrational things
  3. You will propagate anarchy

Today we’re picking back up in Judges 10 after the madness of Abimelech’s rule and reign in Israel. Last week, we heard how Abimelech manipulated his way into being the leader of the tribe of West Manasseh. Once he obtained power, he ruthlessly murdered his half-brothers to solidify his position. His time in power was a short-lived 3 years, yet it was filled with conflict and bloodshed. And what was especially nefarious about this conflict is that it was not with enemies of Israel but other Israelites! This was a particularly dark turn in the nation of Israel, and we’ll see today that this inter-tribal turmoil is not over yet. Things will continue to get harder as they continue to reject God.

Let’s dive into our text starting in chapter 10.

Judges 10:1–5 (ESV)

After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Let’s pause here briefly. These two judges are a welcome reprieve from the inter-tribal warfare from Gideon and Abimelech’s days. Tola and Jair are what are known as “off-cycle” judges because we do not see the cycle of judges in the recounting of their days as judge. You may recall we heard about another such judge named Shamgar back in chapter 3. There was a whole ONE verse devoted to his deliverance of the people from the Philistines. Now we have TWO verses for each of these judges. There is just enough information to make you question their effectiveness as judges…

For Tola, he is a man of Issachar (tribe of Israel) but he lives and is buried with another tribe. He judged for 23 years and nothing of note was recorded about his time as judge. No major victories or deliverances are mentioned.

The recounting of Jair highlights his massive family (30 sons), who rode on 30 donkeys (a sign of prestige/prosperity) and had 30 cities (showing the accumulation of power/wealth). It appears this judge was concerned about his own wellbeing while very little is said about how the nation faired under his judgeship… The author of this book did not record anything positive about either man.

Well, let’s keep reading to see what happens next. These next verses give you some powerful clues about the ongoing spiritual state of Israel.

Judges 10:6–9 (ESV)

6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. 7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

Let’s pause here and consider what we just heard. Some important context is being given to our study. It is the start of yet another downward cycle within Judges. The people are turning back to evil! But this time, the author is drawing attention to how complete their evil and idolatry has become. Let’s count how many false Gods they’re worshiping in verse 6…. He lists SEVEN different sets of gods that they are worshiping. You may think, “what’s the big deal about seven?”

Seven is known as the number of completion in the Bible. Seven is frequently used to communicate a wholeness or completeness to whatever is being referenced. An example would be the seven days of Creation in Genesis 1-2. Unlike the good completion of Creation, in this case, it is referencing a completeness to Israel’s evil. They were wholly given over to it. They were whoring themselves out with any and every false god from the nations around them, even though these same nations were ruthlessly oppressing them! They have forsaken God in a very complete and intentional manner.

The author wants you to understand that there is no question about whom they DO NOT serve. They DO NOT serve Yahweh! That helps you understand Yahweh’s response – he turns them over to the Philistines and Ammonites. And so begins another 18 years of oppression.

This narrative is going to focus on the Ammonite occupation, but eventually we’ll get to the Philistines when Samson is introduced. Let’s look at a map here (MAP – Jephthah vs Ammonites) and get our bearings in the land. It’s important to remember that this is real world history, not some made-up story. The Ammonites are real people conquering another real people (Israel) who have gone astray from worshiping the very real God (Yahweh) who has created everything. The Ammonites come from the East and you can see they are conquering Judah/Benjamin/Ephraim, and Gilead. Can someone tell me how verse 9 ended? What was Israel’s condition? “They were severely distressed.” Does that ring any bells? How about from back in Judges 2:15 when we were first introduced to the awful cycle of Judges? The fruit or result of rejecting the One, True God and pursuing sin is severe distress! That’s a reality we keep coming up against and will continue to hear about in this book. You must understand it. The fruit of rejecting God and pursuing sin is ALWAYS bad!

Let’s keep reading and see how things progress.

Judges 10:10–16 (ESV)

10 And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

Man, this sounded so promising… for a moment. For the first time in the entire book, the Israelites have used the word sin to describe their conduct! They appear to be admitting that they have missed the mark of God’s holiness and operated in a way that was not pleasing to him. Surely that is a good thing, right?! Well, how does the Lord respond? There is a 7-fold repetition of the people whom God has saved them from… This is meant to drive home the completeness of God’s salvation in the past… God had not abandoned or forsaken them, he had time and time again rescued them from their sin and its consequences. But then we hear God’s ominous words in verses 13-14…

13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”

They completely rejected God’s salvation! And their rejection has consequences! He is now turning them over to their idols. He will not allow them to continue to try to manipulate or deceive him into rescuing them just to return to their evil ways. Instead, he tells them to cry out to their idols for salvation!

Israel’s response is interesting. It’s almost as if they KNOW that these idols cannot save them… Almost as if the KNOW that only Yahweh can deliver…

15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

What they’re doing is trying to force God’s hand by finally obeying the commands he gave them long ago! What do you make of that?! Put yourself in this situation. Imagine someone has repeatedly sinned against you, not just for days or weeks but for years (decades even), and one day, after you call them out on it yet again, they act like it’s no big deal and change their behavior for a little while to be more acceptable and earn your favor/trust again! That’s what Israel is trying to do with God. They are minimizing their sin and trying to deceive God into treating them favorably again. Which is why our sermon is titled – “The Danger of Deceiving God” – not because you CAN deceive God, but rather that it is dangerous to even attempt to do it! He sees right through the deception and knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows Israel is unrepentant in their sin and that they are simply trying to escape the consequences of their actions. In fact, we’re going to see the immediate consequences of their sin in the narrative that follows. Before we keep reading, let’s process what we’ve already studied.

In the time we have remaining today, we’re going to spend our time seeking to…

Understand the consequences of unrepentant sin

Let’s make sure we understand the term repentance.

Repentance – a change of heart/mind that leads to a change of life. It’s speaking of a conviction of the inner man/woman that leads to authentic changes in the outer man/woman. So, when we talk about unrepentant sin – we’re talking about the opposite of repentance. Instead of a change of heart/mind that leads to a change of life now we’re looking at…

Unrepentance – a hardening of heart/mind that leads to further pursuit of sin.

If we think through the trajectories of these two lifestyles. A repentant man/woman is on the trajectory of turning away from sin and pursuing the Lord. They don’t always do it perfectly, but that’s the general bent of their life. An unrepentant man/woman is on the trajectory of turning away from God and pursuing sin. It would be wise for each one of us to consider which trajectory we are on!

As we’ve seen, in the time of the judges, Israel has abandoned the Lord in pursuit of their sin. Repeatedly. And they are unrepentant. Which means they have an increasingly hardened heart that leads them to further pursuit of sin. This is a bad trajectory to be on with some really hard consequences…

Let’s move into a discussion of three consequences of unrepentant sin. The first comes from verses 10-16…

  1. You can exasperate God

Look again at verse 16 with me.

16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

The end of the verse records that God became impatient. The literal phrasing of this is “and his soul was short with the trouble of Israel.” When the Old Testament talks about God’s patience and slowness to anger it literally says he is “long in soul or long in the face”, so to be “short in soul” means he’s angry. With what? “The trouble/misery of Israel”.

The trouble or misery of Israel is an ambiguous phrase. Is it the trouble that Israel is causing God or the trouble they’ve gotten themselves into? It’s hard to say with certainty. What is clear from the way God interacts with Israel in this passage is that he is exasperated.

Exasperate – irritate intensely

By their repeated turning to evil and false cries for help, all the while avoiding true repentance, Israel has exasperated God. They have repeatedly treated him like some magic genie whom they can call upon whenever they need to get out of trouble. And, in fact, he did save them repeatedly! That was his testimony to them in verses 11-12! He saved them from the Egyptians, from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines. *Deep breath* And from the Sidonians, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites. In reality, this was a small subset of the times God had saved them, but the author was driving home the point with seven.

God was consistent in his physical deliverance of Israel, over and over and over and over and over again. You get the point… And yet how did they respond each time? Listen to God’s own charge against them in verse 13 –

13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods…

After being saved, they went right back to their evil and idolatry. Their ruling desires are revealed when they’re free from oppression. They want SIN! They want IDOLS! What they don’t want is to worship and submit to Yahweh!

Does this ring any alarm bells for us today?! It should. Israel’s patterns are the same patterns of our own hearts today. Are there ways you’re doing “what seems right in your own eyes” until the consequences get too hard, and then you cry out to the Lord?

I’ve seen this play out in many ways during my time in ministry.

  • Turning to the party scene/alcohol, or pornography or sex outside of marriage, or video games… pursuing pleasure or escape from reality… and then coming to church asking God to bless their efforts in life/school/etc., or to help them not fall apart under the weight of it all…
  • MEDIA OVERLOAD – obsessively consuming news/media and wondering why they struggle with anger/lust/discontentment and why it feels like God is distant.
  • SELFISHNESS – putting self first and pursuing our desires then wondering why our relationships with others are strained… praying and asking God to give us a happy marriage/closeness to kids/friends
    • KIDS THIS IS FOR YOU TOO! à using your time to do whatever you want – playing games, watching shows – but then you get easily angered and feel distant from your parents/siblings…
  • PARENTING – out of anger, failing to intentionally disciple, then crying out to God when our children respond poorly…
  • THOUGHT LIFE – indulging in bitterness, lust, worry, anger, or other kinds of lies and it spirals to a dark place…

Here’s the deal… God cannot be deceived. He made us. He knows us. He knows what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

You cannot hide sin from God and then cry out to him and expect him to be ok with that! He desires a heart that worships him alone. This is why we need a Savior! Ultimately, that’s what Israel needs as well… On our own, we will not repent and worship God alone… We see that with Israel…

So, God turned them over to their idols. He let them experience the bad fruit that comes from forsaking the One, True God. They are about to reap the consequences of their unrepentant sin. *Pause*

So, there is a real danger to unrepentant sin – exasperating God and being turned over to your idols – but that’s not the only consequence. A second consequence is…

  1. You will do irrational things

Like manipulating God to get deliverance! That is irrational.

Irrational – not logical or reasonable

They are acting in a way that doesn’t correspond to logic or reality. God knows all things and cannot be deceived yet they try to deceive him anyways…

I chose not to put this as the bulletin blank, but to put it plainly – “Sin makes you foolish.” You do not think clearly or act wisely when you are living in sin. God tells us why in his word…

Listen to Psalm 115:

Psalm 115:4–8 (ESV)

  4     Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

  5     They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

  6     They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

  7     They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

  8     Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

Repeatedly in Scripture we see descriptors of idols as blind, deaf, and dumb… Meaning they can’t see, hear, or speak. They are unable to do anything! And then we are told, those who make them become like them… When we are living in unrepentant sin, chasing after our idols (not necessarily physical), we become blind/deaf/dumb too. Our senses are dulled, and we make decisions that are irrational/foolish/unwise and often sinful.

This is what leads a man worshiping alcohol to think it’s a good idea to get behind the wheel of a car… Or a woman who desires the attention of others to share a little more gossip… Or a parent who just wants a little peace & quiet to yell at their kids… Or teenage Nick who worshiped entertainment/ease to play one more round of video games before his mom wakes up for work… You get the idea!

Unrepentant sin (idol worship) and the irrationality that follows is what leads Israel to try to manipulate/deceive God to get their deliverance. It’s ALSO what leads them to try to manipulate Jephthah as the vehicle for that deliverance. OH WAIT, you haven’t met Jephthah yet… Let me introduce you to Jephthah…

Judges 10:17–11:11 (ESV)

17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.

This is an interesting introduction for Jephthah. The leaders of Gilead (one of the 12 tribes of Israel) had just posed the question “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” This is setting us up for meeting our man! He is a mighty warrior who will earn the headship of the tribe.

But Jephthah’s story quickly becomes complex! He is the son of a prostitute and his half-brothers run him out of the family! They formally disinherit him from the entire clan. They have denied him any part in their family and inheritance, and he is forced to flee to another land. And what happens when he gets to Tob? Worthless men gather around him… A bad sign…

Now, the question from 10:18 is setting the scene for the conundrum that the tribe of Gilead gets into by verse 11:4-5. They need a mighty warrior to deliver them, but apparently, they’ve exiled the only one available to them! So, they go to get him.

“Hey man, I know we ran you out of town, took away your family and your inheritance, forced you to scrap by for a living… but could you do me a solid and help me out here?”

They are acting irrationally! They are going to recruit the very man they’ve treated so badly. And sure enough, Jephthah throws that in their face when they ask him to be leader over them.

Judges 11:6–7 (ESV)

6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”

Who in their right mind would think it was logical to come to HIM of all people to ask for help!?

Sinners who are stuck in their own selfishness, that’s who! And, though you may not realize it, they’re playing games with him even now. Notice in verse 6 they ask him to be their “leader”, but back in 10:18 they promised that whoever delivered them would be their “head”. This is a change in title and role. Leader is akin to a military commander, but head was a political and cultural leader. To be the head had a lot more influence and power than a mere leader of the military. They’re trying to play games with Jephthah to get him back for as little as they can. The leaders of Gilead are selfish opportunists.

But after Jephthah strongly refutes them for their request, they change their tune in verse 8 and act like it was their plan all along for him to be head. And this is the deal that Jephthah agrees to. He will not come and help them for anything less than being the head over Gilead. Jephthah can play their game. He will use their time of need to gain power and prestige.

Now what these men have just participated in is ungodly irrationality promoted by sin. There is no seeking of Yahweh in this passage. God is not directly involved in the raising up of this man as judge like he had been with the previous judges. The people have called their own man for the job, and they have chosen an ungodly man. That’s going to go just about as poorly as you could expect. You’ll have to come back next week to hear how the rest of Jephthah’s narrative plays out… *Pause*

In the meantime, let’s make this personal to us today. Do you think sinful irrationality or selfish opportunism afflicts God’s church today? Absolutely! If a man or woman gets stuck in a pattern of unrepentant sin, you can be sure that they will begin living this way. They are no longer thinking clearly or in line with the God of truth, they have willingly hardened their hearts to him.

In fact, part of our job as Christians is to warn and protect one another from this very real danger!

Hebrews 3:12–13 (ESV)

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The word for ‘take care’ is the same word for ‘see’ – meaning keep your eyes open! Be on the lookout! We’re all susceptible to the temptations and deceitfulness of sin. It promises what it cannot provide, which is why it is so enticing.

That is why we must exhort or urge/implore (strongly encourage) one another to keep walking in the way of truth. The way of the living God! We must remind each other of the lies of sin and the beautiful reality of God’s ways.

It is good for us to speak the truth REPEATEDLY with one another. To share what we are learning. To speak up when we see a dear brother/sister making unwise, perhaps sinful, decisions. It would be unloving not to say something!

Perhaps you know someone who is walking down a dangerous path. Acting/living irrationally or downright sinfully. God calls you go to them and remind them of truth. Help them to see/think clearly and to choose to return to God’s ways.

If you’re a member here, then you know that I regularly encourage you to pray for our members via the directory. There are a number of folks on the directory who are MIA. They need you to go after them. To call them back to a healthy walk with God. Would you be willing to do that this week? I want to challenge you to write down the name of at least one person/family that you’re going to follow-up with this week. Let them know you love them and miss them and are concerned for them. Pray beforehand that God would work through you. Pray for their restoration and redemption from the lies they’re believing.

Perhaps you are the person walking down this dangerous path. You are here today by God’s grace, but you’re angry with me or you’re trying to ignore what is being said. You need to hear this word. I want to encourage you to hear what others WHO SEE CLEARLY are saying to you. They’re trying to love you and save you from the pain and bad fruit of pursuing sin. They don’t want “severe distress” for you. Heed their words. Recognize that they love you!

Let’s take a moment to look ahead at what comes if we don’t turn from unrepentant sin. This is a preview of next week’s text.

Judges 11:34–35 (ESV)

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”

If you’re not familiar with this passage, Jephthah’s sinfulness led him to make a foolish vow to sacrifice whatever came from his doors. He was trying to manipulate God… then his daughter came running out…

Judges 12:5–6 (ESV)

5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

The unrepentant pride of Ephraim and Jephthah led them to war against one another. The result is 42,000 men dying… These are relatives turning on one another! This leads us into our third consequence of unrepentant sin…

  1. You will propagate anarchy

When you live in unrepentant sin you reject God’s rule and reign – anarchy! And the longer you pursue unrepentant sin, the more negative, ungodly influence you will have on others. It is a LIE to believe that your sin doesn’t affect anyone else. One generation of Israel influenced another… to reject God’s rule and reign. We talked about this at length last week, your choices and influence matters. *Pause*

Whew, that’s a lot of brokenness, again. Judges certainly makes you thankful for the perfect, godly example of Jesus Christ. Rather than coming in pride and demanding to be served or manipulating others to do what he wanted, Jesus came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. He came to uphold and fulfill God’s law. He obeyed perfectly in our place, making it possible for us to be forgiven through faith in him. He is wholeheartedly different than the leadership we see in Judges.

If there is one thing you take away from our study in Judges, I hope it is a desperation for Jesus. Being confronted with such dark sin is helpful in pointing us to the brilliance of our Savior. Allow Judges to do that for you. Be driven to King Jesus, the One who can rescue and redeem your soul eternally. *Pause*

At the end of the day, you cannot deceive God. He knows your heart. You need to evaluate where you stand with God. Am I united with Christ through faith?  If the answer is yes, then there ought to be a regular pattern of repenting of sin and seeking to please Christ in your life.

If you’re claiming Christ but stuck in unrepentant sin, there is a breakdown somewhere. Either you aren’t taking sin seriously and your heart is hardening or you’re not in Christ at all. Either option is dangerous! Take that seriously and ask for help this week! Do not let your heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Christ stands ready to forgive!

If you’re here and you’re not in Christ, meaning you’ve never professed faith in him, then I’m glad you’re here. I wonder how you make sense of the brokenness of our world and your own life? God’s Word has clear descriptions of our problems and answers to it in His Word. Would you consider sitting down with someone this week to explore those for your own life? I’d love to talk with you more about that afterwards. There is a hope in the brokenness that could be yours!

Let’s pray.

Questions and Discussion:

  1. How did you respond to God’s rebuke of the Israelites in verses 11-14?
    1. What are some examples of how we might repeat sinful patterns and then cry out when we don’t like the results?
  2. What are your primary takeaways from this study of Scripture?

 

  1. How will you live differently because of what you learned?
  2. How have you personally seen the devastation of unrepentant sin at work?
    1. With whom do you need to practice Hebrews 3:12 this week?
  3. How does Jesus’ finished work change everything for believers? How will you allow this hope to guide you this week?