Judges (Part 1) - We Fight Together
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Today we want to help explain how the Kingdom of God works.
We want to answer the question:
Am I just a vagabond passing through work and the mundanity of daily life?
Or
Is there a purpose to my days where and when I live there?
Focus: You are where you are for the Kingdom of God.
Band of Brothers and Sisters
Renaming Cities
As the Gospel Changes Everything
Background of Judges
The title refers to the 12 leaders, both civil and military, who were directing Israel in the time between Joshua’s death and Samuel the prophet.
Whenever Paul would go into the Jewish synagogues to explain Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, he would begin with the Torah, the Exodus and ultimately the Psalms and prophets that contained within them the gospel which we’ve come to know as fulfilled in Jesus.
Acts 13:16-20 ESV
“So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.”
“And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.”
The book of Judges picks up during this era between Joshua and Samuel and gives us many foreshadowed lessons for how to live out the good news of Jesus today.
Band of Brothers and Sisters
In every season of life, we are called to a place to fight the battles of the Lord along with those whom God has also called there.
Judges 1:1-7 ESV
“After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" The Lord said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. And Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.”
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we continually see the people of God called to a place, to a people and for God’s purpose.
The Israelites were promised the land of modern day Israel to be a place where God would establish his worship and the nations of the earth would be blessed through his gospel wisdom permeating their land.
This blessing would ultimately be fulfilled in the coming of Israel’s messiah, who would be savior and lord to both the Jewish and Gentile world.
This picture of entering the promised land and life of God is a foreshadowing of the eternal life and purpose into which God calls us today.
Yet the question is, by what means does God instruct us to enter that life and mission?
In each season of life, you will either be growing in strength in God or declining, moving forward in your faith or taking steps backwards.
Even if you are called to a place for a season - for family, school or work - it is important not to waste that season, but to find your people and contribute to the eternal purposes of God in that place.
We are not to fight the battles of the Lord alone.
AI and ChatGpt may be threatening the future of the present form of your job, but it is never meant to replace the life on life strength, joy, love, encouragement and support that comes from Jesus and through his people, the church.
Upon whom do you call to fight with you the battles that God has for you in the land where he has placed you?
Renaming Cities
When God plants us in cities, there is both a blessing and a Kingdom mission for you there.
Judges 1:8-10 ESV
“And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.”
Cities are transformed and renamed through the influence of the gospel working through the people of God.
We need a new lense to see our stories within that biblical narrative.
Judges 1:11-21 ESV
“From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife." And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.”
Where God plants you, there is provision for you - in relationships and wells that will water the God-given needs of your soul.
You must learn to fight for this provision, even as it is given as a gift to you by your Heavenly Father.
“Sociologist Rodney Stark states: “Early Christianity was primarily an urban movement. The original meaning of the word pagan (paganus) was ‘rural person,’ or more colloquially ‘country hick.’ It came to have religious meaning because after Christianity had triumphed in the cities, most of the rural people remained unconverted.”
Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church
Fighting for one another in each other’s battles to take the land God has given each of us is to be mutual.
Just as Simeon went up to fight for Judah, Judah in turn went up to fight for Simeon.
Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had said.
You should have confidence to experience God’s provision and to win your battles when God has given you a word.
How are you now helping your brother or sister to fulfill their Kingdom mission and win their battles in the Lord?
As the Gospel Changes Everything
When Jesus plants you in a city, it is to be transformed by the gospel through your influence there.
Judges 1:22-26 ESV
“The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you." And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.”
Jesus came to transform everything in our lives as we submit to him as Lord.
As God in the flesh, Jesus lived sinlessly, performed miracles and died sacrificially on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
Through his triumphant resurrection from the dead, as we repent of our sins and turn to Jesus in faith, he begins us on a new course of life transformation that changes the way we think, relate, respond and interact with the world.
This becomes a microcosm of how his influence spills over from our lives to impact our families, friendships, neighborhoods, workplaces and cities with the gospel.
“We must free ourselves from our tendency to see cities as their buildings, and remember that the real city is made of flesh, not concrete.”
Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church
When Jesus’ work is strong in our lives, it begins to impact everything around us.
The cities to which we are called are to be transformed by the gospel through our influence.
What a city was once known for can change as we share the gospel, win the lost, make disciples and train leaders who go into every sphere of a city with the love and wisdom of Christ.
Proverbs 11:11
“By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.”
We must have a long term vision to not simply use the cities in which we find ourselves, but to allow ourselves to be planted there for the Kingdom of God.
“This shalom will not come through Christians establishing parallel subcultural institutions, but through a conviction to bring comprehensive renewal to the city by pursuing its common good.”
Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church
Jesus said it this way regarding the Kingdom of God:
Matthew 13:31-33 ESV
“He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."”
“Even if 80 percent of the population of a country are Christian believers, they will have almost no cultural influence if the Christians do not live in cultural centers and work in culture-forging fields such as academia, publishing, media, entertainment, and the arts. The assumption that society will improve simply by more Christian believers being present is no longer valid.”
Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City
How has your presence in your present job, school or neighborhood been positively impacted for the gospel by your being there?
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher