WHO WILL BE FIRST? by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Many of you know that I love the Old West or the Wild West. This was the period right after the American Civil War and the turn of the century when our country was getting back on its feet. The Homestead Act and the Pacific Railroad Act encouraged millions of people to move west, especially immigrants. It was not easy. Lack of resources, bad weather, hostile tribes, and frontier lawlessness were just some of the obstacles they had to contend with. The Western territories were still in the process of establishing law and order. In this era, the booming cattle industry gave us the iconic image of the American cowboy. I admit that some of it has been glamorized, but there was something about the cowboy that appealed to the American mind and heart, and it still does. They were a diverse group with whites, blacks, Hispanics, native Americans, and immigrants. They represented hard work, risk-taking, being outdoors, working with animals, honest living, self-sacrifice, a sense of right and wrong, willingness to fight for justice, commonsense, and, most of all, independence and freedom. This does not mean that they were perfect. Many of them had a flawed character, even the lawmen, but they represented a life we all wish we could live. My introduction to this world came when my parents gave me some Bonanza comics. Later, I discovered Louis L’Amour and others, and I was fascinated by that world and still am! Today, we begin a new series through the Book of Judges. This period in the Old Testament was very much like the Old West. The judges remind me of the cowboys and even the lawmen of the Old West. Unfortunately, most messages and bible studies treat the judges as bad guys, when the Bible actually lists them in the hall of faith! To the contrary, their leadership, their example, and their reliance upon the Spirit of God is what we need today in the life of our church and our nation.

Judges 1       1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” 2 And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

Context: The book of Judges comes after Joshua in the Old Testament, and it spans between 1360-1084 BC, that’s about 276 years. In our American context, 276 years from us would be the year 1748 to us. Imagine that George Washington is only 16 years old. The Revolutionary War is still about 30 years away. This period had a 2-fold problem:

1. The people of Israel were increasingly following their neighbors.
2. The neighbors were increasingly oppressing the people of Israel.

The reason for both these problems was the reluctance and refusal of God’s people to obey what God had told them to do when they came into the land. Listen to Deuteronomy 7      1“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 5But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.” This seems kind of hard until you read what they were doing Deuteronomy 18       9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.” Why was this so important? Listen to Deuteronomy 7       6 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” In other words, there was nothing in them that merited God’s love towards them. He loved them because he loved them. But, did they obey? Of course not. Listen to the refrain in the following verses in Judges 1:

• 21 “But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem…”
• 29 “Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer…”
• 30 “Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol…”
• 31 “Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob…”
• 33 “Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath…”

What was the result? Judges 2     11 “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.”

Let me pause here, and first address our nation: Could it be that we are in the mess we are as a nation is because we have forsaken the Lord God of our fathers? Could it be that just like the people of Israel we also have followed after the false gods of pleasure, greed, and compromise?

Let me also address the church: Could it be that the church has become so ineffective in this world is because we too have forsaken the Lord God of our fathers? Could it be that we too have gone the way of pleasure, greed, and compromise?

What will it take? 3 things that we have to consider:

1. The Generation of Ignorance

Judges 2:10 “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

Who are the generations who knew the Lord and the work which he had done? 

• First was the Generation of the Wilderness. These were those who had followed Moses out of Egypt. They had witnessed the 10 plagues over Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, watched Pharaoh and his armies annihilated, drank water from the rock, ate bread from heaven, received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and had a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. But, because of their disobedience and rebellion, they all had to die in the wilderness.
• Forty years after them was the Generation of the Conquest. These were those who had followed Joshua into the Promised Land and fought against the Canaanites. They had seen powerful miracles like the parting of the Jordan River, the collapsing of the walls of Jericho, and the halting of the sun and the moon in the battle against the Amorites.

Let me first address our nation: We are living in a generation of ignorance where people do not know the true history of why we have been blessed as a nation. In fact, there is a concerted effort to revise and rewrite the history of this nation and make it as godless as possible.

Let me also address our church: We are again living in a generation of ignorance where people do not know the true source of our power. It is not in the ministries and the methods. It is not in the publicities and the programs. It is as Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Question: Are you part of this Generation of Ignorance?

2. The Crisis of Leadership 

A common refrain in Judges is—

• Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
• Judges 18:1 “In those days there was no king in Israel…”
• Judges 19:1 “And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel…”
• Judg. 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Would you agree that there is a crisis of leadership in our nation? If you don’t believe that, you probably weren’t watching the Presidential debate last Thursday evening…

Would you also agree that there is a crisis of leadership in our church today? It has been heartbreaking to see how many of our heroes have fallen in recent years, even in recent days…By the way, I’m not just referring to pastoral leadership. There is also a major crisis in lay leadership. Nobody wants to commit. Nobody wants to take on the heavy task. Nobody wants to step out and trust God. We have plenty of cynics and critics…

3. The Rise of the Saviors

As I mentioned in the introduction, judges like Gideon, Samson, and Jephthah are looked upon as “antiheroes.” The Book of Judges actually says the opposite – Judges 2     16 “Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them…18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge…19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them…” It even talks about the Spirit of God being upon the judges.

• Judges 3:10 “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him (Othniel), and he judged Israel.”
• Judges 6:34 “But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon…”
• Judges 11:29 “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah…”
• Judges 13:25 “And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him (Samson)…”
• Several more times regarding Samson (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14).

Ultimately, they were preparing God’s people for the coming of the kings, especially David. Even more than that, they were preparing them for the coming of the judge and king, Jesus Christ. Listen to Jephthah in Judges 11:27 “Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 

Contrary to the negative views, the Bible refers to them as heroes of the faith. Listen to Hebrews 11      32 “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”Their job was not only to set the people free in their times, but also to point to the one who would set all people free forever if they would only look to him. He would do that by giving his life for us. Very interestingly, the last judge (Samson) actually died in the process.

One more thing – they all had their weaknesses and limitations, just like those cowboys and lawmen. But they were wholly surrendered to God and his task for them, and God used whatever was available in their hands to do his mighty work. Just like Judah, they were “willing to be first.”

Illustration: Dr. Gordon Hugenberger (one time pastor of the great Park Street Church in Boston) gave an excellent illustration that I want to share with you.

After 9/11, many stories came out of how people faced incredible odds in saving their lives and the lives of others. One such was from the World Trade Towers. Although 99% of the workers were evacuated (of course the fire and rescue workers didn’t get out), the elevators became death traps. In the towers, there were 198 elevators and only 21 individuals got out alive. There is a story about 6 of them in one of the elevators in the North tower. American Airlines flight 11 hit above the 91^st floor, and suddenly, the building began to shake like a pendulum. These 6 men were in this elevator and you can imagine their fear. An announcement came on the intercom that an explosion had taken place on the 91^st floor and the elevators were not working anymore. After that, there was nothing else. Thankfully, among the six men, you couldn’t pick a better group of people. Three were engineers, the kind of people you want with you in an elevator that got stuck. One of the other passengers turned out to be the acting director for the entire port authority. He was used to giving directions to 8000 employees, a man of resolve and resourcefulness, who knew what to do. There was also Jan Demczur, who was a Polish immigrant who had come to America in 1980 and loved this country. He was a window washer who was on his way to the 74^th floor to wash windows. By the way, there were 21,800 windows in the towers!

Initially, they started banging on the ceiling, but no help there. The engineers and the acting director were out of ideas. Jan took over. He was used to improvising. As he described it later, they never had the right tool for a job back home. Until he got to Germany, he was surprised to find that there was a right tool for every job, and nobody did anything unless they had the right tool. His upbringing took over. He used his glass squeegee to open the doors. With the help of the passengers, they were able to prop the door open with the handle of the squeegee. They found that they were stuck on the 50th floor. This was an express elevator with no exits between the floors. So, he used the brass edge of the squeegee to start scraping the sheet rock, which was 3 inches thick, supported by steel beams. They began scratching away relentlessly at the sheet rock. His hands began to bleed and swell, and lose some of their gripping, unfortunately, then the brass fell down into the crack between the elevator and the shaft. You can see the despair in those men. He used the remaining handle and dig in. Others took turns to help. They saw tiles. They were on the other side of a bathroom. They were able to dig through and get out. Right then they heard the rumble of the South Tower. They sprinted down 50 floors and were able to get out. They asked the men, and they credited Jan for saving their lives. He insisted I’m not a hero, just a window washer. They even tried to make a big deal out of the squeegee. He said, “You don’t get it. I just prayed to God help me and others get out you keep the building. It is him.” He was a believer in Christ.

God will use the person who is willing with whatever they have in their hand.

Who will be first? Are you saved?