What Happens When We Don’t Listen to God

The message was brought by Rev. Rodger Castle.

Judges 1: ²¹ And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; ²⁷ Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns; ³⁰ Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron; ³¹ Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho; ³³ Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh; ³⁴ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley; 2: ¹And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. ² And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? ³ Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. ⁴ And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. ⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord. ⁶ And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. ⁷ And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. ⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. ⁹ And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. ¹⁰ And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. ¹¹ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: ¹² And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. ¹⁴ And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵ Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. ¹⁶ Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. ¹⁷ And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. ¹⁸ And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. ¹⁹ And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

In chapter 1 we see the tribes did not do what God said and drive out their enemies.  Chapter 2 begins with God affirming that he will never change or break his promises, but we have something to do—as seen by the rest of the scripture.

God commanded Israel to drive out the sinful nations; he commands us as well to drive sin out of our lives.  The children of Israel would serve God, then go back after idols, be punished, pray to God for forgiveness AND THEN they’d start the cycle again.  Christians today do the same thing.

There is nothing that God won’t do for his children, but when we get in a state that brings God’s judgment, we see how well we do (or don’t do).  America is in this state.  God blessed us as a little country; he fought for us against big odds.  He won.  Men preached the Word and people repented.  The lost used to be drawn to church and would sit on the back seat with their knuckles tightly on the seat.  Now days the lost seldom come and when they do they can’t sit in the back because the Christians are there.  The preacher will deliver the message, and that lost person will shake his hand and tell him he enjoyed the message.  There is little conviction.  We see this all the time.

An angel rebuked the children of Israel for taking their eyes off God.  They were told to tear down the altars to the idols, but they didn’t.  They were too close to the world.  That’s the problem today.  We’re not supposed to act, dress, and talk like the world; we’re not supposed to go places that the world goes.  We’re supposed to be different.

Israel had it made.  They were brought out of captivity in Egypt.  Ten spies went to the Promised Land; two said they could overtake the enemy.  The rest said they could not.  Due to their unbelief they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  Now in the land, they didn’t obey God by getting rid of their enemies.  Now those people were thorns in their side.  God told them they had to fight this battle; he was not going to do it for them.  When we stay true to God, the battle is certainly his; he will fight for us.  He cannot do that when we’re not with him.  While Joshua was leader, they worshipped the Lord.  He died.  They served God while the elders of Joshua’s day were alive.  Then they left God.  He held them accountable.  America is there now.  We have left God out, and he will hold us accountable.

Verse 10 says a generation rose up that didn’t know the Lord.  We wonder what’s wrong with kids today and why they won’t go to church.  We’re begotten by the Word, not by programs.  If we want people saved and committed to the Lord, we have to get them in the Word.  The children of Israel began to serve the devil and his idols.  God was angry.  What would you do if God told you he didn’t like what you were doing?  Would you care?  Would you simply say whatever because you really don’t care?  When the old timers die out, what will happen?  Will you go party and have a good time?  Remember, there are no parties in hell.  There is eternal fire, utter darkness, and the people who go there never die.  Be careful how you respond to God.  There is a judgment.

God raised up judges to rule Israel.  When the judge was alive, the people served God.  When the judge died, the people turned from God and went after idols.  They returned to their sin.  Verse 19 says and it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.  The people were full of the devil.  He ran their lives.  They were corrupt.  People today are just as stubborn today.  Israel did its own thing.  People do that today.

We just don’t understand what God will do for us if we’ll let him.  He loves us; he cared enough to send his Son to die for us.  We need God in our lives.  We need revival in our hearts.  It’s time to make things right with God.