We have, and I don't want to
use the word finished, Esther, because there's never a finish
to any of the books of the Bible. We never get it all out. In fact,
we could probably go back through and get about as much as we did
this time. But we're going to be not studying Esther for a
while again. And when it came time to find
a book, at that time, and I kind of shared this with you last
Wednesday, that I don't know how it happens, but I go and
read the list of Bible, books of the Bible. I have a list of
them, and I go down through there, and the last few times that we've
looked for a place to go, they have just stood out on the page,
and Zachariah, Esther was that way, It came time when I was
on the boat in my sabbatical time studying, and I knew we
had come to a conclusion of the book of Esther, and I started
looking for another book to go, and this book of Judges just
popped off the page. And I read through the book of
Judges, and then I started looking for another place to go, because
the book of Judges has There is such an evidence of the fall
in the book of Judges. I'm telling you. Just after reading
the book and I started looking for something else to go to,
this book of Judges came out again. And so we're gonna spend
some time in the book of Judges. And the book of Judges is the
history of all peoples, according to their natural state and some
statements about the unrestrained by grace. That's really what
we're going to find here. A people unrestrained by grace. the children of Israel, and it's
really the history of the world. It's in a microcosm. It's the
history of all people in a very small, compact place. We're going
to be allowed to see many things in this book of Judges, and mainly
the results of man's will. We're going to find those verses
of Scripture in this book that say that every man did that which
was right in his own eyes. And there is a way that seemeth
good unto man, but the ends of there are the ways of death.
So we're going to find that through this book. It is just compact
with information about the fall, and our concluding statement
tonight will be, and I'm gonna read it ahead of time, we will
have before us in this study total depravity, we will have
in this study sovereign grace, and we'll have in this study
salvation of and by the Lord only. And so that's the same
truths that we find throughout all the scriptures. Now the book
of Judges are mentioned by name in several other places in the
Bible, and I'd like to read those places that will kind of catch
us up. And the first one was a surprise
to me, and it shouldn't be, I should have known this, but the book
of Ruth. Would you turn with me to the book of Ruth tonight,
which is the next book after the book of Judges in our canon. And the book of Ruth, what a
declaration of Christ and his church, but in the very first
verse of the first chapter, we find the timeline of the book
of Ruth. And it says here, now it came
to pass in the days when the judges ruled. So the book of
Ruth is during that period of time, and during that time there
was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah,
went to sojourn in the country of Moab, He and his wife and
his two sons. Now we know the rest of the story,
but this is all by the providence of God. Weather is not by chance. Weather is a factor of God. He is the author of weather. And I find myself sometimes having
to bite my tongue because I complain about the weather, and in essence,
I'm complaining about the providence of God. So weather is of God
and he can choose to send us snow or he could choose to not
send us any moisture at all. He's in charge of it. So we find
here in the book of Ruth that it was at the time of the judges
and it doesn't tell us which judge was taking care of business
at that time. but it was during that time that
there was a famine. And we have, as we have read
in the past, we have God moving some people who know something
about the gospel to a place that doesn't know anything about the
gospel because he has at least one elect person there, Ruth. And so we rejoice in that, how
God moves his people using circumstances, and this happened to be by weather.
And if you'll turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel, we again
have a reference to the book of Judges. And this has to do
with the Passover. In the book of 2 Samuel, excuse me, that's in Kings. We'll
go on to 2 Samuel chapter seven. 2 Samuel chapter seven and verse
10, we have this statement about the book of Judges that we're
gonna be spending a little bit of time in. 2 Samuel chapter
seven, verses 10 and 11. It says here, moreover, I will
appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that
they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more, neither
shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before
times. And as since that time, I commanded
judges to be over my people Israel." We're having a refresher course
on the history of Israel and after Joshua, is gone and after
those who were in Joshua's period of time, his generation were
gone, we have these people appointed by God, they're called judges,
we have them appointed by God to deal with the children of
Israel and we're gonna find out that the children of Israel demonstrate
something that all of us do and that is we fell in Adam. in Adam
all died, and there is nothing that we can do to get out of
the problem that we're in. We have one that does and can,
and we're gonna read about him. So it tells us here in verse
11 of 2 Samuel chapter seven, it says, and as since that time,
I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused
thee to rest from all thy enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that
he will make thee an house. So we have some history brought
up, and part of that history is the history of the Judges,
the book of Judges that God gave. Travel with me just a little
further to the book of 2 Kings. This is the passage that shares
with us about the Passover, 2 Kings chapter 24. 2 Kings chapter 24
and, excuse me, chapter 23, 2 Kings chapter 23 and verse 21. There's
a reference here again to the judges. Judges were common
knowledge among the children of Israel, a period of time between
Joshua and the kings, between Joshua and Saul, the king. We're gonna have judges come
up from time to time, appointed by God. And here in the book
of 2 Kings chapter 23, and there in verse 21, it says, and the
king commanded all the people saying, keep the Passover unto
the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of his covenant.
Surely there has not holden such a Passover from the days of the
judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings
of Israel, nor in the kings of Judah, but in the 18th year of
King Josiah, wherein this Passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem. So he's making reference here,
the author of the book of 2 Kings, and we know that author is the
Holy Spirit. The author of this refers us
back to the time of judges and said there was never a Passover
like this Passover. Now, one of the things that I
noticed when we studied this was that this Passover was the
Passover that the king provided all the lambs. And it really
refers to God, the king, preparing and giving the Lamb of God as
our Passover. So it made it tremendous. It
made a difference. It was a great Passover that
they had at that time. And so the judges are mentioned.
So we have Ruth mentioned in the time of the judges. And in
2 Samuel, it is written there that God sent them judges. And
here we read about there's never been a Passover since all the
judges until this time. Well, not enough has been said
yet because we need to go to the New Testament. And in the
book of Acts, in the New Testament, this book is also mentioned,
the Acts of the Judges. In Acts chapter 13, we have this
recorded about the judges. They are appointed by God. and
one woman appointed by God to lead the children of Israel.
Now, most of the time, we're gonna find out that God opened
the gates for the enemy to come in, and when the children of
Israel cried out, he would send them a judge to throw off that
persecution. And we'll notice that as it goes
through the book of Judges, but here in the book of Acts chapter
13, and there in verse 20, Acts chapter 13 and verse 20, And after that, he gave unto
them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet. Now, we could call Eli and Samuel
judges too, because they were called that. They're not mentioned
in this book, but they're mentioned in the book after the book of
Judges. So we find that through the scriptures, this subject
is brought up about God sending them judges. a position that
God raised up. Now, in the book of Hebrews,
we have four of the judges mentioned by name. So would you join me
in the book of Hebrews chapter 11? And as we go through here,
we might say that at least three out of the four judges that are
mentioned here in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 are most unlikely
to be recorded here. If this was written today, and
we found our name here, which we could, we would find ourselves
most unlikely to be here. Now, in the book of Judges, there's
four judges mentioned, and here in the book of Hebrews chapter
11, Hebrews chapter 11, we have four judges mentioned that the
author brings out in this great chapter about faith, these four
in chapter 11, and verse 32, chapter 11 and verse 32, and
what shall I more say? Now we can start at the very
beginning, read down through here what faith is. Without faith
it's impossible to please God. We read about Abraham, there's
not one word about him lying. We read about his wife, there's
not one word about her not having faith that she could have a child.
There's nothing about David. There's nothing about the others.
And so it is under the blood of Christ, under the mercy seat,
sin is put away. And we are thankful for that. Well, here we read about four
men. For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon and Barak and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of
David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets." So these four
men, judges, that we're gonna find in the book of Judges, and
I read about them, and I read this, and I say, my goodness,
what grace, what grace. Jephthah promised to offer to
God the first thing that came out of his house, and it was
his daughter. And what in the world? Well, as we get there, we'll
study that. I've had preachers say that he
actually didn't do that. It was just, it's just talked
about and used as symbolism. Well, that's not what the word
of God says. We're gonna have to stick with
it. All right, they tell of these judges. The judges are the times
from Joshua to Saul. Period of 450 years is what we
read in the book of Acts. That's the time period. It is
after going into the land, it is after parsing up the land,
it is after Joshua, that great leader, picture of Christ, is
going to die. And that's what we find in the
very beginning of the book of Judges. Some just call the book
of Judges a book of history. Yet it is sufficient to demonstrate
that the faithfulness of God and his word and his promises
He promised, now he has a covenant. Now the covenant that he made
with national Israel is so illustrated here. And you know what? He does
not have to keep his part because they regarded it not. But so
often we find that he continues to bless them. And to me that
is just, it's hard to understand after so many times that God
would continue to bless these people. I just ask myself upon reading
this book, how in the world could the Lord overlook and pass by
Israel's departure so many times? There's 12, 13, or 14 different
times mentioned in this book over 450 years that they just
departed from God and willfully departed from God. And then,
you know, we realize there is a reason and that is the elect. God did not wipe them off of
the face of the earth for good reason. There is his elect. and many of them were among the
Jews. Now, as we follow this out, this
whole thing is because of the elect. The Messiah is in the
loins of Judah. We must protect that elect. Issue, we must protect that. And God is going to, even though
Judah is in the middle of the nonsense that the rest of the
tribes are in. They disobey God just as much
as everybody else. But God is going to protect his
elect in every age. They must be born, they must
grow up, they must hear the gospel, and he must give them the new
birth. That is an absolute must. God has purposed that from the
very beginning. Not one of his people will be
lost. He will save them all. So we're
gonna find out that this is one of the reasons that he overlooked
all of the nonsense that was going on, just like he did with
Adam and Eve. You know, some would say he should
have just wiped them out. Well, he had his elect in them.
He'd already had a people written down in the Lamb's Book of Life,
and He must have them come into the world. So, the Messiah was
in the loins of Judah. We know that. He's of the Lion
of the tribe of Judah. And then, turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Luke, chapter 2. Luke, chapter 2. In Luke chapter
two, we're introduced just briefly, not another time in scripture,
but we're introduced to a lady in Luke chapter two, and it says
in Luke chapter two in verse 36, that one of the reasons that
so long before this, God overlooked and did not just wipe them off
the face of the earth. There's gonna be many that die. There's gonna be many that are
taken in battle. There's gonna be many that are,
die in unbelief, just like we found them in the wilderness.
But here we read in Luke chapter two and verse 36, that there
is a lady in the time of Christ, she's at, witnesses him at the
cross. eight days of age in the temple.
And it says here, and there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter
of Pheniel of the tribe of Asher. Now we don't find Asher very
often in the Old Testament. After Leviticus, after Numbers,
but here we have her come through the line of Asher. We're gonna
find out that that tribe doesn't have any good qualities about
them. They all are depraved. But we
have this one lady, and it says, she was of great age, and she
lived with her husband 70 years from her virginity, and this
was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed
not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers
night and day, and she coming in that instance gave thanks
likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that look
for redemption in Jerusalem." She saw him. Simeon saw him. And she's one of those that God
marked out from beginning of the world to come. All right,
turn with me to the book of Romans. We're going to run into this
tribe in the book of Judges a number of times, and it's the tribe
of Benjamin. Why didn't God just take care
of them, put them all out? None of them knew God, none of
them came after God, none of them looked for God, none of
them are just, they're just depraved people like you and I. But here
in the book of Acts, or excuse me, Romans chapter 11. In Romans
chapter 11, we're introduced to somebody that came from the
tribe of Benjamin. And in Romans chapter 11 and
verse one, we read this. Now, the Holy Spirit used Saul
of Tarsus, Paul as we know him, to be the secretary to write
much of the New Testament. This book is included. Now, they're
not the words of Saul of Tarsus. They're not the words of Paul.
He was the secretary. The Holy Spirit moved on him
to write these books. And they're contained in the
canon because they are inspired books. And it says, I say then,
Hath God cast away his people? Now, as I read through there,
I wonder why didn't he? Well, Paul brings that subject
right up. He says, hath God cast away his
people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of
Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. Now, when we go through the book
of Judges, we're gonna find out that there was a bunch of Benjamites
that were just worthless. except they were protected to
bring somebody like Saul of Tarsus into this world. God's great
grace. He has a book filled with all
those that he is going to save in time. And when that book,
all of them are brought into this world and all of them are
saved, then this world is going to be wrapped up and it's going
to be over. And we'll before God, be before God, and there'll
be the right hand and the left hand, and God is going to not
change judgment, he's going to exercise judgment at that time.
Welcome to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world and depart from me. That is what's going to be said.
So we have, we have... Anna of the tribe of Asher, we
have Paul of the tribe of Benjamin. You know, in the book of Revelation,
we have all of the tribes mentioned except two of them. In that list
in the book of Revelation, Levi is mentioned. Nowhere else is
he mentioned in the Old Testament. He's mentioned as not even inheriting. That's cities. But in the book
of Revelation, we have 12,000 out of the tribe of Levi. Amazing. God is going to save all his
people. And that's what that 144,000
indicates. We're brought to this again,
the words of the Lord, when we study the book of Judges. So
if you would, we've gone here many times, but I wanna go there
again, and it's in the 24th chapter of the book of Luke. You know
where I'm going. This passage of scripture changed
my ministry. And that was, We read this many,
many years ago, and I made a comment. I wish we had that message. I wish we had it. Because the
Lord brings out here in the book of Luke chapter 24. Chapter 24,
verse 25. Luke chapter 24 and verse 25. It says, and he said unto them,
now this is two to the road to Emmaus. They're downcast, and most of
the disciples were at that time. They thought. I thought it would
be like this. Peter said, or the disciples
said, when will you restore the kingdom to Israel? They thought. But what we think and what God
is going to do often is so different. So it tells us here in the book
of Luke chapter 24, verse 25, then he said unto them, O fools
and slow of heart. Now I'm convinced that this is,
as Brother Mike brought out in a lesson one time, that this
is a term of endearment. How would God, be able to call
us fools and slow of heart when whatever he wants us to have
must be revealed anyway. This is a term of endearment.
That's what we are by nature. And we are dependent upon the
Lord. What did he tell Peter when Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God? Jesus says, don't get big
pants about this. You didn't get this from going
to Sunday school and you didn't get this in your study at home
and you didn't get this in theology class. My Father, reveal this
unto you. This was revealed to you. And
that's what the revelation of Jesus Christ, that is what the
new birth is all about, to reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ. So here he said, O fools and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, He expounded unto them and all the scriptures,
the things concerning himself." Now, I remember reading that
in a Bible study and saying, I wish we had that message. That night I went home, I woke
up in the middle of the night and I says, we do, we do. and that has caused me to be
most of my ministry in the Old Testament because that's all
Paul had, that's all Jesus had, that's all the disciples had,
that's all we had for about 100 years after the birth of the
Lord Jesus, and maybe longer. So we had the Old Testament,
and guess what? They began at the same place
and preached unto them Jesus, just like we read that the Philip, with the Ethiopian eunuch. He
began at the same place and preached unto him Jesus. So we have this
and part of that is the book of the judges. So while we go
through here, we're gonna find out that there's a great problem
among the Israelites and it's depravity. They are fallen in
Adam. They're dead in trespasses and
sin and you know, when we get to thinking about it, there's
probably, we shouldn't even think that they should do anything
different. They don't have the capabilities or capacity. They
cannot trust Christ to the saving of their soul without, first
of all, hearing the gospel. And then that belief or that
faith has to be given to them. And if you'll look with me in
the same chapter, as we drop down to verse 44, in chapter,
the 24th chapter of the book of Luke, again, we find in verse
44, that he's meeting with his disciples. And he brings up the
exact same subject. He says here in verse 44 of the
book of Luke chapter 24, and he said unto them, these are
the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all these things must be fulfilled which were written
in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. Now, I pray that
as we go through the book of Judges, that he would open up
the scriptures to us, that he would cause to see us more than
just some historical events about some real sad people doing some
real bad things, and then God comes along and brings them out
of the mess that they're in. I hope we can see. And he opened
their understanding, and then in verse 46, and said unto them,
thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day. and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations
beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. So as we go through the book
of Judges, I pray that we too will be able to see the things
of Christ in this book. It is in the Bible. It is God's
word. And the Bible is a spiritual
book. If we read it for history, that's all we can see. If we
have the indwelling of the spirit, if we have the revelation of
Jesus Christ, we'll be able to see beyond that shadow, that
pale, and be able to see that this is a message of Christ saving
his people from their sins. We will run into total depravity.
It is so apparent in this book, but we've also found it in the
book of Numbers, haven't we? And we found it in the book of
Luke, and we found it in the book of Acts, and we found it
wherever we go, that natural man fell in Adam and is dead
in trespasses of sin. In Adam, all died. Now, if we want to argue with
that, we're arguing with the word of God. but a lot of people
want to. Okay, as we look here, we find
all the scriptures that were written by Moses, the prophets,
the Psalms, and you know, that word Psalm in that passage of
scripture is in small case, it isn't capital P, and it meant
the songs in the Song of Solomon, the Lamentations, Job, a number
of the Old Testament books are contained in that because they
were written in poetic fashion. And very seldom do we find poets
using literal language, just figurative speech. And the Bible
is written in spiritual language, in spiritual language. Now, as
we look at this left to ourselves, we would never have any interest
in coming to Christ, just like we're going to read about them.
There is no, now we will get religious and we'll get promoted
and we'll move here and move there. I was visiting with brother
Dwayne today and he said, how are things going? I said, I've
never been happier. I am where I'm supposed to be. I'm not looking
to go anywhere else. I love it here. And though we
may not have the large numbers, it doesn't discourage me one
bit. I know that those are there are
there appointed. It's not because of me, it's
because of the Lord. So we're just gonna move on. The Lord will do his business,
all right? Left to ourselves, we would never
have any interest in coming to Christ. Read with me, if you
would, the book of John chapter 15. John chapter 15, as we find
that this subject is going to be so prevalent throughout the
book of Judges. As we study the book of Judges,
why don't they have any more interest? They can't. It's an
impossibility. By nature, we don't have any
interest in God. We'll do everything we can to
be religious, but we will not follow the God of heaven. We
can't follow his word. We can't keep his law. We can't
keep his word. We have an impossibility. So
here in the book of John chapter 15, John chapter 15 and verse
five, I believe it is, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. What a statement. And in a lot
of ways, that sums up a big bulk of the book of Judges. Without
me, ye can do nothing. Now God is merciful and gracious
and will raise up somebody to throw off the oppressor. And
time and time again, he repeats this. And we find out that those
that are raised up to throw off the oppressors are pictures,
types, and shadows of the one who was raised up to throw off
the oppressor. sin, death, hell, and the grave,
to deal with that, our natural estate, in such a complete way
that we get to live in Christ Jesus, know His love for us,
and know that He has a purpose and He's carrying it out. As
we follow this through, turn with me to the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 17. As we think about what's going to happen in the
book of Judges, it's going to be the same thing that we find
everywhere else. We find it in the book of Numbers.
Why did those 10 spies come back with a bad report? Because that's
the best they could do. They couldn't do anything else.
They didn't know God, they didn't know the God of heaven, they
didn't know his word, they didn't trust him, they didn't believe
him, they may have made mouth service, mouth, lip service,
but they didn't have any heart service in it. And they came
back and, well, and then when God judged them, he says, oh,
oh, we have a change of heart, we have a change of heart, we'll
go do it. Well, here in the book of Jeremiah, turn with me to
the book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse
9. This is what we're going to run
into all through the book of Judges. We ran into it the book
of Numbers, we ran into the book of Leviticus, We'll run it in
the book of Judges, run into it in the book of Luke, run it
in the book of Jude. Wherever we go, we're going to
find this. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Now that word desperately means
incurable. We can't take a potion to get
rid of it. We can't go through a process
to get rid of it. We have to be given a new heart.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? Now, we don't know where this
part is of us, so it's hard to deal with. It's in us. It's our
mind. It's our actions. It's our thoughts.
I really appreciate it. I didn't appreciate it at the
time, but I appreciated it afterwards. One of the messages that Pastor
Mayhem brought, that you're not a robber because you robbed a
bank, you're a robber before you robbed the bank. It's something
you thought about in your heart. And so that is with all of us,
in all things, it's our nature. So the heart is deceived. We're
gonna see that people in this book of Judges, is their heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can
know it? And yet there are times that
God will bring people out of that, nonsense that they got
themselves into by raising up a judge. Now there's one true
judge, Jesus Christ the righteous, and these various people that
we're going to run into We're all gonna represent this one
who raises up his people. All right, turn with me to the
book of Isaiah, if you would. We're gonna run into this, and
this is where we find everywhere, but in the book of Judges, it
really was brought out to me. Isaiah chapter one, Isaiah chapter
one. Isaiah chapter one, verse one. It says, the vision of Isaiah,
the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear,
O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought
up my children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider. A sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors,
they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One
of Israel unto anger, they have gone away backward. Why should
you be stricken anymore? Yea, we'll revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick, the whole heart faint. Verse six, from
the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness
in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have
not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. There's a message that we brought
one time about a lamb and a piece of, or a leg
and a piece of ear. You know, really, when we get
right down to it, the Lord didn't get much, did he? We're all sinners. Sinners to the core, hearts desperately
wicked. And yet, everyone that he saved
is his. And he has promised to present
them spotless. They're His. So that makes all
the importance, the difference in this book. There are some
in here that are His. and He will sift them out, He
will bring them out. But the description of everybody
in this book of Judges and everybody throughout the Bible and everybody
throughout history is the same. From the bottom of the foot to
the top of the head, there's nothing that would attract God,
cause Him to look upon us, be attracted to us, to do anything
for us. And so it is so foolish to say,
choose Jesus. It is wonderful to say he chose
a people. He chose a people. All right,
turn with me. Book of Ezekiel. The book of
Ezekiel. We're gonna run into this in
the book of Judges. Book of Ezekiel chapter 16. Ezekiel
chapter 16. This is Israel that he's talking
about, but he's talking about everybody without exception. Everybody fell in Adam. Everybody
is dead in Adam. There's no exceptions to it.
People may say, well, I'm the exception to the rule. Well,
they're just lying to themselves, and so they're not an exception.
Again, Ezekiel chapter 16, verse one, again, the word of the Lord
came unto me. Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And say, thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan. We're going to be dealing with
the land of Canaan and the Canaanites. All the time through the book
of Judges are the Canaanites brought up. You know what those
children of Israel did? They camped among them, adopted
their gods. And so he says, thy birth and
thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. We're going to be dealing
with Amorites and Hittites in the book of Judges. And it says,
thy father was an Amorite, thy mother a Hittite. And as for
thy nativity, in the day that thou wast born, thy navel was
not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee, thou
wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee
to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee,
but thou wast cast out into the open field to the loathing of
thy person in the day that thou wast born. The natural man would
say, you know, those poor guys out there. Now that's not me,
but look at those guys. And we find out that Jesus was
accused of the most heinous crime of eating with publicans and
sinners. And they'd say, if he knew who
it was that was touching him, He would not allow that to happen
because she is unclean. Jesus, the God of heaven, gave
himself a ransom for sinners. And we're going to find that
in here. So, Nanaipitadi, and then in verse six, And when I
passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy blood, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. In the day of
love. We're gonna see some of this
in the book of Judges, when God comes along and says, live. You know, he's going to call
some people out of those tribes who are no better than anybody
else that's ever been born and cause them to be deliverers of
Israel. What grace that he would do in
all of that. And in Psalm Would you turn with
me to Psalm 12? We're gonna run into this several
times in the book of Judges as we travel through it in Psalm
12 and there in verse four, Psalm 12, verse four. Psalm 12 and verse four, who
have said with our tongue, will we prevail? Our lips are our
own. Who is the Lord over us? Nobody's
going to be my boss. And that is what we find will
happen when people are in their fallen state. They will say,
as we read in the book of Judges, every man did what was right
in his own eyes. Don't you tell me what to do.
In other words, the Lord used the parable and says, I will
not have this man rule over me. I'll not have the Lord rule over
me. All right, turn with me to the Judges. Let's read a few
verses out of the book of Judges before we close tonight. The book of Judges chapter 17.
Judges chapter 17, verse six. Judges chapter 17, verse six.
In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did
that which was right in his own eyes. Judges chapter 21. Judges chapter 21. This is what
the Lord is dealing with in the book of Judges. Judges chapter
21, verse 25. Judges chapter 21, verse 25.
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did that
which was right in his own eyes. And when we understand a little
bit about the fall of man, we find out they could never do
any better than they were. They did what was right in their
own eyes and it was not what was right in the eyes of God.
In the book of Judges, we will get there and they say, they
forsook the Lord. Wow, who hasn't? We will have before us in the
study, total depravity. It's through and through. We
will have in our study sovereign grace, God's sovereign grace. And we'll have in our study salvation
of and by the Lord only. They couldn't overcome the problem
themselves. There had to be someone come
along appointed by the Lord to do this. And it's a picture in
the type of the shadow. of the Lord himself. Nobody can
get out of the mess we're in, but there is one that was raised
up to do that. He is the true judge, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he has accomplished it completely and totally and
wholly. And now he is bringing in all
his lost sheep, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And when
that time is finished, that they're all brought in, this will be
over. Eternity will begin. All right,
we're going to stop there for tonight.