All right. Judges 2, 1 through
15. And my subject this evening,
the new generation. Let's lighten it up a bit from
this morning. The new generation. Judges 2. And an angel of the Lord came
up from Gilgal to Bochem and said, I made you go up out of
Egypt, and I brought you into the land which I swear under
your fathers, and I said I will never break my covenant with
you. And you shall make no league
with the inhabitants of this land. You shall throw down their
altars. but ye have not obeyed my voice,
why have ye done this? Wherefore, I also, I will not
drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in
your side, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. It came to pass when the angel
of the Lord spake these words unto the children of Israel,
that the people lifted up their voice and wept. And they called
the name of the place Bochem, and they sacrificed there unto
the Lord. When Joshua had let the people
go, the children of Israel went every man into his inheritance
to possess the land. 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. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the
servant of the Lord, died, and hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border
of his inheritance in Timnathus, in the mount of Ephraim, on the
north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation
were gathered under their fathers. And there arose another generation
after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which
he had done for Israel. The children of Israel did evil
in the sight of the Lord, and served Balaam. 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 down unto them,
and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and
served Baal and Ashtoreth. And the anger of the Lord was
hot, against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of the 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. 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." Look at verse 10, as you might imagine, is our
principal text. 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. The book called Judges gets its
name from the fact that it is a history of the period of Judges. Some say that it lasted about
299 years in their history, when the judges ruled, when they
delivered Israel out of the hand of their enemy and preserved
and helped them in times of trouble. Now the book was not written
by these various judges. Some say that it was written
by Samuel, but it is a record of the dealings of the various
judges and their activity, and this consisted, as John Gill
said, in delivering the people out of the hands of their enemy,
in leading out their armies and administering justice in the
land among the people. Four of the judges are mentioned
in Hebrews 11 and verse 32. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah. Now this period yet belonged
to the theocracy, as we call it, when the government was based
upon the law of God and prior to the period when God allowed
them to have kings. Twice we read this statement
in Judges. Chapter 17, verse 6, chapter
21, and verse 25. In those days there was no king
in Israel. Every man did that which was
right in his own eye. Now the arising of the judges,
therefore, followed upon the death of their leader Joshua. And as we read, his death marked
a great turn in the fortunes of Israel and the behavior of
Israel. His death is noted in verse 1
of chapter 1 of Judges, which said, after the death of Joshua. Again here, chapter 2, verse
8, verse 9, he died at the age of 110 and was buried at the
edge of the inheritance that he got out of the land. Now Joshua was a very prominent
figure in the history of the Jew and of Israel. His influence
was great. It seemed that as long as Joshua
were alive, much like Moses before him, they were firmly fixed in
their place and followed basically the law of God. And he has earned
a place in the history of Israel. He is also an imminent type of
the Lord. His name meaning Savior or Deliverer. Now consider, it was Joshua upon
whom the mantle fell when Moses died. It fell on Joshua. When Moses died, the Lord called
Joshua and commissioned him to be the leader of the people and
to carry them across into the land that he had promised unto
them. It was Joshua that led the people
into Canaan. He comes before us first in Exodus
chapter 17 and verse 9 when he is sent with those ones who went
to spy out the land of Amalek. You may recall this was the occasion
when Moses stood on the top of the mountain of God with the
rod of God in his hand in Exodus 17, 9-13. Moses, remember, became
weary and his hands began to drop down. He could not hold them up any
longer. And when his hands fell, Amalek
prevailed, and when they were up, Israel prevailed. And so
it was Joshua, Aaron, and her, and Moses set him up on a stone,
set Moses up on a stone, and Aaron, and held up his hand.
so that God might give unto them the victory. God said to Moses
in Exodus 17 and verse 14, write this far a memorial in a book
and rehearse it in the ears of the people. You may also recall
Joshua was one of those that was sent out to spy the land
of Canaan and came back and only he and one more gave a good report
of entering into the land. Again, It was Joshua that led
them across Jordan, and you have that chapter 3 and chapter 4,
that received circumcision and that had been neglected and revived
it again among the people. Joshua chapter 5, that encompassed
Jericho in Joshua chapter 6, and the walls fell down. It was
him that purged out the iniquity of Achan in chapter 7, that defeated
the king of the land in Joshua 8-12, and that led in dividing
the land, chapter 13-15 of the book of Joshua, and that renewed
the covenant with Israel that God had made. You'll find that
in Joshua chapter 24. Great speech that Joshua made
unto them. Now this Joshua, therefore, was
a very important person among the people, had standing influence
with them, and walked before God. in keeping the ways of God,
in withstanding evil in the land and from the people, holding
the people to the ways of God, ever calling them back to the
covenant and such like. Witnessed in Judges 2 and 7,
look what we read, and the people served the Lord all the days
of Joshua, all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who
had seen all of the great works which the Lord did for Israel. Your cross-reference Bibles may
alert you to the fact that Joshua 2.6-9 is an extract from the
book of Judges. Chapter 2.6-9 is an extract from
the book of Joshua 24.28-31. Both passages basically are alike
and agree on the points. Number one, that the people went each one
to their inheritance. At long last, they each received
their inheritance. Number two, that they served
the Lord while Joshua was alive. So great was his influence. And
thirdly, that Joshua died. And fourthly, that he was buried
in his inheritance. At this point, let's reflect
upon the effect of the death of good men whom God raises up. Men who stood as what we might
call them giants for God. At least some people do. And
they influence the people in a good way and lead them well. I can mention three. There is
Joseph, whom I greatly admire, for whose sake Israel dwelt safely
in the land of Egypt because of Joseph. And then secondly,
Moses, who led the people out of the land of bondage and of
Egypt. And thirdly, here's Joshua in
our text, who was such a strong presence for and in the name
of the Lord among the people and his record we have already
considered briefly and will not do so again. Let's make a contrast
or a comparison in Judges chapter 2, first reading verse 7 that
we have already read. And the people served the Lord
all the days of Joshua, all the elders that outlived him. Then
notice he was buried, 3 through 9, but then we look at the 10th
verse, which is our text of the evening. Here is another contrast
for us to note it. The generation, including Joshua
and Caleb, and the elders, these were men who kind of oversaw
the congregation, and they had seen all the great works that
the Lord had done for Israel. They knew the Lord, as it were.
They saw firsthand, being eyewitnesses to the great things that God
had done for the people. such as the parting of the Red
Sea, the parting of the River of Jordan, the miracles in the
wilderness. They saw and remembered. They
kept alive among the people accounts of these great works that their
God had done. Too numerous to mention or to
write down at this time. Secondly, but now, come to the
sad account recorded in the tenth verse, and that part that said,
there arose another generation after them which knew not the
Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel." You
remember, after the Pharaoh died, another king arose that knew
not Joseph. And that changed the whole work
for Israel. Nor the mighty works that had
been done. And same here. another generation
arose that had not seen the great power of God. Joshua and of Caleb's
generation, it is said, Judges 2 and 7, they had seen the great
works. Or, as Joshua 24 and verse 31
puts it, which had known all the works of the Lord that He
had done for Israel. They both knew, they heard, and
they saw. For then, consider, Caleb's and
Joshua's generation had stood in the very midst of those glorious
events and great works. They saw the glory of God displayed
among them. They partook at time of the enthusiasm
inspired by the great works of God and His glory. The point
being they could never forget what they saw, what they heard,
and what they had experienced. That was the clear hand of God
working great things among them. Then, let's contrast the two
generations, if we will, in verse 10. That generation and all that
generation, meaning Joshua, Caleb, the elders, and so forth. We
will be helped by this if we drop back to Joshua chapter 24,
19 through 25, but we won't read that. for it's a rather long
passage of Scripture. But suffice it to say, twice
in that passage, in Joshua 24, responding to what Joshua said
unto them, they said, We will serve the Lord. In verse 21,
Nay, but we will serve the Lord. And in verse 24, The Lord our
God will we serve. His voice will we obey. And our text said they did, Judges
2 and 7. And the people served the Lord
all the days of Joshua and of Caleb and of the elder. This indicates that Joshua and
the elders exerted an influence for good and had a good example
before the people until their death. They had promised Joshua
that they would put away the strange gods that were there
in the land when they entered. But then secondly, also in verse
10, another generation. Another king arose who knew not
Joseph. Here, another generation came
into the place of the generation of Joshua and Caleb and the elder. A new generation was born and
came to years. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes
1 in verse 4, one generation passes away and another generation
comes. but the earth itself abides forever. But each generation is not the
same in everything. Not the same in religion. Not
always the same in moral. Not always the same in principle. These are not always carried
over from one generation to another. They sometimes die out from one
generation to another. And apart from the reinvigorating
power and work and grace of God, the tendency is not to grow better
and better, but to grow worse and worse, and to decline in
ways of civility and morality, to lose the virtue and fall away
from the old paths, of the previous generation to stop their decline. God must work a work and reveal
himself and come in his power. Now, there are two things, it
seems, contribute to the decline of religion and that guilt plays
to complacency over the door and open the door for error in
one generation or another. Number one would be the loss
of the great stalwarts of the faith. People like Joseph, Moses,
Joshua, Abraham, Paul. Can you imagine? The death of
great leaders often leaves a void among the people of God. Such
spiritual giants are greatly missed in their influence, and
their wisdom is taken away. And more often than not, new
leaders arise with new and modern thoughts and take the people
often in another direction. Now secondly, there's another
thing, and that's time. Time's passing often. sees a
decline in what once was treasured and counted as blessed. Time
dulls the memory and tends to let things slip away that once
were fresh and precious and treasured and associated with our worship
of God. We see both of these combined,
I believe, in the text that we read this evening. Joshua, who
challenged the covenant of God, who held before them God's covenant
will and drew a promise from them that they would keep it.
Who challenged them to walk in the way and to worship the God
of heaven. Saul Caleb, who was mightily
blessed of God to live, to see the land of promise because he
believed that God was able to deliver them the land. And the
elders, whoever they were, not mentioned by name. In their place,
however, has come now a new generation, and in so short a time the other
generation of judges died. 2.11, did evil in the sight of the
Lord and served Balaam. 2.12, they forsook the God of
their father, followed other gods, bowed themselves down to
the gods of the heathen that were in the land. 2.13, forsook
the Lord, served Baal, Ashtoreth, this the fruits of the new generation
or the other generation. Quickly, let's jump back to Judges
chapter 2, verse 2 and 3. The degeneracy in religion there
is traced to their indifference to God's command and respect
for the Word of God, such as, make no league with them. throw
down their altar. And as a result of this indifference,
God said that He would make their gods a snare unto these people,
to ensnare them in worship and to idol God, and forsake the
true God, who alone did mighty works for them in the wilderness
and in their behalf. Remember, false gods tolerated
may lead to apostasy from the true and the living God, just
as flirtation may lead to an unjust situation to the child
of God, to the Christian. There's no God but one to serve,
the God of our Father. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no God beside. There is one true and living
God only. But we live in a society now
that welcomes many gods. The more the merrier, seems to
be the attitude of the day. The more gods, the better. And
these, as God said to these people, are thorns in the side and they
are a snare unto the people. We see great affronts to God
committed by Israel, such as in Exodus 32, the making of that
golden cave. They cried to Aaron, make us
gods that we can see, that shall go before us. carried along,
make us physical, material, tangible, visible, touchable gods. Even while Moses was in the mount
receiving the law of God, this was going on. Secondly, 1 Samuel
eight and five. Oh, that day that they cried
out to the prophet, make us a king to judge us like all of the nations
round about us. They would willingly exchange
the theocracy for a kingly government which amounted to a rejection
of God according to verse seven of that chapter. So that new
generation which came in the place of Joshua, of Caleb, and
the elder forsook the way, the teaching, and the example of
their fathers. They departed out of the old
path, out of the old way. They had little sense of religion,
and over a short period, they lost the knowledge of God's great
former works and forgot them. Matthew Henry wrote, gave that
worship and honor which belonged to God alone, to the dunghill
deities of the Canaanites," unquote. Dunghill deity. When the text
said, another generation came which knew not the Lord nor the
works of the Lord, I find wisdom in the words of the expositor
John Gill in making a distinction between a mere national knowledge
and a practical, living, experimental knowledge. That is, they must
have heard. They must have heard of some
of the things that God had done unto them and brought them into
Canaan in such a marvelous way. But they knew not the Lord, as
to worship Him to the exclusion of the dung-heeled deity. Consider
Eli's sons, if you will. Eli, the priest of God, yet 1
Samuel 2, verse 12, His sons were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord, and not
in any spiritual or saving way at least. Concerning this new
generation, it is to be noted that they embraced not complete
open atheism. It is not that they became atheistic,
but they embraced idolatry and false gods. They fell not into
atheism, but into apostasy. They exchanged the Lord God of
heaven for the other gods in the land, Judges 2 and verse
12. Another generation embraced other
gods and were more liberal in their thinking. They forsook
the God of their father for the gods of the people that were
round about them dwelling in the land. This cannot be excused
as tolerance on their part. For it is out and out apostasy. It is not new light, it is darkness,
and there's no way to exchange it. So let's make some practical
application. Christendom 2, I think, has seen
another generation arise. time and again, which has spawned
such apostates as the National Council of Churches in our lifetime,
or which knew not God, which know not the word of God, which
follow not the way of our God, and have actually did become,
in earlier years part, a tool of communism in our own nation. Liberal critics have come to
be in seats now in the seminaries and institutions of training
preachers and such like. And a new Christ is being preached
in so many places today. He is not the Christ of the Bible,
but another Jesus. Higher criticism has declared
war on the Bible. and the great doctrines that
are contained therein that we cherish and that we hold dear.
There are those who are willing to cause God to share His glory
with Buddha or with Allah in our day. The old creeds are revised
or they are cast away. The scriptures are watered down.
in some of the versions. And the old hymns of the faith
have been tossed aside for these twatty little ditties that come
in today. I heard about Sloppy Sunday was
celebrated in a particular church. And they were rather proud of
that, that they had kind of let their hair down, kind of loosened
up a little bit. But another story that I heard
was about such young ladies in a church that he attended that
they had to go and get covers and put over them. They were
dressed so scantily. in the church services. But some
of the new generation don't abide in the sound doctrine that they
were raised in, either go to the church that they were raised
in and the doctrines that they had learned, and don't hold to
the old doctrines of the faith. Instead, they have gotten modern. Some churches are like the gods
of the heathen. They are thorns in the side of
the people of God and are a snare. Look at our nation, if you would,
founded so well and with such a good constitution guiding the
leaders of our land, how they soon began to squander away their
liberties and their freedoms and their morals as well. I suppose
you remember the woman who filed suit because she passed by the
courthouse downtown and saw that Bible in that stand out front
with the glass cover. You probably have all seen it.
one time or another, but it's gone now. It's in a back room
because someone filed suit that the Bible could not be seen out
in public. The point is this, when a generation
or when a nation or a church or an individual loses the knowledge
and the fear of the truth and of the living God, and neglects
His word, they fall into a narrow pit." Can we see the hand of
God in our past days, in our past life? Can we remember great
blessings from our God? Then let us remember them reverently. how our God has led, how He has
worked, how He has come to bring us to where we are. How we need
to heed Moses' admonition and exhortation and warning to Israel,
chapter 8 of Deuteronomy 1 through 20. We don't have time to read
it now. And remember, too often, remember
and meditate on the works of God prompting us to piety, prompting
us to remember that God is great and God is an almighty sovereign
and to fear Him and to cleave to Him and to hold to His Word
for His Word is true. Now letting another generation
lead us astray with new thoughts, new criticism, new ideas and
set aside the old ways as being stodgy and as being old fogies. Thank God for those who yet worship
in the true way.