Judges 8:23 (KJV) Longing for Leadership

Judges 8:23 (KJV)
And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

Jamieson, Fausett and Brown
“Gideon knew too well, and revered too piously the principles of the theocracy, to entertain the proposal for a moment. Personal and family ambition was cheerfully sacrificed to a sense of duty, and every worldly motive was kept in check by a supreme regard to the divine honor. He would willingly act as judge, but the Lord alone was King of Israel.”

Long before Samuel was demanded of Israel to anoint them a king, Israel had already made up their mind they wanted one to rule over them.

I have speculated that this longing for leadership may trace back to Joshua not providing for Israel a replacement before his own death. This emptiness may have led them first:

• to scatter as sheep without a shepherd and then 
• to seek leadership indiscriminately

The Lord is the only ruler we ought to have but He has ordained that we be gathered around undershepherds.

A people not Scripturally led will either run off into anarchy or else choose to themselves leaders to their own destruction.

Judges 8:23 (KJV) Longing for Leadership

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2 John 1:1-2 (KJV) By Truth, John meant Christ

2 John 1:1-2 (KJV)
The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

The word truth in used five times in the first four verses of this thirteen-verse letter. With only a bit of examination, one can see that, by truth, John meant Jesus Christ.

He loves these people in the LordIndeed, it is because of the Lord he has cause to know them. If it had not been for the Lord he would have been fishing with his brother.

He has known the LordThrough personal contact and communication. Further, many others have come to know Him through the ministry of John and other witnesses.

The Lord dwells in us and shall be with us foreverThis is true of the Holy Spirit and of the Word of God but is so obviously applied to Christ in this case.

This letter is a battle for the truths surrounding Jesus Christ. But more so it is a battle for Christ.

• It is Christ who is defamed by heresy
• It is Christ who is betrayed by backsliders
• It is Christ who is trampled by those who lightly treat the faith

Some people argue that truth is relative. Jesus Christ is not. He is. He is the same yesterday today and forever. He is the way the truth and the life for all men.

2 John 1:1-2 (KJV) By Truth, John meant Christ

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1 John 5:1 (KJV) Jesus Christ, the Fulcrum

1 John 5:1 (KJV)
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

The contest of the spiritual world revolves around Jesus Christ.

• His person 
• His presence and 
• His passion 

are become the fulcrum over which faith becomes a broken religion or an elevating devotion. Here is the dividing line between those who say they love God and those whom God says love Him. If you love God you will in turn love the one who is begotten of Him; Jesus Christ.

By using the concept of the begotten here, the Apostle points us to the incarnation. This is that breaking point for so many religions

• The Catholics venerate Mary almost more than Christ
• The Mormons and JW's make Christ less than God with us
• The Muslims reject that Christ was more than a great prophet
• The eastern religions are ignorant of Christ
• The atheists deny Christ 
• The worldly ignore Christ

To love God is to love Christ. To love Christ is to not merely believe in His existence but to embrace His every teaching.

1 John 5:1 (KJV) Jesus Christ, the Fulcrum

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Judges 3:1-4 (KJV) Why My Enemies?

Judges 3:1-4 (KJV)
Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

Though the responsibility for leaving Canaanites in the land is placed, first upon the tribes of Israel and then upon Joshua, God here assumes that responsibility and lays a purpose for allowing them to remain. We see in this the melding of the free will of man versus the sovereignty of God. Men are responsible to do right before God. Their disobedience, however, in no way foils the plan of God. He has seen it from the beginning and even incorporated it into his good plan.

There are three purposes either stated or implied for leaving these Canaanites in the Promised Land:

To teach IsraelIf Israel had no enemy she would forget how to fight. If Israel lost the skills of combat an enemy would surely rise up and take her. It is necessary that a civilized and godly people have a "well regulated militia".

To prove IsraelAn unproven people are an unsure people. No one, including themselves, has any idea what they are or are not capable of, what they do or do not believe who they will or will not follow.

The chasten IsraelWhen the children of Israel turned from God, He turned their enemies against them. God allowed that enemy to have its way with Israel until she returned to the Lord.

Judges 3:1-4 (KJV) Why My Enemies?

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Judges 2:21 (KJV) Don't Blame Joshua

Judges 2:21 (KJV)
I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

The Bible nowhere condemns or speaks negatively of Joshua personally. Joshua is one of the finest examples of leadership, spirituality, and faith we have in the Bible. But he was not a perfect man. Toward the end of his life I see two things that I believe were faults that may have led to Israel’s failure as it is recorded in the book of Judges. Joshua left:

Nations which vexed the peopleI understand he could not have guaranteed complete victory in his lifetime but there is an indication, I think, that the push to drive out the Canaanites died long before Joshua did.

Israel without a new leaderWhen Moses realized that his days were few, he sought God for a new leader for the nation. Joshua did not do that. I do not see where he was ever commanded to do that, but I do not see where Moses was either. Moses was merely concerned enough for Israel to seek it for them. Joshua on the other hand, could have thought within himself that Israel now had their Promised Land, the tribes each had their own lot there, perhaps each tribe should develop their own leadership.

Right or wrong, I do not think there is any doubt that this lack of leadership in part led to Israel’s very rapid failure.

However, Joshua had not left them in moral and spiritual poverty. He had delivered to them,
A charge to serve the Lord

Joshua 24:14-15 (KJV)
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Israel, in the end, was without excuse. They had the example of Joshua. They had the Word of God and His worship. It was their choice and no one else’s to fall away.

As it is always for us to choose for ourselves whether to serve the Lord or to fall away.

Judges 2:21 (KJV) Don't Blame Joshua

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1 John 2:26 (KJV) Spiritual Seduction

1 John 2:26 (KJV)

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

The apostle speaks of the seduction so matter-of-factly that it must have been happening at the very moment. John took proactive and immediate measures to stop the work of seduction before it had time to work its wickedness.

I pause to identify the character of Seduction:

It is subtle and often difficult to see

This is especially true of the seduced.

It is flattering and appeals to the ego

Attention given, even by one who should not give the attention is none-the-less attractive.

It is sinful

No one is seduced into the right. The very nature of seduction is to lead away from the right.

It is destructive

Seduction like all sin when it is finished leads to death.

Those who are lost are no less seducers today than they were two thousand years ago. They are more varied and perhaps more brazen now than ever before. Anyone who knows the Lord should be happy that there is someone to step in and stop the seduction before it causes damaging consequences to one's faith.   

1 John 2:26 (KJV) Spiritual Seduction

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1 John 1:1-9 How To Walk in the Light

1 John 1:5-9 (KJV)

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The subject of this chapter is light.

• God is light and in him is no darkness.
• If we walk in the light we have fellowship one with another.
• Even the description given of Christ (using the word manifested) means light, open, revealed not hidden.

It is in this context that we should understand 1 John 1:9. To confess our sins is to reveal them to God and it is by revealing them that we walk in light. It is by bringing them out into the open, by uncovering them before God, that we walk in the light and his blood cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:1-9 How To Walk in the Light

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2 Peter 3:4 KJV The Promise of Christ’s Coming

2 Peter 3:4 (KJV)

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.




The promise of Christ’s coming is exactly where God said it would be.

• It is on time
• It is imminent
• It is glorious to the believer
• It is devastating to the unbeliever

I understand that there have been some Christians who have misrepresented the coming of Christ and taught things that have not come to pass. I understand that all Christians have looked for and preached His coming since Christianity was first established. I also understand that none of those things change the plan purpose or present sovereignty of God.

Jesus will come in the clouds to catch the Christians away. Seven years later Jesus will come to this earth to begin His one thousand year reign. No man knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, but:

• We do know that they will happen
• We do know that they will happen suddenly and unexpectedly and
• We do know that they will happen sooner than those mockers wished

2 Peter 3:4 KJV The Promise of Christ’s Coming

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