The Calamity of Compromise | Judges 1:1-2:5
Intro
The Chronicles of the Schoenberg-Cotta Family is an historical-fiction novel written in the 1800s by Elizabeth Rundle Charles. The novel is written in the form of journal entries and it follows the lives of several individuals who were personally affected by the power of the gospel during the time of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. In it, one of the characters makes this profound statement:
“It is the truth which is assailed in any age which tests our fidelity. It is to confess we are called, not merely to profess. If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-fields besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.”
What does it take to be unflinching in your faith, uncompromising in your convictions, not only on points of general Christian doctrine, but in the truth that is assailed in our age? Your fidelity will be tested and your loyalty to Christ will be proved in those “little points” that the world and the devil are at this moment attacking.
And what are those points? There seem to be so many these days: the meaning of marriage, gender, and human sexuality (v. LGBTQ confusion); the sanctity of human life (v. pro-abortion advocates); race and ethnicity and biblical definitions of justice (v. CRT and DEI dogma); the doctrine of creation (v. evolution); and many more.
Some Christians want to skirt around these issues by pointing out that these issues aren’t “salvation issues” or “gospel issues.” But I contend that professing or claiming doctrinal fidelity while fearing to confess or admit openly what Christ clearly teaches in his Word on these issues is to deny Christ.
This morning, we begin our sermon series through the Book of Judges. Before we get into Judges 1, let me explain why we’re preaching this book at this time.
The Book of Judges is rather infamous for its disturbing depravity, violence, and gore—chopped off thumbs and toes, a fat king disemboweled, a tent peg driven through the head of a sleeping enemy, a child sacrifice, a violent gang rape. It is brutally honest about the dumpster fire that was Israel’s social and religious life during their first 250 years in the Promised Land. It’s tempting today to ignore the Book of Judges. Why would we choose to preach it?
First and objectively, because this is the Word of God. That conviction spares us from all embarrassment and raises our expectations. I’ll say more about this next week when we come to this passage, but for now, you should know that the main point of the Book of Judges is stated in Judges 2:16 and 18:
“Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. … Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.”
That’s why we're calling this series, “Such a Great Salvation.” The great theme of the book is the God who repeatedly saves his people according to his infinite mercy and not their merit. The moral decay and cultural decline of Israel is merely the backdrop against which the glory of God’s grace and mercy and faithfulness shines brilliantly.
Second and subjectively, this seems like a timely word for the church in America. We live in our own dark days of moral, spiritual, and cultural decay. You hardly need me to describe all the things burning in America’s dumpster fire.
And in 8 weeks, we have “the most important election of our lifetimes.” That phrase is so overused, and yet it seems like most Americans—red or blue—have a sense that the future of our country is at stake.
We need perspective that can only come from the living God through his Word. We need robust theology to read the story that we’re in. We need clarity to navigate these times in a God-honoring way. We need hope.
The Book of Judges offers all this.
The Book of Judges is a mirror that helps us see our own temptation to worldliness, compromise, complacency, and idolatry.
Judges is a frame that gives us historical perspective so we can see that these are not “unprecedented times.”
Judges is a window: through it we see the always faithful, never giving up, steadfast love of God for undeserving sinners.
And our text this morning—Judges 1:1–2:5—is full of grace from God to produce in you uncompromising commitment to Christ in the midst of a godless culture. The main point of this passage is that the unfaltering faithfulness of God deserves your uncompromising commitment to Christ.
How can you remain unflinching in your faith? Here are three answers from Judges 1. First, remember the victory of faith. Second, beware the calamity of compromise. Third, rely on the faithfulness of God.
Instead of reading the whole passage at the beginning, we’ll work through it as we go.
Remember the Victory of Faith
To cultivate uncompromising commitment to Christ, remember the victory of faith.
Joshua
After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
—Judges 1:1
The Book of Judges begins with hope and promise in a time of uncertainty. Judges picks up the story “after the death of Joshua.” Joshua rose through the ranks, beginning as Moses’s assistant (Ex 24:13) and becoming a warrior who led the battle against the Amalekites (Ex 17:9–14). When Moses sent twelve men to spy out the Promised Land and found it inhabited by giants, only two—Joshua and Caleb—trusted God to give them the land.
After the death of Moses, God commissioned Joshua to lead Israel (Deut 31). Under Joshua’s leadership and military command, Israel crossed the Jordan River, entered the land of Canaan, and began to take possession of it (see the Book of Joshua).
At the end of his life, Joshua gathered the entire nation and said, “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed” (Joshua 23:14).
What a rich legacy of faith the Israelites had in Joshua! Joshua led the people in trusting the promises of God, and God kept his word. And Joshua’s final charge to the people of Israel (Josh 23–24) was to trust the Lord and finish the task, driving out the Canaanites and taking possession of the Promised Land.
To be sure, a legacy of faith is a gift. It is a blessing, an example, and an encouragement. But it is not a substitute for personal faithfulness. It is up to each generation to trust the Lord and obey him in their times.
Judges 1 picks up the narrative “after the death of Joshua,” and there is no clear successor. You can imagine how destabilizing the death of Joshua must have felt to Israel. For decades, Israel was led by Moses and Joshua, giants of the faith and courageous leaders directly commissioned by God. No wonder verse 1 says, “The people of Israel inquired of the Lord, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’”
That is an encouraging start! The people show initiative to finish the task before them, and they begin by seeking the Lord for direction. The hope of God’s people rests ultimately not in the human leaders God raised up in the past, but in God himself, who promises to be always present.
Judah
The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. —Judges 1:2–3
Anticipation continues to build in verse 2, where the Lord answers. Up to this point, no prominent leader in Israel had ever come from Judah. But this response from the Lord is not entirely surprising. When the patriarch Jacob blessed his twelve sons, he prophesied that Judah would be preeminent—praised by his brothers, victorious over his enemies, possessing the royal scepter forever, like a lion crouching over his prey (Gen 49:8–10).
The answer from the Lord (v. 2) signals the beginning of Judah’s ascent in fulfillment of that blessing—another promising sign for Israel, and a strong motivation to trust the Lord.
Adoni-bezek Defeated
Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
—Judges 1:4–8
Judah’s victory over Adoni-bezek is a massive victory. First, this king led a force of 10,000 men, a powerful and impressive army. When Judah captured him, he claimed he himself had subjugated seventy other kings.
The number 70 is significant: it’s the product of 7 times 10. And 7 and 10 are both numbers that signify fullness or completion. Seven indicates qualitative perfection or completion (e.g., seven days of creation). Ten indicates quantitative completion or fullness (e.g., the ten plagues, the Ten Commandments).
So Adoni-bezek boasts that he is the king of kings. To be the best, you have to beat the best. And that’s what Judah did at Bezek.
You might be wondering what to make of the mutilation of Adoni-bezek—cutting off his thumbs and big toes. Modern readers cringe at this brutality, but the king himself recognized his fate as the judgment of God. He did not object that it was unfair or undeserved. He acknowledged that his day of reckoning had come.
Caleb
And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
—Judges 1:9–18
This section conveys even more hope through reports of numerous victories. From the tribe of Judah in general, a particular and familiar character reemerges. Caleb (v. 12) was Joshua’s close companion, the only other spy who trusted God. God said of him, “Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!” (Deuteronomy 1:35–36).
Here we have the report that Caleb received from the Lord exactly what God had promised. The hill country, Hebron, and Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—Caleb is the one who conquered all these places by faith (Judg 1:20; cf. Joshua 14:13, 15:13–14). After wandering in the desert for 40 years, Caleb never lost faith. When they finally entered Canaan, he said this to Joshua:
“And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”
—Joshua 14:10–12
Caleb had faith to ask the hill country where the Anakim lived in “great fortified cities.” Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai were the descendants of Anak (Josh 15:14; Num 13:22). And who are the Anakim? I’m so glad you asked!
Without going too deep down that rabbit hole, suffice it to say, they were giants. And Moses said this about them in Deuteronomy 9:1–3: “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’”
The Anakim were huge, their cities were formidable, and they were undefeated. Moses went on, “Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.” Caleb defeated the sons of Anak because he trusted that promise from God.
And that’s the point of the beginning of the Book of Judges—to convince you to live by faith in God in this world filled with evil giants and ruthless enemies of God. Remember Joshua, Caleb, and the tribe of Judah, who proved God faithful. They took God at his word and conquered giants and overthrew tyrants.
G. K. Chesterton once said, “The one perfectly divine thing, the one glimpse of God's paradise given on earth, is to fight a losing battle—and not lose it.” That’s what Joshua did, and Caleb, and the tribe of Judah. Their faith is no substitute for yours, but it is recorded to strengthen yours.
Beware the Calamity of Compromise
To cultivate uncompromising commitment to Christ, beware the calamity of compromise.
Hints of Trouble
And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
—Judges1:19–21
The report of Judah’s conquest ends with signs of trouble. The most troubling part is the apparent contradiction between the affirmation that “the Lord was with Judah” and the surprising report that Judah couldn’t handle the chariots of iron (v. 19). At this point the author is not concerned with resolving tension, only introducing it. So we’ll be patient too; the answer is coming.
Everything up to this point has focused on the southern tribes—Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin—and the section comes to an end with an ominous report. Benjamin failed to drive out the residents of Jerusalem, “so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day” (v. 21). Again, no explanation. Just not the victory we were expecting.
Let’s keep moving; it only gets worse.
Subtle Compromise
The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
—Judges 1:22–26
Now the narrative shifts to the northern tribes (“the house of Joseph”). And we’re initially filled with hope when we hear that “the Lord was with them.” We naturally expect to hear of more victories, and there is a victory at Bethel.
Bethel was a place of profound significance because God appeared to Jacob in a dream there. Genesis 28:16–17: “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, [Bethel means “house of God”] and this is the gate of heaven.’” Jacob set up a memorial pillar in Bethel (Gen 28:18–22) and later lived in Bethel and built an altar to God there (Gen 35:1).
However, there was a problem. When the northern tribes spied out Bethel, they found a man who agreed to show them a way into the city. At what price? Well, in exchange, they promised to deal kindly with him. The word in Hebrew is hesed, which means loyalty, favor, steadfast love. Hesed is covenantal language, and God explicitly warned them not to make covenants with the Canaanites (Deut 7:2). So this episode ends, not with the report of a victory, which we would expect, but with another ominous statement that Canaanite culture is continuing. The man built a new city—which still existed—and called it by the same name.
From Bad to Worse
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them. The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
—Judges 1:27–36
The rest of chapter 1 follows the tragic descent from bad to worse.
First, the bad: Manasseh, Ephraim, and Zebulun fail to drive out the Canaanites, and the text says, “The Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land” (v. 27), and, “The Canaanites lived … among them” (1:29).
Then the tribes of Asher and Naphtali also failed to drive out the Canaanites who lived in their allotted territories. But notice how the language subtly shifts: “So they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land” (vv. 32, 33). It’s not the Canaanites living among the Israelites; the Israelites are said to live among the Canaanites. That’s worse.
But worst of all, “The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain” (v. 34). The author recounts the failure of these tribes in this specific order to paint a picture of decline and demise—greater and greater compromise, worse and worse failure.
In 2017, the Atlanta Falcons played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Halfway through the third quarter, the Falcons held a commanding lead: 28–3. And then they allowed New England to score 25 unanswered points. New England tied the game and ended up winning in overtime, 34–28. Imagine how Falcons fans feel about that game. That’s how this narrative is supposed to make us feel about the devastating loss.
But doesn’t the text convey some dominance when it says Israel subjected the Canaanites to forced labor? This is like the losing team pointing out that they did have more time of possession and more shots on goal. Instead of obeying God, they settled for their own “solution.” One author calls this “pragmatic success and spiritual failure—a strange but possible combination.”
One of the great dangers we face today is the self-deception that comes with recognizing the moral insanity of the world around us while compromising with sin inside of us.
Where are you tempted to compromise personally? What do you put up with in your entertainment? Are you against the LGBTQ confusion but enslaved to pornography? Are your standards of modesty defined by the world or by God’s word? Is the world shaping your views of birth control and the value of children? Have you bought the lie that education is neutral?
Corporately, the church is tempted to make pragmatic compromises to “reach the lost.” Many professing Christians today readily accept (or assume) the claims of secularism, pluralism, and moral relativism. The values and ideas of Critical Race Theory, cultural marxism, and the MeToo movement have infiltrated and influenced many churches. Christians who want to look respectable to the world feel pressure to accommodate the world’s views on abortion, evolution, climate change, immigration, gender, and race.
Judges 1 is a sober warning to the people of God in every age. By recounting the calamity of compromise, it urges us not to flinch at those points where the battle rages in our day.
Rely on the Faithfulness of God
To cultivate uncompromising commitment to Christ, rely on the faithfulness of God.
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
—Judges 2:1–5
After recounting how Judah went up (v. 2) and the house of Joseph went up (v. 22), the final scene announces that “the angel of the Lord went up” (2:1).
Who is the angel of the Lord? The text seems less concerned with the identity of the angel (or messenger) of the Lord, and more interested in his message. When he speaks, he speaks as God: “I brought you up from Egypt …. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you ….’ But you have not obeyed my voice” (Judges 2:1–2).
This may be “the commander of the army of the Lord” who appeared to Joshua, and whom Joshua worshiped (Josh 5:13–15). It may be the angel God promised to send with Moses and Israel (Ex 23:20–21).
Remember how the narrative has repeatedly emphasized that “the Lord was with them”? Now the angel of the Lord comes to give his evaluation of the conquest. And he reveals the answer to the question that loomed over chapter 1.
Why did Israel fail to conquer the land and drive out its inhabitants? Was it because some of them had chariots of iron and some of them dug in their heels? No! In fact, Israel had specific promises from God about that: “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 20:1).
No, Israel failed in conquest because Israel failed to trust and to obey God, who had clearly commanded: “‘You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” (2:2). Israel made covenants with the Canaanites and left their idols and their altars.
But this is not God storming onto the scene to announce an arbitrary consequence. This is God simply stating that he will keep his word. In fact, a better translation of verse 3 would be, “And I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you ….’” It’s less a prediction of future judgment and more a reminder of past promises. That exact warning of snares and thorns is found—get this—in Exodus 23, Numbers 33, Deuteronomy 7, and Joshua 23.
The beginning of the Book of Judges reveals the faithfulness of God—faithfulness to keep his promises and faithfulness to fulfill his warnings. And it is this faithfulness of God that is meant to motivate you to unflinching faithfulness and uncompromising commitment to Christ. He is the Lion from the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5). He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16). He is the only one who has perfectly resisted the temptation to compromise. And by his death, he has paid for the sins of all who have failed, who have flinched, who have compromised.
In a godless culture where evil seems so powerful and pervasive, it is possible to be unflinching and faithful to Christ because Christ promises to be faithful to all who submit to and rely on him.