Puny Gods: Idolatry & the Downfall of Israel

Hopson Boutot

Poquoson Baptist Church

Judges: Rebellious People, Rescuing God • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

Judges 2:6–3:6

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Lead Vocalist (Kelly)

Welcome & Announcements (Bubba)

Good morning family!

Ask guests to fill out connect card

2 announcements:

1) Good Friday service

Communion service this Friday at 6:30

2) Easter Sunday

Potluck breakfast at 9 AM (please bring something to share)

No Sunday School!

Grab flyers at the exits to invite your friends, family, and neighbors!

Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Psalm 86:8-10)

Prayer of Praise (Jackie Wilson)

Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Prayer of Confession (Colin Smith), Idolatry

Assurance of Pardon (Psalm 72:12-13)

Jesus Messiah

We Will Glorify

Scripture Reading (Judges 2:6-3:6)

Page 237 in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Bubba)

Prayer for PBC—To resist temptations to idolatry

Prayer for kingdom partner—Jeff & April Knapp (Cru)

Prayer for US—Against drug abuse

Prayer for the world—St. Barthelemy

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

START TIMER!!!

The best hero stories have the worst villains.

Perhaps that’s why I’m such a fan of the Batman. You simply cannot find another hero with a rogues’ gallery to rival the colorful villains terrorizing the streets of Gotham City.

There’s Bane, the masked criminal with serious ‘roid rage.

Catwoman, the accomplished jewel thief with a questionable conscience.

Harley Quinn, the unhinged sidekick with bad taste in men.

Penguin, the stubby, long-nosed crime boss who regularly waddles into mischief.

Poison Ivy, the seductive eco-terrorist who’s probably a bit too concerned about climate change.

The Riddler, an enigmatic villain whose love for puzzles turned deadly.

Two-Face, the indecisive villain who leaves life and death to the flip of a coin.

Time would fail me to tell of Clayface, Condiment King, Deadshot, Hush, Killer Croc, Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Ra’s al Ghul, Scarecrow, and Victor Zsasz.

But everybody knows that the central villain in the Batman universe is The Joker.

As the Joker famously said to Batman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight: “I don’t wanna kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No. No. No! No you—you complete me.” [1]

One of the reasons I love the book of Judges is that it also is a book filled with colorful villains.

There’s a sadistic king named Adoni-Bezek, also known as the Lord of the Pebbles.

There’s Eglon, who is quite literally the biggest villain in the Bible, at least if you’re measuring by pants size.

A murdering rapist named Sisera, who learned the hard way that you shouldn’t fall asleep on the job.

There’s Abimelech, the bloodthirsty king who died after a certain woman had a crush on him.

There’s Delilah, who used her feminine charms to overpower the strongest man in history.

There’s the Gibeonites, whose crime was so vile it caused a civil war (and may force us to offer our first ever parental advisory for a sermon preached at PBC).

But who is the central villain in the book of Judges?

That’s the question we want to answer this morning.

Turn to Judges 2:6

Last week we examined Judges 1:1-2:5, which diagnoses the problem in Israel from the people’s perspective.

This week we’ll examine the second introduction to the book of Judges, which diagnoses the problem from God’s perspective.

And here we’ll learn the central villain in the book of Judges is the human heart.

But why? In a book filled with villains like Eglon, Sisera, and Abimelech, why would I say the central villain in the book of Judges is the human heart?

Almost 500 years ago a French pastor named John Calvin wrote that the human heart is “a perpetual factory of idols.” [2]

We have an endless capacity to take good things—like family, sex, money, careers, and possessions—and turn them into ultimate things.

Rather than receiving these things as gifts from the Giver, we center our lives on these things and worship them as gods.

That is the sin of idolatry.

And idolatry is the sin that God exposes in our text as the main problem in Israel.

So the central villain of this book is not one particular idol—there is an entire pantheon of idols these people worship—but the human heart that latches onto those idols.

Or to put it more simply, the Big Idea I hope to communicate this morning is that The greatest threat to you is you.

The sin of idolatry is not a dusty antique sin only committed by pagan uneducated types. The sin of idolatry is alive and well in your heart and mine.

With God’s help I want to show you Three Truths About Idolatry:

First, we’ll examine the characteristics of idolatry. What is it?

Second, we’ll explore the consequences for idolatry. Why is it such a big deal?

Finally, we’ll consider the cure from idolatry. How can we be delivered from it?

Consider with me first...

1) The CHARACTERISTICS of Idolatry

When I was in seminary, I took a world religions class where we studied the major religions of the world. My professor wanted us to do more than read about these religions. He wanted us to see them. So whenever possible he took us to somewhere these religions were practiced so we could see for ourselves.

I still vividly remember the day we visited a Hindu temple in Memphis, Tennessee.

We entered a large room filled with a number of smaller structures, that were kind of like very ornate sheds. Outside each structure was a large bowl on a stand, kind of like a birdbath. The bowls were filled with various things. Some had fruit and vegetables, some had gold and jewels, I remember one even had a milky substance.

Eventually we learned they were presents for the gods. Inside each of those structures was a statue representing a god.

Now that was certainly an example of idolatry. But if something like that is all we think of when we think of idolatry, we are in big trouble.

In fact, we may find ourselves glossing over entire sections of Scripture, because as David Powlison writes,

“Idolatry is by far the most frequently discussed problem in the Scriptures.” [3]

If we’re going to understand the dangers of idolatry, we need to know what idolatry is.

So consider with me Three Characteristics of Idolatry.

And as we’re doing so, examine your heart for traces of this sin.

A) Idolatry is all about DESIRE

Before we look at idolatry in Judges, let’s briefly define what idolatry is.

It is not primarily about bowing down to pagan statues, it’s an activity of the heart.

We see that clearly in...

Colossians 3:5—Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

What does Paul mean when he says “covetousness is idolatry”?

Covetousness is a sinful desire in the heart. It’s desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God.

And Paul says that kind of desire is idolatry!

If you want a simple definition of idolatry, consider the words of...

John Piper—“Anything in the world that successfully competes with our love for God is an idol.” [4]

I like that definition because anything and everything could compete with your love for God, but not everything does that successfully.

Up to this point in my life Hallmark films, the New York Yankees, and cucumbers have never successfully competed with my love for God. But there’s a thousand things that have.

Sports teams, movies, TV shows, music, food, drink, my wife, my kids, my job, money, sex, my education, my ministry, even myself, just to name a few.

John Calvin said the human heart is an idol factory because the possibilities for idolatry are endless! Apart from God there is no person, place, or thing in your life that could not eventually be turned into an idol.

How are you doing, Christian? What is successfully competing with your love for God?

If you see any desires in your heart that are competing with your love for God, confess that to the Lord today because...

Idolatry is all about desire.

Notice with me a second characteristic of idolatry...

B) Idolatry begins with AMNESIA

Some have been confused by Judges 2:6-9 because they mention the death of Joshua again, even though the book already told us Joshua died.

This is simply a literary flashback. The author of Judges is giving us a clue this is a second introduction, retelling the events of chapter 1 from a different perspective.

In verse 7 we learn God’s people “served the LORD all the days of Joshua.”

But something happened after Joshua’s death.

Verse 10—“there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.”

The word “know” probably doesn’t mean they literally did not know about God or His works. But the knowledge of God and His works were no longer precious to them.

The people in verse 10 aren’t like the unreached tribe on a remote island that has never heard about Jesus. They’re more like the countless Americans who know about Jesus but have grown cold and disinterested.

Perhaps that would include some of you. You know about God, but you don’t really know God.

One commentator writes, “When people lose sight of God’s grace, they lose sight of God and the sense of any obligation to him. All that follows in the book is a consequence of Israel’s loss of memory.” [5]

And spiritual amnesia has devastating consequences...

Judges 2:11—And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

Idolatry only makes sense in the aftermath of spiritual amnesia.

Nothing can successfully compete with your love for God if you are constantly remembering the truth about God. But begin to forget, and your love for other things will begin to increase.

So how do we fight spiritual amnesia?

By faithfully reading God’s Word and praying.

By reading good Christian books that point us to Jesus.

By our involvement in a small group like Sunday School, fellowship groups, or a discipleship group. Or all three!

By our faithfulness to gather with God’s people and sing the truth, pray the truth, read the truth, and hear the truth.

How are you doing, Christian? Are you remembering the truth about God and His works? Or have you succumbed to gospel amnesia?

If you’ve become a gospel amnesiac, confess that to the Lord today because...

Idolatry begins with amnesia.

Notice with me a third characteristic of idolatry...

C) Idolatry is fueled by WORLDLINESS

What is worldliness?

Consider this explanation from one commentator: “Our high calling is to be in the world, not of the world. It is not our being in the world that ruins us, but our [allowing] the world to be in us: just as ships sink, not by being in the water, but by the water getting into them.” [6]

So worldliness is an unhealthy preoccupation with the things of this world. It’s a love for the gift that’s divorced from the Giver.

It’s much easier for other things to successfully compete with your love for God when you’re constantly preoccupied with them.

It was a sinful preoccupation with the nations around them that led God’s people to chase after other gods...

Judges 2:12—…They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them…

Isn’t this exactly what God had told them would happen? He said that the nations would lead them astray with their gods, and that’s exactly what has happened.

An unhealthy preoccupation with the world is like pouring gasoline on a birthday cake that’s lit with candles. It ruins the cake, and it spreads the fire. Worldliness will ruin your ability to enjoy the good gifts in this world, and it will spread the fire of idolatry in your heart.

Are you fueling your idolatry with worldliness?

We need to be careful, here, because if we over-correct we will find ourselves in big trouble too.

I can remember several times as a young teenager being convicted of idolatry. Once my idol was my sizable Lego collection. Another time it was my baseball cards. Both times I thought the only way to fight those idols was to get rid of them. So as a young person who was honestly trying to please God, I gave away thousands of dollars worth of Legos and baseball cards, only to find out that my idolatrous heart was able to quickly churn out another idol.

The problem is not the things of this world, but an unhealthy attachment to the things of this world that forgets they are gifts from the Creator.

How are you doing, Christian? Are you preoccupied with the world? Are you so obsessed with the gifts that you’ve forgotten the Giver?

If you have, confess that to the Lord today because...

Idolatry is fueled by worldliness.

Brother, sister, friend, your greatest threat to you is you.

Your heart is able to turn any desire into an ultimate desire.

Your heart can easily forget the truth about God and why He alone is worthy of worship.

Your heart is easily distracted by the shiny things in this world.

These three characteristics of idolatry help us to understand what idolatry is.

Now let’s consider why it’s such a big deal by examining...

2) The CONSEQUENCES for Idolatry

We talked about consequences last week as we saw the Lord Himself confronting His people in their sin. But here in chapter two we’re seeing the consequences up close.

Chapter 1 was like twisting your foot on a tree root and realizing, this is bad.

Chapter 2 is like getting an X-ray and finding out just how bad it really is.

In one sense, the entire book of Judges is about the consequences of idolatry.

As each new chapter unfolds we will see the devastation that idolatry causes in the hearts and lives of God’s people.

But here in chapter 2 we get a preview of three main consequences of idolatry:

A) We Become SLAVES

Idols promise freedom, but they do not deliver. Instead, they enslave you.

Just look at the language Judges uses to describe idolatry:

In verse 11 we’re told the gods they worshipped were called “the Baals.” That word “Baal” literally means “master.” These gods are not friends, buddies, or lovers, they’re masters.

In verses 11, 13, 19 and 3:6 it says the people served their idols.

And in verses 12, 17, and 19 it says the people bowed down to them.

They have become slaves to the gods that they’re worshipping.

The darkest picture of this slavery is given in…

Judges 2:17—… they whored after other gods…

I know kids are present so I’ll be as delicate as I can.

That word, whored refers to the act of prostitution.

The author of Judges is telling us idolatry is a lot like prostitution.

In his commentary on Judges, Tim Keller writes, “Prostitutes then (and often now, too) are people whose lives are out of control, who are desperate, and who are giving themselves without getting any real pleasure or love in return. The use of the word “prostituted” here tells us that when we serve an idol, we come into an intense relationship with it, within which it uses us, but does not truly care for us. We become completely vulnerable to it, little more than a slave to it.” [7]

Are you a slave to your idols?

I would imagine many of us would answer “no, absolutely not!”

But the problem is we often don’t realize how enslaved we are until we lose the thing we’re worshipping.

Once again Tim Keller is helpful here. He writes, “A sure sign of the presence of idolatry is inordinate anxiety, anger, or discouragement when our idols are thwarted. So if we lose a good thing, it makes us sad, but if we lose an idol, it devastates us.” [8]

Yesterday I was fairly devastated by the news of Holly’s broken foot. God helped me to see this morning that the reason I was so devastated is I’m easily tempted to worship the idol of order. When things are ordered in my life, I’m happy and fine. When things careen towards disorder I get anxious, angry, or discouraged.

How about you? What makes you anxious, angry, or discouraged? What have you lost recently that is devastating you? What would devastate you if you lost it?

The answer to those questions may very well be your idol.

One reason we should resist idolatry is because it will enslave us.

But there’s a second consequence for idolatry...

B) We Become CORRUPT

Verses 16-18 introduce what many call the Judges cycle.

SHOW JUDGES CYCLE IMAGE

First, God’s people commit idolatry.

Then, God disciplines them, leading to oppression by their enemies.

Next, we’ll see God’s people crying out for help.

God hears their cries and brings deliverance by sending a judge to rescue them.

But then that judge will die and the cycle starts all over again.

But as we study this book, you’ll notice it’s more like a spiral than a cycle, because with every new judge the situation gets worse.

By the end of the book there’s a civil war and no rescuer in sight.

That grim reality is foreshadowed right here at the beginning of Judges...

Judges 2:19—But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Did you catch that? With each cycle the people grew more corrupt.

Why?

Because idolatry is a root sin.

Idolatry will not stay contained to one category of sin. It will spread to all areas of your life and corrupt you in ways you never thought possible.

Sin takes us further than we want to go, keeps us longer than we want to stay, and costs us more than we want to pay.

That corruption is visible in verse 2:13, where the people abandon the One God to serve a host of gods.

That’s the way idolatry works.

We are commanded to worship One God alone, but we prefer to worship a host of gods.

Worshiping one God is so inconvenient, because He demands submission in every area. He wants to be Lord of everything.

So the people of God begin worshipping a host of gods, committing abominable practices in their pagan worship.

Or consider the sin of the people of Israel in 3:6.

The very people that should have been driven out of the land are now being welcomed into their bedrooms.

This is a dark slide from where God’s people were supposed to be.

As Daniel Block writes, “Peaceful coexistence with the world leads to cohabitation and alliance with the world, which in turn leads to taking on the religious notions of the world. This is the rule; occasions when the influence is in the reverse direction are the exception.” [9]

Have you found yourself recently tempted by sins that would not have appealed to you in the past?

Could it be that the claws of idolatry are digging deeper into your heart, making you more susceptible to sins that once would have disgusted you?

We should resist idolatry is because it will corrupt us.

But the most severe consequence for idolatry is that...

C) God Becomes ANGRY

We see the anger of God at multiple points in our passage this morning:

Judges 2:12—And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.

Judges 2:14—So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel…

Judges 2:20—… the anger of the Lord was kindled…

Does it surprise you that God is angry?

Perhaps you’ve learned to think of God like Santa Claus. He’s a jolly old soul who loves to give good gifts to people.

But the Bible is clear that God is sometimes angry. His anger is not the opposite of His love, it’s an expression of His love!

Imagine a husband has sad but true evidence that his wife has committed adultery. Imagine too, for the sake of argument, that the husband, has been an attentive, devoted, tender, faithful husband.

Imagine the husband’s reaction to her sin was, “Well, ya win some ya lose some.” What would you think? You would think that such a wife was not well loved. You would think that this marriage must not have meant very much to him.

But a husband who responds in righteous anger and holy jealousy actually reveals the value of the marriage relationship. His anger is so intense because his love is so great. [10]

If God truly loves you, and truly wants what’s best for you He must and will be angry when you turn to other lovers.

But how are we supposed to think about God’s anger on this side of the cross?

If you are a Christian, all of God’s anger against you has been poured out on Jesus in your place.

Romans 8:1—There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Because you are IN Jesus, because you have repented of your sins and put your faith in Him, God has no anger left for you.

As the song says, “My sin, not in part but the whole, was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

And yet, Christian, even though God no longer has any anger directed at you, He still hates your idolatry.

And just as a good oncologist hates cancer and will even inflict pain on his patients to cut the cancer out of them, God hates idolatry and will even inflict pain on His people to cut the idolatry out of them.

So expect God to discipline you when your heart is idolatrous. He loves you too much to let you live in peace while you’re sleeping with the enemy.

So it’s no wonder that Judges 3:1-5 mentions God leaving the nations to test His people. He’s going to discipline His people when they wander from Him.

If you are not a Christian, all of God’s anger still rests on you.

Perhaps you’re wondering why this is such a big deal.

The punishment a sin deserves is directly related to the value of the one sinned against.

If you scratch a totaled car in a junkyard, nobody will notice or care.

If you scratch my minivan, you’ll probably just add a bit of character.

If you scratch your neighbor’s new Ford truck, you’re going to have to pay a significant amount to restore it.

But if you go to a car show and see a Aston Martin Valour—one of the most expensive cars in the world at $1.5 million—and scratch that car, you will pay far, far more.

Hebrews 10:31—It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The reason why it’s a fearful thing to be punished by God for your idolatry is because God is so inestimably valuable.

And because every one of you are tempted to worship created things instead of the Creator, your greatest threat to you is you.

Your idolatry will enslave you and corrupt you.

But most importantly, it will put you in the cross-hairs of an eternal God who will leave no sin unpunished.

Is there any hope? How can we be delivered from the mess we’ve created? Consider finally…

3) The CURE from Idolatry

To appreciate this cure, we need to zoom in on some of the most important verses in the book of Judges.

Judges 2:14–15—So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Now, what do you think should happen after verse 15?

“And then, the people repented, and God rescued them.”

Or, “And then the people smashed their idols, and God forgave them.”

That’s not what it says!

Judges 2:16—Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.

What’s the Spirit telling us here?

God is not saving His people because they’ve repented. He is not rescuing them because they’re sorry.

He’s rescuing them because He is a rescuing God!

And just to make sure we get the point, we see the same thing in...

Judges 2:18—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. For the Lord was moved to pity...

What is it that will move the Lord to pity?

Is He moved to pity by the repentance of His people?

Is He moved to pity because they walked down an aisle and prayed a prayer, or got baptized, or smashed an idol, or promised to change?

NO! Look at the rest of verse 18..

… the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.

Why does God rescue pitiful, groaning, rebellious sinners?

Because He is a Rescuer!

Commentator Dale Davis writes this:

“Once you see God’s heart in Judges 2:18 you are not shocked when you meet God’s Priest in Hebrews 4:15. [That passage, of course, refers to Jesus Christ] If you but tumble into this abyss of divine mercy, you will be convinced of one irrefutable fact: the God of the Bible is absolutely uninventible.” [11]

Here’s what this means practically, friend.

The cure for idolatry is not about doing anything. It’s about a Rescuer. It’s about a Person.

It’s about Jesus Christ, the ultimate Rescuer.

He did not come to save us because we were good. He did not come because we were repentant. He did not come because we asked Him to come.

Romans 5:8—…God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If you’re not a Christian, you can look to Jesus for rescue today. You can turn from your sins and put your faith in Jesus who died in your place and rose from the dead so you can be forgiven.

If you are a Christian, and like me you’re tempted to return to the puny gods you used to worship, look to Jesus today! Repent of your idolatry and trust that Jesus is enough.

One of the tools in our tool belt to fight our sin is to regularly remind ourselves how much better Jesus is than the puny gods we worship.

Our idols enslave us, but not Jesus. Sure, He demands our full allegiance to Him. But He doesn’t require anything from us He hasn’t already given to us. And He is not a cruel taskmaster. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Our idols corrupt us, but not Jesus. Serving Jesus will make you the best version of you. You’ll begin to look like Him! You’ll be more loving, more gracious, more patient, more kind.

There is only one way to die to your idols, friends. We must look to Jesus!

In the greatest Batman film since The Dark Knight, Lego Joker is trying to convince Lego Batman that they really are arch-enemies. But Batman insists he doesn’t need a central villain.

He tells Joker, “There is no us. Batman and Joker are not a thing. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. You mean nothing to me. No one does.”

Eventually Joker responds, “For once, Batman, you're right. I'm not your greatest enemy. Your greatest enemy is you.” [12]

So too with you and me. There are a trillion idols we can worship. But the greatest threat to you is your idolatrous heart.

But praise be to God He sent His Son, not when you were at your best but when you were at your worst.

So look to Him again today and find everything you need to kill your idols and trust in Him alone.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Benediction (Colossians 3:16-17)

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