A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Judges 2:7-10

Judges 2:7-10 “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

Judges 2:7-10 “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy

Facts About Apostasy 1) People had served the Lord. “So the people served the Lord…” (Judges 2:7).

Facts About Apostasy 2) May have served many years. “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7).

Facts About Apostasy 3) They had forsaken God. “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 2:11-13).

Facts About Apostasy 4) They did not know Jehovah. “…who did not know the Lord…” (Judges 2:10). “Know” – “know a person, be acquainted with; involving intelligent worship, obedience” (BDBG, p. 394). In Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Bullinger, “which did not care for Him” (p. 553).

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy What Lead To Apostasy Lack of Teaching

Apostasy – Lack of Teaching 1) Parents were to teach their children. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Apostasy – Lack of Teaching 2) Priests & elders to read the law. “So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing” (Deuteronomy 31:9-11).

Apostasy – Lack of Teaching 3) Failure to develop their own faith. “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel…When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel…Yet they would not listen to their judges” (Judges 2:7,10,17).

Apostasy – Lack of Teaching 4) Must teach our children. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Apostasy – Lack of Teaching 5) Preachers – preach; elder – feed; members – demand truth to be taught. “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly” (1 Peter 5:2). “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars” (Revelation 2:2).

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy What Lead To Apostasy Lack of Teaching Being at Ease

Apostasy – Being at Ease 1) Peace & prosperity – unfaithfulness. “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed” (Judges 2:14-15).

Apostasy – Being at Ease 2) Moses had warned them. “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you” (Deuteronomy 6:10-14).

Apostasy – Being at Ease 3) Joshua’s reminder. “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:13-14).

Apostasy – Being at Ease 4) Do we need reminding? “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). “And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15).

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy What Lead To Apostasy Lack of Teaching Being at Ease Tolerant of Evil

Apostasy – Tolerant of Evil 1) Failed to obey God. “Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you” (Judges 2:1-3).

Apostasy – Tolerant of Evil 2) We’re to be a separate people. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Apostasy – Tolerant of Evil 3) Evil accepted today by many. (a) Abortion (b) Homosexuality (c) Adultery or fornication (d) Social drinking (e) Gambling (f) False religions (g) False doctrine, etc.

Apostasy – Tolerant of Evil 4) Accused of being narrow-minded. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13,14). “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy What Lead To Apostasy Lack of Teaching Being at Ease Tolerant of Evil Effects of the World

Apostasy – Effects of World 1) Followed the gods of the people. “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 2:11-13).

Apostasy – Effects of World 2) Must not let the world conform us. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

Apostasy – Effects of World 3) Are not to love the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Apostasy – Effects of World 4) We can bow to the god of this world. (a) Wisdom (b) Wealth (c) Pleasure (d) Speech (e) Dress (f) Self (g) Things ahead of God

A Generation Who Did Not Know God!!! Facts About Apostasy What Lead To Apostasy Lack of Teaching Being at Ease Tolerant of Evil Effects of the World