 between Jephthah the Gileadites and the king of Ammon the people of Ammon and so we're going to look at judges chapter 11 Verses 12 through 28 if you'll turn there with me The title of our sermon tonight is reasoning with the unreasonable reasoning with the unreasonable judges chapter 11 verses 12 through 28 and Hear the word of the Lord now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon the people of Ammon saying What do you have against me that you have come to fight against me in my land? And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt from the Aranon as far as the Jabbaq to the Jordan Now therefore restore those lands peaceably So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon and said to him thus says Jephthah Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the people of Ammon For when Israel came up from Egypt they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Qadesh Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, please let me pass through your land But the king of Eden Edom would not heed and in like manner they set to the king of Moab But he would not consent and so Israel remained in Qadesh And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom in the land of Moab and came to the east side of The land of Moab and encamped on the other side of the Aranon But they did not enter the border of Moab for the Aranon was on the border of Moab Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites king of Heshban and Israel said to him Please let us pass through your land into our place The Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory So Sihon gathered all his people together and camped at Jihaz and fought against Israel And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel and they defeated them Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Aranon to the Jabbaq and from the wilderness to the Jordan And now the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel. Should you then possess it? Will you not possess whatever chemosh your God gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess And now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor the king of Moab did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? While Israel dwelt in Heshban and its villages in Aurora and its villages and in all the cities along the banks of the Aranon for 300 years. Why did you not recover them within that time? Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me May the Lord the judge render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon however The king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jeff thus sent him Let's pray Father in heaven We're very grateful to you Lord for your word Grateful for the book of judges and the lessons that you have for us here We know that these things have been written for our Admonition those upon whom the end of the ages has come and we look now to Judges chapter 11 and this encounter between Jeff the and the king of the people of Ammon and We want to learn from your word Lord. Please help us spirit of God. Please illuminate our understanding Spirit of God, please enable us to Apply the word of God seal it to our hearts Lord help us to Understand and to heed your word be with us now as we work through the text. Thank you for my brothers and sisters here Thank you for this blessing of having an evening service where we can consider your word together Lord it is light to our path a lamp to our feet and It was continuously reminded of how desperately we need your word your revelation to us and how desperately need we We need you to teach us Lord be with us now and bless this time together for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake We pray all these things amen Reasoning with the unreasonable judges chapter 11 verses 12 through 28 as we return to the book of judges and now particularly judges chapter 11 the people of Israel The covenant people of God have once again done evil in the sight of the Lord. They've gone and they've served the bales They've served the ashtras. They've turned away from the God of Israel and they've run after the gods of the Canaanites again The Canaanites who surrounded them the Canaanites who now dwell among them because Israel has failed to drive them out And Israel has again played the harlot with the gods of Syria now Sidon Moab Ammon and the Philistines so in chapter 10 verse 7 as you would expect as a Consequence of God's holiness and his covenant love for the people of God the anger of the Lord once again Burns hot against Israel and they now find themselves under the oppression of the Ammonites God sold them into the hand of their enemies For judgment against them and now they have in their oppression in the misery that follows Israel as of course called out they've cried out to the Lord for mercy as they've done so many times before they're The covenant people of God so when times get tough they know where to go they cry out to the Lord for mercy But the Lord not to be trifled with The Lord has basically told them to go cry out to their idols that they've raised up for themselves and let them deliver them There is a time when the patience of God will come to an end That's illustrated in this point with Israel time and time again through the book of judges Israel has sinned against God they plunge themselves over and over again into idolatry God demonstrates to the book of judges his long suffering his patience with them But there is a time when God's patience will come to an end Israel Must be brought to a true sense of her need so that she will Genuinely repent and turn back to God turn back to the Lord and so the Lord essentially says to Israel I'm not gonna do it this time not gonna deliver you go to the idols that you've raised up. Let them save you so the end of chapter 10 We have a foreboding and ominous sight at the border of Israel the Ammonites in camp in Gilead and They prepare to attack and so Israel in response then in camps at Mizpa and they go looking for someone to lead them into battle now in a Humiliating act of desperation in a faithless act of desperation the elders of Gilead are forced to plead with their estranged brother Jephthah The son of a father their son of their father by a harlot they had kicked Jephthah out of the family They'd cast him out forced him to flee And now they go to plead with their estranged brother Jephthah to lead them while away Jephthah's earned a reputation for himself He's become a Gabor as the Bible says a mighty man of valor and now his brothers are coming Crawling back to him to deliver them from the hands of the Ammonites They may feel as though they've got nowhere else to go Jephthah would certainly have been the last resort but as you remember The elders of Gilead in this have neglected to seek the Lord's face They are going about this on their own the Lord As it were seems to be silent behind the scenes now as the narrative proceeds And this act of desperation is faithless on the part of Gilead they don't seek the Lord Jephthah while their actions are faithless and desperate Jephthah Motivated by pride motivated by power probably at this point motivated also by a sense of vengeance And wanting to get back maybe a little bit as at his brothers who'd cast them out All the while God sits silent on the sidelines it would seem Nevertheless Demonstrating great Compassion For his people the Lord says in chapter 10 verse 16 that his soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel And the Lord will raise up a deliverer the Lord will protect save and deliver the apple of his eye And although he appears to be silent He's certainly sovereign over all of these circumstances that are coming to pass He's preparing their deliverance and he's preparing their deliverance through the very one that they had so spitefully treated years ago and from the sermon last Lord's day We know that they treated Jephthah in the same way they've been treating the Lord And Jephthah becomes a living parable as it were of the way that they've treated the Lord Gilead may have crawled back to Jephthah in an act of desperation But it was Almighty God who has been raising up him Jephthah as judge over his people So now as we come back to chapter 11 and we look at verse 12 together Jephthah now acting in his new capacity as head and commander over the Gileadites in Israel Now considering what we know of Jephthah what we know of Jephthah's motivations for taking the job in the first place We might have expected Jephthah's leadership to be like the leadership of Abimelech before him Abimelech was described in many of the same ways Jephthah seems to be following in that those footsteps a bit with uh hanging out with the rough raiding rebels that he was Uh, we would expect that Jephthah may be a lot like Abimelech But out of the gate Jephthah here proves that he's taking leadership in Israel Seriously, he's taking his leadership responsibilities very seriously and he shows real leadership here beginning in chapter 11 verse 12 He shows wisdom He shows skill in how he deals with the king of Ammon and before Jephthah brings them to swinging swords in close quarters Jephthah's going to try his hand at diplomacy from a safe distance verse 12 So Jephthah then sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon saying What do you have against me that you've come to fight against me in my land? Do you see why are you attacking me? You have no cause. This is my land verse 13 And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah because Israel took away My land when they came up out of Egypt from the Arnan The Arnan was a river in the south as far as the Jabak the Jabak was a river in the north And to the Jordan which was a river to the west of gilead on the western border The king of Ammon said now therefore the universe 13 restore those lands peaceably They're my land the king of Ammon said so Jephthah Refers to it as my land the king of Ammon refers to it as my land and what we have here in judges chapter 11 Is a good old-fashioned land dispute right? It's a land dispute This is the land on the eastern side of the Jordan river this little segment of land sliver of land lies north of moab and it lies west of Ammon Okay, just west of Ammon between Ammon and the Jordan river That's where this little sliver of land is on the eastern side of the Jordan river So the king of Ammon simply wants to control this little strip of land that lies between Ammon and the Jordan river He'd like to just annex that little piece of land That's land currently occupied by Israel gilead is located in that land And what is the king of Ammon done? He's crossed the border into this sliver of land And he's set up shop in gilead now The two leaders here are obviously at odds Jephthah wants to set the record straight see if they can avoid a war And so then Jephthah argues for why the king of Ammon has violated their land rights by invading their territory And Jephthah makes four arguments to the king of Ammon four arguments The first of these arguments that encompasses most of our text Is the historical argument The historical argument that argument believes begins in verse 14 look at verse 14 with me So Jephthah again then Sends messengers to the king of the people of Ammon and said to him thus says Jephthah Now consider with me Thus says Jephthah is a common address Given to that time by an imperial power to a subject Common language used by an imperial power addressing A subject is similar to how if you remember in second king's chapter 18 similar to how the Rob Shekka addresses Hezekiah on behalf of Snackarib the king of Assyria thus says the king like israel is subject to Assyria, right This same kind of language now used by Jephthah. Jephthah has some confidence now in his position as head and commander Thus says Jephthah. He's writing this to the king of Ammon Jephthah was obviously not going to be soft peddling the talks Jephthah would not be going to appease the Ammonites He wouldn't be acting as their subject thus says Jephthah. Jephthah is acting with confidence now What does Jephthah say? Verse 15 Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the people of Ammon We weren't the aggressors In the dispute like you're being now We didn't take their land away from them. Jephthah says we didn't take either the land of Moab or the land of the people of Ammon verse 16 For when israel came up from egypt they walked through the wilderness as far as the red sea and they came to kadesh Then israel sent messengers to the king of edom saying Please let me pass through your land But the king of edom would not heed and in like manner they sent to the king of Moab But he would not consent so israel Remained in kadesh now follow his argument here beginning in verse 16 right We asked for permission permission was denied We respected their land rights. We didn't attack them We didn't take the land in retaliation. What did we do when we were denied permission to go through the land? We remained in kadesh Then avoiding conflict with either of those kings either with the king of edom or the king of moab We circled around edom and moab on our way and if you Look at the geography of the area It took israel quite a way out of their way to go around those two territories But it was as the lord would have it right the lord would not let them go through edom would not let them pass through moab They went around verse 18 As they went around they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of edom and the land of moab And they came to the east side of the land of moab. I remember our geography Got the sliver of land in question between the jordan river on the west side Moab and amon essentially on the east side israel now is to the far east of moab away from the land in question So they passed they came to the east side of the land of moab verse 18 And encamped on the other side of the arnan, but they did not enter the border of moab for the arnan was the border of moab But that's the historical argument part one. How would we summarize that argument? jeff is essentially saying we actually respected their land rights In a way that we conducted ourselves something that you're not doing now We respected land rights. That's not what you're doing by crossing our border and attacking us Here's historical argument part two verse 19 Then what does jeff to say? He reminds the the king of the people of amon then israel sent messengers to syahan The king of the amorites the king of hechman and israel said to him Please let us pass through your land into our place But syahan did not trust israel to pass through his territory And so syahan gathered all his people together and camped in jahaz and fought against israel No return answer from syahan syahan was the king of the amorites He simply he didn't decline didn't send a letter didn't send messengers What did syahan do syahan mobilized troops and attacked israel didn't waste any time Forgot diplomacy altogether just going to attack verse 21 And the lord god of israel Then delivered syahan and all his people into the hand of israel and they defeated them Thus israel gained possession of all the land of the amorites. That's interesting isn't it Who inhabited that country? They took possession of all the territory of the amorites From the arnan that river in the south To the jabak that river in the north and from the wilderness to the jordan the jordan along the west coast of the land in question It's the particular land that's involved in this dispute isn't it where they get that land They took it from the amorites right historical argument part two The land that we did take didn't belong to you Doesn't belong to you belong to the amorites not the land of the amonites All we wanted to do jeff that said all we wanted to do is pass through And they attacked us we didn't attack them they attacked us And when they attacked us the lord god of israel delivered them into our hands and gave us their land verse 23 And now the lord god of israel has dispossessed the amorites from before his people israel Should you then possess it you see his argument? It's smart isn't it historical it's accurate. It's a good argument jeff is essentially saying what gives you the right You've got no right to that land The land has never been your land and your people the people of amon have never dwelt there Based on jeff's historical argument. They have no historical claim to the land they're invading. Okay Now what the historical argument here also reveals is that jeff there's no mere brute We might have thought that jeff the was a mere brute, but jeff the is not simply hired muscle Jeb the jeff the knows his history. He's got some leadership skills. Jeff has got some diplomacy skills some diplomatic skills Israel has been righteous jeff the says your aggression king of amon has been unrighteous It also reveals that jeff the knows his biblical history Numbers 21 Numbers 21 explains That it was the amorites that originally had taken that land from moab the amorites had invaded moab and had taken it to themselves Israel's wilderness wanderings took them as far as the border of the people of amon the ammonite border is described in Numbers 21. I believe it is verse 24 as heavily fortified And so israel didn't go in Deuteronomy 2 explains that the lord had specifically restricted them from going into amon And so israel took the land of the amorites up to the border of amon just to the east And when moab attacked israel they attacked unprovoked and god gave them the land now jeff the's detailed knowledge of their history Makes the faithlessness of israel At this time even more glaring the fact that jeff the knows these things in such detail Shows it manifests That jeff the other israelites like them knew their biblical history Knew what had been taught them through the generations of what god had done for his people and what israel had done in the land And now god was faithful to deliver the land for the people right they would have known these stories They would have understood their history just like jeff the they knew these things it makes their faithlessness even more glaring doesn't it israel is charged with forgetting The lord their god it doesn't mean they had short term memory loss Doesn't mean they've got a memory problem They don't want to retain him in their knowledge. Their forgetfulness of the lord is willful. Do you see it's willful They forget until what until when until they need him and then they remember They remember and they go crying to him and the lord has said now you go cry back to the idols that you've chosen for yourselves Jeff the shows us they knew Israel's history they knew the account of what god had done for his people now having very well established The historical argument jeff the then shrewdly Sarcastically posits a theological argument to the king of amon look at verse 24 Will you not possess Whatever chemo sh your god gives you to possess So whatever the lord our god takes possession of before us We will possess God is the one who gave israel syahans land Jeff essentially says to the king of amon you're gonna have to be content with whatever land chemo sh Gives to you That's the land you're going to get and you need to be content with whatever your little god gives to you Reference to chemo sh here appears to be a sarcastic insult. Do you see sarcastic insult chemo sh isn't the god of the amonites? Now this is interesting. It's also a point at which Many bible deniers will use this. Ah, look see there's an error in the bible There's no error in the bible This is a sarcastic insult and it's fascinating if you just think about it for a moment Chemo sh isn't the god of the amonites The god of the amonites was milchum Chemo sh was the god of the moa bites now think with me this little land this little sliver of land in question Used to belong to moab The little god the little g god over that little section that little sliver of land is chemo sh Chemo sh lost that land from moab to the amorites You know if you were charitable to that little g god you might say that he gave that land to the amorites And then he loses it again to israel I think with me for a moment According to the wicked and ignorant pagan tradition of these people their little gods their little idols controlled these sections of segments of land Chemo sh or chemo sh was the little god that controlled this land in dispute It may have been it may have been that the amonites claimed chemo sh is their little god too And so justified their claim on the land as their land Nevertheless Chemo sh was defeated first by the amorites who took the land from moab and then by the israelites Who took the land from the amorites? Chemo sh is over too how he would say that right? He's not doing good So jeff the says to the king of amon You claim that little god With those two losses on his record You can have him jeff the says Will you not possess? Whatever chemo sh your little god gives you to possess Whatever the lord our god takes possession for Before us that we will possess you can have what your little god gives to you make sense right? It's um It's a sarcastic jab Jeb the is a fine diplomat Uh, but jeb the jeb that's also taking jabs at the king of amon. He's not appeasing them by any stretch of the imagination Good for jeb the right take a stand jeb the So maybe a brief meditation On israel's history in the historical part of this argument has bolstered jeb the's faith has bolstered his confidence a little bit And the way that he responds here to the king of amon jeb the thinks to himself we serve the true and living god of israel We serve the one who's over all of this land And if the lord wants us to have this land he's going to give us this land It doesn't matter what their little g gods do right doesn't matter God is the one who is sovereign over all these things you take whatever land your little god gives you We will possess whatever the true and living god gives us to possess Now the sarcasm continues With a personal argument We saw the historical argument. We see the theological argument jeb the follows that up with a personal argument verse 25 And now he says to them listen Are you any better? Then belac the son of zippor king of moab Did belac ever strive against israel did he ever fight against them? Do you see that in verse 25? In other words jeff the saying that we got to put it in context and think about the The interchange that's going on here jeff is essentially saying who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? We don't even get The amonites king His name in all of this exchange. We don't know who he is He's not named and jeff to ask him. Do you think that you're better than belac? Who do you think you are? Did belac that powerful moabite king? Did he ever make a charge against israel for the land? You know if anybody could have made a charge like the king of amon is making It would have been belac It would have been belac but belac doesn't make that charge He never crossed our border For an attack on us as you have jeff the argues in numbers chapters 22 to 24 It's a fascinating exchange if you remember belac was certainly against israel And he goes after that profit for profit belam to curse israel and belam refuses to do so So belac was against israel, but not over land dispute belac never brings up a land dispute about this territory The moabites it says simply feared the presence of israel feared their growing strength So jeff essentially says if belac and the moabites have no case And they didn't invade to take the land from us Then what are you doing here? You presumptuous upstart jeff the might have added Well jeff the follows that With the last argument to conclude this brief case. He makes the historical argument He makes the theological argument a personal argument and now he concludes with an argument from silence verse 26 While israel dwelt in hechman and in its villages and aurora and its villages And in all the cities along the banks of the arnan for 300 years. We were there Why did you not recover them? within that time In other words, if there was any just cause for the claim, why is it just now that the claim is being made? If you had a case, why did you wait all this time? Right if a case was to be made Certainly it would have been made in that period of 300 years. We've been here a long time. This is our land jeff this saying We live here uncontested for the last 300 years. This is our land verse 27 Therefore jeff the wraps up his case therefore I have not sinned against you But you wronged me by fighting against me. May the lord The judge jeff has been raised up as a judge. We're going to see the spirit of the lord come upon him in verse 29 but who does jeff the Acknowledge as the judge over israel god the lord god May the lord the judge render judgment this day between the children of israel and the people of amon It's not going to be kemosh or milkham that have any part in this The lord ya way Is the judge and having come to the end of these terse diplomatic arguments jeff the gives it to him straight He gives him gives it to him straight Speaks plainly his case is solid His case is airtight. His case is entirely reasonable if he were a righteous man There is simply no good reason why the king of amon shouldn't heed the words of jeff the And turn back if he were a reasonable and a righteous man if he would think Past his own personal interests if he would think Beyond his own personal selfish agenda There'd be no good reason why the king of amon shouldn't heed these arguments from jeff the right However verse 28 the king Of the people of amon did not heed the words which jeff the sent him Don't pester me with the facts jeff the I'm not interested in the facts. There are other motivations at work here jeff the There's another agenda that we are pursuing another set of parameters that don't subject themselves to reason jeff the that's the Only thing you could say about jeff the's arguments is that they are entirely reasonable and righteous They're a good case a good case has been made. They're good arguments, but jeff the is not reasoning with a reasonable man essentially in the king of amon There are fleshly desires That overrun reason in the natural man Fleshly desires which overrun reason fleshly desires carnal desires That overwhelm good judgment You cannot reason with an unreasonable man Despite the arguments from reason and truth Ammon remains Unfazed in their wicked and selfish ambitions, and that's what they are right their ambitions Wicked and selfish and the god is going to judge them for their actions Why are they unfazed? Well the ammonites are not interested in reason The ammonites are not interested ultimately in truth. What are they interested in? They're interested in the land That's what I want We want the land that lies between us and the jordan river We've set our minds set our hearts upon that which we want And no amount of reason no amount of right Is going to convince us otherwise. That's what we're going to take and listen They're camped out in gilead prepared to make war against israel thousands are going to die For what reason it's because that thing that I want that thing that I want And they're unable to be reasoned with Despite the airtight case that jeff the makes it's a biblical case start to finish And they're not going to listen they simply want the land you cannot reason With an unreasonable man This is what I want no argument is going to persuade me from my course You notice that the king of ammon doesn't have much to say back He doesn't answer back. Yeah, but when when the they took the and We're not going to heed your words jeff the That's what they just yeah, and we're not going to heed. We're not going to listen to that We want the land right they have no argument Truth can be so plain right the truth can be so clear The truth so right righteous The truth so good the truth so helpful The truth a bounding in the wisdom Of god The truth bearing with it the mercy and the grace of god It is the truth of almighty god the truth can be so compelling But ultimately In That one who is consumed with his own desire the truth ultimately doesn't Matter over the years We've had many conversations In this building and out of this building that end just like this one Many many many many over the years God in his word Says this to you Here's the truth Here's the righteous course of action. Here's what god commands. Here's what god would have you do This is good God has said that he'll bless those who walk in righteousness Choose the righteous course of action Woman one woman i remember Who professed to be a christian I'd said during the course of our meeting several times This is what the word of god says. Here's what the bible says Listen, here's what the bible says Into that meeting she slams her hands down on the desk in front of me and says I don't care what the bible says She said it about like that we can be Overrun By idolatrous covetous wicked unrighteous desires, can't we? Let the one who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls We can be Overrun by inordinate desire by the things that we want and because we've set our mind We've set our heart on this thing that we want We don't listen to reason anymore And trust me by the by the timing gets to that point. You've got people around you who are pleading with you It's like an all-out war for your soul saying that why would you persist in this course of action? Don't go down this path And if they don't do it verbally they do it figuratively they slam their hands down on the table and then say that's not what I want That's not what I want. I don't care What the bible says This is what I want We may think to ourselves that well I'm far more reasonable that that Than that that can never happen to me No, that can happen to any one of us in this room And it is the lord who preserves us. It is the lord who Uh The lord who applies truth and reason to our hearts and minds Biblical good judgment biblical truth is often obscured Overruled overrun by personal desires carnal desires inordinate desires What the bible refers to as a covetous desire that paul says is idolatry And pray When that time comes that you have people around you who love you Who will tell you plainly What the truth says When you and I As we sit here and we consider the wicked course of action that this king of amon and the people of amon take here in Failing now to heed the word of jebta They're not listening to reason. They're not listening to truth You and I have an opportunity now as we sit here and we hear the word of god preached And we consider the words that the bible this example that the bible has given us of their wickedness They're in righteousness and you and I can commit ourselves afresh to say Lord help me By your grace. I will not Turn from your statutes. I will do your judgments. I will obey your word I will keep your commandments And when you find yourself in a circumstance where desire rises up from within your flesh And this little trinket gets dazzled before you by the enemy You can remember that commitment that you've made And rely upon god for help god, please please don't let me be led astray By the desires of my carnal flesh. Don't let me be led astray By worldliness. Don't let me be led astray By foolishness And then listen to your brothers and sisters, right? There's safety in a multitude of counselors You have a family around you that loves you that cares for you that will speak the truth to you That will read the bible to you that will confront you ultimately There's no hope here Left for the king of amon He refuses to hear the word of jebta and so now jebta Will put down his pen and he will pick up his sword And jebta becomes the agent of god's judgment against the people of amon The spirit of god will come upon jebta in verse 29 and god will deliver his people Praise be to god. Amen. Amen. Let's pray Father in heaven Lord, I praise you and worship you and thank you lord that you are the deliverer of your people That you are the one lord who preserve us and protect us. Keep us lord from foolishness Keep us from worldliness. Keep us lord protect us From the inordinate desires the fleshly or carnal desires of our own fallen heart. Keep us lord From those things that would lead us off the path of righteousness and into the path of the The consequences of our own sin and help us lord to see Your truth and to love your truth and to cherish and to treasure your truth above all things That we would not be swept away with the wicked Help us lord to heed your word and not to be like this wicked king of amon who turns a deaf ear To the truth being spoken to him through the lips of jebta here your judge Protect us lord. Help us lord We are prone to wander We easily go astray Keep us lord in the path preserve us for your namesake And preserve us for our own good Help us lord to prepare ahead of time for when we're tempted to know What we'll do how we'll do help us lord to depend upon you To rely upon you and the strength that your spirit supplies to weather those storms and Help us lord to listen to righteousness To heed the words of truth For our good for your glory. We pray all these things in jesus name. Amen