 Amen. All right. So, Judges chapter 10. So, we're heading into, we're just getting done with the story of Abimelech. Of course, we had one of the greatest judges and judges in the book of Judges, which was Gideon. He had this son from a concubine named Abimelech, which was pretty much a terrible story. Abimelech murdered all Gideon's other sons, and then we see that whole story. We took a couple weeks to go through Judges chapter 9. Now in Judges chapter 10 we have kind of a short chapter here. There's not, it seems like there's not a lot happening in Judges chapter 10. You say, what, what could we learn from Judges chapter 10? But let's go through Judges chapter 10 and I'll, I'll show you what we can study from this and we'll do some, some application at the end. So, it is a short chapter. It's right after the death of Abimelech. And in Judges chapter 10, look down at verse number one. That's what the Bible says. And it says, And after Abimelech, there arose to defend Israel Toa, the son of Pua, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in the Mount Ephraim. Turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 7. So I'm going to show you, first thing I'm going to show you is why, if you've ever wondered why all these, you know, genealogies are in the Bible, I'll show you at least one reason why they're in the Bible this evening. Go to 1 Chronicles chapter 7 and we can see that Toa, this judge that is risen up here in Judges chapter 10 and verse number one, he's also mentioned in 1 Chronicles in the genealogies. So in 1 Chronicles chapter 7, look at verse number one. The Bible says, Now the sons of Issachar, so Issachar had these sons. So basically, 1 Chronicles is giving the genealogies of the tribes of Israel. And whenever you read the Bible, I mean, you would be dishonest, in my opinion, if you didn't get to the genealogies part and at least say, man, this is a lot just reading through these genealogies. But it's really good for these genealogies is to be able to have them to use them as a study tool to kind of go back and match up certain things in the actual history. So Judges is a history book. So we're reading about things that actually happened in the book of Judges. And in 1 Chronicles, we see the genealogies here. And it says, the sons of Issachar, and look at verse number two, and the sons of Tola, Uzzi, and Raphia, and Jeriel, and Jema, and Jism, and Shemuel, the heads of their father's house, to wit of Tola. And now, so we see that Tola here matches the Tola that we're reading about in Judges. And then we see some information about what these people were like. And it says, to wit of Tola, it says they were valiant men of might in their generations, whose number was in the days of David, two and twenty thousand and six hundred. So the Bible here is saying that Tola, these men, they were mighty men of valor at this time. Okay, so that kind of gives us a little bit of information on what the men were like underneath Tola in Judges chapter 10. And we're going to apply that at the end of the chapter. Look at verse number two of Judges chapter 10. So it's always neat how these things match up in the Bible. Now, it says, Tola the son of Pua, just so for the record. And then it does say, Issachar's sons were Tola and Pua. But, you know, you could just say that basically, Tola was a son of Pua as well. It was just not listed exactly there. But we see that it's from the same family, that that name is from this family of Issachar. And what these men were like was really what I wanted to point out, is that they were mighty men of valor. So remember that. Look at verse number two. And he judged Israel 20 in three years. So Tola was a judge and he judged for 23 years and was buried in Shemar. Now, I mean, there wasn't much going on. He just judged Israel for 23 years. It wasn't this great story like Gideon where he freed them from these massive armies of people that were oppressing them from the east. And look at verse number three. And after him, now we see another judge, arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel 20 in two years. And he had 30 sons that rode on 30 ass-colds and they had 30 cities, which were called Havoth Jair and unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. So Jair was a son of Manasseh, which was where Gilead was, which was on the east side. Remember the tribe of Manasseh was split. You had the half tribe of Manasseh that settled on the east side of the Jordan. They were one of the tribes that said, hey, we're good here. We don't want to cross. Remember that? And then, you know, as long as they went and they fought with the Israelites, which they did, they could just have that land on the east side. So this is east Manasseh, turned to Deuteronomy chapter three, turned to Deuteronomy chapter three. And so this is east Manasseh is what we're talking about where Jair is from, where Gilead, the city is. Look at Deuteronomy chapter three and look at verse number 14. We'll see some more information about Jair. And the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter three, verse 14, Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the country of Argov under the coasts of Gesheru and Makathai and called them after his own name, Beshan Havoth Jair and unto this day. So here we see this guy and he liked to name towns after himself. So he had lots of cities is what I'm trying to get at. There was lots of things, times were good under Jair. He had lots of cities. He was naming all these cities after himself. You know, there was abundance at this time and there was valiant men at this time. And look at verse number five. And the Bible says in Jair died and was buried in Kaman. So here we had some time in Israel that was not a bad time. You had peace and you had peace for 23 years under Toa and then you had peace for 22 years under Jair. So yeah, I mean you had a 55 year chunk of peace here which you know, there wasn't any war that we know of that was going on here especially in this area. Look at verse number six of Judges chapter 10. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So again, right after the judge is dead, the children do evil in the sight of the Lord. It sounds familiar. Are you recognizing a pattern in judges and serve Balaam and Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zaidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the Lord and serve not him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel 18 years and the children of Israel that were on the other side of Jordan in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead. So look, again, they're on the east side of Jordan. Verse number nine. Moreover, so they've they've abandoned the Lord on the east side of Jordan. But what's interesting because look what happens in verse number nine. Moreover, it says, you know, even more than this, the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed. So basically this tribe, this east side of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan, they turned from the Lord and they abandoned God and they started serving all these false gods and, you know, God sold them into the hands of their enemies and then their enemies just kept going into Israel. Okay, so it just the sins of the people on the east side of Jordan ended up coming over the Jordan River into Israel itself into Judah because Judah is on the west side of Jordan. So I mean this is a good example of, you know, a little bit of sin, you know, spreads. Sin spreads and it infects and it costs other people. Sin doesn't just cost you, it costs those around you, those next to you, those around you related to you, whatever. Look at verse number 10. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord saying, we have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God and served Balaam. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines? The Zidonians also and the Amicholites and the Maonites did oppress you and you cried to me and I delivered you out of their hand. God is saying to them, he's like, we've been down this road. He's like, you know, I've delivered you from these people and you go and you just serve them again and you just adopt their gods again. And in verse 13 he says, yet, he's like, even though you've been down this road, he's like, yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Wherefore I will deliver you no more. It's like for this reason I will deliver you no more. And then like verse 14 he says, go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. Now look, I mean the God's long sufferings over at this point. And he's basically saying to them, these people have turned and they've worshipped all these gods who are no gods. These dumb idols, these gods, it's not like they're lesser gods, they're no gods. So God says, God says to them, hey, what are you crying to me for? I mean, doesn't it make sense? I mean, doesn't it seem fair what the Lord is saying here? The Lord is saying, he's like, you've abandoned me and you've gone to worship a rock or a piece of wood or a dumb idol or some stupid non-god that these people around you that I warned you about since the beginning of human civilization. He's like, I've warned you against this and you've done it. He's like, go, go ask them for help. I mean, you're worshipping them, go ask them for help. Look at verse 15. I mean, it's perfectly fair. It's perfectly logical for God to say that. In verse 15, the Bible says in the children of Israel said unto the Lord, we have sinned. Do thou unto us whatsoever seem good unto thee. Deliver us only, we pray thee this day. It's interesting when it comes to them actually needing help though. I mean, this is how stupid we are as people. Okay, this is how stupid we are and how, you know, big of backstabbers against God we are because, look, we'll go and we'll worship all these other gods and we'll, you know, because we feel that there's some benefit. You know, I'm sure it just came in a way where they thought they were just going to fit in with their neighbors and just maybe not offend their neighbors and all this kind of stuff and pretty soon they're just adopting all these cultures. I'm sure they married some of their neighbors and they married into these tribes and then, you know, when they were celebrating holidays and, you know, can't you just see how it could come in and pretty soon all these cultures and these traditions and pretty soon they're worshiping all these false gods. They're literally turning away from God and worshiping these false gods and it didn't take long. It was like one generation after the judge died. But then, when it actually comes to them needing help, I mean, this is how dumb people are because they know that the rock isn't going to help them. They know that the false god isn't going to help them. Verse 15, they know they need help and they're like, hey, we know that that, you know, we know that that can't help us. We know. We have sinned, they say, because they actually need help at that point because they're going into oppression. They're being oppressed by people around them. So just notice that it took the oppression to get that light bulb to come on in their in their mind. Okay. Before that, they're just doing all this stuff and they're just not even, it's like they're not even noticing it. You're like, man, they're dumb. Well, maybe we're dumb too. Let's just keep talking this evening. Look at verse 16. And they put away, so there's some pressure on them now. They're being oppressed now. So they put away the strange gods from among them and served the Lord. And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. Funny how that works. When they actually get right with God, God's heart towards them turns. I mean, it was just two verses earlier where God said, go cry unto the false gods. He says, go cry unto the gods which he have chosen. And now he's grieving for them because they turn towards him. So, I mean, God is a merciful God. I mean, that is one just overarching theme of judges that you can't miss. Is that God is long suffering, but his long suffering has a limit, but he's just endlessly merciful because they turn back towards him and they serve the Lord. And right away, I mean, in the same sentence, and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. I mean, before when they had still turned against him, he's like, go cry, go cry unto the false gods. And now his heart is grieved. Look at verse 17. And the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Misbah. And the people and princes of Gilead said to one another, what man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. So, here they're looking, they're gathering, they're looking for a leader. But then they say, what man? He's like, and right away at the end, at the end, that end phrase, that end sentence, they say, what man is it? It doesn't say what man is it that will just free us from our oppressors. It says he shall be head over all of us. Doesn't that sound familiar with what they were asking Gideon to be a king? Look, these people are just itching for a king. These people want a king so badly you can see it in judges even before we get to the first king of Israel. Look, but you can just, you can just feel that desire for an earthly king from them. But look, I want you to recognize this. Notice how the judges didn't have a dynastic secession. Notice how the judges that we see that God raises up, they didn't, they didn't, Gideon, Gideon didn't have his son be the next judge, and Gideon's son son, and then his son son son. That's not how the judges worked. You ever think about that? These people wanted a king. They wanted a dynasty for a king to rule them, and the king's son to rule them, and the king's son son to rule them. That's what they wanted, but that was not God's plan. That was not God's plan. It makes you realize that they didn't get the pattern. They didn't see the pattern. God, look, God would raise a judge out of necessity for them. He would raise a judge out of necessity after they turned on him most of the time. The judge gone, judge dies, and they turn away. Are you seeing this pattern? Look, if there was always, if there was, God was trying to, God was trying to show them this pattern. If there was always a king there, they would just always have a king to lean on. They would just always have that king there. A king, I mean, this is why God didn't want a king. The judge rose up to free them from the oppression after they got right. That's what the judge did. If there was a king there, they wouldn't get it. They wouldn't get it. A king interferes with God's plan. The plan of chastisement and then repentance. That is what the judge was for. And you can see, look, you can see that God wanted the people relying on who. Who did God want the people and judges again and again and again? Because what was the judge there to do? He's there to judge the law. He's there to just, that's what Gideon said. He said, the Lord shall rule over you. Gideon was not there to rule over them. He was there to judge the law. He was there to interpret the law for them. He was there to, show them what God wanted for them. God rules over Israel in judges. God just happens to raise up a judge after they get chastised and have repented. If there's a king there, they would just always rely on the king. So, I mean, that's exactly what happened, by the way, once we get into the kings, is they rely on the king. They rely on the king, whether it's good or whether he's bad. And guess what? Most of the time they were bad. Most of the time the kings were bad. Most of the time the kings did evil in the sight of the Lord. Not good. So, God is trying to teach the children of Israel to rely on him, not some earthly king. That's the point of the model of the judges that we see again and again and again. Look, God, I mean, that's God. God doesn't want to force you. God wants you to choose to follow him. That's why we have free will. That's why salvation itself is based on what? It's based on your belief. You don't have to believe anything. I mean, we see that there is nothing more obvious than that, is that people in this world don't have to believe anything. They have to want to believe something. And if they want, I mean, it's all theirs. If they truly believe it, then they can be saved. But that's what God wants. God doesn't want to force anyone because you can't force somebody to believe something. You can't force that. So, that's just a side note that they're looking for that king. God doesn't want them to have a king. God wants them to turn back to him and rely on him in that cycle of chastisement and repentance. And a judge was just part of that plan. A king is a figurehead that he knew that the people would just focus on, and then they would lose sight of the Lord because of the king. And if the king was focused on the Lord, it's fine, but most of the time we know how that worked out. So, let's look at some application here. So, we see a lot of cycles in judges. And especially in Judges chapter 10, we see this cycle playing out again. So, we can see this cycle once again that we've seen over and over repeating itself. Now, here's what's interesting. I was reminded of this when I was reading Judges chapter 10, and it reminded me of something that I had read before, and I want to just read it for you now. But in 1787, Alexander, Alexander Titler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, documented eight steps of a democracy, eight steps of a democratic civilization that it would go through, eight stages that it would go through. And I want to show you how the book of Judges and the civilization of Israel actually matches that pretty closely, even though that this professor, his assessment, it's a secular view. It's a secular view of things. But look, he's a historian. He's just looking back at civilizations. He's looking back at civilizations at what's happening, and he's matching up things that fit into all these stages. Now, first of all, before we get into it, because then we're going to apply it to us as well, we're not a democracy. We are actually a constitutional republic in this country. Well, at least I think we are. I think it was supposed to be that way, and we shall see. But let me just give you a secular view of this man's stages of a democratic civilization and look at it as we can match it to Judges chapter 10. The first stage is this. It's from bondage to spiritual faith is what this man said for stage number one. Now, we see this pattern again and again in Judges. Now, keep in mind, this is a secular view. He's still recognizing that spiritual faith. Look, you see this pattern in Judges. They come out of bondage and they have great faith. Step number two is spiritual faith to great courage. Go to First Chronicles chapter seven and verse number two. So, they will from spiritual faith to great courage. So, during and right after the Lord delivers them, we see that the men have courage to follow the Lord and we see that in Judges chapter ten. Look at First Chronicles chapter seven and verse number two where the Bible says, and the sons of Toa, Uzzi and Refia and Jeriel and Jami and Jib Sam and Shemuel heads of their father's house to wit of Toa they were valiant men of might in their generations. So, these were brave valiant men at this time that were just coming out of you know bondage. Look back at verse number four of Judges chapter ten. The next stage in democracy is is in the stage of democracy is is number four is from Liberty. So, we went from courage to Liberty and now we go from Liberty to abundance. We'll look at verse number four. It also matches. The next judge he this is what the Bible says about Jer and he had 30 sons that wrote on 30 ass colts and they had 30 cities which are called Havath Jer on to this day which are in the land of Gilead. So, here we see that this man this judge he just had all this he had all these cities and he named all these cities and we saw other parts of the Bible talked about how you know he named all these cities after himself. This man had abundance. I mean there was abundance going on here. Okay. Now, the next stages I'm just going to read for you but they basically all fall into one verse in Judges chapter ten but the stage five is from abundance to complacency. So, you go from abundance to complacency. You go from complacency to apathy. So, complacency means that you know it's not really right. If I'm complacent it means I know it's not really right but it's it's fine. I'm just gonna it's I'm gonna be okay with it. I'm gonna just be okay with it. Apathy. So, we go from abundance to complacency. We go from complacency to apathy. Apathy means I just don't care. Apathy means I'm just not going to pay attention. I just don't care. It's just like I it's like you know you just don't care about anything. Step seven is from apathy to dependence. From apathy to dependence and finally step eight is from dependence back to bondage. Look at Judges chapter ten in verse number six. All these last four steps are captured in Judges ten six. The Bible says in the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam and Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zidane and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the Lord and served not him and then of course they go into bondage to these very people. So, they went from abundance and they went into they just they just they were complacent. They were complacent. They probably started getting like I said they got too close to these people. They married into these people. They got is it really that bad that our son married a Zidonian? Is it really that bad that we have to do all these different cultures now in our family? They were just complacent and then they became apathetic and pretty soon they're serving other gods. Pretty soon they turned against the Lord himself and then they go into bondage. But look it certainly fits. I mean Judges and the patterns that this man came up with it certainly fits into you know the children. We see it with Israel. Now look now here's the irony and the thing that I want to talk about this evening. It all went wrong those last four stages. It all went wrong in their civilization during times of what? During times of peace. It all went wrong when there was relatively no trouble in the land. They went from abundance to complacency to apathy to bondage. All during times of peace in their time. They had that 55 years of peace. So I want to talk about just for a few minutes this evening in closing in Judges chapter 10 peacetime. I want to give you two things to think about about times of peace. I have news for you. You are in peacetime right now. Okay you are in peacetime. The first point I want to make is this. Peace time is not good for a nation. You say what? Look I'm not saying peace is bad. Okay I'm not saying peace is a bad thing but here's the problem. Look peace itself is a good thing. Not having war is a good thing. Peace is not a bad thing but men during peace do bad things. That's the problem and that's the problem in Judges chapter 10 and that I'm going to show you is the problem you know in our country as well. Look America isn't bad. The idea is good. The plan was good. As good as any plan I could even think of. The problem with America is Americans. That's the problem with America. The problem with America is what the Americans do. It's us. I hate to break it to you. But here's the thing. Peace. Let's look at some trends. I went and I picked up some trends. I love trending things. So if you look at the beginning of our nation I just want to show you the intervals of war just for a few minutes. I want to show you the average intervals of wars in the United States and let's look at where we are today compared to the average intervals of war during the the whole history of our country. Let's just do a history of the United States in four minutes right here. So let's go through the the general wars. I'm not going to mention wars overseas for the most part that didn't affect the civilian population of the United States. I'm going to really mention like wars that were either fought here or greatly affected the population here. I mean the first one is obviously the war for independence. I'm going to mention the end of the wars. The war for independence which ended in 1783. Then you had in 1795 you had the Cherokee wars. There was lots of Indian wars in the United States. So basically you had about 12 years between those wars. Then you had the War of 1812 against England which was about you know 19 years from you know the latest Indian war that was happening. Then you had you know various Indian wars from 1812 to 1840. Then you had in 1835 you had the Texas Revolution against Mexico and then you know in 1848 you had the Mexican American War. So in between those two is about 13 years. Various more Indian wars from 1848 through 1900s. This was all happening in the United States. Then of course 1848 was the Mexican American War. The Civil War ended in 1865. That's a big one. The Civil War. So about 10 years after you know you're about you know 12 years after 13 years after 14 years after you had the Civil War happen. Then you had more Indian wars in the 1900s. You had in 1898 you had the Spanish American War. Then of course in 1918 about 20 years later you had World War I and that was the ending of World War I. That was a big one. Now that wasn't fought on American soil but that affected the entire country. That affected the entire population of the country the economy of the country everything was brought to a screeching halt and retooled for that war. Then you had of course in 1945 about 20 years later you had World War II of course and that of course affected the entire country as well. After World War II you had the Korean War in 1953 8 years later 10 years later you had the Vietnam War in the 60s for 10 years into the 70s. Look now those were foreign wars the Korean War and the Vietnam Wars. They were foreign wars but I'm counting them because there was a draft involved and people were just I mean imagine somebody coming to your family and saying we're taking your son and he's going to war and that affected the entire country that affected the United States. So look I mean even if you count Vietnam I mean the last time we actually declared war by the way was World War II. So we haven't declared war in this country for 70 years. Of course but there was Korea and Vietnam. Now look here's the problem here's the problem according to judges chapter 10 according to what I told you about the stages of a civilization of a democracy. Yes there have been conflicts since then but look we have had general peace in this country for nearly 50 years. You say oh but we're going to war overseas somewhere all the time. Yeah but most people are disconnected to that. Most people people have never been in the history of the United States disconnected more from military action overseas it's an all volunteer military nobody's getting drafted it's fought by volunteers so here's the here's the just two things I want to point out about this we've had a long stretch where we haven't been disrupted by war in this country. A really long stretch when you look at the entire I mean it's a trend okay when you look at the entire history of war in the United States I mean we've had a serious drop-off of of disrupting war in this country you can't disagree with it. But so here's the first point we're due for some trouble if you just look at trends and time frames we're we're due for some just from just from the proven cycles just from the numbers we're due for some trouble throughout the history of the country there's been a domestic war or a domestic disturbance from war every 15 maybe 20 years at the longest stretch that you can find. So just something to keep in mind is that we're due for some trouble. The second point is really the main point I want to make and that's this how's peace working out for us how are we doing with it how did the how did the Israelites handle their 55 years of peace did they just get God's blessings heaped upon them and just serve the Lord harder and serve the Lord harder and serve the Lord harder how are we doing how are we doing let's look at the stages now let's look at the stages we looked at those stages of a civilization and compared them to judges let's look at those same stages and let's compare them to us let's do this exercise quickly where what stage are we at do you think from bondage to spiritual faith is the first stage well I mean that's pretty easy to recognize that one you know they were they were they were belled from England and they were under the the bondage of the king of England and you had the revolution from spiritual faith to great courage okay I mean I think we're past that I mean you know are are we still courageous um that's you know debatable but then we went from courage to liberty so that one you know we got that right because we did get liberty we did you know win the revolution we did you know win liberty we won the war of 1812 you know we've definitely been to this stage of liberty so we're past you know point number three for sure from courage to liberty how about from liberty to abundance have we been here no one has ever seen abundance like the United States of America like the history of the United States of America there's never even been a close comparison to the abundance that this country has seen and the advancements that this country has produced so we've definitely been to this stage of abundance I would argue though tonight that we're moving past even this stage of abundance in school I remember you know I went to public school they would always ask us this question I don't know if you you all ever got asked this question but one question that they would always ask the public school kids and I remember in grade school being asked this question they're always asking you what you want to do for a living what do you want to be when you want when you grow up and they they would always ask this question of do you think that you'll be more successful than your dad so that was a big measuring stick and that's that's been a big measuring stick in the United States of America is that every generation is able to to have a step up of course we're talking about secular success and not spiritual success but most times people would say yes they would say yes of course yes of course but look here's the thing real wages in the United States hasn't moved since the 60s what do I mean by real wages I mean wages that you're paid compared to the price of how much everything rises through inflation number two you have to consider that now both parents for the last 60 70 years both parents have to work now so not only have real wages not increased but both parents have to work to you know make a living now and that combined with social security benefits and all these other programs that will basically be unfundable I mean it's in the math just doesn't work in 20 years it shows us that look if you ask me we've crested this hill of abundance about 25 to 30 years ago in this country yeah I mean you can still make it if you work hard in this country and especially if you want to raise a family on a on a single income you better work really hard in this country and you probably gonna have to do two things you're probably gonna have to work harder than most people but here's the thing we've crested this this hill of of peak abundance peak success in this country decades ago decades ago so the fifth step is this come abundance to complacency you say are we there have we gone from abundance to complacency look have you ever heard of the baby boomer generation I mean I don't like blanket statements but if complacency doesn't describe this generation I don't know what does I mean basically a generation that that grew up and worked and had their career and they just they were just like you know what I know it's not right but I got mine you know I know these things aren't it look at all the things look at all the things that weren't right they settled for the liberalism they settled for the the the immoralism they settled for the global homo movement that's taken over the country and the entire world they it all happened on their watch but they got their 401ks and they got their pensions and they got you know they got their their social security checks and they're like just I think most of them know it's not right but they're just not going to do anything about it they just weren't going to do anything about it you say how can I say it because they didn't do anything about it because now we're dealing with it because now we're living under this and then you know you got complacency the last the sixth step is complacency to apathy so you go from you know this idea that you know it's not just us just not right but I'm not going to do anything to I just don't care now if that's not this generation we're living in I I don't know what is talk about an apathetic generation that we're living in I mean look the generation of people under 35 under 30 it's it's it shocks me every day of my life they could care less they have no motive motivation at all I mean they don't want to work and here's the thing they don't have to work they don't have to work and that leads us to step number seven which is apathy to dependence they don't have to work because they're dependent I mean here's what's interesting here's what's interesting I mean how many people are dependent on the government today in this country I mean dependence we're there folks I mean is that not the premise of this entire year I mean look when I told you at the beginning of this year that it almost seemed like they were trying to get everybody on government assistance remember when I told you that look it's not because I'm a prophet it's because this is what they've been doing for decades and I just I'm just old enough to recognize the pattern that's all it's just more of the same but guess what step eight is dependence to bondage that's the problem that's the problem is bondage is the last one you think dependent sounds good I don't have to do anything I can just lay back and let myself be taken care of but bondage is the end go back to judges so in my opinion we're somewhere in between seven and eight we're towards the end of this ballgame we're somewhere in between you know apathy to dependence and dependence to bondage we're playing around somewhere in that area there and I mean I can show you I can show you math to prove it well I mean we're somewhere there probably towards you know closer to the end the more dependent we get the closer we are to number eight okay go back to judges now look this will this will our country will follow this pattern it will follow this pattern unless there's good news I'm not just here to depress you tonight go to judges chapter 10 and look at verse number 15 at any time here's the beauty of it and here's the beauty of judges at any time we can become verse 15 at any time and look at verse 15 and the children of Israel said unto the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seem good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day and they put away the strange gods from among them and served the Lord and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel look it was also important that they had a proper leader but when they did not things went downhill fast but look here's the thing at any time we could get right at any time turn to Ezekiel chapter 22 at any time at any time we could get things right and God would change the way he feels about us look at Ezekiel 22 and verse number 30 here's more good news right here now here comes the good news that was depressing for the last 15 minutes here's the good news look at Ezekiel 22 and verse number 30 the bible said this says this it says and I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me in the land that what that I should not destroy it now look what he says here he says I'm looking for a man he's looking for one man that can stand in the gap that he should not destroy it but I found none in this case here there is no man but look there's lots of people here there's lots of people here so we really can't say today God could not really say today that there's no one because there's us we know that there's us locally there's not yet no one anyway not today I mean but look that's why we're here that's why we're here that's why we're here for two reasons all right we're here for two reasons number one to tell the truth to show the way to shine the light I mean that's why we're here to show people that don't know so we're here and we're going out and we're doing these things that's why we're here to show other people the way so there never will not be zero man there never will be nobody because we were going to get more people we want to get more people and more people so there will always be someone to stand there to stand in the gap and to form up the hedge but also this we're there to stand in the gap and to be that man so there will never be no one or at least it won't happen on our watch but we're also here to show the Lord we're also here to show the Lord that there's a remnant and that there is a man that there is more than a man because in Ezekiel 22 he couldn't find one but he can find one here so we're to go out and show the people the truth but we're to show the Lord that there is men and there is people and women here that are willing to show the way so there will always be a man so look it doesn't have to crash and burn not today anyway I mean you say yeah you know it's going to crash and burn well we're here to do what we're supposed to do so we can be verse 15 so we can be Ezekiel 22 verse 30 and we can be that man and we can do what we can do look that's really what life comes down to that's really I mean so many people get so stressed out about situations I even dealt with this today at my job people get stressed out about situations and I'm just like hey have you done everything you can do well yeah well let's think about what we can do we can do this we can do this we can do that have we done those three things yes then why are you worried we've done everything I mean if we're just laying around doing nothing then a problem is stressful if you just lay around and do zero but look we're standing we're doing what we're supposed to do and and we're being that man we're being so we're showing the Lord this that that that's the importance of this ministry that's the importance of you in this ministry is we're showing the Lord that you know there is somebody here and we're doing what we can do as long as we're doing what we can do it's going to be fine Judges chapter 10 there's a lot we can learn from these cycles of civilization even from a history professor's perspective when you look at the bible it's funny how you know even secular people will recognize patterns that the bible has already showed us again and again and again Judges chapter 10 let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer