Without a King: Judges 1-2 (Intro)

Pastor Alan Hannah

Apri 30 & May 1, 2022

 ²⁵In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. [Judges 21:25 NLT]

Without Jesus as our King, what we believe is right will be wrong and what we believe brings victory will cause defeat.

¹After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, “Which tribe should go first to attack the Canaanites?” ²The LORD answered, “Judah, for I have given them victory over the land.” ³The men of Judah said to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon, “Join with us to fight against the Canaanites living in the territory allotted to us. Then we will help you conquer your territory.” So the men of Simeon went with Judah. [Judges 1:1-3 NLT]

¹⁹The LORD was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots. [Judges 1:19 NLT]

²¹The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out…

²⁷The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out…

²⁹The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out…

³⁰The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out…

³¹The tribe of Asher failed to drive out…

³³Likewise, the tribe of Naphtali failed to drive out…

¹The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. ²For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? ¹¹The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal. ¹²They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. [Judges 2:11-12 NLT]

¹⁸Whenever the LORD raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the LORD took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. ¹⁹But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. [Judges 2:18-19 NLT]

Without Jesus as our King, what we believe is right will be wrong and what we believe brings victory will cause defeat.