Centralization versus Decentralization - Judges 1

This sermon serves as an introduction to the Book of Judges and covers chapter 1. Ultimately – no form of government provides peace and justice if the people themselves are not submitted to the law of God and the ways of His Word. When big governments produce corruption and tyrants from within – the people like to talk about and see the need for decentralization. When there is corruption and threats from invaders from without – people like to talk about big central governments. Both have their dangers. Between the days of Joshua and Samuel, Israel had plummeted to moral and spiritual degeneracy and disaster. Over and over the pattern of sin followed by oppression, followed by repentance, followed by deliverance, followed by sin followed by oppression, followed by repentance, followed by deliverance we see repeated again and again. Look at our own nation. In rebellion to the Lord. God brings judgment – some of it in the form of oppression by governments. Understand that is a goodness. It gets men's attention. It humbles men; blunts the arrogance of man; makes them contrite. Here in Judges we will see utter spiritual degeneracy to the point where a son steals from his mother, a fornicator is a leader, and a whole tribe condones homosexual acts, rape, and murder. Long neglect of God's law had left the Israelites with faulty notions about God and about His will. 37 min. MercySeat.net