Timeless Insights from the Book of Judges: How to Function in God’s Eternal Plan in a Compromising Culture

Copyright © 2023 Brian Kennedy Sr.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-8691-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8692-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8690-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023908145

WestBow Press rev. date:   07/31/2023

Dedicated to my parents

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1     God Takes Time to Correct Our Hopeless Thinking

Chapter 2     God Allows Us to Test Him for Reassurance

Chapter 3     God Will Test You for Loyalty

Chapter 4     Fulfilling God’s Call without I-Got-This-Itis

Chapter 5     God Unites Our Life Callings with His Work

Chapter 6     When God Drops the Unusual into Your Lap

Chapter 7     More Insight on When God Drops the Unusual into Your Lap

Chapter 8     When God’s Servants Neglect to Pray

Chapter 9     Defeating the Spirit of Revenge

Chapter 10   God’s Windows of Opportunities

Chapter 11   God’s Mercy Window of Opportunities

FOREWORD

Times have changed.

And I’m not just talking about the new marriage culture, codified by the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges or the fact that current culture no longer views gender as binary. Times have changed–It seems as if there is no longer a moral north star guiding our culture–people are no longer doing what is right, they are doing what seems right in their own eyes.

Actually, times have not changed, have they? During the days of the Judges, people were doing exactly the same thing; they were doing what seemed right in their own eyes. It was the Wild, Wild West of biblical times.

In Timeless Insights from the Book of Judges, Dr. Brian Kennedy points to the guiding north star. He reminds his readers that God was firmly on His throne in the days of the Judges–and in ours. He calls on God’s people to live the gospel’s transformative power (1 Cor. 6:11) and proclaim it boldly (Rom 1:16) in our world.

Instead of pining for the days when Christianity was the cultural norm, believers must be the light (Matt. 5:14) in the darkness.

If we are not, then we become the problem.

We are the problem when we get distracted, discouraged, distraught, or derailed from our mission. We are the problem when we start doing what seems right in our own eyes by criticizing our current compromising culture or conforming to it.

We are the solution when we penetrate the darkness of the compromising culture with the light of the gospel message.

Yes, we live in dark times. But remember, the light shines brightest in the darkest night.

Jim L. Wilson

Gateway Seminary

Professor of Leadership Formation

Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am forever indebted to my late father, Bradford Kennedy, for pulling me aside when I was young and scolding me for not giving my best in school. Daddy explained that he wished he could have gone to school and learned how to read, but his father took him out of school in the third grade to work on the farm. Daddy, close to tears, got inside my heart as he explained why he worked two jobs, sacrificed for all eight of his children, and taught us to work so we could have the education he could not have.

Mom, you were our domestic engineer and creatively guided our spiritual and secular foundation so we could succeed in the university, in the church, and in society. God used both you and Dad to motivate me to enjoy learning.

To the love of my life, Hilda, and our four beautiful children—Brian Jr., Evelyn, Lelia, and Joshua—I love each of you deeply, and I thank you for your prayers and endless support. Hilda, your deep desire for me to write and your loving encouragement, your graciousness, thoughtfulness, and contagious smile have driven me to excel more than you will ever imagine. With your support and sacrifices throughout our marriage, God has allowed us to see another milestone. God obviously knew what he was doing when he brought you into my life. You are the wife God gave me, and my love for you continually grows deeper.

To my church family, Mount Zion Church, in Ontario, California, my time as your pastor started in 1998 but seems like a lifetime. You are more than a congregation to me; you are my beloved family. I took note of your loving support of me from the very beginning. Thank you for your ongoing support. I look forward to the way in which our Lord will use this book to expand our participation in kingdom building. My mother rejoices over your love for Hilda, the children, and me. You are a pastor’s dream church. Thank you.

To my San Diego parents, Ilan and Ruby Gordon; my Los Angeles mother, the late Margret Davis; and my families at Saint Paul Baptist Church, Sacramento; Calvary Baptist Church, San Diego; South Los Angeles Baptist Church (now merged with Christ Second Baptist Church in Long Beach); and Evening Star Baptist Church in Los Angeles, where would I be without you. You continue to love me as your own son, and I will never forget you.

Dr. Ephraim Williams, the late Dr. S. M. Lockridge, the late Dr. William Brent, and Pastor Curtis Morris, I thank God for your pouring into my life. God put some of you inside of me, and He uses what I learned from you in my practice of ministry.

To the late Charles W. Colson, Tom Pratt, Alan K. Chambers, Harold Brinkley, Dr. Donald Cheek, Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, John Perkins, Robert Anderson, Daniel Van Ness, and the entire Prison Fellowship family, thanks for being an unforgettable family (the 1980s and ’90s were a time of great growth for me). Chuck never flinched in his confidence in hiring me and reassuring me as I represented the ministry in Los Angeles. During my time with Prison Fellowship, God taught me to stay humble and trust Him in unusual circumstances. I would have crashed and burned in the pastorate without that experience.

I thank Dr. Jim Wilson for recruiting me to Gateway Seminary for the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program. I thank Dr. Iorg, the Gateway Seminary professors and staff (now my colleagues), and my DMin cohort members for intellectual and spiritual advancement, camaraderie, and spirited and thoughtful discussion during our times together.

Thank you President Jeff Iorg for inviting me to join the Gateway Seminary faculty as a Preaching Professor. This is a dream come true.

I also thank Pastor Glenn Jones, who introduced me to Dr. George Moore, Dr. James Rosscup, and the Talbot School of Theology family. The Talbot professors, led by the late Dr. George C. Moore, as my mentor, laid a theological foundation that prepared me to thrive academically and to serve in ministry anywhere in the world. Dr. James Rosscup, Dr. Robert Saucy, Dr. Jim Conway, Dr. Neil Anderson, and Dr. Henry Holloman helped me grow up in graduate school very quickly.

A special thanks to the late Pastor Floyd Johnson, Dr. Robert L. Lewis Jr., the late Dr. George C. Moore, and my heart, Hilda J. Kennedy, for constantly encouraging me to get started on writing and following through with professional help.

Reta Beall, and La Verne Tolbert, you are God’s choice servants. Thank you for your numerous suggestions and bringing professional editing services to this project.

To God be the glory for the things He has done, is doing, and will do through this book.

INTRODUCTION

Does the Bible have timeless insights into a compromising culture? The obvious answer is yes. Amazingly, close similarities can be found between the compromises we see in our current culture and those mentioned in the Bible. In the book of Judges, God is very honest regarding the spiritual decline of Israel after the death of Joshua. In this Old Testament account of the activities of God’s chosen people, we see many recurring themes that highlight the poor spiritual condition of Israel.

When God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites, He gave them great victories over those already living in the land, but He also gave them instructions that they failed to carry out. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan did not drive out the inhabitants in their assigned territories, as they had been instructed to do. Instead, they settled alongside of them. By living with the inhabitants in the land, the children of Israel started to compromise and blend into the culture and practice idol worship and immorality in the Promised Land. Four times in the book of Judges, we read these words: In those days there was no king in Israel (Judg. 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25). In addition, twice we are told that every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17:6, 21:25). As the generation after Joshua practiced all kinds of spiritual wickedness, we see another recurring theme. Six times we are told, The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. A seventh comment on their condition says, As soon as Gideon died, Israel played the harlot (Judg. 8:33). Clearly, the Israelites were not living according to what God had instructed them.

What was the cause of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God? Did God abandon them? Did Israel suffer from a famine or drought after they arrived in the Promised Land and become discouraged? Did God somehow not keep His promise to them? God was not the problem. Five different verses give detail of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God:

• They forgot the Lord their God and served idol gods (3:7b).

• They did evil in the sight of the Lord (3:12b).

• They disobeyed God regarding the idols of the land (6:7–10).

• They did not remember the Lord who delivered them (8:34–35).

• They forgot about God and served idols (10:6b).

Disrespecting God by forgetting about him and worshiping idol gods was Israel’s main problem.

What did God do when Israel did evil in His sight? We can see another recurring theme in his response:

• God sold them into the hands of the Mesopotamians for eight years (Judg. 3:8b).

• God used the Moabites to oppress them for eighteen years (Judg. 3:12–13).

• God used the Canaanites to oppress them for twenty years (Judg. 4:2–3).

• God used the Midianites to bring Israel low for seven years (Judg. 6:1b, 3–6).

• God used the Philistines and Ammonites to afflict and crush them for eighteen years (Judg. 10:8).

• God used the Philistines to oppress them for forty years (Judg. 13:1).

You would think after 111 years of six different punishments, somebody in the nation of Israel would have concluded Enough is enough. We need to change!

Did anyone step up? Did Israel respond to God when He punished them? Look at another recurring theme in the book of Judges.

• The sons of Israel cried to the Lord (3:9a, 3:15, 4:3, 6:7).

• The sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, confessing their sin (10:10).

• The sons of Israel put away their idol gods and served the Lord (10:16a).

• The sons of Israel recognized