The Cost of Disobeying God

God really does rule. And when things are out of order, they're out of our order. But Dr. Tony Evans says they're not out of God's order. Because he may have even created the chaos.

because of our independence. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. When a nation drifts from God, confusion and conflict often follow. Today, Dr.

Evans looks at the way Israel's disobedience led to division and destruction, and how God turned the devil's work into his own tool for judgment. That's not an unusual method for God to use, but as we'll see, when repentance is real, mercy isn't far behind. Let's join Dr. Evans in Judges chapter 9, verse 22. Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.

Then God sent an evil spirit between Obimelech and the men of Shechem.

Now, the men of Shechem are Abimelech's boys. They're Obivilex posse.

So this man prays. Watch this now. Because I'm gonna make a very important principle here, because that's what I'm trying to do: extract principles as we go along. He prays from the place of blessing, Mount Gerzium. For God to intervene.

And God sends an evil spirit. To put it in New Testament terminology, he sends a demon.

Okay, did you just hear what I said? God sends the demons.

So let me say something I've said before. The devil is not just the devil, he's God's devil. And God will even use the devil to accomplish his purposes. In 26.

Now Gail? The son of Ebad came with his relatives, crossed over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

So now. We got this conflict happening with Abimelech. The gal comes. And they put their trust in him. They go into the house of their God and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

So you ain't got stuff changing.

Okay, verse 31. He sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebab, and his relatives have come to Shechem, and behold, they are sitting upon the city against you.

So they're coming up against you. Verse 39. He says the Zebol, which is his officer, chief officer, said to him, Where is your boasting now with which you said, Who is Abimelech? that we should serve him. Is this not the people whom you despise?

Go out now and fight with them.

So, Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded in the entrance of the gate.

So, now you got. A whole bunch of different groups fighting each other. And God is creating the chaos. By using the devil, or one of the devil's angels, one of the devil's emissaries, to create. Conflict.

And one of the things you have to assess: if there is chaos in society like now. It is Unresolvable. It's unresolvable, and people are divided, and people are taking up sides, and people are warriing against each other. I would like to suggest to you God has sent an evil spirit to America. That's what I would like to suggest to you.

That what you are seeing is precisely what is occurring here when God intervenes and people are turning on each other and fighting each other, and God's behind it all. Using the devil.

Okay, then in verse forty-two Now it came about the next day that the people went out to the field and it was told to Abimelech.

So the folks who had run, Gail's folk, who were now running, because they couldn't stay there any longer because they were being routed.

So he took his people and divided them into three companies. And he lay in wait in the field, and he looked and saw the people coming out from the city. He rose up against and slew them. Abimelech fought against the city all the day and captured the city and killed the people who were in it. But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women fled there.

So everybody was left, they go into this tower in the center of the city.

So he approaches the entrance of the tower. But a certain woman Through an upper millstone On Abimelech's head. crushing his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man. His armor-bearer.

And said to him, Draw your sword and kill me so that it will not be said to me, a woman slew me. If I got it back. Don't let, say, a woman kill me. Let another man kill me. I'm too much man to say a woman just.

Took me up out of here. All right. When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home.

So what was this all about? Verse 56. Then God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech. Which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. When we sin and there is no repentance, God does not forget.

His justice.

Now he does have mercy, particularly when there's repentance. But when there is no repentance, And of course Abimelech is an unrepentant person. And God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads. and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerobael came upon them. This is interesting.

The sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Now you would have thought they would have learned their lesson by now, right? Because every time they do evil, stuff collapses. But then again, how many times have we done evil, told God we're not going to do it again, did it again?

Okay, so they served the Baals and the Asherah, the gods of Aram.

So they go back to do it. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel. And he sold them into the hands of the Philistines. If you want the gods of the culture, God will give you to the culture whose gods. Rule them.

And so their gods will now rule you, and you will not have the true God. on your side. Again, idolatry. They afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel that year. For 18 years, they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan.

Then, verse 10, the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against you, for indeed we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.

Okay? Took them 18 years to get to that. NDT is, they say that.

Now, watch this. The Lord said to the sons of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, and Ammon and the Philistines, also, the Sidonians, and Amalekites and Metonites, and oppressed you? You cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore, I will no longer.

Deliver you. Ooh. That hurts. That hurts. Because that's hopelessness.

They come back and say, but police. Deliver us. This day.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he could bear the misery of Israel no longer. We gotta turn. We got a switch. Watch this. God couldn't bear to see them hurting any more.

So he's getting ready to bring a new deliverer in chapter 11, Jephthah. What changed? Please notice Verse 16.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And he could bear. the misery of Israel no longer. The first time they say we have sinned, but they hadn't put away their gods. Part of that?

They were saying we sinned. But they still had the gods in the back pocket.

So God says, I'm not going to deliver you anymore. But when they said we've sinned, please deliver us. And they got rid of their gods. God changed his mind. And the spiritual principle I I want to give you with that is God's mind can be changed.

when we change. And the change can't just be, I'm sorry. The change has to be actions. that now realign us back into his will. It just can't be.

I'm sorry, I made a mistake, but you still got your idolatry in your back pocket. You still got your compromise in your back pocket. Then The confession has not Gone. into Repentance. Confessing is acknowledging it.

They did that on the front end. But they hadn't repented because they hadn't turned from it. And repentance is attorney. Not just a saying. And when he did that, God readjusted and did something he said he wasn't going to do.

Now, the Bible says God changes not.

So, how can a God who changes not change? Simple. He can now relate to you based on another attribute.

So he's still being consistent with himself. Because now you're relating to a part of him that he can now relate to. God now, and it also says something about God, when he could not bear. their misery any longer. the emotional side of God.

God is an emotional person. He feels. The Bible talks about his anger. The Bible talks about his sadness. The Bible talks about his grief.

The Bible talks about the joy of the Lord.

So God is an emotion. It is a very emotional being.

Now, obviously, it's not out of emotion, it's perfect emotions. But he is a very, and that's why we have that part of us when he created us in his image. We have an emotional part of us because God made us like him. doctor Evans will have more on the cost of disobeying God when he returns in just a moment. First, though, I want to let you know about the current resource offer we're making available to our listeners.

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It was my first time meeting Jesus in the Bible. That's what one student is saying after studying bibliology through the Tony Evans Training Center, taught by renowned theologian, Dr. Tony Evans. These online courses feature compelling and exclusive video and audio teaching, plus an interactive scripture-based curriculum you can access online or through the mobile app. Sign up now at tonyevanstraining.org.

Take a course with Dr. Evans and explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. TonyEvanstraining.org. Jephthah the Gileadite. Was a valiant warrior, so he's a fighter.

Gilead was the father of Jethro. Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when his wife's sons grew up, So they drove Jephthah out. and said to him, You shall not have inheritance in our father's house, because He was the son of a harlot.

Okay, so the brothers didn't want to have anything to do with him, for you are the son of another woman.

So he is rejected by his family.

So Jephthah fled from his brothers. and lived in the land of Tob. The elders of Gideon at verse 8 said to Jethro, For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon. and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Then Jethus went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them, and Jethus spoke all the words before the LORD at Mizpah.

Now, Jephthah tries to, before he goes to fight, he tries to win it through negotiation.

So he sends the messengers to Amun. And says, look. Can't we come to some kind of agreement so we don't have to fight? The king of Amon said, No, because you took my land. Y'all took our land.

When y'all came through here and marched through here, you took our land. Jephthah sends a message back in verse 14. And says to him, basically, no, we did not come take your land. We just marched through your land. We did not come to take your land, but.

He did not accept it. Ammon did not accept it. And so we're going to now have a battle.

Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. When the Spirit of the Lord comes upon, and when the Bible talks about the Spirit of the Lord coming upon, It is referring to Supernatural endowment to fulfill a particular task. It is um anointing and empowerment for special service.

So he wants supernatural help to fight. this battle that he now has to fight since negotiations have broken down.

Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. Jephthah verse 30 made a vow to the Lord. And said, If you will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, Then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me. When I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, It shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.

So Give me victory. And here's the vow I will make. Anybody ever made a vow to God? If you do this for me. This is what I'm going to do.

You usually do that when you're scared. Right? You make a vow when you're scared about something.

Okay? So he's ready to go into this major battle. And he wants to let God know he's dead serious. He makes a vow. The first thing that comes through this door, I'm going to offer it to you.

So He crosses over. He strikes them, verse 33, with a great slaughter. Verse 34: When Jephthah came to his house after this great victory. at Mizpah, behold his daughter. was coming out to meet him with tambourines.

And dancing? Because that was part of the celebration for victory.

Now she was his only he was his one and only child And she is the first one through the door. When he saw her, verse 35, he tore his clothes. Because he's expecting like a servant to come through the door. Or an animal to come through the door. He's not expecting his daughter to come through the door.

But his daughter is leading the praise service. She's leading the praise team. And they got tambourines and they danced because of the great victory. Alas, my daughter, You have brought me very low. And you are among those who trouble me.

For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back. Because I vowed to the Lord to give to him as thanksgiving for this victory the first one that came through the door. And you are the first one to come through the door.

So she said to him.

Now this is an interesting daughter. My father. You have given your word to the Lord. Do to me as you have said. Since the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.

She said to her father, Let this thing be done for you. Let me alone two months That I may go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity. I am my companions. Then he said, Go.

So he sent her away for two months. She left with her companions and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. At the end of two months she returned to her father. who did to her according to the vow which he had made, and she had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel.

Then the daughters of Israel went yearly to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah. The Gileanite. Four days in the year. He makes a vow to God. The daughter is the first one that comes through.

And the vow basically said: if it was an animal, you would sacrifice it on the altar. If it was a person, well, there was no human sacrifice. If it was a person, that person would be dedicated to the service of the Lord only.

Okay, so it's like a nun would dedicate herself, or a priest would dedicate themselves.

So As a person, she would now sacrifice herself. She would become what Romans 12:1 calls a living sacrifice. She's weeping because of her virginity, because. She now cannot get married. She can now not have children and bear a family because she's been totally separated to God.

For the purposes. Let's go back to Jephthah. Jephthah's condition for leading this army is you gonna make me your king. You gonna make me your You're gonna make me the head. That was the agreement.

And he made them. Agree to that agreement. They said we would do it, but he said, no, you got to commit to me that you're going to position me this way.

So I'd like to suggest to you that the reason God allowed the daughter to come through. Whatso the Jephthah could not build the dynasty he wanted to build. Because remember, it keeps telling you he has no son, he only has the one girl, and he wants to be head.

Well, that's what the bramble tree wanted. Abimelech. To keep that from happening. God allows the daughter to walk through. But this is some kind of daughter.

There's no fighting back. There's no arguing. There's no, you know. I don't care what you told God. That's between you and God.

Ain't got nothing to do with me. There's none of that. She says she says My father, verse 36. You gave your word to the Lord. Do to me as you said.

since the Lord has avenged your enemies. She says that right off.

So that tells me. that her spiritual aptitude was way up there. She's sad, she's sorrowful. But she's submitting to this vow that was made to the Lord.

So she is now going to be ministering, and they would be ministering to women, women served in the ministry of God. in the house of God. And she is to do that. as her lifetime of service. coming out of this.

The Bible says over and over again to watch what you vow. And now I'm sure most people in here have made foolish vows. From time to time. You vowed something you shouldn't have vowed. You vowed something that you couldn't keep.

You know, and God's, you know, God's been gracious. But this was serious business because what I believe is happening here is God is blocking a dynasty. Because he keeps blocking it every time somebody tries to build one and somebody dies. He keeps blocking them building. A dynasty Independently of him, or that would be man-centered and not God-centered.

Okay, and when he finally lets them have one, have their own king, Saul. That becomes a chaos.

So the the point is to make sure that as You serve the Lord. From all we've learned today, To know that the Lord is in control of all this. He does things differently. He does things differently in the New Testament than the Old Testament. But in my short life God really does rule.

And when things are out of order, they're out of our order. They're not out of his order. Because he may have even created the chaos. because of our independence. Dr.

Tony Evans, showing how stepping out of God's order comes at a cost. and why trusting His plan is the path back to His blessing.

Now, if you'd like to have a copy of today's message to review on your own or to pass along to a friend, Just contact us for details on the title The Cost of Disobeying God. Better yet, get this message as a part of Tony's current two-volume teaching series, simply titled Judges. Remember, right now, for a limited time, you can get all 12 lessons in this collection as our gift. along with Tony's powerful book, Kingdom Authority. Just visit tonyevans.org to get the details and make the arrangements.

Or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222-1. where team members are ready to help you 24-7. And don't forget to ask about how to upgrade your offer to include the Kingdom Authority Leaders Kit. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. Pride can divide families, destroy communities, and even bring nations to their knees.

Yet when people acknowledge God as their only source, He can bring new life out of even the most desolate places. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans reveals how God's power shows up when ours runs out. Be sure to join us for that.