Judges 2: The Cycle of Sin and God's Compassion

Introduction

Riverside Church in Birmingham is starting a new series on the book of Judges, titled "Stuck: unbreakable cycle." Tim Chilvers, senior pastor of Riverside Church, who is giving the message, says right away that the subject of the series is a word people often only whisper in church. "Here it is. Sin. There, I said it."

He knows the word stirs up reactions. Some feel uncomfortable, others sad, even angry. Others are already thinking of the person sitting a few seats away who really needs to hear this. Still, the preacher is convinced that this series can be one of the most life-giving moments for each person and for the church.

His starting point is Judges 2, a chapter that describes a cycle we all know. The summary of the book fits in one sentence: left to ourselves, things don't go well. But God doesn't leave us to ourselves.

Outline of the Message

1. A Subject We Would Rather Avoid

The preacher tells about a concert he went to about ten years ago, with very low expectations, with his wife and two friends. His wife and her friend were fans of the band Take That. Against all expectations, the evening was excellent. He hopes this series on sin will be much the same: you don't expect much, and it does you good.
He understands the reluctance. "A lot of harm has been done in the name of fighting sin." Some have been hurt in churches by an excessive or unhealthy emphasis on this subject.
Yet we have to talk about it, first because the Bible talks about it at the heart of the Christian faith. At the birth of Jesus, the angel says: "You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). And Paul writes: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
"Jesus didn't come just to be nice. He is the Savior." His name means: God saves.

2. A Right View of Sin Makes Us Gentler

The preacher mentions the film Jerry Maguire and its famous line: "You complete me." We often put that weight on other people, and not only in a marriage.
The day someone lets us down, or the day we let someone down, we don't know what to do with it. We walk away either with disgust at ourselves or with self-righteousness toward others.
Without the Bible's view of sin, our expectations of others and of ourselves are either too high or too low. "A right view of sin helps us treat ourselves and others with more gentleness."
In a world where bad news keeps piling up, understanding what the Bible calls sin also helps us read events accurately. Far from being depressing, it is what leads us to embrace life in all its fullness.
The book of Judges is not a children's book: murder, intrigue, seduction, power, abuse, betrayal. It is the most vivid exploration of sin in the Bible. The preacher hopes that, over the weeks, each person will come away with a healthier, lighter view of themselves, and a healthier, bigger view of God.

3. What Is Sin?

We quickly reduce sin to a list of misdeeds, or of horrible things that some groups pin on others, whether conservative or progressive. "Sin is those people over there."
The Bible speaks of sin as something we need to be both saved and healed from. It is not a list of minor faults to be used to beat other people with.
The preacher quotes the definition by the author Francis Spufford, which he considers the best: sin is the human propensity to mess things up. The original English uses a crude word that the pastor shows on screen but refuses to say aloud in church. He keeps it because that word says something about the sadness and devastation that sin causes: "Ask someone who has been abused, or someone who discovers that their spouse has cheated on them, whether it's just a bit 'messy.'"
The word "propensity" refers to the direction humans tend to lean. Left to ourselves, that is our natural disposition, "like a virus we can't get rid of."
Hence the summary of the book of Judges: left to ourselves, things don't go well. "But God doesn't leave us to ourselves, and he doesn't leave you to yourself."

4. A Generation That Did Not Know the Lord

The book of Judges picks up where Joshua ends. The people have received the promised land, but the work is not finished: in chapter 1, the other nations and their gods have not been completely driven out.
Chapter 2 contains devastating words: "After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who didn’t know Yahweh, nor the work which he had done for Israel. The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and served the Baals" (Judges 2:10-11).
The preacher stresses the order of events. One generation saw God's extraordinary provision but forgot to pass it on. The next one doesn't remember what God does and, above all, doesn't know him. Without a relationship with him, it does evil.
He picks up a word shared at the start of the service by one of the leaders on the team: God's work in us doesn't begin with our brokenness, it begins with the fact that we are loved. If we don't know that, we can end up in very unhealthy places.
That is why Riverside gives such a place to ministries for the next generations. Passing on the faith is not a side activity: it is at the center of what it means to be the church.

5. The Four Stages of the Cycle

Compromise. The people abandon the faith and the ways of God, and do what is evil in his eyes.
Consequences. The Lord hands them over to their enemies. The preacher notes that, often in the Bible, God's judgment is more a permission than an action: "You want to walk away from me? Fine. See where it takes you."
The cry. The people groan under those who oppress them. Many know this experience: having done wrong and suffering the consequences, in their relationships or deep inside.
Compassion. "God's reflex is not disgust. His reflex is compassion." The Lord raises up judges, who are nothing like the wigged judges in our courtrooms: they are deliverers, who rescue the people from their enemies and from themselves.
The contemporary version is familiar: we can't break certain patterns despite our efforts, we suffer the consequences, and then we cry out: "God, help me, break this cycle, break these chains." And God shows himself good and compassionate, again and again.
The preacher quotes Ian Morgan Cron: despite all our efforts, we can't fix the persistent problem of the human condition. We can't master sin by willpower alone, any more than we can cure our own asthma. "We need help."
In the book of Judges, the cycle spirals downward: "But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers" (Judges 2:19). Many know this: when you fall back into a pattern you thought you had beaten, you sink even lower.

6. We Need to Be Rescued

"There is help. There is real hope." The preacher quotes Dane Ortlund, in his book Gentle and Lowly: we are declared righteous before God not when we start pulling ourselves together, but when we collapse into the honest admission that we will never make it on our own.
Part of the strength of the book of Judges is that the people cannot save themselves. Neither can we. No human leader, no political party, no way of thinking will save us.
Tim Chilvers tells his own story. He grew up in a Christian home and knew all the stories. He arrived at university convinced that God was against him and was waiting to catch him out. Then he discovered that he was living a double life: he said he was all in for God, and in his other life he was far from him. "God broke me, because I became aware of the depth of my sin, and of how much deeper God's grace, love and compassion are still."
Jesus didn't come to give us tips for improving our habits. He came to save his people from their sins. However deep the mess, in you or around you, there is hope. As an old author put it: "There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us."
Sin is not a weapon for hitting others, or for hitting yourself. Understanding it helps you see how loved you are, "loved in your brokenness."
He quotes Dane Ortlund again: where you feel most defeated, Jesus is present, he lives there. His heart is not on the other side of your distress, he is with you in the darkness, gentle and lowly. Your distress is his dwelling place. Then the pastor urges: "Go to him, my friends. He is there, with open arms."
The message ends with an invitation. God wants to make himself known as the one who breaks chains. Those who know they are caught in cycles they want out of can receive prayer, without even having to name those chains. The foundation of freedom is seeing how Jesus sees you. To the one who has never answered Jesus' call, he says: "Come home."

Key Takeaways

Sin is not a list of faults for crushing other people: it is a human propensity that we need to be saved and healed from.
A right view of sin frees us both from disgust at ourselves and from self-righteousness toward others.
When one generation doesn't pass on what God does, the next one doesn't know him. Evil follows the absence of a relationship with him.
The cycle in the book of Judges is ours: compromise, consequences, cry, deliverance. And God's first reflex is compassion.
No one saves themselves by willpower. There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.

Personal Application

When someone lets you down, or when you let yourself down, which way do you slide most easily: disgust at yourself or self-righteousness toward others?
Which pattern in your life do you recognize in the cycle of Judges 2: compromise, consequences, cry?
What have you received from God that you could pass on to the coming generation, in your family or in your church?
Do you believe, deep down, that God is against you and is waiting to catch you out? What would change if you believed that his first reflex toward you is compassion?
Is there a chain you could ask someone to pray with you about this week?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the cycle in the book of Judges describe?

The book of Judges repeats a four-stage cycle: the people abandon God's ways and do what is evil in his eyes, they suffer the consequences, they cry out to God under oppression, and God, moved with compassion, raises up judges who deliver them. In verse 19 of chapter 2, we see that the cycle gets worse with each return.

Why talk about sin in church today?

The preacher acknowledges that a lot of harm has been done in the name of fighting sin. But the Bible talks about it at the very heart of the gospel: Jesus came to save his people from their sins. Ignoring sin leads us to judge ourselves too harshly or to judge others. A right view of sin helps us treat others and ourselves with more gentleness.

How do you get out of a cycle you can't break free from?

According to the message, willpower alone is not enough: no one can save themselves. The starting point is to see how Jesus sees us, without disgust, with love and compassion. There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. He receives with open arms the one who comes to him, and he is the one who breaks the chains.