The book of Judges is an account of a 450 year period when God gave deliverers to His people Israel. It lasted from the time of Joshua’s death to the rise of Samuel, the prophet. In fact, Samuel is referred to by some as the last judge and the first prophet. However, before we can truly understand why these judges were needed, we must know what was going on. The first verse of this book reveals Israel’s problem, and the last verse of the book reveals their practice. Judges 1:1: “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?” Judges 21:25 offers us an overview of the book this book. It says, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges is an account of Israel’s cycle of rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration, and rest. From Joshua 24:15 to Judges 1:28 is only a few years. In Joshua 24:15 we see Joshua’s challenge to Israel: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Vs. 19 Joshua warned the people that they would not be able to serve God. People make emotional, or as I call them revival service commitments to God that sound good at the time, but they usually don’t keep them. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, if You will get me out of this mess I am in, I will serve you faithfully?” Or, “Lord, if You will bless me I will serve you?” In Joshua 24:21-24 we see how the people indicted themselves before God. “And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. (24) And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” However, we see in Judges 1:28 how Israel failed at their commitment to God: “And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.” God commanded the Israelites to enter Canaan and conquer it completely -- Deuteronomy 7:1-3, 5. They were to: 1) Vs. 1 -- Possess the land. 2) Vs. 2 -- Utterly destroy all the nations of Canaan. 3) Vs. 2 -- Make no peace treaties with them. 4) Vs. 2 -- Show them no mercy. 5) Vs. 3 -- Refuse to intermarry with them. 6) Vs. 5 -- Destroy every trace of their pagan religions. And in Deuteronomy 7:6 God explained the reason for this command: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” God demanded total separation of His people from the practices of those about them. He knew if they entangled themselves with these they would become spiritually corrupt and be drawn away from Him. He promised to visit them suddenly in His wrath when that happened. Israel had their instructions, but they failed to fully obey. Judges 1:22-36 (vs. 28) records this failure of Israel. Nine times between Judges 1:19 and 1:35 the word “but” is used to reveal their failure - vv. 19, 21, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35. God has instructed His people and His churches that we are to be separate from this world system -- II Corinthians 6:14-18 ; II Peter 1:15-16 (HOLY = set apart) ; II Corinthians 7:1 ; I John 2:15-16. So when we come to Judges 2:10 we are told: “There arose another generation which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done.” This was the generation that followed Joshua’s generation. We are one generation away from heresy. We need to teach these little ones NOW and not wait until they are grown. And we not only need to teach the what but the why of these great doctrines of the Bible. 2:7: “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.” In vs. 8 Joshua dies, “being an hundred and ten years old.” Vs. 10: “And also all that generation (Joshua’s generation, including the elders that “outlived Joshua”) were gathered unto their fathers . . . ” These were 2nd and 3rd generation of those that had come out of Egypt. Someone said, “The first generation has convictions. By the second generation they are merely preferences. And by the third generation, they are gone altogether.” Today, the Lord’s churches are producing generations which “know not the Lord nor His works” (and I would say, nor His Word). Many teens and young adults know little about the Bible. They often don’t know what we believe or why we believe it. Many are “Baptist” only because “that's the way I was raised,” or “that's what mom and dad are/were.” Many churches and church members do not have a powerful influence with or testimony to the lost about them. So let’s examine that generation of Judges 2:10:

I. IT WAS A GENERATION VOID OF LEADERSHIP.

II. IT WAS A GENERATION OF UNREALIZED POTENTIAL.

III. BUT (SADLY) IT WAS A GENERATION THAT BROUGHT DARKNESS TO LIGHT.