Episode Transcript  

One

Conquest

Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel conquered the Promised Land, defeating the seven nations who inhabited it. God commanded this as an act of divine justice. The people of the seven nations worshiped Satan under the form of Molech, who demanded he be worshipped by child sacrifice. In Leviticus 18:21-28, God told Israel, “You must never sacrifice your children. The land became unclean; I exacted the penalty for its fault, and the land had to vomit out its inhabitants. So, I will use you to expel those seven nations for their wicked deeds. But if you do this hateful thing, if you sacrifice your children, the land will vomit you out as it vomited the nation that was here before you.”

Tragically, the warning proved prophetic. When Israel later adopted the same practice, killing their own children (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6), the same judgment fell upon them. What destroyed the Canaanite nations will also bring about Israel’s exile.

Abortion is our modern version of the worship of Molech. Any society that legalizes the destruction of its own children for the sake of freedom, prosperity, or convenience repeats the grave crime condemned in Scripture.

Two

The Great Generation – the Lost Generation 

After Joshua comes the Judges. Judges 2:7 says, “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work which the LORD did for Israel.”

The key to the Exodus is this: Serving (avad) the LORD depends on knowing (yada) Him. The generation that conquered the Promised Land knew Yahweh. They had seen His works. They had walked through the Jordan. They had watched the walls of Jericho fall. They served Him all their days. This was the Great Generation. They knew the faith, lived the faith, fought for the faith, built with the faith, and died with the faith. But they forgot what Moses commanded in Deuteronomy 6:4–9. They did not teach it diligently to their children. They failed to hand on the faith. Judges 2:10 says, “Another generation arose who did not know the LORD.”

The lesson is simple: if the baton is not passed, the race is lost. Because they did not know the Lord, they failed to serve the Lord, and they became slaves first to their passions and fell into sin. Sin always leads to slavery.

So just as in Egypt, Israel was oppressed again, this time by the Philistines. Yet God heard their cry and raised up twelve “saviors,” the Judges, to deliver them. Samuel would be the last of these Judges.

Three

Israel Rejects God as their King

At this time, Israel consisted of twelve loosely connected tribes living in the Promised Land. When one tribe was invaded, it was difficult to rally the others. Militarily, they were fragmented. They believed a king was necessary, someone who could unite the twelve tribes into one cohesive force capable of defeating the Philistines.

So the elders of Israel came to Samuel and said, “Appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:4–5). This displeased Samuel, and he prayed to the LORD. The LORD answered, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7–8).

Israel failed to realize they already had a King, Yahweh. Pope Benedict said, “God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel’s rebellion against God …The law was to be Israel’s king, and through the law, God himself…God yielded to Israel’s obstinacy and so devised a new kind of kingship for them.”

But Israel wanted to be “like the nations.” So God yielded to their obstinacy. And Saul was anointed king (1 Samuel 10:1).

Four

The Fall of Saul and Rise of David

There are two forms of pride: To think too much of oneself and to think too little of oneself, timidity. Both flow from the same root: self-focus and self-reliance.

Saul trusted himself rather than the Lord and when a man relies only on himself, he will either grasp control or shrink back in fear. His first grave sin came when God commanded him to wait; the Lord would win the battle. Saul grew impatient. He took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice. Pride will not wait on God.

His second grave sin came when God commanded him to devote Amalek to destruction. Saul defeated them but spared Agag and kept the best livestock to turn them to profit and prestige. Then Saul set up a monument to himself. Samuel exposed the heart of the matter, “Obedience is better than sacrifice… Rebellion is as the sin of divination… Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

In 1 Samuel 31, Saul is killed in battle, and David is anointed King. David is not perfect. He makes bad decisions, he sins gravely, but here is the difference: Saul relied on himself, seeking his own glory. David relied on the Lord, seeking the glory of the Lord. It’s the difference between pride and humility.

Five

The One Issue – Who is King?

From Joshua to Samuel, from Saul to David, the issue is the same: Who is King? When Israel served the LORD and knew Him, they were free. When they forgot Him, they became slaves. And when they rejected Him as King, they demanded a substitute. When Saul relied on himself, he fell. When David relied on the Lord, God established his throne.

The crisis was never primarily political. The moment a people rejects the kingship of God, everything begins to unravel: worship, morality, leadership, even the protection of children.

Yet here is the hope. God does not abandon His people when they demand substitutes. He permits their choice. He allows the consequences. And then, through their very rebellion, He prepares something greater. From David’s line came the true King.

As Pope Benedict teaches, God writes straight with crooked lines. The King is Jesus. His power is sacrificial love. He reigns from the Cross.

The resolution is simple: Let God be King. Seek union with Him above all things. Rely on Him, not yourself. And trust that even when we fail, the true King remains faithful, He writes straight with crooked lines!

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