Tonight we're in Judges chapter 10. And just to remind you where we came from, we left the days of Gideon and his son Abimelech. Abimelech was a major disappointment. He was a murderer, started off his rule and reign in Israel by murdering all of his brothers, the sons of Gideon. And after he took power in a few years, he ended up murdering the family through his mother and was just and was ultimately killed by a woman who dropped a millstone from the top of a tower as he was trying to kill the people in the tower and burn them to death. And so there was just this whole sense of chaos that was going on in Israel as they were reeling from that. And you can trace a lot of that back to the way Gideon, who was called by God, met by God. I believe he was a saved man. But the way he handled his spiritual success. He rather than drawing near to God and staying humbled, he seemed to become exalted and lifted up in his heart. And when he got lifted up and started seeking the attention and acting much like a king, everything went downhill for him and his family spiritually. And his legacy was the chaos of Abimelech. And so we're going to pick up in Chapter 10. Tonight, we're going to look at the first 16 verses. There's only 18 verses in Chapter 10. And the last two verses really tie into Judges Chapter 11. And just to kind of set the stage, we're going to read in the first couple of verses about two judges in Israel that span a period of 45 years. And then we're going to get into this prelude situation where it's preparing us for another judge that we're going to talk about for two chapters, chapters 11 and 12. That'll be Jephthah. And then right after Jephthah, we're going to talk about Samson in chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16, I believe. He spans three or four chapters. Actually, chapter 10, in a lot of ways, and you'll see it as we get into it, is the prelude to both Jephthah and Samson. So this is really an important chapter for us to see preparation for what's to come and why things are going to be the way that they're going to be. So Abimelech, his reign was bookended by the shedding of blood of his own family. His legacy was self-destruction, just like the theme of Israel. They were very self-destructive. Truly, a nation often gets the leaders it deserves. And that speaks to us here in our country today, doesn't it? We get the leaders we deserve. And with his death, there was a vacuum of power and leadership that was left in Israel. Yet, this vacuum would soon be filled by another. So let's read the first five verses, Judges 10, verses 1 through 5. Who'd like to read that for us, nice and loud? Micah. After Bemelech there rose to save Israel, told the son of Pua, son of Dodo, A man is a car. And he lived at Shomer in the hill country of Bethlehem. And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shomer. After him rose Jair, the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty cities called Amaltheir to this day, which are on the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried at Shomer. All right, so here in this passage, we read about Tola and Jer, both judges of Israel. Between the two of them, one ruled for 23 years. The other one ruled for 22 years, OK? But they're only addressed by five verses. You got 45 years in five verses. As you look at verse 1, what was the occasion of Tola's rise to power? What was the occasion? Why did Tola rise to power as a judge? What was the situation where Israel needed a judge? Abimelech was dead. And how was the end of Abimelech's reign? Good? Disastrous. It was chaos. And so this whole nation was reeling from all of this mess that Abimelech had left. And the one that rose up to lead them was Tola. And the same area he rose up, it's interesting, he rose up. He was a man of Issachar. He arose to save Israel. He lived in Shammar in the hill country of Ephraim. So even though he was a man from Issachar, which was near where Abimelech ruled, he moved to Ephraim, which was even closer to the area that Abimelech was at. And so that was the direct location that was in a lot of chaos. Tola rose up there. He was an Issacharite from the tribe of Issachar. He was named, Tola was named for the firstborn son of Issachar. And his father's, whose name was Pua, was named for another of Issachar's sons. And Tola's name means worm. Worm. I'm not sure if that was An affectionate name, or it was the name of Issachar's first son, right? So that's probably where it came from. But Worm was the one who followed Abimelech, which means the king is my father. Tola probably moved from Issachar to Ephraim to be more centralized there in the area because of his judgeship. The place he lived, Shammer, we don't know for certain, but was probably very close to the same place that was later known as Samaria, a really significant place in Israel's history and then in the days of the New Testament. And so that's where he was at, or at least near that area. But the guy gets two verses, two verses. 23 years. Otherwise, unremarkable. Is that good or bad? Exactly. I mean, following a Bimelech. Order. Normal. would be a very, very welcome thing. In fact, when you read the way Tola is described, it says he judged Israel 23 years. That phrasing is only used of two other judges that we've studied. Othniel, the first judge, and Deborah, that they basically sat and judged Israel like that. The others, there were other things that were kind of going on. It never really said they judged Israel like this. This is actually probably a compliment about this guy. He brought peace, normal, no chaos, nothing remarkable. And sometimes that's really nice. 23 years after the death, chaos, and bloodshed of Abimelech. And so that's what we have about Tola. Any questions or comments? In the past we've said being a judge didn't necessarily mean that you sat down and listened to people's complaints and then decide. Sometimes it meant going to battle, fighting the enemy, you know, kind of digging Israel out of a hole they dug themselves into. But you see, picture this guy as someone who just kind of But it all settled down. And just what about trying to be a judge the way you think of judges today? He seemed to be more like that. He set himself up in a centralized place and seemed like he was available, like Deborah was, to hear things and to help administer wisdom and judgment in his room. Now, that was his situation. As we've seen, though, and as we will see, that's not the way every judge acts. Any others? Next one is Jair. J-A-I-R. And he didn't live there in the central part of Israel. In fact, he was across the Jordan River on the east side in the land that was known as Gilead. And he was probably from the tribe of Gad. His name means he enlightens. And his reign was 22 years, so one year shorter than Tola. Excuse me, I'm wrong. He was from the tribe of Manasseh. He was from the tribe of Manasseh. What we learn about Jerr, though, is different. We get this interesting verse, verse 4. Jerr had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys, and they had 30 cities in the land of Gilead. that are called Havath-Jer, which means the towns of Jer to this day, at that time this was written. So, what's going on? What do we learn about Jer from the mention of his 30 sons that had authority over 30 cities? He had money. He was a prosperous. I mean, if you're going to raise 30 kids, and they're going to have rule over 30 cities, he's a prosperous guy. Probably had more than one wife. 30 kids is a lot for any one woman to bear, so he's probably a polygamist. And he was able to support a large family who had a lot of influence over 30 communities. But what's the significance of 30 sons riding on donkeys? 30 sons riding on donkeys. Look at Judges 5, verse 10. Judges 5, verse 10. What do we learn about people who ride donkeys? We don't consider that to be a very impressive animal, a donkey. But who read Judges 510 for us? You got any? Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way. All right. So those who rode donkeys, what were they being described as? Rich, wealthy people who rode around on donkeys. At that time, this is one of the reasons it's important to understand the culture. You can't read this into our culture. You have to read it in their culture and understand what this means, OK? At that point in time, a donkey was considered a more royal or regal animal than a horse among a lot of populations. There was a palace official who, a few hundred years prior to this, had written to his king. He says, if you are the king of the Hanians, you are moreover a king of the Akkadians, my lord. You should not ride horses, that is, in tribal fashion like the nomads. May my lord drive in a wagon with mules, that is, in a civilized manner, and may he thus honor his royalty. So, if you want to look like a king, you don't ride a horse. You get some mules. You get a donkey. Something like that. That looks royal. Now, that's not the way we think, but that's the way they thought. Somebody who rode on a donkey came in peace. Someone who was riding on a horse was likely coming in war. And so for this guy to have 30 sons on 30 donkeys, He's wealthy and it's a time of peace and prosperity. Having 30 sons on 30 donkeys is like having 30 sons and each one has a Porsche, you know, and cruising around town, showing off the wealth and showing a lot of authority. Now, that's what it would look like in our culture today. And so what we get from that is that in the days of Jair, they had a time of peace and prosperity. So these 45 years after Bimelech, things calmed down. The guy got rid of the chaos and they actually became, at least in parts of Israel, very prosperous. It was a time of peace. In the days of Deborah, when the Canaanites and all those things were doing what they were doing, the Midianites, excuse me, people weren't able to go around and travel. Excuse me, I think the Midianites were the days of Gideon. Deborah and Barak, it was... somebody else. I'm getting them all mixed up in my head. But the point is, this was a time of peace and prosperity for Israel. It's so that was a different time because I thought about that. I looked at that a little bit and I'm not sure I didn't get enough clarity to make that connection because you do see that when he comes into Jerusalem, He came in and he was riding a young donkey, a colt, which is a very young donkey. And so he did come as king and come in peace. But we also read about when he comes back, he's not going to be on a donkey. He's going to be on what? I'm looking for the passage right now. I'm not sure I'm going to find it really quickly. I think it was more of a symbol of humility in his time in that place, whereas in the days of judges, that's one of the things to recognize that The way things were in the days of the judges were not the way things were in the days of Jesus. I mean, he had a thousand or more years had passed. Right. And so things were a lot different. Culture changes. I mean, the way I mean, if someone were to suppose that, you know, America of 1776 is the same as America of 2017, just because it's America, you know, we'd laugh. And it's been how long? You know, two hundred and forty one years. Because things have changed so much. And it's the same in the Bible. You got to look at what's going on then. And so I do think that when Christ came into Jerusalem, that was more of a symbol of his humility. But in Revelation 1911, it says, I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse and he who sat on it was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war. And so he was coming on a white horse and he was coming in war. And he was with the sword of his mouth and to strike down the nations and rule with a rod of iron. And so we see that contrast when he came at the first and the second time. So I don't I don't know what draws up that it draws up exactly next to this, but it's a good question. It's a very good question because I was thinking the same same thing. Anybody else? Let's look at verses six through nine. Verses six through nine. The sin of Israel. We know what's going to happen, right? There's no surprise. We've seen the same thing over and over and over. But this is kind of interesting. This is kind of significant in the way this is going to happen. Verses six through nine. Who would like to read this for us? Anna, would you read that real loud? And the children of Israel gathered together on the higher floor, and served the Baals, and they asked twice, the gods of Syria, and the gods of Siloam, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forced up the door, and they did not surrender. So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the people of Ammon. From that year, they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years. All the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan were in the land of the Amorites and the Pharaoh. Moreover, the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Bethany, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was set free. All right. And so this is very familiar, right? We see Israel go after other gods time and time again. The Israelites, as we read here, they went after the idols of the remaining Canaanite people in the midst of their land and on their borders. This time, they didn't limit themselves to just one idol in particular, but the idolatry was was like a variety pack. There was all sorts of idols they were worshiping, and it was widespread all over Israel. A lot of times as we're reading this, you'll see like this part of Israel was doing it, and you kind of wonder, maybe it was just that tribe or two that this was really happening to. Here, there is no question. This is everybody. Everybody in Israel is having an issue with idolatry, at least every tribe in Israel. Maybe not everybody, but every tribe in Israel is having this issue with idolatry. We know that Baal and Ashtroth were worshipped by the Canaanites in the midst of Israel. That's what happened in the days of Gideon, right? His father had that idol of Baal and Ashtroth that he had to break down and burn. But what do we learn from the naming of these gods? Count how many different gods were worshipped by Israel in verse 6. How many different gods, at least, were being worshipped by Israel in verse 6? How many? Seven. You're correct. It's God's plural, so it could be more. But what is seven? What's significant about seven? Does seven mean anything? It's the number of God, right? It's the number of fullness, right? Seven days in a week. God set up that standard of fullness. You read about the seven churches, you know, in Asia, seven is used throughout the Bible as a number of God, meaning a fullness. OK, and so not only do we see this number seven here, but if I could show you a map and I'm sorry I didn't get the PowerPoint made to show you, but if you were to look at a map of Israel, OK, And over here, you've got the Western tribes. And on this side, you've got the Eastern tribes, right? And if you were to look at where these idols and these different idols they were worshipping were at, we know like right in the middle were the Baal and the Ashtroth, where they had worshipped those in the days of Gideon. If you were to look over at the Ammonites, the Ammonites were over here on this side. On the Gilead side, on the east side of the Jordan River, that's where the Ammonites were at. The Moabites were down on the southeast part. The Philistines were over here up against the Mediterranean Sea on that part. The Amalekites were directly down south right there. The Sidonians were right up over here and the Syrians were over here. And so unless there was like an ocean, they were completely surrounded in and out by all these different nations that they were worshiping their gods. And so you got this complete geographical, if you look at it, it just surrounded in and out with idolatry. And so seven, around and in. So this is rampant. Bad, bad, bad. And in the midst of all this, what was their attitude towards the true God? We see that in verse 6 as well. Was God number 8? God didn't even make the list. God didn't even make the list, folks, He was just completely ignored, and they just went all after any of these other gods. Okay? God was forsaken. So what's the consequence of this idolatry? What happened? We see in verse 7, and I want to ask the question too, how does this relate to the time of Jair's leadership in Gilead when they were in such prosperity? As you look at this map of Israel, Gilead, where Jer was at, is over here on this side of the Jordan. And the Ammonites are over here. And when they're bothering Israel, who are they affecting? They're affecting those people who had just been under such time of peace and prosperity under jail. Jair. And the Philistines were over on this side up against the Mediterranean Sea. And so they're coming at it from the other side. And we read here in verse seven that God's anger burned against Israel. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. 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 and Gilead. So they came over here and they had all that eastern side in turmoil. And it says in verse 9, they crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel, the whole nation, was greatly distressed. Now, we don't read any more about the Philistines. Well, one mention of them, but not really any other mentions of them here for the next couple of chapters. But they're going to come up again later in the days of Samson. And so this is setting the stage for Samson too. But the first one we're going to have to deal with and read about is Jephthah. And he's having to deal with the Ammonites. They were the ones that were in the land where Jephthah was from. And the tribes they were hitting when the Ammonites came over into the Western part of Israel were some of the major tribes. Judah, and Benjamin, and Ephraim. These were little tribes like Dan, or Issachar, Gad. I mean, these were the big boys, right? And so the whole nation was in a very bad situation. Their blessing was turned to oppression because of their idolatry. Any questions or comments on this part before we go down to this last section? A lot of times you see after a time of peace and a time of relaxed atmosphere, I guess. People get set in their ways and at first, coming out of what happens with the Bimelech, they're turning, of course, to God. But after a certain time, they get lax in their ways. And I think it's a good warning for us that we don't get set in our ways and relaxed and comfortable, just going through motions day in and day out. And we keep Jesus in our focus so we're not led off of Jesus off the path like they were so long ago. Amen. 100% right. Lord has been blessing us in different ways as a church. On my mind as I think about this is that we not be content and get spiritually sloppy, but get even more serious about the Lord and let this be a ramp up and not just a place of falling down when God blesses us. I mean, the reality of His goodness should be so clear to us right now that the reality of his faithfulness should be so clear that it would draw us closer to God. The goodness of the Lord is meant to lead us to repentance. It's meant to lead us to greater dedication and focus on him. Kind of a picture here too of what you see of people, even well today is a good example. You have church people like we are in here, but all around us is evil. And it's so easy to get led astray. Just like them, they were bad people, evil. Philistine gods and different views that were surrounding them and they were just sucked right into that. A lot of churches are getting sucked into different views and different going away from scripture and believing in not creation, but how the world was formed over billions of years and different things like that. Satan uses all of that to try to pull us away. Very fatal compromises. Undermines the gospel. Anybody else? So let's look at verses 10-16. This has really got a great lesson, a great punch in it for us to consider. Who'd like to read? Let's have someone read verses 10-13. Josiah. And then someone else read verses 14-16. Charlie. Okay, go ahead Josiah. And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, We have sinned against you, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals. So the LORD said to the children of Israel, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, and from the people of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and also the Sidonians, and the Malachites, and the Maniites, and Christians? And he cried out to me, All right So let's look at this carefully. And and by that, I mean, let's you know, one of the mistakes I made as I was looking through this was to kind of jump to conclusions before looking at everything in a lot of a lot of detail and thinking more about it. So I found myself praying for God to help me to see with greater clarity and not not jump so quickly. Verse 10. They've been under oppression for 18 years. And so they cry out to God in verse 10, and they say, we have sinned against you, for indeed we have forsaken our God and served the Baals. How do you describe that cry to God in verse 10? Sounds like repentance? Okay. Somebody else? A realization? Okay. So you would see it maybe differently than repentance, but at least they've recognized what they've done. Okay. Anybody else? Thoughts? More of a recognition? And how would we... How would we be able to judge whether this was real repentance or not? What happens afterwards? and acknowledge that, but it doesn't sound like they are really going further and feeling repentance and remorse over it. Like, if you look at how David cried out to God when he was repentant and fell on his face, and he was... It's okay, child. It's the last thing you ask someone to wipe your mouth when you're old, you know, and make sure you look okay. Oh, I think it's noteworthy that they recognize their sin was twofold. They had forsaken God and then they had several reveals. They could cut their sin in half. They just forsaken God and got lazy and didn't pick up any of the gods. They compounded it by going after the gods. So I think in that sense, you know, they recognize that I would agree with what has been said, I guess, in that sense. Because God didn't forgive them, instead he said, that's it, I'm finished with you. Probably it wasn't repentance. I think that's exactly right. I agree with all of that. I mean, it's an honest assessment. They're right. They're 100% right. They understood what they had done. which didn't remove their guilt. In fact, in some ways it made it greater. You knew what you were doing. You recognize this at this point, but we don't see them changing. We don't see anything different. And that's what happens when there's real repentance. Real repentance results in a change, not just acknowledging that you've done something wrong. That's not even... the fullness of what biblical confession is. Biblical confession is being honest with God, but also seeing yourself the way God sees you. And at this point, I don't think they're seeing themselves that way. Not to the depth that God wants them to see. But the ultimate thing, how do we judge what was going on here to the extent that it's important for us to? God's response. If there had been legitimate repentance going on at this point, I think we would see God saying something different in the next few verses. But what do we see God saying? What do we see God saying? Been here, done that. How many times have we been here, done that? Count the number. Count the number. It's important. Seven. You look at them. Didn't I deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, also in the Sidonians, and the Amalekites, and the Manites oppressed you? You cried out to Me and I delivered you from their hands. Interestingly, do any of the names of these people sound familiar to you? In fact, the two that are causing them problem right now He said, I've already delivered you from them in the past. Why are we back here again? And not only have I delivered you from the Ammonites and the Philistines before, but he listed five other and the total number seven, meaning what? Completeness. My mercy and compassion has been full. I don't owe you anything. I have shown you full mercy and compassion, completeness in all of this. Their fullness of their idolatry had been identified, the seven different idols, and that had been matched by the fullness of His mercy. He had been merciful enough. And he's also highlighting the cycle and spiral of moral decay and faithlessness. Here we are again. What's different now? And he says in verse 13, Yet, even though I've shown you this mercy and I've given you all these second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh chances, you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore, I will no longer deliver you. This is a nation that's on the verge of being forsaken by God. He's talking to them. I mean, if God had altogether forsaken them, they wouldn't be having this conversation. OK. And we don't know if he was speaking to them by an angel like he had in the days of Gideon. Or in the days of I forget who else saw the angel or by a prophet, as he had in other days, like I think a Demolex day, a prophet was used. But, huh, Joab. And so there were there were prophets. And so we don't know exactly how God was speaking to them, or maybe it was a voice from heaven, although we don't see that described here at all. But the message was coming clearly across. This is God. And God is saying, I'm not going to deliver you anymore. I've shown you mercy enough. That should be terrifying. And he says, go, don't come to me. Go to your other gods, which you have chosen. You chose other gods. You chose to reject me. You chose to not respond to my call. So go talk to your other gods and let them help you in the time of your distress. This really this chapter really seems to be something of a tipping point in the way God was going to deal with Israel. I mean, as dark and difficult as this book has been thus far, folks, it's just going to get worse. I mean, we're going to get into some weird stuff, weirder stuff in the back end of this book. And it's all a result of the way they had responded towards God. And that's a big part of the problem is that they didn't know or understand God. He's not just someone to deliver them when they got in trouble. He's not just a source of power or protection. As Moses had said, and Joshua had said, look, He's a jealous God. Meaning what? He demands you worship Him with sincerity, for real, and singularly, meaning nobody else. He wants your heart, your whole heart. Nothing but your heart. And your heart not going to anybody else. That's the type of worship He desires. And not just desires, deserves. He's not a tool to use to overcome obstacles in your life. He is the Creator of all. He's the Holy One of Israel. And whether their life was good or bad at that moment, God was the same. He was good and He was worthy of being worshiped. He's not just worthy when things are good. He's not just worth coming to when things are bad. He was a God who demanded their worship all the time. And they did not get that. And even if they did get it, they sure didn't act like that. And so that message should have shook them to the core. Because here God is showing and saying there is a time when enough is enough and I'm done. There is a time when enough is enough and I'm done. And he made it very clear. That he had gone above and beyond already. He had no obligation to them. No obligation based on their worthiness. So look at verses 15 and 16. After this, they responded to the Lord. We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to You. Only please deliver us this day. So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. We'll stop right there. How do we interpret their response to the Lord in those two verses? I think, you know, as we're going to see, like you said, I mean, Israel is not all of a sudden going to turn around and become this great godly nation. But what we read about here looks like, sounds like, things that accompany real repentance. They acknowledge we have sinned. They were acknowledging seeing themselves like God saw them. Not just, oh, I made a mistake. They called it sin. When you look at yourself and you look at the way you respond to things, Do you call it what it is? Or do you excuse it away? Do you come to God and say, God, I made a mistake? Or start giving God excuses for things? Or do you go to God openly and honestly and say, my attitude, the way I acted, this is sin against You. It's unacceptable before You. I don't have a good excuse. What I've done is nasty. It's defiled. It's unfitting. It's not something that's consistent with your character, God. They called it sin. That's good. They said, do to us whatever seems good to you. That's part of what happens At least what they're saying is consistent with real repentance, because you're at a point where, you know, God, I don't have a basis to ask you to do anything. I can't tell you I deserve this. I can't tell you I've been a good person. I can't tell you I'm worth it. God, you're going to do what you're going to do. And whatever you do is going to be right and fair. I deserve whatever you put out in me. I remember with great clarity the night that I was saved, having that thought toward God that I deserve to go to hell. I mean, I didn't want to go there, but I knew I deserved it. I knew that's what James Keane is worth. He's worth hell. And so I couldn't go to God bargaining for anything. I had no cards. I had no chips. I had nothing to offer Him. You say, well, you offer Him your life. God doesn't need my life. My life is sinful and ruined. I wasn't offering Him future service. I'll be a good boy. I'll be a good Christian. I'll be a preacher. I'll go to Alaska. That's worthless to God. God doesn't need me to do anything. I had nothing to offer Him. And neither did Israel. Nothing to offer Him. Do whatever seems good to you. All they could ask is, just please deliver us today. Just please. Why? Just please. Why should I? Please. And accompanying this, They put away the foreign gods from among them, and they served the Lord. They knew what they had been doing was wrong, and so they turned and started doing what was right. That's what happens when people repent. There's a change. We can't know with certainty whether this was sincere or not. But what's worth noting is at the end of verse 16, after they did this, it says, God could bear the misery of Israel no longer. It's interesting, I think it's important, too, that God's reaction wasn't based upon the quality of their repentance. It doesn't say that God looked at them and was like, oh, they're so repentant and they're so holy now. The reality was these people were being oppressed. There had been some move in them to turn back to God. But God was moved by His compassion for the people. That was what moved God to act. Verse 16 doesn't tie the Lord's compassion to her repentance, but rather to her suffering. And I think it's neat because our hope doesn't rest in the sincerity of our repentance, but in the intensity of God's compassion. We're called to repent. We're commanded to repent. When we sin, lost friend, God has commanded you to repent. But your hope is not on repenting good enough. And praise God, it's not. Because you can't clean yourself up. In fact, even repentance is a gift from God. It's a gift from God. But just like these Israelites, you got nothing to offer God. Don't try to go to God and bargain with Him for salvation because you have nothing to give. And even if you promise him that you're going to turn and change and this and that, my friends, he doesn't need it. When you realize you have nothing to offer God and you realize that you're a depraved sinner. And all you can do is throw yourself at his mercy. That's when you're going to get saved. That's when you're going to get saved. And that's what God did here with Israel. When they came with empty hands before him and simply pleaded on the basis of his compassion. We find that where sin abounded, grace did even more abound. They had sevenfold of sin and God had sevenfold delivered. And yet he found compassion and mercy sufficient to deliver and prepare to deliver yet again. Although the state of Israel was such that they were in very, very bad shape. The neat thing here, lost friend, I want to leave you with this point. God gave Israel no promise of deliverance if they repented and looked to Him. They knew they did not have that promise. But the Bible teaches us, the Scriptures teach us that whoever repents and puts their faith in Christ will be saved. You have a promise from God that if you will repent and turn from your sin and look to Jesus, you will be saved. He will save you. Repent because you're a sinner. Believe because He's the risen Christ. And by His mercy and grace, He'll save you. We're not told here that God repented of the evil that was to befall them, but rather that he was sorry or indignant about their state. And that was the basis of his action here for the people of Israel. He is a God of compassion. We have much to be thankful for.