Judges 2:6–15 “A Faithless Generation” or “God Works Despite Evil.”

Introduction to the Lesson: Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Winston Churchill augmented the quote and put it this way “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”Both aphorism indicate that “without memory, people and societies remain trapped in a cyclical, repetitive loop where they make the same mistakes over and over.”The notion of “history repeating” echoes throughout the ages and epochs and the corridors of the mind. One of the most intriguing questions in history is does history repeat itself? The popular notion is explored in the Strauss–Howe Generational Theory, which purports that “Anglo- American history moves in repeating cycles of roughly 80 to 100 years.” In their “80-Year Cycle Theory” historians William Strauss and Neil Howe proposed that “this span matches the length of a long human life, a concept the ancient Romans called a saeculum,” a noun that refers to “a period of long duration.” This span consists of “four turnings,” or turning points in history.William Strauss and Neil Howe speculated that “each 80-year cycle breaks down into four distinct 20- year periods called 'turnings.'” In his 2024 book “The Sixth Great Awakening and the Coming Renewal of the American Church,” Joseph Castleberry utilizes the Strauss–Howe Generational Theory and analyzes historical religious awakenings or revivals in America and predicts a Sixth Great Awakening in the 2040s. Some historians have identified four distinct cyclical occurrences of spiritual revivals or awakenings, extended periods of “Great Awakenings” in American history. These are the first Great Awakening famously led by revivalists Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley (time period: 1733 – 1770), the Second Great Awakening (1790 – 1840), the Third Great Awakening (1857 – 1920), the Fourth Great Awakening (1950– 1980). The Book of Judges presents the cyclical nature of sin and salvation in this 300 year period of history recorded in the seventh book of the Bible. This pattern consists of 1. Apostasy. 2. Oppression. 3. Repentance. 4. Deliverance. In the fourth stage of the cycle God raises up deliverers or judges, such as Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors. Then the generational cycle of sin and then salvation repeats itself when the deliverer dies. “The Cycle of Judges serves as a theological and moral lesson on the consequences of disobedience and the faithfulness of God.” (Source: “The Cycle of Judges.” The Topical Encyclopedia. Bible Hub). This week we embark on a series of three Bible studies from the Book of Judges. The overarching theme of this unit of Bible lessons is “From Settled People to Judges “ or “Lacking Leadership and a Moral Compass,” once again depending upon the commentary series your church uses. Our first topic in this series is titled “A Faithless Generation” or “God Works Despite Evil.” The youth and young adult lesson is titled “Choosing Badly.” Our sacred text comes to us from Judges 2:6–15. This Bible study calls our attention to “the cyclical pattern of apostasy, repentance, and divine rescue that recurs throughout the book of Judges and is exemplified in chapter 2” of the seventh book in the Old Testament. (Source: Boyd's Sunday School Lesson Commentary). “A Faithless Generation” or “God Works Despite Evil.” Judges 2:6–15. Lesson Focus: “Rejecting God means rejecting His blessing.” Summary: “After Joshua is gone, the people turn away from God and break the covenant.” Memory Verse: “Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals” —Judges 2:11.