February 27 - Judges 1-3
The book of Judges starts off with the hope of God's blessings, but it soon turns into a sordid tale of how not to live. The tribe of Judah begins the conquest after Joshua's death. God speaks in the past tense again assuring them of victory. They even cooperate with the tribe of Simeon to help each other in their respective areas of conquest, which is very encouraging. However, after beginning with a great victory, the tribe of Judah falls short of ridding the Land of the Canaanites as God had commanded. The reason that is given is that the Canaanites in the lowlands had chariots of iron. The implication is that the strength of the iron makes the task impossible, when they were supposed to be going forth in the strength of the Lord. This failure leads to many other examples of incomplete obedience, and that sin leads the people to forsake the Lord. Soon, the people of the Land were in control instead of the Israelites. After all of the warnings to keep the Law and follow the Lord, I am sure this hurt the heart of God very deeply.
The Bible says that after the death of one generation, the people of God turned to idols. They worshiped in the most terrible sexual orgies you can imagine as that was the way the Canaanites worshiped. That is the main reason God had ordered the destruction of the Canaanites. They had so rejected Him that they worshiped in the most debased ways known to man. Now the bad guys had won, and God's people had joined up with them. What a sad day! We often hear that the church is only one generation from extinction, and that is very true.
Even in all of this rebellion God raised up Judges, who were people to deliver Israel from the oppression of the people of the Land. This was not His perfect will. He meant for the Land to be free of paganism. However, when His people failed to kill all of the Canaanites, He changed His strategy. He left the pagans there to test His people. He convicted His people of their sin through the Judges, but after a short period of time, they would turn back to the idols. This is the entire plot of the book of Judges. There is oppression because of sin, deliverance by a Judge in which the people turn back to God for a short time, and then, there is the falling back into sin. Unfortunately, that is the story for many Christians, too. Instead of staying faithful to God in a consistent way, their lives are a roller coaster of ups and downs. Believe me, this is not God's will for your life. However, you must take the sin seriously and get rid of it. (I John 1:9) Then, you must follow close to the Lord daily.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 4-6.
The Bible says that after the death of one generation, the people of God turned to idols. They worshiped in the most terrible sexual orgies you can imagine as that was the way the Canaanites worshiped. That is the main reason God had ordered the destruction of the Canaanites. They had so rejected Him that they worshiped in the most debased ways known to man. Now the bad guys had won, and God's people had joined up with them. What a sad day! We often hear that the church is only one generation from extinction, and that is very true.
Even in all of this rebellion God raised up Judges, who were people to deliver Israel from the oppression of the people of the Land. This was not His perfect will. He meant for the Land to be free of paganism. However, when His people failed to kill all of the Canaanites, He changed His strategy. He left the pagans there to test His people. He convicted His people of their sin through the Judges, but after a short period of time, they would turn back to the idols. This is the entire plot of the book of Judges. There is oppression because of sin, deliverance by a Judge in which the people turn back to God for a short time, and then, there is the falling back into sin. Unfortunately, that is the story for many Christians, too. Instead of staying faithful to God in a consistent way, their lives are a roller coaster of ups and downs. Believe me, this is not God's will for your life. However, you must take the sin seriously and get rid of it. (I John 1:9) Then, you must follow close to the Lord daily.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 4-6.