Today we talked about Judges chapter 2 & 3. God’s servant Joshua died, and soon the people of Israel forgot their God. The very things they tolerated in disobedience to God became acceptable and normal just a generation later. We see this still today – our generation of the church accepts things only tolerated in a previous generations.
But Israel didn’t just forget their God, they served other gods. As a consequence, God let their enemies overtake them and make their lives miserable. Yet, while they were in bondage, God raised up judges to rescue them and lead them back to him. Unfortunately, when each judge died the people lost their way again.
We read at the end of chapter 2, this cycle continued – judge after judge.
Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Disobedience, Bondage, Repentance, Devotion. All different stages on a spin-cycle of this nation. Are you living in one of these phases? Maybe some of the consequences of disobedience have you trapped? Are you living a life of disobedience, not considering what may be in store? Are you living in transparency with God – enjoying a life of devotion to him?
As Kevin said Sunday morning, beneath every circumstance of this life is a God, who is working a redemptive plan. We try to attribute the rough edges of this life to “bad luck” or other’s mistakes. Regardless of how we view them, God’s plan is still to come in the middle of these circumstances and rework them into something new. I hope we let this week be an opportunity to consider our God’s plan to rescue us and lead us to his heart.
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