We touched on the sad fact that Israel produced a generation that did not know the Lord. Just pause for a moment and recall just a few of the warnings that God sent Israel. Over and over God warns HIS children to obey and to pass HIS Word and their faith onto their children. Do you remember what Moses wrote in Deut 6:7? “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. God is to fill our conversations and life with our children, the consequences of leaving HIM out are horrific!
Judges 2:10-13 That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel. 11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals 12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord, 13 for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Are there areas in your life where you suffer repeated defeats spiritually? Are there sins that plague and beset you over and over? Could it be that idols have crept into your heart and my heart? Remember anything that you love, serve, fear or desire more than God is an idol in your heart. This can be your job, home children, spouse, money, reputation...just to name a few that in and of themselves are not sinful, loving them more than God is.
Judges 2:15 uses some strong language, not only did the Israelites lose God's hand of protection and blessing HE was against them! "Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster ⌊on them⌋, just as He had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly." You may have heard it said, "sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay." When we sin it is a little like drinking toxic waste. We spend much time warning our children of physical dangers...what about spiritual dangers that can cost them their soul?
Judges 2:17 but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.
Has God been gracious enough to place someone in your life that will speak truth to you? Do you and I listen to them? The picture of prostituting myself with another god is a horrible thought. Jeremiah 2:13 teaches us how easy it is to fall into spiritual prostitution...God forbid that we would be spiritual harlots. God tells us through Jeremiah that "My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water."
HE is simply saying that my people have tasted, and they have drank from the fountain of living water and after drinking deeply they turn up their noses and say no thank you Lord. I want to feed myself what I want to eat and drink, I will find my own satisfaction in something or anything else but YOU! Then we turn and try to suck satisfaction out of broken, dry cisterns, cisterns that can hold no water.
In God's eyes this is a great evil...rightly so.
Judges 2:18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.
Judges 2:19 Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their ⌊evil⌋ practices or their obstinate ways.
Remember, judgement for sin is sin, more sin, deeper sin...carrying you further and further from God resulting in a hard heart. Yesterday we looked at Paul's words to the Romans in Romans 1:24-28
"Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural. 27 The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion. 28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong."
Sin will lead you in a downward spiral...what does it pay? Paul tells us in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Jesus walked through death, burial and the resurrection to set us free from our sins by HIS precious blood, if we will repent and turn from the idols in our hearts and cry out to the King of kings, calling on the lover of our soul HE will set us free and we will be free indeed...you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. We must, with the enabling of the Holy Spirit drive the idols completely out of our hearts, we can show no mercy to sin, we must completely crucify our flesh.
It is interesting, even when you come to the place where you are moment by moment keeping a short list with our LORD, frequently repenting and maintaining a sweet and intimate fellowship with our LORD there are still battles, obstacles and trials to endure. Judges 3:1-2, explains in part why our Lord would leave these in the lives of HIS children. "These are the nations the Lord left in order to test Israel, since none of these Israelites had fought in any of the wars with Canaan. 2 This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites ⌊how to fight in⌋ battle, especially those who had not fought before. This life is spiritual training preparing us for eternity. God is absolutely good and everything that HE allows to flow into the lives of HIS children is for their good and to draw them closer to HIM. What does Paul say in Ephesians 6:12? "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Our heavenly Father allows these things to teach us to fight in spiritual warfare! HOW ARE YOU DOING?
Judges 3:6 The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.
Judges 3:9-11 The Israelites cried out to the Lord. So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother as a deliverer to save the Israelites. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. 11 Then the land was peaceful 40 years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.
So there was a definite pattern in Israel. As you think through your own life and the lives of those in your family are you able to see any patterns where God is working? Are you able to see our great God pursuing you, seeking you and your loved ones?
It is really pretty amazing when you think about it...God entered the Garden of Eden seeking Adam and Eve and HE made coverings of skin for them...HE made an animal sacrifice for them. From to the fall to the Cross to this day we see God pursuing a relationship with you and me, HE desires to be in intimate fellowship with us. HE does it for HIS glory and HIS glory alone, but you and I are the joyful recipients of the fruit of that glory...we are redeemed and restored to a relationship with our Abba, our Father.
You and I were created to glorify God BY enjoying HIM forever.
Consider our Lord's Words in Luke 22:15, Then He said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. This is awesome to me...Jesus fervently, passionately desires to fellowship with us, to have intimate community with HIS disciples. I can only imagine that HE is passionately desiring to do the same with ALL redeemed humanity following HIS second advent. It will be incredible!
Rev 19:9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
Father in heaven, Abba,
Deliver us from spiritual prostitution, deliver us from bowing down to idols...enable us to pursue YOU with a white-hot passion. Enable us to run hard after YOU, to long for YOU and YOU alone...for YOUR glory and our JOY in YOU.
love,
m