Year One, July 11

My People Are Bent On Turning Away From Me1

Judges 10:6-7; 9-18

6The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD (Clearly, the suffering the Lord brings on Israel does little to change their hearts. The good effect lasts only for a short time. As soon as God withdraws his afflicting hand, people return to their old sinful ways.) and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

These idols should have been despicable in the eyes of those who knew the only living and true God. One sin leads to another, like one drink leads to another. The Israelites became drunk with worshiping the images of false gods. The ceremonies used in the worship of all these false gods were as shameful as shameful can be. This made Israel’s sin all the more disgusting. They abandoned Jehovah completely when they became devoted to these idols. People cannot serve God and Satan. Where falsehood enters, truth leaves in disgust.

7So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites. (As they idolized on all sides, so were they tyrannized on all sides. On the west by Philistines and on the east by Ammonites.)

9And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

Israel was being crushed under the heavy hand of these idolators. Eventually, their cry for help went up to heaven with great intensity.

10And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. (God’s goodness to them in the past only made this current rebellion worse. If God had been rough with them and hard on them, then they might have had some excuse for forsaking him. But they turned against a God who had been kind and gentle and generous to them. How often might the Lord have said to us, “I will save you no more”?)

14“Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” (This made real sense if they really believed in their false gods, but these words must have been a dreadful sound in Israel’s ears. What would happen if the Lord said this to us? How would it turn out for us if God told us to rely on the sinful pleasures and false gods we have trusted in the past? Imagine what would happen if he said, “Go to your self-righteousness for security; turn to your merrymaking or your money for comfort.” What would you say to such hopeless words?)

15And the people of Israel said to the LORD  “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” (Confessing their sin and surrendering to God’s will was the wisest thing to do. Everyone who is truly sorry for their sins should do the same thing.) 16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD  and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

They did more than just say they were sorry, they did something about it. They threw away the idols they had worshiped. True repentance is not only for sin, but from sin. They turned to worshiping the true God before he rescued them from the mess they had gotten themselves into. This showed their repentance was real. The Lord would not stay angry with them very long after he saw his people had a genuine change of heart. He loves them too well to do that.

17Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (Once again, Israel was invaded by enemies. They assembled to defend themselves, but they did not have someone to lead them against the Ammonites. They agreed to submit to the rule of any man who would be bold enough to begin the battle against their cruel enemy. At this point the Lord raised up Jephthah as his answer to their prayers.)

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¹ Hosea 11:7