Judges 2:11-23
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.
16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. 18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20 Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
As soon as the generation that knew Joshua and the deliverance of the LORD had died off, the people immediately worked evil by worshiping idols in direct defiance of the very first (Exodus 20:3-4, 5) commandment given on the mountain by the hand of Moses as written with the very finger of God Himself. They gave in to the corrupt culture around them on the land promised in holiness to them, forgetting the promise of the covenant and shattering that trust with God. By bowing down to the idols (unlike Daniel and his friends in Daniel 3:18), they rejected their calling and brought swift judgment on themselves at the hands of the nations they tried to assimilate with instead of driving away out of their presence and influence as commanded. Great distress overwhelmed them as they were defeated in battle time and again as they had been amply warned (Leviticus 26:15-16, 17, Deuteronomy 28:15) long before. Sin has consequences, especially sin against the devotion to God alone. God was still merciful, however, and sent judges to lead and correct them as a precursor to New Testament church discipline for repentance and restoration to fellowship with Himself. May we who now fall into such sins not be as these who rejected the judges sent to restore them to fellowship and instead reverted to their old behavior after heeding the judges sent only as long as they were alive and watching over them. May we not stop sinning only when our spiritual leaders correct us, but learn from the admonition of correction and encouragement in ongoing fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25) with one another (Hebrews 3:13) day by day. God’s mercies are indeed new every morning, yet He tests our hearts (2 Chronicles 16:9, 1 Thessalonians 2:4) to reveal faithful devotion that honors and glorifies Him instead of our desire for the passing pleasures (Hebrews 11:24-25, 26, 1 John 2:15-16, 17) of sin that the world around us revels in as they call us to unfaithfulness. We are shown here not to be stubborn in seeking our own satisfaction at the expense of devotion to following our Savior who suffered so painfully for our sin. The result of unrepentant sin for Israel was the lingering presence and affects of the sin they engaged in. This example is a warning (1 Corinthians 10:6-7, 11) to us all. We have a way to avoid this as 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 calls us to humility of our tendency to sin and comforts us with trust and strength to follow Him. Do we reject His commands or live in remembrance of the person and work of our Lord and Savior who suffered and died for our deliverance from sin and promise of the eternal land in heaven to love forever at peace with Him?
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