Listen to God’s Judges

July 10, 2011


Background Scripture: Judges 2; 21:25
Lesson Passage: Judges 2:11 – 19

If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to receive what you have always received. That simple saying has been stated in many variants for many years yet we never seem to learn its lesson. It appears as though humanity is destined to follow the wrong path and receive chastisement as a result of it. Today’s lesson is a reminder to me that Israel is the church’s example. As such, the church should learn from Israel’s mistakes and fare better. Just as younger siblings are often spared the same chastisements as the older because they choose to learn from the punishment of others, likewise, the church would do well to look to Israel as the elder sibling. Nevertheless, it seems as though some lessons are not learned as a result of mere observation. Today’s lesson from the book of Judges brings us to the edge of a three-century long era in Israel’s history which has an oft repeated cycle of national apostasy, punishment at the hands of their enemy, prayer of distress, and deliverance by God. During these turbulent three centuries, God brought deliverance through his servants the judges. These judges are mostly presented as military leaders who God raised up to overthrow Israel’s adversaries and then they remained as the civil leader over the nation until their death. After the death of the judge, the cycle repeated itself. Our topic says “Listen to God’s Judges”. This was often not the problem as long as the judge lived. The problem stemmed from not continuing to heed the advice and wisdom of the judges after the death of the judges. There are two things that stand out when one studies the book of Judges. First, the problems started after the death of Joshua and his generation who had known the Lord through His many miraculous acts on Israel’s behalf. It leads one to question whether this up-and-coming generation behind the elders had been properly—and especially thoroughly—educated and trained to seek the Lord and His righteousness. Had they been taught the details of God’s dealings with their forefathers from Egypt to Canaan? How real was God to this up-and-coming generation? The second thing that stands out in studying this book is the oft repeated phrase “in those days, there was no king in Israel”. This phrase points towards an unnamed author who lived at a time after the rise of the monarchy in Israel. That time, which had not come at this juncture in the nation’s history, was the time the nation completely rejected the rule of God over them as a nation. So then, the book of Judges records the time when Israel still had a choice to return to God’s rule of the nation so they could continue to live at peace without interruption. Instead, they only called upon God when times were hard and after God delivered them, they rejected His continuous rule over them. This was a mistake they needed not repeat. For in the times of distress, God allowed His spirit to rest on one who was empowered to overthrow their enemy and lead them back to right relationship with God. Much suffering could have been avoided if only they would have listened to God’s judges.

Robert C. Hudson
June 30, 2011

God Responds to Disobedience

July 03, 2011

Background Scripture: Joshua 7, 8
Lesson Passage: Joshua 7:1, 10 – 12, 22 – 26

Last week’s lesson was a demonstration of God’s power on display as a result of faith in His word and following His plans. We were left in awe as the once impregnable fortress crumbled under the invisible hand of God so that the warriors of Israel could enter Jericho and destroy all living beings inside except Rahab and her household. The rest is history; however, that’s not the end of the story. Somebody in Israel’s army did not do everything according to God’s instructions. (There always seems to be one.) He marched like everyone else since he did not want to be seen as out of order. He kept quiet through six days of parading around Jericho just like God demanded of them since he did not want to be heard as out of order. But when no one was watching, he went totally against God’s instructions. He allowed his lust to consume him to the point of blatantly disobeying God. He saw a beautiful garment, a stash of silver, and a brick of gold inside Jericho. It was too much to resist so he used the “five finger discount” to appropriate it for himself. He hid it from his fellow soldiers and buried it inside his tent where no one was likely to find it. Then Israel’s next battle came and the miraculous victory at Jericho quickly became a faint memory as an embarrassing defeat by a much smaller enemy sobered them up. This defeat points towards several shortcomings on Israel’s part. First, without consulting with God, Israel decided to let the majority of the military rest and only send a small number of soldiers to take Ai. This action indicates that Israel was determined to handle Ai using their strength instead of depending on God. Secondly, they were operating under a curse and they did not know it. God had made it known to Joshua that he had cursed the whole city of Jericho which included the occupants and the material items. The only thing to be spared was Rahab’s household. Israel was charged with utterly destroying everything with fire. Joshua and the elders of Israel went into mourning before the Lord after the embarrassing defeat at Ai. They were filled with fear that this would cause their enemies to become emboldened and conspire together to destroy Israel in the land of Canaan. Joshua’s question to God at that time was simple, Why? God’s answer was also simple but yet shocking. “You won’t be able to face your enemies until you have gotten rid of these cursed things.” Israel was under a curse and most of them did not know it. Someone had disobeyed God’s instructions and had taken some of the things that God had cursed. The nation of Israel was now suffering because of it and they would continue to suffer until they find and destroy the guilty party and the cursed things. Achan was identified as the culprit and he then confessed to his sin and told them why he had taken the objects and where he had hidden them. After the objects were retrieved, Achan, his family, possessions, and the accursed objects were taken to the valley. All were put to death and burned with fire along with the accursed things and covered with stones. After this, God then led Joshua and Israel to totally defeat Ai and destroy the city with fire. Disobedience in the ranks of God’s people had caused a major setback. Only after the disobedience was dealt with did God again bless Israel to prosper.

Robert C. Hudson
June 27, 2011