From the time of Moses, God gave the Israelites a promise of unequaled blessing.
God declared, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:7).
The Creator of the universe declared these people as his own. In addition, he gave them to opportunity to know him. This knowledge was not mere “head knowledge,” but knowledge from experience.
By the time of the judges, the Israelites knew about God, but did not have an experiential knowledge of him.
After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel (Judges 2:10).
A wise man once said, “When you turn away from God, you don’t turn to nothing. You turn to anything.”
The Israelites exchanged the glory of the Lord for Baal. Baal means “owner.” Whenever we turn to substitutes for God, we surrender our freedom in the service of this false god.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them (Judges 2:11-12).
I often refer to Henry Blackaby’s insights in his book Experiencing God. What he outlines demonstrates the flaw in the Israelites’ behavior. Blackaby teaches:
- God is at work in the world.
- He forms a relationship with people that is real and personal.
- Within that relationship God calls people to join him in his work.
Let’s stop at this point in Blackaby’s presentation. How can humans join God in his work when they align themselves with a false god?
It is foolish to believe that God will bless us when we are devoted to an idol that is opposed to him.
They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist (Judges 2:12c-14).
Sinners, One and All
I recently had a conversation with some teens who were disappointed by other Christians. I told them something that sometimes gets lost when we are hurt by others. I said, “We all are sinners.”
As I write this article, I am aware of my sin nature and sinful behavior. The Israelites were also sinners. They demonstrated it by being ungrateful for God’s rescue plan.
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands (Judges 2:16-17).
Humans are plagued by willfulness. When I was a child, my parents used to describe my attitude as: “I want what I want when I want it.”
The willfulness of the Israelites caused them to serve the gods of the Canaanites, because they believed they could manipulate them into giving them their desires. Their “I want what I want when I want it” mentality led them to turn away from faithfulness to God.
Rather than willfulness, God wants the kind of willingness that is reflected in the first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)
- We willingly meet with God, who is our living heavenly Father.
- We will for God’s reputation to receive the adoration it deserves.
- We surrender the rule of our lives (willfulness) to God’s rule (willingness).
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed Judges 2 on YouTube today.
Real Voices 