Hey guys! Judges chapter 2.
In this chapter we see how quickly a new generation of people can forget who God is. And how quickly they can serve other gods and totally forsake the Lord. God's response is he lets them fall and allows the enemies overtake them in hopes of bringing them back to himself. God even sends judges in hopes of encouraging them back with the Lord but they still didn't listen.
Sadly enough, even Christians who have received Jesus and have served him, can unfortunately forget who God is. Life can get busy and distractions can come and we can easily start to worry about “tomorrow”. We get caught up in all this and slowly we forget about our quiet time with God. Sunday attendance at church becomes a mere ritual while our hearts aren't in it. We lose the passion for Ministry because we're “too busy” with responsibilities. We just don't have time for God. After awhile old habits come back and eventually, the best God gets from us is a ritual attendance on an occasional Sunday church attendance. Our spiritual life is no longer Bearing Fruit (Matthew 13:22 – Those who received the seed that fell among the thorns is like the one who hears the Truth but the worries of this life and the striving of money choke out our faith and make our faith unfruitful. John 15:5-6 speaks of serious consequences for not bearing fruit). Our hearts are consumed with the things and pleasures of this world, and the worries of this world. God out of his love, tries to send us help and warnings, but our hearts are so deep in what we are doing that we miss the warning and brush them off.
Lord, help me not get trapped or snared by the pleasures or worries of this world. Help me stay committed and be faithful to you! In Jesus name, amen!
In Judges we see the cycle of sin, judgment and repentance that Israel experienced over and over again. Each generation failed to teach the next generation to love and follow God. So, they were doomed to continue this cycle. Just like you said, Pastor Blair, this is an easy rut for any of us to fall into as well. We want God to fulfill His promises while excusing ourselves from our part.
The Canaanite religion appealed to the Israelites because they could remain selfish and still fulfill their religious requirements. Sort of like going to church on Sunday and shutting God out the rest of the week. We also see this continuing today in the “me” culture. The essence of sin is selfishness; the essence of God’s way of life is selflessness.
“Bochim” means “weeping” which is fitting because sin always causes sorrow. In the cycle of sin, judgment and repentance that is seen here in Judges, I wonder if they were weeping because of the consequences or because they truly repented. They didn’t change direction, did they?
I think that the second part of verse 10 of chapter 2 has to be one of the saddest verses in the Bible.
“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.”
What?!? The Lord had done so many incredible things for the Israelites and this next generation didn’t know Him or what He did. Why not? Where were their parents? What happened to Deuteronomy 6:4-9?
The saying goes that God only has children, He doesn’t have grandchildren. Each individual person needs to have a personal relationship with God. A parent’s relationship with the Lord isn’t enough to assure that their child has a pass to enter heaven. We all need Jesus! We can’t get our kids into heaven, but we can share God’s love and truth with them, we can pray for them, and we can have hope for them as long as they are still alive. I’m reminded of the importance of following what we read in Proverbs 22:6.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
The 2nd chapter of Judges contained such a sad fact, so I want to take a look at what I consider to be an opposite place in the Bible because it is so joyful. It’s 3 John 1:4.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
It’s also important to encourage our children to spend time with other believers who can help point each other in the right direction.
Today’s ApologetiX song is called Little Youth Group, a parody of Little Deuce Coupe.
https://youtu.be/5xAqvfZXJU4