Truth or Consequences
Judges 2:11-22
Moses and the Israelites had made a covenant with God at Mount Sinai. God was going to make them a special nation, protect and bless them. The Israelites were going to love, worship and obey God.
Sadly, they did not keep their part of the covenant. They turned away from God and served foreign gods. God still loved them and wanted them to confess their sin and ask for forgiveness. He sent an angel to give them a special message. The angel reminded the people that God had delivered them out of Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land just as He had promised. He had kept His promise to them, but they had broken their part of the covenant, so it was no longer in effect.
As a result of the broken covenant, God was not going to destroy the remaining nations in the land. The nations and their gods would be a constant problem for the Israelites. Because of their disobedience, they suffered the consequences. When we are disobedient to God, we will miss the blessings He wants to bestow upon us and we will suffer the consequences. When the people were confronted with their sins, they repented with deep sorrow. That is the response we should make, also.
As long as Joshua and his generation lived, the people served the Lord. After the death of those who had witnessed the mighty acts of God, the younger generation turned away from serving the Lord and began worshiping the foreign gods, Baal and the Ashtoreths. This displeased and angered God. He withdrew His protection and allowed their enemies to defeat them. The Lord still loved the people, and in His mercy He would raise up judges from time to time to save them from their enemies and to bless them.
When the serving judge died, the people went back to serving foreign gods. Because of their disobedience, they missed the blessings God wanted to bestow upon them. How many blessings do we miss because of our disobedience?
The Lord would become angry with the stubborn, rebellious people. He wanted to bless, love and guide them, but they would turn away from Him and serve other gods, with each generation doing worse than the one before. Does this sound familiar?
As we look at our nation today, we see people are turning away from the Lord. Church attendance is declining and moral values have been lowered. I wonder if God looks upon us in anger as He did the people of Israel. Today God wants us to lead the younger generation to worship, serve and obey Him. Have we fulfilled the responsibility He has given to us? God still wants to bless His children, but like the Israelites, have we turned away from Him?
Johnston– Lessons in the ETB series for the summer quarter are being written by Virginia Johnston, a member of First Baptist Church, North Charleston, where her husband Dan is pastor.