I started in January. Reading the Bible all the way through, that is. It has been good for me to be reminded of the beginnings. We all know the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but after a while some of the details start to fade from our memories.
The story of Israel is a sometimes sweet, sometimes tragic saga. We see them depending on God and God taking care of them, protecting them. We see them disobeying God and God allowing them to suffer the consequences of their choices. This is no more evident than in the book of Judges, where my journey through the Bible is traveling now.
Joshua, and Moses before him, warned Israel: serve/obey God and be blessed or ignore/disobey God and be cursed. It's a simple choice. With Joshua, I am always striving to make my choice clear: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" But then Joshua and his generation died.
The new generation didn't know from first-hand experience what God had done; they only heard the stories. So, they fell away. God punished them. They cried out. God heard them and sent a hero to save them. Time passed. They fell away... Over, and over, and over again! The same cycle.
Then comes Judges 10. They fell away one more time. This time God has had enough! "You have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
The people knew they had messed up - BIG TIME!
So, they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.
God tried not to notice. Sort of like when we parents want to stay mad at our children, but they are so cute and so repentant that we just can't hang on to it very long.
God tried not to notice, but he did notice! "And he could bear Israel's misery no longer."
Make no mistake, God's wrath is fierce and we do not want to provoke it. But when we do, all we have to do is sincerely repent and God's tender heart will win the day!
Be blessed,
Pastor Mark
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