God's commands to Israel as they started taking possession of the promised land were simple. They were to drive out all the other nations and remove all their pagan practices. God forbid Israel to intermarry with the foreign pagan nations.
Israel sinned. All the tribes did not drive out the pagan nations completely. In fact, the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites all remained. That was bad enough. Then Israel disobeyed to an even greater degree. Read about what they did.
Judges 3:5-11 (NKJV)
5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.
7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.
8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.
9 When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.
11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Israel sinned. They intermarried with the pagan nations. Soon they sinned more by forgetting Yahweh and they started serving and worshipping Baal. This is exactly whey God commanded the Israelites to drive out all the pagan nations from the promised land and not to intermarry. He knew how easily the foreigners would sway Israel from Yahweh. His commands were meant for their protection.
As a result of disobedience God grew angry and put tIsrael in bondage to the King of Mespotamia for a season of eight years. We have to wake up to the fact that disobedience to God has consequences. There is a day of reckoning. His commands are for our good and best interest. They are meant for our protection.
God demands and expects our obedience. Is there any area in your life where you are not obeying God presently. If so you must repent. You must turn back to God and plead for His mercy. You also need to obey what He commands. When Israel cried out to the Lord from the midst of their bondage God heard and raised up a deliverer for them in Othniel. God used him to break the bondage for Israel.
I recently ran into an old friend who chose to disobey God and fell away into a life of sin. We had not seen other for years. We started with some small talk but all I could think about is how my friend is living and where he has fallen where he sued to seek and serve God. After a few minutes of small talk I turned the conversation by asking, "So how are you with Jesus these days?" He looked at me totally bewildered. His grin faded. He did not say it but his face seemed to exclaim, "I cannot believe you went there. I cannot believe you asked me that." He ducked his head for a moment and looked back up with a sheepish grin and testified that he is not with Jesus like he should be. It was an awkward moment. I did not press the point further. Not until the end. As he got up to leave I quietly told him, "Jesus accepts U-turns. He deserves one." With that my friend walked away to mull over many things.
Do you need a U-turn today? Will you cry out to God in brokenness and repentance today? God is merciful and gracious. He is wiling to forgive when you repent. [I Jn 1:9] Do not delay any longer or stray any further. Come clean before Him in repentance. [Psalm 51:1-12] is a great place to start.
No comments:
Post a Comment