Judges 2:1-15

Judges 2:1-15

Although it seemed as if Israel was really going to make a turn around, their failure to drive out all the nations brought consequences. Joshua had warned them in his closing speech that if they did not do exactly as God had commanded them, then they would endure His punishment. God proved once again that He keeps His promises. Although it was not necessarily in Israel’s best interests, they saw again that God was faithful. He sent an angel to them to let them know what they had done and how they would pay for it. At that moment, God removed His hand of protection and power from them and declared that He would no longer give them victory over the other nations in the land. They would have to learn to live with these nations and suffer the possibilities of being attacked by them. They would also find it hard to worship God with all the other false religions in the land. Israel’s disobedience led to many severe consequences and should stand as a warning to us when we feel like disobeying Him. God’s word is still true today, and He has not changed. If this is how He punished Israel, then we can expect that He would do the same to us today. The good news is that we can always turn back to Him, and there is a sense of hope in Judges 2 when Israel cries out to God.

The end of Joshua praised the obedience of the people of Israel, contrasting them against their fathers who had lived in disobedience. Now, Judges 2 introduces the newest generation of Israelites. After Joshua’s death and the deaths of the elders that followed him, a new generation was born, and this generation had not seen God’s mighty works. They probably heard the stories of what God had done in Egypt, at the Jordan, and in the Promised Land, but they had not seen it. As a result, they turned away from God. Unlike their fathers, they chose not to follow His commands. The consequences of their fathers sin was becoming reality. Although their fathers had been quite obedient, they had made one large mistake, not conquering all of the land. When God told them that the other nations and false gods would cause problems for them in the future, He was serious. Now, their children had to deal with the struggle of who to follow. Sadly, they chose to abandon God and follow after the false gods of the land. Seeing this, God became angry with Israel and gave them over to their enemies. So the very groups of people that Israel chose not to battle (knowing that they would win) began to overtake them in battle (for God allowed them to win).

In many ways, we are like this newest generation of Israelites. We only hear the stories of the past, and we never actually saw all the great miracles that Scripture gives us. Now that does not mean that there are not miracles today, for I believe that God still works in miraculous ways. However, it would be easy for us to be like Israel and to abandon God because we cannot see Him. It would be easy to think that these amazing stories are just great stories from the past that do not mean anything. Yet, that is not what God has called us to do. He has provided a way for us through His Son, Jesus. Through faith in Him, we can come to God. Through Jesus we can live a life of obedience and learn what it means to follow God. The easy choice is to do nothing, disobey God’s commands, and just live life. That is what Israel chose. The problem is that there are consequences for those who take that easy route. So we must make sure that we place our faith in God, who has not changed, still works in mighty ways in our lives, and desires for us to be with Him. He wants us to come to Him, follow Him, and obey Him, and if we do that, then He will be able to use us in mighty ways.

Matt