SUBJECT YOURSELF TO GOD

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In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon, king of Moab, power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He gave them a deliverer — Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. At the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."

The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him.

Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

"Follow me," he ordered, "for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. At that time, they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

After Ehud came Shamgar, son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Judges 3:12-31

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Earlier in Judges, chapter 3, we studied about Othniel, the man who was selected by God to be Israel’s first judge…the deliverer who rescued them from the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram. We read where the Lord gave the king over to Israel after which they enjoyed forty years but unfortunately, they failed to learn from the mistakes of the past.

For after Othniel died, the scriptures tell us that the Israelites “once again…did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and this led to the Lord bringing punishment on them in the form of “Eglon, king of Moab” who was given power over them. King Eglon enlisted “the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him” before attacking Israel and taking “possession of the City of Palms”, better known as Jericho. After this, the Israelites, who had endured eight years of hardship under Cushan-Rishathaim prior, now saw their penalty grow significantly longer as they were “subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years”.

It was in the midst of that eighteenth year that the people of God reached another breaking point, going back to what worked before as they cried out to the Lord. This led Him to sending another deliverer, this time a “left-handed man” named Ehud who was the “the son of Gera the Benjamite”.

We read where it was around the time for Israel to bring the king their annual tribute so Ehud accompanied the Israelites to meet with Eglon, carrying with him a “double-edged sword about a foot and a half long” which he had made and “strapped to his right thigh under his clothing”. After presenting the tribute to Eglon, who described as a “very fat man”, Ehud sent the rest of the Israelites on their way and followed them to “the idols near Gilgal”. Once there, he turned back toward the king and exclaimed:

“I have a secret message for you, O king."

Knowing that the Israelites were a people who served a powerful God, King Eglon was anxious to hear the divine message Ehud was about to deliver to him and so he ordered everyone to be quiet before dismissing “all his attendants”. Now alone with Eglon, Ehud “approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace” and said:

“I have a message from God for you."

And “as the king rose from his seat” to receive what he thought would be divine words from Israel’s Go, he instead was surprised by Ehud who “reached with his left hand” and drew the “sword from his right thigh”. Ehud then plunged the sword “into the king's belly” so far that the “handle sank in after the blade which came out his back”. And as a testament to just how obese Eglon was, the scriptures tell us that “Ehud did not pull the sword out and the fat closed in over it”.

Well, after leaving Eglon for dead, “Ehud went out to the porch…shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them”. He then escaped as Eglon’s servants were unable to discover the king’s death due to the “doors of the upper room” being locked. The servants didn’t want to disturb their king and so they “waited to the point of embarrassment” before getting a key, unlocking the door, and finding “their lord fallen to the floor, dead”.

In the meantime, Ehud “passed by the idols” before arriving in Seirah where he “blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim” and assembled the Israelites for battle with Moab, saying this to his fighting forces:

“Follow me for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands."

And with that, the Israelites obeyed Ehud, following him and “taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab” where they “allowed no one to cross over”. They “struck down about ten thousand Moabites”, not allowing a single man to escape before making the Moabites subject to them, a classic role reversal.

When it was all finished, the Lord’s blessing of victory through the leadership of the second appointed judge, Ehud, resulted in Israel enjoying “peace for eighty years”. We then read a brief mention of Israel’s third judge, Shamgar, who delivered Israel from the Philistines by striking down 600 men with an oxgoad, a long-spiked stick used to drive oxen.

As we close, our scripture passage for today touches on the matter of being subjected to someone. For after the Israelites disobeyed the Lord, they angered Him and were made subject to King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

So what did that mean, being subject to Eglon?

The dictionary gives us the following definition for the verb “subject”:

1: to bring under control or dominion.

2: to make (as oneself) amenable to the discipline and control of a superior.

3: to cause or force to undergo or endure something unpleasant, inconvenient, or trying.

In other words, God had turned His people over to another authority, a human authority that was far from holy and righteous in nature. This authority was imposed on them by an earthly ruler who subjected the Israelites to their discipline and control and as a result, the people of Israel suffered greatly and endured trying times that were often unpleasant.

But here’s the thing…it didn’t have to be that way.

All the Israelites needed to do was to obey God and His commands, meeting His expectations. But the people instead chose to behave as if following God’s stringent rules was too hard for them then and so the Lord allowed them to fall under the rule of someone else…just to show them how truly good they had it when He was on their side. It was as if God said to His people, “If you think it’s hard living with Me, try living without Me and see how hard it is.”

The same applies today.

People too often decide that they want to control their lives vice follow what God expects them to do and so He allows them to go their own way and do their own thing without Him until they find themselves oppressed by some life circumstance or circumstances. And when they find out what the Lord already knew…that they can’t make it without Him…then they, like Israel, cry out to Him for rescue. He then responds by sending them deliverance from their hardship.

Friends, God doesn’t want us to go through these periods of hardship but He equally doesn’t want us to live in disobedience. When it comes right down to it, He wants us to make the right choice…to choose Him and His will every single time, always subjecting ourselves to His will in every situation. For when we do this, we will find ourselves not only in His favor but living fully in righteousness, joy, and peace.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JESUS, OUR HOLY DELIVERER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.

So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel, son of Kenaz died.

Judges 3:7-11

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

This book of the Bible is called Judges, named for the leaders appointed by God to save Israel after their sinfulness led Him to hand them over to oppressors and plunderers. In today’s passage, we meet the first judge, Othniel.

You’ll recall Othniel was Caleb’s brother and Caleb was a part of the group of spies who crossed into Canaan the first time Israel was on the brink of entering the Promised Land. Upon returning from the scouting mission, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who stood confident that the Lord would be with Israel despite the opposition that awaited them. You’ll remember that the rest of the spies convinced the people that the way ahead was too dangerous and the enemies too formidable, convincing the people to rebel against the Lord and His will. As a result, He refused to allow them to enter Canaan and sent them back into the wilderness to wander for 40 years.

Despite this, God never forgot Caleb’s faithfulness and once Israel, led by Joshua, did cross the Jordan and conquer the land, Caleb was given “a portion in Judah — Kiriath Arba”…better known as Hebron. After this, Caleb had many conquests which included defeating the “three Anakites — Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.” The scriptures tell us he then led his men to Debir, also known as Kiriath Sepher where he said this:

“I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher."

This is where we meet Othniel, Israel’s first judge for we read where “Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother” defeated Kiriath Sepher and thus “Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage” (Joshua 15:13-17). Following this, we don’t hear from Othniel again until we reach this third chapter in Judges but we can assume that he was a faithful, trusted servant for the Lord…faithful and trusted enough to be elevated up into leadership.

So why did Israel need a deliverer in the person of Othniel?

Because they “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, forgetting Him and serving false gods such as Baal and Asherah. This angered God so much that “He sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim” who kept Israel in oppression for eight years. This led to God’s people crying out to Him for relief and He provided it in the way of Othniel who saved them after the “Spirit of the Lord came upon him” and “gave Cushan –Rishathaim, king of Aram, into his hands. Through the Lord’s power, Othniel overpowered Israel’s oppressor, bringing peace to the land for forty years before he died.

You know, I got thinking about this period in the history of Israel and couldn’t help but wonder what Israel’s plight might have been if they hadn’t received a deliverer. My guess is that they would have remained in a state of perpetual hardship, oppression and suffering with little or no hope for escape or rescue.

Of note, this wasn’t the first time that Israel had been in this position for you’ll recall their time of enslavement in Egypt under Pharoah. Historically, it was a terrible plight for Israel with no end in sight until Moses came along…a man appointed by God to lead His people out of their captivity and into freedom. Moses became Israel’s deliverer then and in today’s passage, Othniel became their judge and rescuer. Soon, God was going to send an even greater Savior for His people….a Savior who still delivers today.

His name is Jesus.

Going back to the Israelites, their problems were much deeper and personal than being under the hardship of a physical oppressor. I say this because it was sin that got Israel into trouble in the first place. Either unable or unwilling to stand firm against temptation, Israel decided to worship other gods, showing their total lack of faith and allegiance to the one true God…their Maker and Master. And so their enemy was a spiritual one, sin, and they desperately needed rescued from it or else they would be destined to continue repeating the same mistakes over and over and over. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened as we read through the rest of the Old Testament as the Israelites chose disobedience over compliance which put them in a place where they needed repeated deliverance from their Lord.

With this, something drastic needed to happen to break the vicious cycle. And so when we get to the New Testament, we find God deciding a new covenant between Himself and His people was in order. This covenant was established when He sent His perfectly sinless one and only Son, Jesus, to walk among His people and not only tell them how to live but show them as well. When we look at His ministry, we see how He taught them how to pray with these words contained within what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer”:

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13

After this, we know He would go on to be the Deliverer for all mankind…past, present and future…as He surrendered His life on the cross of Calvary, the blameless Lamb of God who was sacrificed and died in the place of every sinner so they might be saved and set free from the captivity of their transgressions. Jesus brought victory over the enemy and the grave for everyone who would simply place their belief in Him. This is the good news of the Gospel.

And so just as Israel was freed from the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim by their deliverer Othniel who led them into freedom and peace, so too are we freed from the hands of sin by Jesus and led into the freedom and peace of knowing our iniquities no longer have any power over us because we have the strength and protection of the Holy Spirit within.

Friends, the truth is that we have good news to celebrate today, even in the midst of this often evil world we live in. For we have a sure Deliverer in Jesus who has freed us from sin’s bondage and brought us salvation with the assurance of everlasting life in Heaven when this life is over.

In concert with the Apostle Paul, let us too say this:

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

TURN TO GOD AND GOD ALONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord's commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, He was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did." The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; He did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Judges 2:16-23, 3:1-6

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Looking back in the history of the Israelites, when they needed someone to deliver them from the oppression of the Egyptians, we find the Lord selecting Moses, partnering with him to get the Israelites to the brink of entering the Promised Land. Then, before Moses died, the Lord selected Joshua to lead Israel across the Jordan River and into battle in Canaan, partnering with him to guide Israel into victory against any and all adversaries so they could take custody of the land He was giving them. And once the fighting was nearly over and the land was divided amongst the twelve tribes, Joshua too died.

Given this, who would be next to lead Israel? Or did God’s people not need a leader now that they were settled into their respective cities and territories?

Well, as we look at today’s scripture passage, the second now in the Book of Judges, we find answers to both of these questions.

First, we read where “the Lord raised up judges who saved” Israel from those who were attacking and raiding them. And once appointed, these judges would govern Israel as God’s appointed leaders…just as Moses and Joshua had before them. In fact, Israel would be ruled by judges from this point forward until they ask the Lord for a king to rule them, the governing model they saw in other nations. We will see that they get what they asked for in a man named Saul but for now, the answer to the question regarding who would lead the Israelites is the judges.

Secondly, we read where Israel was a stubborn, obstinate people who could never seem to attain any semblance of spiritual integrity. Instead, they decided to consistently fail in the area of obedience.

The scriptures tell us that when a judge would die, “the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers”, following “other gods and serving and worshiping them” while refusing to “give up their evil practices and stubborn ways”.

We should note that Israel’s sinful behavior was not just limited to after a judge would die. No, in our passage we see that “even when the judges were in charge, Israel refused “to listen” and “prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them”. They “turned from the way in which their fathers had walked” which was “the way of obedience to the Lord's commands”.

So did Israel really need a judge?

The answer has to be a resounding “Yes!” For the people of God definitely needed sound spiritual leadership from someone who was well versed in God’s Word and ways…someone who could be the voice of the Lord to the people. The judge fit that job description for the Lord was always with them while they ruled, with them to save His people “out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived.” He did so because He had “compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them”.

Well as you might imagine, God wasn’t very pleased with His people as they broke His first and primary commandment to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). And so in anger, He told them this:

“Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did."

In support of this proclamation, the Lord “allowed…nations to remain” and “did not drive them out”. They included the following:

“…the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath”.

The scriptures tell us that these nations were left by the Lord to “test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands” and unfortunately, they failed miserably. We know this because Israel “lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites”, taking “their daughters in marriage” and giving “their own daughters to their sons” while serving “their gods”. You’ll remember how God had warned His people against allowing survivors during their conquest of Canaan because it would result in them being adversely assimilated into sinful Canaanite worship practices (i.e. worshipping foreign gods). God could see the danger ahead well before anyone else but Israel failed to heed His warning…and found themselves out of His favor as a result.

This left me pondering the world we live in today. After all, it isn’t like God has taken away anything that might adversely influence Christian believers toward disobedience to God’s Word, will, and way. Actually, far from it.

For we are in the world and surrounded by sinners and their sinful behaviors and practices. There is always a constant temptation to assimilate with them and be drawn into disobeying God’s commands and expectations through doing things that would lead us down the road of destruction and out of favor with our Lord…just as Israel did.

So how do we withstand the constant urges that would entice us to abandon God’s way for the ways of sin?

The bad news is that we can’t if we turn from the Lord and His Word because it’s Him and Him alone who provides us with the strength and power to defend ourselves, standing firm against Satan and his tempting ways.

So in closing, don’t try to fight sin on your own because you will fail and fail miserably. Instead, turn to God at all times and in all situations for He will never guide you wrong and will always protect you. Through Him, you can be assured you’re living a life that is pleasing in His eyes and my friends, there is no better life for us…no other life that God desires…outside of that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE COST OF LOSING A GENERATION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

The Lord answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the western foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each city with its territory.

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day, the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed Me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In His anger against Israel, the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Judges 1, 2:1-15

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After Joshua’s death, we see where there is some unfinished business for Israel as there were still some Canaanites living in the land. The scriptures tell us that the tribe of Judah was selected by God to go into battle and the tribe of Simeon joined them in victory as the Lord gave “the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands”. The combined Israelite forces “struck down ten thousand men at Bezek” and during the fight, the enemy king, Adoni-Bezek, “fled” but was captured, his thumbs and big toes” cut off.

Why?

Adoni-Bezek offered the answer himself when he said:

“Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them."

Here we learn that Adoni-Bezek’s crippling fate was the same as he had inflicted on many other kings and after he was maimed, the scriptures tell us that he was taken to Jerusalem where he died before the “men of Judah attacked Jerusalem…and took it”, putting “the city to the sword” and setting it on fire.

After conquering Bezek and Jerusalem, we read where “the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the western foothills”, advancing “against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba)” and defeating “Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai” before going against “the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher)”. Following this series of victories, “the men of Judah” joined up with the “descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite” who “went up from the City of Palms…to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad”.

Then, it was back to war for the men of Judah and Simeon as they “attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath”, totally destroying the city before also finding conquest over “Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron — each…with its territory”. All along the way, “the Lord was with the men of Judah” who “took possession of the hill country, but…were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots”.

Given this, we know that not all Canaanites were removed from the Promised Land as God had commanded and in addition to Judah, we learn that the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali also failed to completely get rid of them. In sum, this failure to comply with the Lord’s commands brought very serious consequences for the Israelite people as an “angel of the Lord” went up from Gilgal to Bokim to deliver the following message:

“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed Me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

These words from the angel brought great fear and distress to the Israelites who “wept aloud” and “offered sacrifices to the Lord”.

Well moving forward, the remaining Canaanites would indeed be a thorn in the side of Israel, consistently leading them into sinful living and disfavor with God. But something else happened that was as bad if not worse that the judgment passed.

For the scriptures tell us that “after that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel”. In other words, the Israelites not only ignored God’s command to have no other gods before Him but they also failed to teach their children about the rich heritage and history of their ancestors, ancestors who had been blessed so dearly by God. So as a result, a whole generation lived that didn’t know the Lord.

What a sad and dark time in the history of Israel that must have been!

With this, we should ask ourselves if we are any better off today. For how many children are being raised with no knowledge of the Lord in their life and thus growing up with no understanding of who He is, what He has done, and what He is yet to do?

So what might the numbers look like today?

Consider that there are eight billion people in the world today and only two billion are Christians. You can do the math and see that three-fourths of the world’s children are not being raised to know the Lord in their lives. This is actually more disturbing than what we’re reading about in today’s passage and unfortunately, the consequences we see happening in ancient Israel are the same happening now.

For going back to our passage, we see where the Lord led the Israelites to do “evil in the eyes of the Lord”, serving the false gods Baal (the fertility god of the Canaanites) and Ashtoreth. The people of Israel has forsaken “the Lord, the God of their fathers”, deciding to follow and worship “various gods of the peoples around them”. Not surprisingly, their actions “provoked the Lord to anger” which led Him to hand them “over to raiders who plundered them” and sold them to “their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist”. God’s hand was against Israel “whenever (they) went out to fight” and this obviously left them “in great distress”

Now…let’s come back to present times where I think we can see a preponderance of evil in our world. One need only either watch or read the news to know this.

Why is this happening?

Well, it definitely could be attributed to what happened back in the days of ancient Israel because people who don’t know the Lord are destined to do evil and as we covered before, three-quarters of the world are not in Christ Jesus.

In the end translation, past or present, a person can only have one of two masters: either God or Satan. Each competes for our souls and we decide who gets to win out. If that’s the devil, then a person can expect to receive the Lord’s consequences which, like the Israelites, will bring great distress. Conversely, to choose the Lord will bring an abundant bounty of blessing.

Friends, there is little doubt that we need to wake up and start to learn from the mistakes of the biblical past. A great starting point would be to turn the tide on the evil in the world by educating everyone from the youngest to the oldest on the ways of the Lord. EVERYONE should know Him and what He has done, is doing, and is yet to do. If we can make both of these things happen, then we will see people turn away from evil toward living in the righteous and holy ways that God expects as they live to please Him and Him alone.

The time for this is now because we can’t afford to lose even one more generation.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

YIELD YOUR HEART...AND EVERYTHING ELSE TO GOD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God."

Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after He has been good to you."

But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the Lord."

Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord."

“Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.

"Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel."

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him."

On that day, Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.

"See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God."

Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

After these things, Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.

And Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

Joshua 24:16-33

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the Book of Joshua ends, it does so with the passing of Joshua.

As leaders of Israel go, Joshua was about as good as one could expect, staying obedient and faithful to the Lord’s service while not only guiding Israel into Canaan but seeing them through the conquest of the land…a land that was their inheritance from God.

It was this God that Joshua spent his final moments focusing on and urged the Israelites to do likewise. You may recall how Joshua told God’s people at the start of this chapter that they had a choice to make. They could choose to follow God or reject Him in exchange for any number of false gods that were worshipped by the Canaanites. Indeed, they could decide to follow whatever god they wanted but Joshua left no doubt as to who he was going to follow. For in yesterday’s message, we found him making this declaration:

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15)

Well, feeling challenged (and maybe a bit obligated) to openly confess their loyalty to God, we read where the Israelites told Joshua:

“Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God."

Unfortunately, Joshua knew Israel’s ways all too well and so it’s easy to see how he was skeptical for this wouldn’t be the first time they had promised to do something only to just turn around and not make good on their word. So we find Joshua testing them with the following reply:

"You are not able to serve the Lord.”

In other words, Joshua was essentially telling his brothers and sisters that they hadn’t shown a consistent ability to follow God’s will and way, remaining obedient to His will over their own…and so he saw them as destined to fail in keeping their vow.

You know, I can’t help but wonder if Joshua’s words shouldn’t resonate with many believers today as well. For how often do Christians promise to serve God and follow His ways only to turn around and serve their own selfish desires instead? I’m sure the Lord feels disappointed over and over again from our disrespectful behavior for He deserves better from us, for sure. After all, He gives us His best so why is it so hard for us to not give Him our all in return?

As we continue to look at what Joshua had to say, we see him underscoring why the Lord should be respected, revered, and followed unconditionally As the Book of Joshua ends, it does so with the passing of Joshua. As leaders of Israel go, Joshua was about as good as they got, staying obedient and faithful to the Lord’s service while not only guiding Israel into Canaan but seeing them through the conquest of the land…a land that was their inheritance from God.

It was this God that Joshua spent his final moments exhorting and urging Israel to do likewise. You’ll recall how Joshua told Israel at the start of this chapter that they had a choice to make. They could decide to follow God or choose to follow any of a number of false gods. Indeed, they could choose to follow who they wanted to but Joshua left no doubt before his people as to who he was going to follow. For you’ll recall he said, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (verse 15)

Feeling challenged and maybe a bit obligated to openly confess their loyalty to God, we read where the Israelites told Joshua, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God."

Joshua knew Israel’s ways all too well. This wouldn’t have been the first time they said they would do something only to just turn around and not make good on their word. So Joshua tested them with his reply saying, "You are not able to serve the Lord.” In other words, you haven’t shown the consistent ability to follow God’s will and way, remaining obedient to His desires over your own.

I can’t help but wonder if Joshua’s words don’t resonate with many believers today as well. How often do we say we will serve God and follow His ways only to turn around and serve our own selfish desires instead? Sometimes I think God must just look down on us and shake His head in frustration and disappointment.

For God deserves better from us. In fact, God gives us His best so why is it so hard to give Him anything less than ours? Joshua’s further words tell Israel and us why God should be respected, revered and followed unconditionally whether it was ancient Israel or us today. For we read (and are reminded) that the Lord is a holy and jealous God, expecting His people to worship and serve Him and Him alone. To that end, He has shown that insubordination won’t be tolerated and be met with consequences. Both then and now, He will not overlook any rebellious sin manifested by His people.

The bottom line is that anytime the Israelites forsook God by worshipping false gods, they saw disaster fall upon them and we shouldn’t expect to be any less disciplined by our Heavenly Father today if we choose to go down the same path…the wide path that leads to destruction through willful sinful behavior.

Well, the people of Israel didn’t allow Joshua’s testing to deter them, replying with this:

“No! We will serve the Lord."

And so Joshua, knowing he wouldn’t be around to remind them of what they had said on that day, made all of Israel witnesses against themselves…witnesses to their promise to serve the Lord and the Lord alone. He then left them with a final challenge to “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel."

Yield your hearts to the Lord.

What an awesome, powerful command spoken by Joshua to the people of Israel and to us. For isn’t this really where we find the rubber meeting the road in regard to faithful, obedient service?

Friends, the only way we can truly serve God in accordance with His will for us, is if we submit and surrender our hearts to Him…not in part but in whole. After all, isn’t this at the center of the greatest commandment…the one given by Jesus when He was asked about it during His ministry?

Here’s a reminder of what He said:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

In other words, we’re to love Him with every fiber of who we are…just as He loves us with all that He has.

Joshua died knowing he and his household were fully committed to God.

How about you as you read this message today? Where do you stand?

Have you fully yielded your heart to the Lord? Do you love Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength?

My prayer is that we all might consider renewing our covenant relationship with God today, recommitting every part of ourselves to Him. And when we do this, my hope is that we will yield our hearts while proclaiming these very same words of the people of Israel:

"We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.