MARCH 31 READINGS…Judges 1:1-3:30
Today we move into the book of Judges...this brings us to another era in the history of Israel. God has brought them into the land...He has given them victory over the major cities' inhabitants. It would be the work of the individual tribes to complete that work of driving out those who still remained. The tribes did not do this. As a matter of fact, rather than drive out the people of the land, they did exactly what God said they would do if they were not completely obedient to Him. They joined themselves with these pagan people, and even began to worship their false gods. The impact to the next generation was that they grew up and did not acknowledge God. We need to look around today and understand that the spirit condition of our own nation rests on the fact that we, the church, have not been faithful to God. We live in a post Christian nation, and we have a whole new generation who neither knows or acknowledges God. We have not learned from history...and now we reap the results of our disobedience.
The nation of Israel had become so spiritually corrupt that God actually began to fight against them. Oh, please listen...God is against what is happening in our country...our country is a stench in the nostrils of God...and now He is fighting against us. Neither Israel, or our country, can stand if the is against us. God raised up judges when the people got so miserable that it caused them to cry out to the Lord. The first two of these were men, Othniel and Ehud, upon whom the Holy Spirit moved and the Lord used them in their lifetimes to bring peace in the land, and to the people. Sadly, when the time for the judge ended, the people once again did evil in the sight of the Lord. This brought God's judgment upon them until in their misery they once again called out to God. God is a God of mercy as He raised up another judge to guide the people back into the way of the Lord. Leadership is important...godly leadership is vitally important, in our day as it was for Israel. People quickly forget the blessings of God, or more correctly the God of blessing, and return to their sinful ways. God raises up His men to remind us of the truth of God, and the way God has called us to live.
Please share your thoughts and insights. May God remind us all that He is the God of blessings and we are called to seek after Him and love Him with every fiber of our being.
TOMORROW'S BIBLE READING... Judges 3:31-6:40
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