May 5 – Judges 2:6-23, Judges 3 John 4:27-42 Psalm 56:1-13
Judges 2:11
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
Judges 2:8 tells us Joshua died. Then a few sentences alter we read this… they turned away from God.
When a film comes out, it will often be accompanied by a tagline… something that sums up the film in a catchy phrase that will make it onto the poster or the box. “This time… it’s personal”
Well, if the book of Judges was to have a tagline it would be this verse “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight or The Lord”.
Because that’s what this book is all about. Israel turns away from God… they suffer. They cry out for help and God raises up a judge to deliver them. In verse 16 it says “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.”
They are grateful… then they make exactly the same mistake again. Verse 19 – But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
And so it continues.
This book shows us how wrong life can go when we do things our way and not God’s way.
Judges 2:24-25
When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.
As a child this story always stuck with me. And it’s for a number of reasons I guess, none of them connected with what I learned through it. A man so large that the sword gets lost inside him… and this bit. I always wondered, they thought we was on the loo… and they waited until they were embarrassed. How long is that? 10 minutes? Half an hour? How long do you have to wait for someone to relieve themselves before you think they may be dead?
Anyway – that’s when I was a child. I don’t think about those things now…
What’s great about this story is that King Elgon was defeated by something so simple – a left handed man. It’s the simple things that bring down the mighty – and the unexpected that God uses for His glory.
John 4:39
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
What a transformation in this woman’s life. She was the one who came up to the well at the worst time of day… why? To avoid people. She kept to herself because of fear of judgement and gossip. The was on the fringes of society.
But when she meets Jesus – she goes back and the town believed… why? Because she told them all! She used to avoid them, but when Jesus changed her life, she just had to tell them.
That’s a sign of a life truly transformed.
Ps 56:8
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
How many tears have you shed over your life? I’m guessing you don’t know. I don’t.
But God does.
He has kept a record of every tear – he knows every hurt you’ve experienced. That’s how well He knows you. He cares about every single tear that you have shed – and there is a promise to come. A kingdom with no more pain and no more tears. And He has that inheritance for you.
