Deliberately

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

DELIBERATELY

Judges 10:1-16

10:1 After the time of Abimelech a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir. 3 He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.   5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon. 6 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, 7 he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. 9 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals." 11 The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? 13 But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!" 15 But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." 16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer.

NIV

Two different leaders of Israel, or judges, led Israel for a combined fifty-five years, and there was peace and prosperity in the land. But after the last one died, and it appeared there was no other leader raised up, the Israelites again turned to other gods. This time they worshipped seven other gods, forsaking the LORD completely. We are seeing that perfect and complete number of God used here to demonstrate how totally or completely they turned away from the LORD, doing complete evil in his eyes. Therefore, he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who crushed Israel. Why is it, at least it seems, that people cry out to God when things are not going their way, but when everything is good, and they are healthy and wealthy, they are not all that interested in serving the Lord? Over the years, we have seen various Christians who are church attenders, pew fillers, so to speak, but it seems their main interest is in the prosperity of this world. It may be true that God blesses people with wealth, but when we consider a world view rather than just a Western, or American view, there may not be as much material prosperity as we Americans enjoy. However, even in our country, there are the materially poor, yet they may well be spiritually blessed. It should not matter our physical or material situations in this life, to obtain the life to come. What matters is that we worship the Lord our God first and foremost, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior in our lives, loving Him with all our mind, soul, spirit, and strength. Of course, He is concerned about our needs, in fact, He has told us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and He would add, or give us all the stuff the pagans run after. Yet do we try to run after God and after the things of the world, and maybe not even in that order? Yes, we live in the age of grace, but we are also warned not to take advantage of our liberty and go on deliberately running after the things of this world. Could it be that running after the things of this world is the same as deliberately sinning, much like the Israelites deliberately chased after other gods, who had no ears to hear, no eyes to see, or mouths to speak? We pray we will never forsake our God for anything in this world, or allow our hearts to be deceived by lies, but are constantly focused on truth. Let us deliberately serve our Lord.