verse 10:And
also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there
arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
So,after the death of Joshua and others died,spiritual darkness crept in.It's something I'd like to reflect on and maybe try to tie in with how spiritual darkness occurred before the reformation.It could be they stopped worshiping God by compromising,till He no longer became part of their lives.The children no longer we instructed in God's way etc.I'm just thinking of how they got into the spiritual darkness.
verse 11: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim
It seems like verse 11 is the cause of the spiritual darkness.It's not necessarily that they did not know about God,but the consciously chose to worship Baalim-a god over God.I could be wrong.Interestingly,we see the fulfillment of verse 3.The Israelites became ensnared!Here we learn,when God commands us to do something,He not only look at the present,but also look at the future. It could be the Israelites thought,but we love God,so we'll never worship Baalim.Just like Peter saying boldly that He will never deny Christ and going on to do it.See,as Christians,we really have a deep desire to serve God."We want to do what's right,but the carnal wants something else",we are wretched!The Spirit is willing;but the flesh weak.And so the only way we can align our desires to God's,is through obedience.
vs 15-16 God uses their enemies to be a thorn on Israel,that is,to be persecute them because they did not obey Him.But the nderlying reason,is to bring Israel to true worship,to worship Him,for their own good.So,God,will use any measure-even if it means trials,to draw us back to Him-but He does not coerce us back to Him;it only when we see our helplessness and when we choose Him,are we then brought back to Him.Indeed,God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner (you and I) and He does absolutely EVERYTHING to ensure our salvation.
verse 18:And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
In every generation,God raised people to stand for Him and draw others back to Him.Isn't God good?Even now,the mandate of every Christian is to do the same.So,by our right doing,many can be encouraged to choose Christ.I think of Timothy who was deeply impressed to commit himself to the service of God after witnessing Paul getting stoned for the sake of the gospel.
verse 19:And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
Here,we see a sad turn of events.I suppose that,the Israelites obeyed God because of the presence of the judges and when they died,they went back to their sins.Many of us fall into this trap:form of godliness in the presence of those we revere:pastors,other church members,parents etc.But we ought to remember,God sees the motives.Furthermore,the only thing that will help us to continue to obey God even if it means we are the only ones,is love for Him.Let's ask God to give us love for His ways.Let's not be afraid to tell Him we have no love for His ways,so that He can help us out.
What other thing I marvel at?The power of influence!!The Israelites were not coerced to worship Baalim.They did so voluntarily!That's how powerful influence is,especially evil.But what if we could have such a good influence on others that they voluntarily choose to serve our God because of the love they see in us for Him,and how we just love Him and are passionate about Him.That's what drew me to Jesus.It was the young people who has such love for serving God,that I too,wanted to know their God personally.
P/S:If there are spelling errors,kindly forgive me,I have to go to bed:).
So,after the death of Joshua and others died,spiritual darkness crept in.It's something I'd like to reflect on and maybe try to tie in with how spiritual darkness occurred before the reformation.It could be they stopped worshiping God by compromising,till He no longer became part of their lives.The children no longer we instructed in God's way etc.I'm just thinking of how they got into the spiritual darkness.
verse 11: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim
It seems like verse 11 is the cause of the spiritual darkness.It's not necessarily that they did not know about God,but the consciously chose to worship Baalim-a god over God.I could be wrong.Interestingly,we see the fulfillment of verse 3.The Israelites became ensnared!Here we learn,when God commands us to do something,He not only look at the present,but also look at the future. It could be the Israelites thought,but we love God,so we'll never worship Baalim.Just like Peter saying boldly that He will never deny Christ and going on to do it.See,as Christians,we really have a deep desire to serve God."We want to do what's right,but the carnal wants something else",we are wretched!The Spirit is willing;but the flesh weak.And so the only way we can align our desires to God's,is through obedience.
vs 15-16 God uses their enemies to be a thorn on Israel,that is,to be persecute them because they did not obey Him.But the nderlying reason,is to bring Israel to true worship,to worship Him,for their own good.So,God,will use any measure-even if it means trials,to draw us back to Him-but He does not coerce us back to Him;it only when we see our helplessness and when we choose Him,are we then brought back to Him.Indeed,God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner (you and I) and He does absolutely EVERYTHING to ensure our salvation.
verse 18:And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
In every generation,God raised people to stand for Him and draw others back to Him.Isn't God good?Even now,the mandate of every Christian is to do the same.So,by our right doing,many can be encouraged to choose Christ.I think of Timothy who was deeply impressed to commit himself to the service of God after witnessing Paul getting stoned for the sake of the gospel.
verse 19:And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
Here,we see a sad turn of events.I suppose that,the Israelites obeyed God because of the presence of the judges and when they died,they went back to their sins.Many of us fall into this trap:form of godliness in the presence of those we revere:pastors,other church members,parents etc.But we ought to remember,God sees the motives.Furthermore,the only thing that will help us to continue to obey God even if it means we are the only ones,is love for Him.Let's ask God to give us love for His ways.Let's not be afraid to tell Him we have no love for His ways,so that He can help us out.
What other thing I marvel at?The power of influence!!The Israelites were not coerced to worship Baalim.They did so voluntarily!That's how powerful influence is,especially evil.But what if we could have such a good influence on others that they voluntarily choose to serve our God because of the love they see in us for Him,and how we just love Him and are passionate about Him.That's what drew me to Jesus.It was the young people who has such love for serving God,that I too,wanted to know their God personally.
P/S:If there are spelling errors,kindly forgive me,I have to go to bed:).
LOL. You're cute. (Last part) And yes, influence is scarily powerful.
ReplyDelete