DId God Really Say…

June 15, 2024

Read Judges 2, Ecclesiastes 10, 2 Corinthians 10

What’s something that you have forgotten before? Car keys, phone charger, sun screen, or a wallet or purse? Recently we were headed to my son’s graduation ceremony and after we were over half way there we realized we had forgotten the tickets that all the family needed to enter the building. We turned around and luckily we got to the arena just in time. The more important something is, the more we will go out of our way to retrieve what we have forgotten.

In Judges 2 the author tells us that Israel had forgotten something very important, God. “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. ¹¹ Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. ¹² They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger ¹³ because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” vv. 10-13.

These verses tell us the importance of passing on our faith to our children and family. If we do not teach and train our children, someone else will. More importantly, if we do not lead by example a life that walks with the Lord, the chances will go down that our children will too.

The whole theme for the book of Judges can be summarized here in chapter 2. “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. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways” vv. 18-19. You will notice as you read through Judges that the further you go, the more wicked and weaker the judges become that rescue Israel. This is a very negative time for the nation of Israel. We must remember the Lord and all that He has done for us. We must also pass it on to our children so they will not face the consequences as well.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.