Judges – Page 7 – The Nexus

“So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The Lord is a father and the people of Israel were His children. (He’s also a bridegroom and they were His bride which is kind of an odd mixing of metaphors, but both are nonetheless appropriate at different times to describe our relationship with Him.) When they refused to stay on the path down which He was leading them, He disciplined them. What this summary description of how the rest of the book of Judges is going to go reveals is that once the people were settled in the land they struggled mightily with faithfulness. Read the rest…

“And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Starting here and six more times in this chapter we see this phrase, “And he did not drive out…” The command was to drive out completely or else you are going to pay for it, but they did not obey. They did not obey, and as the rest of the story of Judges makes clear, they did indeed pay for it. They stopped doing what the Lord had commanded, so He stopped helping them do it, so the peoples of Canaan remained in the land. The Lord had told them that if the peoples of Canaan were allowed to remain in the land, they would trip them up and lead them astray. If the people went astray, they were going to lose the blessings of obedience and gain the Lord Himself as their chief opponent. And it all happened. Read the rest…

Tag: Judges

Morning Musings: Judges 2:14

Morning Musings: Judges 1:19