(Judges 2:6-23) When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went, each one to his inheritance, to take possession of the land. 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. 9 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and another generation rose up after them who did not know the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.
11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, 12 and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them; so they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He handed them over to plunderers, and they plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand against their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and just as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they committed infidelity with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do the same as their fathers. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who tormented and oppressed them. 19 But it came about, when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their obstinate ways. 20 So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has violated My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, 21 I in turn will no longer drive out from them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not hand them over to Joshua.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
God created mankind with a free will. And because Adam and Eve chose to sin, everyone is now born with a sinful nature. So, we will all struggle - because of consequences of our own behavior, or consequences of someone else's behavior, or just because we live in an imperfect, broken world. But we still have a free will.
Because God is omniscient, He knows exactly what and how much someone has to go through in order to make an informed decision of whether or not to accept His free gift of salvation and forgiveness of sin. For those who reject the Lord, they will be punished because of sin. If not now, most definitely after they pass away.
For believers, although we are completely forgiven and cannot lose our salvation, while we are here on earth, we will still sin, even though we don't want to! And, God will allow us to struggle. If because of sin, we should know that the Lord disciplines those He loves. So it is always helpful to do a self-analysis to see what or if we have something to confess and turn away from. And if we don't, then we have to understand that God is allowing us to go through tests.
Everyone needs the Lord's salvation in order to have eternal life and a personal relationship with Him. And once we are saved, we still need Him - for everything! So especially in these times of struggles and tests, let us continue to rely on and trust in the Lord. It is through all of this that we will mature spiritually. As we see how He helps us through things and how He works things out for good, our trust in the Lord will certainly grow!
(Exodus 15:2) The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10) And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
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