August 26th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Reset To Default

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Today, Loving Father, I pray for grace to confess my sins, trust Your love, obey Your will, and praise Your name.

Read JUDGES 2:6-23

[6] After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. [7] The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. [8] Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. [9] And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. [10] After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, 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 ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger [13] because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. [14] In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. [15] Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress. [16] Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. [17] Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the LORD’s commands. [18] 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 relented because of their groaning 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 ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. [20] Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, [21] I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. [22] I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their ancestors did.” [23] The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“In his natural state, every man born into the world is a rank idolater” (John Wesley). So very true!

Think Further

Today’s passage is a commentary on the whole of the book of Judges. It is not a happy read. With a quote from Joshua 24:31 we are reminded that during the days of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, the people served the Lord (7). Joshua’s relationship with God influenced a whole generation. God had indeed been with Joshua in the same way he had been with Moses–just as he had promised (Josh. 1:5).

The next generation knew none of this, so they did the human thing: they defaulted to idolatry. One generation served; the next sinned; defeat and deliverance followed. But we notice that these weren’t demonstrations of some mere cause and effect mechanism in an impersonal universe. They were because of God’s wrath and mercy. “The Lord handed them over to the hands of raiders” (14). They violated the covenant that he had made with them (20), so he withdrew the benefits of his covenant. Yet that covenant was forged from faithful love. So, in wrath, he remembered mercy and heard their cry: “the Lord raised up judges, who saved them” (16). Yet even the deliverances couldn’t soften their stubborn hearts, and they returned to their idolatry (19). In wrath, God remembered mercy, but under the mercy his people forgot God’s wrath. 

We don’t need the “mists of antiquity” to hide what God has done; most of us can forget in minutes. Churches that do forget are, at the very most, only a few years away from closure. Idolatry is our default sin. It’s the first commandment given and the first commandment broken. All else follows from serving the wrong god. God’s faithfulness to his covenant, not the faithfulness of God’s covenant people, delivered the Savior.

Apply

Think of Christian young adults in your church. The pressures to go after the gods of their peers are immense. How and what can you tell them of God’s great goodness to you?

Closing prayer

Father, the influences of culture are always with me. I confess I so easily drift away from total devotion to You. I want to get back on track with You today.

Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.

© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.

Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.

View all readings

Get ENCOUNTER:

in your email:

in Print:

Become a Member | Visit our store