Today’s Reading: Judges 10
It is the most frightful thing imaginable... when God refuses to save.
In the
Book of Judges we are following 300 years of the history of Israel - from the
time of the death of Joshua until the time of Saul, their first king. We
are now about halfway through this period of judges. Throughout the lives
of these judges, Israel’s behavior follows a consistent pattern: Israel
enters a time of peace and rest → The people of Israel then fall into evil
and idolatry → Israel is defeated at the hands of their enemies → In
despair, the people turn back to God and call out for Him to rescue them →
God sends a leader (judge) to save them → Once again they enter a time of
peace and rest. And then… this cycle
repeats over-and-over-again. So far, we have seen this cycle through
their first eight judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shagmar, Deborah, Gideon,
Abimelech, Tola, and Jair.
Today, we come to a very frightening
moment during one of these cycles. The people of Israel have fallen
so far from God that He tells them, “I'm fed up and I will save you no more.” Essentially, the
Lord is telling them, “Look! I’ve had enough!” He goes on to remind them
of the many, many times He rescued them in the past – from the Egyptians, the
Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and
the Maonites. “I delivered you from each of these nations, but now I am FED
UP! I just won’t do it any more.” The Lord then drives His point home by
advising them look elsewhere for help. Let your false ‘gods’ rescue you this
time. I won't do it. “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen; let
them deliver you in your time of distress.”
This encounter with God brings up an terrifying issue – can
someone reject God for so long and so persistently that God eventually turns
His back on him/her and refuses to help? The answer to this is,
“yes.” The Bible speaks of a person with a “reprobate mind.” The phrase
“reprobate mind” is found in Romans
1:28 in reference to those whom God has rejected as godless and
wicked. They “suppress the truth by their wickedness,” and it is upon
these people that the wrath of God rests. For them there is no
remedy. It is a terrifying moment when God says to them, “I will save you
no more.”
Fortunately for Israel, they hadn’t actually reached this
point yet. From verse 15 on, we read that the children of Israel came to
their senses and repented of their evil and confessed their sin. We are told in
verse 16 that God’s soul “could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” His
deep love for His people moved Him to act on their behalf. So, their kind and
merciful Lord has mercy on them and rescues them once again – sending them a
new judge, a man named Jephthah. Once again Israel enters a time of peace and
rest.
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