The Lord Spoke... and They Responded

Judges 10:10 And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

After briefly mentioning a few judges whom God had raised up to deliver them (with no mention of God speaking), the historian now records a discussion between the Lord and His people.  Why should He once again deliver them when they kept repeating the same pattern? Should He come to their aid only to have them turn back and worship other gods?  The people responded with true repentance, and God could no longer watch them suffer. This lead to His raising up Jephthah to deliver them, but now without a few more lessons to about prejudice, bitterness and revenge.  Again, an account well worth reading. 

Learning to Listen Again...

 Judges 6:7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

We have already seen the overall plot of the book of Judges: Israel failed to fully enter the land and drive out the idolatry around them; the idolatrous people infected them more than they influenced them; they found themselves in bondage all over again and God had to send a deliverer.  God was speaking to them differently. He is now speaking mostly through prophets and the Angel of the Lord. The people were listening so poorly that we find, like Gideon in this account, their respond is "Who are You talking to?" Many know the rest of this account, but if you do not, read on through chapter 8 and you will find the power of God revealed, as Gideon and his people learn to listen to God and obey His voice.

The Angel of the Lord Said...

 

Judges 2:1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 

Something significant is taking place here in Israel's history.  No longer do we find "The Lord spoke" or "The Lord Said" or God said, except in a few cases like His discussions with Gideon.  Now The angel of the Lord often speaks.  There is good reason for this.  Israel stopped listening and obeying God's command to enter the land.  Like in the Garden, when man chooses to stop obeying there are consequences: the land will no longer cooperate, and the people get themselves in thorny situations.  This was indeed a cause for weeping, and they would find themselves doing so repeatedly. How much weeping could we avoid if we would just listen and obey?

The Lord Said: "You First..."

 Judges 1:1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.

After Joshua died, there were still cities and territories of the Promised Land which Israel did not control. They obediently continued the quest and were wise enough ask God for the first step. He told them Judah was to take the next step and that tribe wisely chose to work with the tribe of Simeon. These were good steps.  As a result, Judah took Jerusalem and the surrounding cities, and a couple other tribes did the same. However, the chapter goes on to list some of the many cities and areas the other tribes did not take over, which gives us a hint that all will not be well in this new book of adventures, and why God send judges.

The Lord Said: "This Is Longer than You..."

Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. 2 This is the land that yet remains...  (6b) I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

There's nothing quite like being told you're old - especially by Eternal God!  But facts are facts, and Joshua would not see the end of what he had been called to do, just as Moses never entered the promised land.  Like Moses, he still had things to do, like laying out the map of who would live where in the remaining land to be taken. This would make it clear and easier for those who would step into his sandals. The next several chapters spell out the boundaries for all the tribes, including what would go to Joshua's descendants. He then gave them the challenge to stop sitting around and waiting and go take the rest of the land.  God can see so much further than we can. 

The Lord Said: "Let Them Come..."

Joshua 11:4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. 

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 

In this chapter and the two preceding it, we find God showed another way He had in mind for the Israel to take possession of the promised land.  The people who heard about Israel's wins at Jericha and Ai were so afraid they joined forces - many kings and their armies working together to repel Israel. It meant huge armies, as verse 4 above says: a great horde, but it also meant when God defeated one, He defeated them all.  Israel moved forward not one city at a time, but in chunks of territory, faster than they could conceive on their own. As our final verse says He left none remaining. When our problems seem to pile up and be insurmountable, God has a way of making them all turn out right, if we will only let Him do it His way.

The Lord Said: Don't Fear Failure

Joshua 8:1 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.

As we saw yesterday, Joshua was devastated after the loss at Ai.  The people had proven unfaithful and he appeared to be unsuccessful in his role as leader.  After such failure it can seem hard to move on.  But the Lord came to Joshua with words of encouragement.  This time God was telling him what to do and how to do it; it was not the people deciding for themselves. God was promising complete victory after humiliating defeat. We will never fully obey and please God, nor will we always have total victory over sin in this life. But God does not want us to wallow in our losses. But His grace and power He wants us to arise even more dependent and in tune with Him, to press on and see what He can do.