“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7

“I don’t think there is a God therefore I don’t believe God exists.”  Many say this, out loud, living as if all of life is in our control—until they soon realize they have no control over the troubles that plague all of us in our imperfect world born to sin. Believers shutter when God is mocked like this; but our almighty, powerful, all-knowing God can handle it.  Jesus demonstrated God’s power in him as he was beaten to a pulp before being nailed to cross boards outside the city.  Jesus had the authority to call down tens of thousands of angels to stop it—but He did not.  He loved us too much to stop the Will of God to redeem us from our sins.

God delivered on His promises to us to save us and set us free from the bondage of being “owned” by evil who leads us to death forever. “God so loved the world; He gave His Son” (John 3:16-17) which demonstrates giving His best at our worst.  God sent a part of Himself, His Son, Jesus to earth to be fully man and fully God in flesh.  Jesus moved into the neighborhood of humanity and taught those who had all but forgotten who God was, is and is to come with not only words but with his very life.  God demonstrated His extreme love for us in this: “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Even when we are unfaithful; God is faithful. 

Who is God?  The three “omni” attributes of God characterize him as all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. Each of these involves the other two, and each provides a perspective on the all-embracing lordship of the One true God. 

Omnipotence means that God is in total control of himself and his creation. Omniscience means that he is the ultimate criterion of truth and falsity, so that his ideas are always true. Omnipresence means that since God’s power and knowledge extend to all parts of his creation, he himself is present everywhere. Together they define God’s lordship, and they yield a rich understanding of creation, providence, and salvation.  “There is no one like our God,” is sung through the Psalms as praise and honor to our One and Only God.

The Israelites knew this about God. God demonstrated all these attributes of His character right before their eyes!  God brought them out of Egypt’s slavery and bondage to live freely once more.  God performed spectacular miracles in their release so they (and others) would know who’s really in control and in charge!  God fulfilled His promised to Abraham made centuries before by leading them through the wilderness to an enormous land area to accommodate the thousands of people born to the twelve sons of Jacob—The Twelve Tribes.  He gave them specific directions that were easily understood so they could possess this land with His help.  But they must trust, believe and worship Him along “so all would go well with them” under His protection. But they chose to turn away after Joshua and those in his generation died.

Judges 2

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, ² and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? ³ And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

⁴ When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, ⁵ and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Disobedience and Defeat

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.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It is God’s desire that no one perish in the battles with evil; but it is up to us to choose who we will love and serve with all our hearts. “Choose this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house will serve the Lord.” These last words of Joshua were not just a proclamation of his personal allegiance to God, but a loving statement of his forever belief to compel others to continue to “love God with all their hearts, all their souls and with all their strength” as God taught them through Moses. When we choose God; we live under the protection of God’s wings of love, mercy, and grace.  When we do not, God steps back, allowing us to live with the consequences of our choice to turn from all that is God—until we turn back to Him. God knows, loves, and sends help until we turn back to Him. 

Jesus tells a beautiful story of a son who chose to leave all that his father had to offer to do life on his own.  It didn’t go well for the son who lost it all and gained nothing.  Jesus told this to illustrate who God is.  (See Luke 15:11-32) God loves and forgives. In fact, there is nothing God will not forgive.  Like the father of the prodigal son; God stands ready to throw out His hands to welcome us back home to His love which drives His profound mercy and unending grace. 

Today, God is angry at our choice to “follow our hearts,” that are deceitful and undependable, instead of His heart because He has so much more that He wants to give.  When we look away from God and all that is Good to follow whatever is shiny and distracting in front of our eyes; we wander around into all that is not God and fall for all that evil has to offer which leads to dead living and final death forever.   

God stands ready while actively seeking those whose hearts are committed to Him.  God loves to give His best for our best.  When troubles come in our imperfect world; we have a perfect, holy God who desires and delights to help us in all the details of our lives.  All we must do is ask.  Asking for His help shows our trust, faith and commitment to the One and Only who knows exactly the kind of help we need when we need Him most!  

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”—Jesus, Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus fulfilled all the promises and commandments of God.  Jesus loved and gave His life for ours so we could be set free.

Prayerfully consider the following commentary of Judges 2 from Max Lucado;

“A new generation of Israelites neglected their relationship with God. They did not see God’s hand at work like their parents had. When they turned away from God, God disciplined them. Failing to teach our children to love and obey God will bring disaster on them.

Frightening thing, this pride. It would rather kill the truth than consider it.

Doesn’t it sneak up on us? We begin spiritual journeys as small people. The act of conversion is a humbling one. We confess sins, beg for mercy, bend our knees. We let someone lower us into the waters of baptism. We begin as self-effacing souls. Timid children who extend muddy hands to our sinless God. We relate to the thief on the cross, identify with David’s forgiven adultery, and find hope in Peter’s forgiven betrayal. We challenge Paul’s claim to the chief-of-sinners title, wondering if anyone could need or treasure grace as much as we do.

We come to God humbly. No swagger, no boasts, no “all by myself” declarations. We flex no muscles and claim no achievements. We cup sullied hearts in hands and offer them to God as we would a crushed, scentless flower: “Can you bring life to this?”

And he does. He does. We don’t. He works the miracle of salvation. He immerses us in mercy. He stitches together our shredded souls. He deposits his Spirit and implants heavenly gifts. Our big God blesses our small faith.

We understand the roles. He is the Milky Way galaxy. We are the sand flea. He is U2, and we are the neighborhood garage band, and that’s okay. We need a big God because we’ve made a big mess of our lives.

Your children can benefit from your successes as well as from your mistakes. Pray daily with your children and discipline them. Speak to them from your heart about the Lord.”—Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Lord,

Help us to avoid being the last generation who knows, believes wholeheartedly, and follows you.  We are a messy lot; but you intervene with your message of truth.  I will never forget what you did, are doing, and will do in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen