March 13 Daily Discovery
March 13 Daily Discovery - Read Judges Chapter 2
This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).
Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.
[1] And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
[2] And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
[3] Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
[4] And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
[5] And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.
[6] And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
[7] And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
[8] And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
[9] And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
[10] And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
[11] And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
[12] And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
[13] And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
[14] And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
[15] Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
[16] Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
[17] And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.
[18] And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
[19] And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
[20] And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
[21] I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
[22] That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
[23] Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
The Vicious Cycle
God always begins by blessing His people. When his people disobey by worshiping false gods , He chastises them. While they are yet under chastisement, He raises up a deliverer. The people return to worshiping and following the Lord and they remain blessed as long as they do. The judge that God raised up to deliver them ends up dying, and then they return to their idolatrous ways. The cycle repeats ... and repeats ... and repeats ...
God, the Covenant Keeper
God promised that He would never break His covenant with them. But a covenant can be broken by either party in the covenant. God kept his part.
Israel, the Covenant Breaker
Israel repeatedly broke the covenant by worshiping false gods. Repeatedly as in over and over and over and over and over again! We see how God was so patient with them. Of course, God knew that they would do this and that is why He always had a plan for making a new covenant with them.
God's Response to the Broken Covenant
God removed his headge of protection and they were attacked by their enemies and plundered and brought into bondage. God no longer went before them, driving their enemies out of the lands that they had yet conquered that God had given them.
Ultimately, God created a new covenant because they were not going to keep the first one (or the old one).
The Foreshadow
This certainly does foreshadow our own experience in our walk with God even in the new covenant time. We start off being blessed by God. He gives us salvation. He gives us His Spirit.
Keep in mind that we even have His law written in our hearts by His own presence! We have the continual, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Yet, we still sin. God chastises us for our sin to bring us to a place of repentance. We repent of our sins, and God restores His blessing. This cycle repeats over and over and over and over and over ...
Heb. 10:16
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
2 Cor. 3:3
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
1 Cor. 11:30-32
[30] For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
[31] For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
[32] But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
1 John 1:5-10
[5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
[6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
[7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
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