“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

Judges 6:8-10

The book of Judges has been a hot topic in Bible study this year. Why Judges? Some of the stories are downright gruesome. Take Jael in Deborah’s time—the woman who tent-pegged Sisera while he slept (Judges 4:21). And there’s always Samson and Delilah (Judges 13-16); everybody knows those names. Well ladies, it sure seems the lessons in God’s history book are applicable today. Focus in with me on the key verse of Judges: People did whatever they felt like doing (Judges 17:6; 21:25, MSG). Hmm!

What had precipitated the need for this strange bevy of men and women? After being snatched from the power of Egypt and entering the Promised Land, Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel (Joshua 24:31). But all those elders had passed away. There was no one who had been there to remind them of all that oppression, no one to tell them the folly of worshipping any god but the LORD.  

So God had to pull on those He saw fit to listen to Him and help Him rescue His people from their messes. He couldn’t wipe them all out. After all, He had promised (Judges 2:1). If only they had remembered that first command: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7). If only they had not made idols and worshipped them.  

You might say they had one foot in the Promised Land, expecting God to bless them while not living up to His expectations. 

You might even say that we, God’s people now, are teetering on the border of those expectations, one foot in and one foot out of all He promises. The ways, the idols, the wishy-washy sentimentality of the culture around us have a distinct pull on our devotion. 

Good news: our God is bigger and better than all they have to offer!   

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973,1978,1984, unless otherwise noted.