SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 OBEDIENCE OR CHAOS 36: WHAT USE IS A GOD WHO CANNOT SAVE YOU?
Judges 10:1 – 14 “After the time of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose up to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.
Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.
And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.
The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have indeed forsaken our God and served the Baals.” The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonitesc oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”
Well, the Israelites are at it again. Two more generations have passed without the Israelites training their children in the ways of God. As soon as the strong judges/leaders die, the Israelites go right back to the worship of the gods of all the nations who have previously oppressed them, even though those gods have proven worthless to save their adherents. Now the crunch has come yet another time and the Israelites have suddenly wakened up and remembered that they have a real God who has saved them in the past. But this time, God is fed up and says so.
The fascinating part about this story is not the backsliding – that is the normal state of affairs. No, the question is this: how does God speak to the Israelites and how do they KNOW that this is God speaking and not some other spirit? Perhaps some nameless prophet has arisen to give this particular message and then fade back into obscurity. Perhaps God speaks to them in a voice of thunder. All we know is that God speaks and the Israelites understand that this is GOD and not one of the gods that they have been serving.
APPLICATION: Psalm 20:1-3 says, “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion; may He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice.” This psalm was written by a believer who worshipped regularly for other believers who also worshipped regularly. But notice that the believers to whom this psalm is addressed are worshiping God and not the demons honored by surrounding tribes.
Why haven’t the Israelites learned anything? Spiritually, the Israelites bounce around as much as a new golf ball in a tile bathroom; they are all over the place! The answer is simple: each generation has deliberately refused to teach their children the things of God and to follow His laws. Rather than choosing those practices which would keep them safe and lead to long lives, the Israelites have chosen cheap and easy substitutes that are worthless. By refusing to teach their children the laws of Moses, the Israelites have doomed themselves as a people. And God informs them of their mistakes and advises them to see if any of these worthless spirits they have been worshiping will save them.
What are we teaching our children? Are we reading the Bible with them and praying with them? Are we taking them to church or to prayer meetings where they can see others worshiping God? Or are we leaving our children to be taught and entertained by social media? Veteran kindergarten teachers are raising alarms that children who have had too much screen time are unable to function effectively. Rather than learning how to interact with people personally, these children have been insulated. Rather than learning about their surroundings or even about simple things such as the layout of the grocery store, these children remain spectators, bound by an invisible umbilical cord to their electronic devices. The results of all this screen time are children who don’t know how to behave with other people and who have no knowledge of the world apart from the tiny screen of a cell phone or tablet. Over – use of electronic devices has become a modern equivalent of Baal worship.
Am I against cell phones, tablets, and computers? Absolutely not! Used in moderation, these things can be very helpful. But electronic devices can fail at any moment, leaving those who are totally dependent on them stranded and unable to function. An electronic device is only as positive an influence as the media you view. We have many friends who carry Bibles in tribal languages on their smart phones or tablets. Other friends carry copies of devotional books. But remember this: if you do not teach your children about God, the world will teach them about gods.
PRAYER: Father God, help us to be diligent in modeling worship and Bible study for our children. Help us to love You so much that our kids will know Who You are and why we love You. And help us to be faithful and to continue to pray for our families and others. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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