Daily Reading
Judges 9,10
Psalms 49
1 Corinthians 16
Scripture
6 Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. 7 So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who began to oppress them that year.
The Israelites were in great distress. 10 Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”
11 The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”
15 But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” 16 Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery. (Judg 10:6-16) (Bold mine)
Observation
The theme throughout the Old Testament is all the same: Israel sins, bad things happen, they cry out to God for help, God says no, they cry out for help AND stop sinning, God feels bad for them and resues them, they live in peace and happiness for years serving God, then they sin again. One big cycle that happened repeatedly in the Old Testament and continues to happen in our lives today. One such area is with my own children. The kids do something absolutely against the rules (they sin), they are punished and life is not fun, they ask for their priveleges back, I say no, they change their behavior and ask for their priveleges back, I feel bad for them and let them have their priveleges back, life is good and happy and they get lots of blessings from me, they do something wrong again. . .
Application
Imagine the emotions you feel when your kids disobey you. You feel angry, betrayed, sad, revengeful . . . God felt these same emotions when Israel, His child, sinned against Him. Now imagine the feeling of your heart breaking when you see your children suffering, even if it of their own doing. Imagine the overjoyed love you feel when your kid comes to you and puts his arm around you and says he’s sorry and he loves you. You cry with joy and relief. You want to bend over backwards to make him happy. You want to bless him and shower him with your love. Deep down, you know he will do something wrong again, but you relish in the moment of joy. God did this to Israel. We often read the Old Testament and ask why God didn’t just destroy them all. How could they be so evil? How could they forget what He had done for them? The we wonder how He could be so mean and vindictive when he destroys 23,000 people in one day! Just remember the pendulum of emotions you feel about your own children and look at God in that light. Remember that God had unconditional love for his children, but he did not mistake love with licence. The blessing and protection he provided were contitional upon their behavior. This is a good model for parenting. We tend to give our children way to much licence because we don’t want to see our children suffer. We need to demonstrate unconditional love to our children without bestowing on them unconditional blessings.
Note: Blessings and Salvation are two different things. We can be in sin and still be saved because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus. This salvation is unconditional once we have accepted the free gift. It is free, that means we don’t have to pay for it, with our lives or our behavior. This is something Israel did not have access to. Blessings, however, are separate. We reap what we sow. If we sow weeds, we will have weeds. God does not bestow unconditional blessings on his children for the same reason we do not give our children whatever they want.
Prayer
Father God, thank you for being my heavenly father. Thank you for giving me a good pattern to follow. I am so much like Israel in so many ways, but I know that you ALWAYS love me, even when I am deep in sin. I do want your blessings. I want your Joy and Peace. Help me to follow your commands and love only you so I can have those blessings. Jesus, thank-you for your sacrifice so that salvation is never in question. I know that even if I am not blessed because of my sin, I am still saved. This is something Israel did not have. Thank-you for that gift. I love you.
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