Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Flirting with certain disaster - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 2:1-5,

"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 that I swore to
give to your forefathers. I said, "I will never break my covenant with
you, 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? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive
them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods
will be a snare to you.' When the angel of the Lord had spoken these
things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called
that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord."

When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt to provide them the land he
had promised their patriarch, Abraham, the nation faltered. First, in
a demonstration of faithlessness, Israel refused to go into the
promised land to take it from its inhabitants. Although the Lord said
he would be with them and be their strength and give them the victory,
they refused because the fear of the challenge outweighed their faith
in the Lord. As a result they had to endure God's judgment and
wandered in the wilderness for forty years.

Now, following that forty year period, having entered into the land
and conquering it at the Lord's direction, the Israelites again broke
faith with the Lord. The Lord told them not to make any covenants with
the inhabitants of the land, and that is just what they did. They
failed to consider the dire consequences of failing to follow the Lord
and recognize what that cost the previous generation.

What this account tells me about the Lord is that he is to be taken at
his word. He will do exactly as he says he will and his expectations
are clearly defined. The consequences of not obeying the Lord can be
horrific. As the Israelites made their covenants with the remaining
people in the land, the Lord expressed his judgment upon them, "Now
therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they
will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
These "gods" of the inhabitants Israel was to drive out would
ultimately become the cause of Israel's eventual demise.

Trifling with the Lord is to flirt with certain disaster.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

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