July 22

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land;…” Judges 2:2

The angel of the Lord reiterates two of the covenant principles Yahwah had made with Israel. He points out that they had been disobedient and had failed in their fulfilment of them. This event took place towards the end of Joshua’s life. In spite of the great victories God had afforded the Israelites and His faithfulness in keeping the promises He had made to them, already this early in the piece there were signs and symptoms of straying from God and His ways. The first of the two covenant principles which is highlighted for us in this verse is that the people of God should not make alliance with the population of the land of Canaan. Confederacies of this nature have throughout man’s history been significant of closeness, friendship, mutual protection and sharing of the power base. They almost inevitably resulted in intermarriage and sharing of social and religious practices. While these things may appear innocent and maybe even desirable from a worldly point of view, in actual fact they represented deterioration from the purity God wanted for His people, and an offence to Yahwah and His directives. God had covenanted with His people that He would be their God, lead them and protect them. In His wisdom and foreknowledge the Lord knew that the ways of the people native to Canaan were evil and would corrupt His people if they associated with them. As a nation Israel ignored the love, concern and directions of God, and tried to make its own way, with its own leagues and under its own steam! The results were disastrous! Soon they abandoned the truth and worship of the true God and gave themselves to all the idolatry, iniquity and practices of the people of Canaan. God’s displeasure with them, merited them punishment, judgment, and enslavement by the very people they trusted in place of God. We do not always understand all that God has in mind and heart when He directs us to do His commandments or follow His directions. This is why faith in Him is so important. We have to believe that He knows more, best and further than we do ourselves. We have to trust that His ruling on a matter is higher and purer than ours and that His wisdom is greater. When we take ‘things’ into our own hands and deny Him His place in our lives, we are saying we are greater in knowledge, understanding and power than He, and set ourselves up as ‘gods’ in His place. This is highly offensive to the Lord! It is the honouring, respecting and worship of self. It is the greatest and most affronting form of idolatry that we can be guilty of! The matter comes down to a simple concept. Either Yahwah is God in our lives, and therefore should have control, authority and pre-eminence, or we are our own ‘god’ and bosses, and own ourselves. It cannot be both ways. When we take the latter stance, by our actions and belief we are saying we created ourselves and we are supreme in our own lives. This not only displaces God out of His correct place and right position as Creator and God, but also sets us up as an idol, an affront to God’s supremacy and Deity. When God told them not to make ‘friends’ with the people of the land, He was not being mean or unsociable. He wanted His people to remain pure, so they could influence others with the truth and bring them away from their idolatry and death, into the way of life. Israel was to be an example to be followed, an ambassador nation for the ways and truth of the living God! He knew the influence would otherwise flow against them and take His people out of His path, and they would lose their privilege and influence with Him. God knows how weak man is and how easily influenced he is by sin and the things of the flesh. We should today also be careful of the influence of the world. We may, like the Israelites feel potent and unaffected by the world and things of it, but the warnings in the scriptures are clear. We should not allow such influences in our lives to diminish our obedience and love for God. When we develop love, attraction and desire for the world and the things of it, we have made league with it, have become associated in practices and thinking and have adulterated our relationship with the Lord. The friendship of the world is enmity against God. That principle is as true today as it was for Israel in the days of Joshua. Let us make our stand with God, remain faithful and obedient to His way of holiness, and resistant to the desires and influences of the world around us. 

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June 19

“…ye shall throw down their altars…” Judges 2:2

The great conquest of Canaan land had taken place and it should have marked the beginning of a golden age for Israel. The second chapter of Judges however, records some very sad events, at a time when the greatest rejoicing would have been in order. The death of Joshua, the Lord’s faithful servant is mentioned, but sadder than this is the message which the angel of the Lord brought to Israel. His message from God can be summed up in the question he asks them “why have you done this?” He was referring to their disobedience in following God’s commands regarding the clearing out of the heathen nations which occupied the land they were given. Part of the covenant which God had set up with them, included their need to stand against any association with these heathen nations, and to destroy their altars of worship to heathen gods. They had disobeyed the word of the Lord, and the result would be that these same people would eventually enslave them, and their gods would become a hindrance and a trap for the generations to come, separating them from Yahwah. God had wanted to protect them from evil influences, but they had not regarded His love, wisdom and plan. The people that heard this wept openly, and had good reason to! They could have had the unique and amazing opportunity to live in a country which was totally dedicated to the worship of the One true God, free from any evil and corrupt influence; they could have raised families without fear of loss or persecution; they could have had the blessing of continued fellowship with the Lord and the joys that brings! Instead their disobedience allowed for the cancer of idolatry to take root early in the history of their nation. By the end of this same brief chapter, marking the time directly after the death of Joshua and his generation, the people of Israel are already described as doing evil in the sight of the Lord, forsaking the Lord and the ways of their fathers, and taking up the worship and service of the heathen gods of the nations which surrounded them, reaping early judgement from the Lord God, for their actions and wickedness! What great blessings we miss out on, because we choose to do things our way and disregard the commands of God! What great quality of life we lose because we hold on to our thinking, and fear man rather than to fear God! What damage we do to ourselves and our families because we are weak in our obedience to the word of God and compromise instead of standing constant and strong! Why do we do this? God’s people have always been “in this world, but not of it”. Unlike Israel the Christian Church, has never had the opportunity to live in a country where the influence of the world and its sin is banned and wickedness considered illegal! The opposite is true, like pilgrims we are to travel through this life and to the Promised Land of heaven, surrounded and constantly tempted with all the enemy offers, without ever really belonging to this world and the things of it. Our task is still to stay true to God, throw down the altars of idolatry in our own lives and not sell out to the devil, the enemy of our souls. God’s requirement of faithfulness and obedience are still the same, and His promises and rewards are ever true! There will finally come a time when we will rest from all the turmoil and strife, from the temptation and affliction, in a place of permanent peace, joy and glory. There will be no sin there, no sorrow and no evil influence any longer, and the struggle of our flesh against the Spirit will forever be gone! Let us be faithful that we may rejoice eternally and be blessed with all the Saviour desires to bestow on those who overcome!

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June 2

“…Israel did evil…and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim… ” Judges 3:7

The Israelites became apostates, traitors of the true God and His ways. This is a pattern which was repeated time and again among the people of God, bringing the Lord’s displeasure and judgment upon them. Their backsliding was largely due to the comforts they had found and made for themselves in the Promised Land, along with their choice of subscribing to the ways of the heathen nations which surrounded them. Their alliance with neighbouring nations was often strengthened by intermarrying with them, thus becoming ‘family’ and further weakening their stand in God. They had been warned by the Lord not to marry with unbelievers, and means of proselytising a foreign person to the faith of Yahwah were in place, but clearly for the most, they were either ignored or forgotten. The natural progression of human nature, when unrestrained by the laws and directives of God, is to the lowest point on the moral scale. Like water naturally finding and flowing to the lowest level, even so the sinful nature of man will lead an individual, or a nation to forget and forsake the high place and standing of God’s values and commands, and settle for the ‘lowlands’ of sin and degradation. Of interest is the fact which always accompanies such deterioration – the object of worship is altered and exchanged, this results in idolatry. The people who knew the Only True God, turned their eyes and hearts from Him, forgot His ways, repudiated His laws and served Baal and the idols of the groves in worship and practices! This was the condition the Israelites found themselves in, and often returned to, even after judgment, repentance and forgiveness. It was in keeping themselves from idolatry, that God’s people failed the test of faithfulness and incurred His wrath. We might sometimes wonder how this could ever take place, with people who were so blessed and provided for by the Lord, but sadly it is also a pattern which all too often emerges among believers today. In spite of the clear knowledge and teaching imparted us by God’s Word, and impressed upon us by His Spirit, there are many who live a double life. In name, they profess to know God and be followers of Christ, but in practice they idolise the world and the things of it. Their lives differ nothing from the unsaved, unchristian people of the world around them. This has earned them the reputation of being nominal (in name only) Christians, people who justify following the trends and sinful practices of the society they live in, but also claim membership in the Christian church. Jesus faced similar religiousness in His day, and called such professors hypocrites, showing them the same firmness of love, with which Yahwah dealt with backsliding Israel. It should be our pleasure and desire to serve God with all our minds, hearts and souls, at all times and in all places. For this He has saved us, called us and established us, that we may live a holy life and faithfully show His grace, love and righteousness to the world around us!

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Apr 25

 “And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan…” Judges 4:2

The circular pattern of disobedience, punishment, repentance and restoration became typical of Israel. It was displeasing to the Lord, and clearly not only ‘circular’ but also descending, deteriorating and more frequent. The basis of God’s relationship with Israel was His holiness and His law. They were to be a people holy unto Yahwah, who kept His commands and lived by His law. Whenever Israel transgressed and abandoned this God-determined pattern, and followed the ways of the heathen nations around them, they became idolatrous, and lost their status with God. The correction from the Lord was always administered in love and with a view to their restoration, but the frequency and consistency of their disobedience to His directives, demanded stern measures. In this instance God allowed them to become enslaved under the authority of the Canaanite king Jabin. Israel had chosen to follow the Canaanite practices in favour to God’s law, and in righteous and telling judgment, God delivered them into the bondage and oppression of the very people they had chosen to imitate!  Sadly the pattern present with the Israelite nation, can be observed among the people of God today. In many ways like them, we too can be guilty of ignoring God’s law, His love, His warnings and finally reap in our lives, families, churches and society, the results of our apathy towards God, and of our misplaced desire for the things of the ‘heathen’ world around us! It is interesting but not surprising to note, just how much control, oppression and influence the heathen society wields against the church! Largely instead of a repentance and return to the holiness and purity of service unto God, most Christians simply re-adjust the measure of consecration required, re-interpret the meaning of God’s directives and re-structure their practices to be more in tune with contemporary thinking. These manipulations become more prevalent and frequent with each generation, and succeed only in changing the level of tolerance believers should have towards sin and the sinful practices readily accepted by the surrounding ungodly society. Things thought totally unacceptable by Christians and seen as against God’s law in the past, are now more palatable and so commonplace among believers that hardly anyone even takes notice anymore! In fact it is the consecrated person who may in concern speak up, that is marginalised as ‘legalistic’ and ‘sectarian’, one given to divisive doctrine! Should we be surprised if in due course we reap God’s judgment? Would it be too unreasonable to believe that a righteous, holy and just God, who still wants His people to be holy, would judge the present church as He did His people of old? We may not be able to turn the unbiblical, God-dishonouring tide of present Christendom, but we can determine to learn from the lessons of the past and apply them to our personal lives, while we still can! 

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Apr 3

 “…If thou wilt go with me, then I will go…” Judges 4:8

The Israelites had again turned from God and committed evil against Yahwah. Their punishment from God came in the form of a take-over by the Canaanites, who oppressed them for twenty years. The people cried to God for deliverance this was during the time of Deborah the judge. Directed by the Lord, Deborah called on Barak, a mighty warrior, to lead the people of Israel against Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite host. An army of ten thousand was raised to fight the enemy, but the odds were greatly against them, since the Canaanites had 900 chariots of iron in their armed force. These were swift and conventional hand weapons virtually ineffective against them, not unlike the armoured tanks of today’s warfare. God however, had promised to go before Barak and grant Him victory.  Such situations have existed in the lives of many of the great men whom God called to do battle in His name. Often the human odds and resources are against the people of God, but the Lord is more than sufficient to supply the victory His people need. Barak believed Deborah, but hesitated in carrying out the directive of the Lord, without her presence at the battle site. It should not be necessary for us, to have anyone at our side but the Lord, in any endeavour we undertake for Him; yet it is true of our human nature, that many times we are encouraged to step out in faith, when someone else, who is likeminded, a person we feel we can trust, is there with us. It is also true to say that if our primary focus is seeing the work of God performed at the best possible level, then we will want to involve the best possible people, without concern as for who gets the acclaim.  The goal and reward is the success of the outcome and the knowledge we have served God aright! Barak is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, among those who displayed faith, trusted God and went on to win a victory for His glory. It appears he was not consumed with self-importance, or anxious about personal honour. He was content to be a tool in God’s hand, to bring about a great victory for the Lord and Israel, without caring much about the credit or the reputation associated with it. He is therefore a reminder to us, to be people of faith, willing to obey God even when we may be reluctant, and rejoicing to see the work of God done, not for personal approbation, but for the glory of God.

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion