Judges 2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:
Well hello there you beautiful people! Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Yes, my spiritual malaise of yesterday is gone. All I can say is the Lord gives and He also takes. Praise Him my people for His continual goodness to the undeserving children of men. And the best example of that is the period when judges ruled Israel. After the Lord rebuked them at Bochim, they sacrificed and wept: ‘And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.’ (Judg.2:7) However, when that generation died, another one arose ‘which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.’ (Judg.2:10) So what do you think happened then eh Friends? ‘And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim.’ But nuh must? They knew nothing about the God of their fathers; His mighty works on their behalf and the exceeding great LOVE He bore them. And if they grew up amongst the heathen, without the proper reinforcement of Almighty God and His precious Word, what else can we expect? That’s exactly why the Lord wanted to keep them separate. At least we have some knowledge of God, but they had none. And my people, it’s for that very reason I keep stressing the need, the urgency for us to teach the young generation about the One, True, Living God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so that when we die, they will have a strong foundation to hold on to and to build on. But today in our society, godly sentiment is unfortunately being disparaged, ridiculed and diminished, its adherents sadly scorned and demoralized while the evil antics of the enemy are glorified and held in high esteem. Oh my brethren, it should be the other way around; the Lord glorified and Lucifer demonized. But that can only happen if we, the followers of Jesus rise up with a sure, confident, strong hand and spirit and do something about it. Otherwise our children will end up like those of the ancient Israelites. ‘And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers…and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, (plunderers who despoiled them), and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.’ (Judg.2:12-15) Oh Friends, the Israelites paid dearly for their disobedience. Is that what we want for our children? I sincerely hope not. But our God is such a merciful, LOVING, magnanimous, forgiving Deity, that when they cried out to Him in oppression, He raised up judges and guided them to deliver His chosen. ‘And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them.’ (Judg.2:17) Friends, the Israelite situation became a cycle, a revolving door. They would be oppressed, then cry out to the Lord for mercy. He would feel sorry for them and raise up a judge to deliver them. However, ‘it came to pass when the judge was dead, that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.’ (Judg.2:19) This obviously kindled the Lord’s anger against them, and He refused to drive out the nations around them that were corrupting them. He left the nations there as a test, to see if His chosen people would hearken back to Him. ‘And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.’ (Judg.3:5-6) Then the merry go round began. The Lord caused the king of Mesopotamia to conquer them, and they served him for eight years. But then, in their oppression, they cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who delivered them. ‘And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz died. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord.’ (Judg.3:11-12) This time, the Moabites conquered them, and they served them for eighteen years. Then they cried out to the Lord, and He in his mercy, raised up Ehud, who killed the king of Moab with a double edged knife, then he called Israel out to battle and they defeated the Moabites. ‘And the land had rest fourscore years.’ (Judg.3:30) But after Ehud died, the Israelites regressed again. Now the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, ‘and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.’ (Judg.4:3) This time the prophetess Deborah, who was then Israel’s judge, orchestrated their deliverance with Barak. But their disobedience continued, with the Midianites oppressing them for seven years until the Lord raised up Gideon to deliver them. That my Friends was a most shameful display by the Lord’s chosen people. But sadly, our society is also headed that way. Oh my people, please, please let us try and put a stop to the foolish ungodliness that’s engulfing our society, else there’ll come a time, if it isn’t here already, when, like Israel, we’ll pay dearly for our disobedience. It’s of dire importance that we get active and start turning our society around, for we’re speedily moving in a wrong and dangerous direction, which will eventually lead to our downfall and demise if we continue. Much LOVE!…teach the children to pray…so they will not disobey…
Well hello there you beautiful people! Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Yes, my spiritual malaise of yesterday is gone. All I can say is the Lord gives and He also takes. Praise Him my people for His continual goodness to the undeserving children of men. And the best example of that is the period when judges ruled Israel. After the Lord rebuked them at Bochim, they sacrificed and wept: ‘And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.’ (Judg.2:7) However, when that generation died, another one arose ‘which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.’ (Judg.2:10) So what do you think happened then eh Friends? ‘And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim.’ But nuh must? They knew nothing about the God of their fathers; His mighty works on their behalf and the exceeding great LOVE He bore them. And if they grew up amongst the heathen, without the proper reinforcement of Almighty God and His precious Word, what else can we expect? That’s exactly why the Lord wanted to keep them separate. At least we have some knowledge of God, but they had none. And my people, it’s for that very reason I keep stressing the need, the urgency for us to teach the young generation about the One, True, Living God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so that when we die, they will have a strong foundation to hold on to and to build on. But today in our society, godly sentiment is unfortunately being disparaged, ridiculed and diminished, its adherents sadly scorned and demoralized while the evil antics of the enemy are glorified and held in high esteem. Oh my brethren, it should be the other way around; the Lord glorified and Lucifer demonized. But that can only happen if we, the followers of Jesus rise up with a sure, confident, strong hand and spirit and do something about it. Otherwise our children will end up like those of the ancient Israelites. ‘And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers…and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, (plunderers who despoiled them), and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.’ (Judg.2:12-15) Oh Friends, the Israelites paid dearly for their disobedience. Is that what we want for our children? I sincerely hope not. But our God is such a merciful, LOVING, magnanimous, forgiving Deity, that when they cried out to Him in oppression, He raised up judges and guided them to deliver His chosen. ‘And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them.’ (Judg.2:17) Friends, the Israelite situation became a cycle, a revolving door. They would be oppressed, then cry out to the Lord for mercy. He would feel sorry for them and raise up a judge to deliver them. However, ‘it came to pass when the judge was dead, that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.’ (Judg.2:19) This obviously kindled the Lord’s anger against them, and He refused to drive out the nations around them that were corrupting them. He left the nations there as a test, to see if His chosen people would hearken back to Him. ‘And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.’ (Judg.3:5-6) Then the merry go round began. The Lord caused the king of Mesopotamia to conquer them, and they served him for eight years. But then, in their oppression, they cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who delivered them. ‘And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz died. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord.’ (Judg.3:11-12) This time, the Moabites conquered them, and they served them for eighteen years. Then they cried out to the Lord, and He in his mercy, raised up Ehud, who killed the king of Moab with a double edged knife, then he called Israel out to battle and they defeated the Moabites. ‘And the land had rest fourscore years.’ (Judg.3:30) But after Ehud died, the Israelites regressed again. Now the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, ‘and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.’ (Judg.4:3) This time the prophetess Deborah, who was then Israel’s judge, orchestrated their deliverance with Barak. But their disobedience continued, with the Midianites oppressing them for seven years until the Lord raised up Gideon to deliver them. That my Friends was a most shameful display by the Lord’s chosen people. But sadly, our society is also headed that way. Oh my people, please, please let us try and put a stop to the foolish ungodliness that’s engulfing our society, else there’ll come a time, if it isn’t here already, when, like Israel, we’ll pay dearly for our disobedience. It’s of dire importance that we get active and start turning our society around, for we’re speedily moving in a wrong and dangerous direction, which will eventually lead to our downfall and demise if we continue. Much LOVE!…teach the children to pray…so they will not disobey…
SCRIP-BITS 