MONDAY, 1/26/15 HISTORY. Judges 10:6-18 “An Emotional God” (By Barry) WORSHIP: This is a pretty ironic song, as you might see when you read today’s passage. Tell me what you think? https://youtube/watch?v=Ac4GnpqXQAQ SCRIPTURE: blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jdg&c=10&t=NLT#s=221006 We have such a powerful story today. Read it carefully, and then we can discuss it: 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. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). 9 The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. 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. 17 At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, and the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.” THOUGHTS & QUESTIONS: —1. Over and over and over again, we see the same thing from the Israelites, don’t we? God delivers them, then after awhile, they rebel once again. (How often do you find yourself living out this very same pattern?) —2. Isn’t God’s response shocking? He basically says, “I have saved you over and over again. Not this time! You know what? Why don’t you get your idols to rescue you this time?” —3. One of the details we don’t really know in this passage is exactly how God communicated to the people He was obviously direct, but did He speak through a prophet? Did He speak to one Israelite, or to many? And when He did, did even hearing His voice give them some comfort, in spite of His harsh, tough words? ( I suspect that it did.) —4. God is not a human, yet in this passage, we definitely get to see a picture of Him that seems a lot like us. He is furious that the Israelites have taken Him for granted, but we also see that He is moved at their pain. Have you ever considered God to be this kind of an emotional Being? —5. What happens next? It SEEMS as though God is considering coming to their rescue again, right? Will He? If so, who will He use, this time? —6. What kind of walk with the Lord do you have? Is it more like the Israelites than you would care to admit? If so, why, and what happens next for YOU? What are you going to do about it? PRAYER:
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 04:16:35 +0000
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