Readings for today: Judges 10-13
If I had to sum up the Book of Judges with a word, it would be “devolution.” A downward descent. Order to chaos. Degeneration. A move from higher levels of understanding of God and identity and community to lower levels. We see it all over the place. The conflict between different tribes of Israel that result in terrible violence like the killing of the Ephraimites. The terrible vow taken by Jephthah that results in the sacrifice of his daughter. The continual evil and idolatry Israel engages in that brings them under judgment. Perhaps the best indicator that things are headed downhill is the statement Jephthah makes in Judges 11:24 CSB, “Isn’t it true that you can have whatever your god Chemosh conquers for you, and we can have whatever the Lord our God conquers for us?”
Why is this statement so wrong? It reduces Yahweh to the level of a tribal god. It treats Yahweh as the equal of the pagan gods like Chemosh or Baal or Molech. It makes Israel just another warring tribe in a land of warring tribes. They are devolving from their place as God’s chosen people. God’s holy nation. God’s treasured possession and instead, embracing a pagan understanding of God. No, it is not true that the Ammonites can have whatever Chemosh conquers for them and Israel can have whatever the Lord conquers for them. The conquest of the Promised Land is not a battle between equal and opposing divine powers. It is not a contest to see which god is greater. God is already great. He has no rival. He has no equal. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Yahweh reigns supreme over all the other false gods in the world. And it is Israel’s continued failure to grasp and understand this fundamental truth that gets them into trouble over and over again. It’s why they have seasons where they choose to worship the Baal’s and Ashtoreth’s and the gods of the various tribes around them. They lose sight of the true nature and glory and majesty and splendor of Yahweh. They forget their history and how Yahweh proved Himself more powerful than all the gods of Egypt. They fail to pass on the many, many stories of God’s deliverance over the generations. As a result, their knowledge of God diminishes over time, leading to all kinds of pain and suffering.
We are no different. It is just as easy for us to “devolve” in our understanding of God. Especially if we neglect the very means He has given us to get to know Him. When we neglect the disciplines of prayer and meditation on Scripture, corporate worship with our church family, sacrificial service in the Lord’s name, and sharing our faith with others; we too can fall into disbelief and idolatry. We too can begin to remake God in our own image. Reducing Him to terms we can understand or control. Calling on Him to bless our plans, our purposes, our lives instead of laying all that we are and all that we have before Him. God is not our co-pilot. God is not our boyfriend. God is not a cosmic bellhop, always at our beck and call. God is not a first responder, there for us in case of emergency. God is God. He reigns and rules supreme over all He has made. He is sovereignly at work in our lives even now, bringing about His purposes and will, whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not. The sooner we surrender to Him, the better. The sooner we submit to Him, the more our lives will be filled with purpose and power. The sooner we give our lives to Him, the more we will receive in return.
Readings for tomorrow: Judges 14-18