Judges 1-2 The story of a lack of Faith and Obedience

What God told Israel to do:

To understand what is going in the first two chapters of Judges we must go and look at Deuteronomy 7:1-26.  In this section of the Bible we read that God commanded that when His people get to the Promised Land that they are to get rid of all the inhabitants of the land.  We read in Judges Chapter one the death of a great leader, we then see the people praying for Gods guidance.  They go and do what is commanded in the first part to the land. But then by the end they begin to compromise and allow the inhabitants, who were stubborn and didn’t want to leave, they instead allowed to stay and become there salves.  This  would come back to haunt them, Israel would later learn the inhabitant’s ways and begin to worship their gods.  God had also told them in the next section of Deuteronomy (7:12-26) if they put their faith in Him and obeyed His Word they would be blessed

The consequences of not keeping Gods commandments:

As we read chapter two of Judges we see the decline of Israel, the people begin to worship other gods.  By doing so they are no longer under Gods protection, they are not teaching their children about God.  Through all this God allows their enemies to come and defeat them.  Then He raises up the Judges some local, some military to help guide the people back to Him.  Twelve judges before Eli and Samuel fourteen in all before the rise of the kings.  We also have a promise from God, we also can live a life with the great promise of Gods salvation.

Let us not fall into the same trap that the Israelites did:

If we put our faith in God we have been given the promise of eternal life with God in Heaven.  We must put our faith in God and allow His Holy spirit to guide and direct us.  We must stop living as the world and start living for the kingdom God.  We read in 2^nd Corinthians 2:7-18, Paul tells us the new Covenant gives us confidence in Christ we are now able to have a personal relationship with God.  We are able to go and pray with confidence and know that God hears our prayers.  There is no need for us live a life of defeat. God has called us to be Holy.  When we give our lives to Christ we must leave our old lives, and no longer sin.  James 1:19-26 Tells us “My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.  So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.  And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself.  For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.  Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”