Judges

What an interesting book in Scripture. I remember very vividly when I asked one of my good friends what his favorite verse was and he pointed me to Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." I was a little taken aback, but then he explained. It is the true state of humanity. We are not basically good, and without a King over our lives, we do what is right in our own eyes. He said it was a constant reminder to him, to submit himself to the rule of the Lord.

I've always had this bittersweet impression of the book of Judges. It is, at the very least, an unstable book. When you read it, you see mistake after mistake, and even the victories seem short lived. And of course toward the end of the book, some pretty nasty events take place. I think in the past I never felt that the good stories outweighed the bad, and so I just avoided the book in general.

But more recently, my interest has been piqued. It really started with Ehud. Two summers ago I was challenged to do a study on integrity throughout the Bible. I didn't quite know where to start, but I started compiling a list of names. Honestly, I am not entirely sure how Ehud ended up on my list. It wasn't a story I was very familiar with at the time. But as I studied this man, and how God used him to deliver Israel, I was captivated. Ehud, the left handed man whom God used to deliver Israel by His right hand. It has constantly served as a reminder to me of the way God works.

And then there was Gideon. Dear Gideon--I had very often heard him preached, but I had seldom understood the scope of his story. He taught me the grace of the Lord. I had heard repeatedly that "sign seekers" lack faith and that the true disciples of God depend only on His Word. But then there's Gideon. He was a man instilled with fear and doubt, but the Lord called him a man of valor! His first step of faith was to tear down the altar of Baal, but he was so afraid, and he so little trusted the Lord, that he did it at night. When God called him to fight the Midianites, he asked for two signs! And God gave them to him! More than that, one of my favorite parts of the story is when God tells him, "I will deliver the camp into your hands, but if you are afraid, then go down with your servant and you will hear a sign." And Gideon, rather shamelessly, goes down to the camp to hear the sign! God is so patient with him! He never discarded Gideon, saying, "You lack faith in me!" He knew who Gideon was. He chose Gideon, and then gently led him.

Now I am reading through the book of Judges for devotions and what I see is a battle--a battle between flesh and grace. God had done so much for His people Israel. He had brought them up out of captivity, driven out their enemies before them, and now given them this land! And yet we see their hearts constantly straying. The flesh kicks in: with fear, or pride, with a lack of faith, or disobedience, with compromise, and idolatry, with a lust for power, or simply misunderstanding the character of God! But none of these things intimidate our Lord. Throughout the book He seeks out those He has chosen (worthy or unworthy) to be vessels of His grace! Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jair, Jephthah, Manoah and his wife, and Samson.

Several verses come to mind:

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin line any longer in it?...Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Rom 6:1-4)

"I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Gal 5:16

"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Rom 7:22-24

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Rom 8:1-2 

And thus, as I have been walking my own path in a new land, I find the book of Judges encouraging. Because I myself am at war between flesh and grace. But I see such a strand of hope throughout Judges. And it isn't just that the people of Israel can hope in a faithful God! God has hope for His people! He sees the hearts of those who are faithful to Him and He uses them!

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9

My God is a god who uses the weak to deliver!