Judges 3:7-5:31 / Psalm 138 “Vicious Cycle”

READ: Judges 3:7-5:31 / Psalm 138

Verse chosen for meditation: Judges 3:7-11

⁷ And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. ⁸ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹ But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹ So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

REFLECT

Judges tells the story about Israel’s failure after Joshua’s death, in a time when Israel was not governed by kings, but judges that God raised. These are not courtroom judges, but closer to the image of military leaders. The cycle of Israel’s failure is nicely encapsulated in the passage above: Israel became like the Canaanites, sinning against God ➤ God allowed them to be oppressed by the Canaanites ➤ Israelites realised their sins and repent, pleading to God ➤ In His grace, God raised a judge to deliver them ➤ enjoyed a time of peace.

This cycle is seen again and again in subsequent stories of the different judges. The peace never lasted because Israel repeatedly failed to keep their covenant with God, restarting this vicious cycle and God had to repeatedly save them from themselves.

RELATE

There are many parallels between Israel’s experience and our modern church. Israel forgot what Joshua taught and the purpose of their calling, which was to obey God’s laws, so that they could be set apart, and show the other nations what our God is like. We have the same calling today, but like the Israelites, we often forget our main purpose and sing to the tune of the world. I can imagine the Israelites justifying their actions. They may not see that what they did was wrong. They may say, “these Canaanites are not as bad as we heard. Some of them make good wives. If we marry them, we should be understanding of their culture (the worship of other Gods, etc.), since they are brought up differently.” I find myself reasoning in similar fashion many times before.

Due to our fallen human nature, we seem to have this natural talent of arguing our way around God’s commands. However, verse 7 reminds that we may not think what we do is wrong, but it is actually “evil in the sight of God”. We like to define what is right or wrong with our own moral compass, but we don’t write the rules. God does. We should not go on an unhealthy hate campaign against the world (and be judgmental), but it’s good to check how “ok” we are with many of the world’s ways, and how similar our behaviours are. We may shockingly find that we behave 80 to 90% similarly to the rest of the nation. The remaining 10% difference may be us going to church, trying to be pious. What sets us apart then? The 10%? Does it make sense for the Bible to have so many warnings about the ways of the world, yet we are 90% similar to the world and are fine with it? Us behaving similarly to the world is akin to the Israelites behaving like the Canaanites, and our God is under no obligation to those who bear his name in vain, meaning those who claim to be the people of God but act like Canaanites.

How to not be of the world? We can start by checking our most common speech and thought patterns. How do I regard others? Do I edify, or do I speak harshly and behind one another’s backs? Do I go the extra mile in my love, or be kind only when it is convenient to do so? When I make decisions, am I considerate to those being affected? Is there love towards labourers behind those decisions, or is it about cold-blooded corporate efficiency? If I allow myself to be pressured into the mold of the world, I should not be surprised to find myself hostage to my enemies, like what happened to the Israelites.

When bad things sometimes happen to me or my ministry, I may blame Satan (no. 1 church enemy) and attribute them to spiritual warfare, and that may be true. However, is it simply just spiritual attacks (which happens whether my fault or not), or is it due to my ways which are unbecoming in God’s sight, so God allowed the attacks to teach me something? If it is the latter, then I should not simply dismiss these without reflecting, but like the Israelites, realise the error of my ways and cry to God for deliverance (and personal change). When deliverance comes and things look on the up again in what we undertake, we all praise God rightfully, but those who adopt this reflective attitude will scrutinise themselves and learn from their mistakes, attribute victory to God’s saving grace rather than their own doing, and do the necessary to not repeat the mistakes, or else they will fall into the same cycle again.

REST

Lord, protect your people from enemies. Make clear to us our foolish ways, so that we do not become the reason for our enemy attacks. When enemies do attack us, lead us to ask what you are trying to teach us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Chris Chong