Compromise - part 2 Judges 2:16-19 Rescued by God

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!!

   Okay, if you remember, at the end, v 15 God did not fight for the Israelites and they were defeated.  

  However, GOD loves his people and comes to the rescue. In v 16 God raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.  As you read 16-19 and through out the Bible Israel went through several cycles.  First they rebelled against God. Then they were overrun by enemy nations. Next would come a God fearing judge who delivered them. (4) They remained loyal during this judges life, then, when the judge died they would forget God.

    We, as Christians, tend to follow the same cycle- we are loyal to God as long as all goes well and our friends are loyal to God as well.  But, when we are on our own often we forget to honor God, the pressures of life and society push us the wrong way and we move away from God's presence.

  REMEMBER;  GOD does not move away, we do!!

  Why do we turn away?  Just as the Israelites, the world around us tends to influence us and we move in the wrong direction.  Often the secular world may look more appealing than the Christian world.  We have to remember that when it does we are looking through colored lens, seeing only the "fun" but not seeing the real cause and effect of going that way.

   Here is the scriptures:

16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.

18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

   How does this cycle relate to you and your life?  Are you strong and faithful to God daily?   OR, just when you need something?  Food for thought. Love y'all!

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny