Last week I had the privilege of introducing us to the book of Joshua and this week I have that same privilege again by introducing us to the book of Judges. I looked at several of the introductions to this book in my MANY Study Bibles and I found that the one in the Bible I am reading through, called "The Legacy Bible" (NIV), had a fantastic introduction, so I am going to use it to help me with this introduction. I particularly like the way it opens up, so I am just going to directly quote that part to you: "The book of Judges teach us us a history lesson that should never be forgotten: When the people of a nation cannot see beyond their own desires, they pass on a legacy of lawlessness to the next generation. To highlight this truth, a specific phrase echoes throughout this book: 'Everyone did as he saw fit.' (Judges 21:25)" So here is the cycle that repeats itself over and over in this book:
Here is the REALLY wonderful part: God is faithful to His people and ALWAYS rescues them! And He does the EXACT same thing to US during our lives today! Why Lord???? We are SO unworthy! Yet, YOU are SO worthy! And amazingly, you LOVE US SO MUCH that you rescue us over and over and over, and you provided the ULTIMATE rescue through your Son! Amen and Amen!!!
The first two chapters of this book starts off the cycle with Israel fighting the remaining Canaanites, but failing to drive them out completely, which will cause all kinds of problems with "prostituting" themselves to the idols of these pagan peoples. Then in chapter 2, the "Angel of the Lord" appears and says, "Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." (Judges 2: 3) As I have stated in previous posts and/or comments, I believe this to be a preincarnate Christ and He appears over and over throughout the Old Testament. Then we move into the part of the cycle of disobedience and defeat. Chapter 2 verses 18 and 19 states the cycle that is shown in the picture above. This map shows where the location is in the Promised Land of each of the twelve judges that were raised up. It is a little hard to read, but I think it is cool to have a visual of the location of where each of these judges did God's work.
So, the question is, are you in a negative or sinful cycle in YOUR life? Do you need for God and God alone to break this cycle in your life? He did it for the whole country of Israel and He can do it for YOU! He is GOD and He can do ANYTHING!!!!
