“Again the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective — they served the ba‘alim, the ‘ashtarot, the gods of Aram, the gods of Tzidon, the gods of Mo’av, the gods of the people of ‘Amon and the gods of the P’lishtim. They abandoned Adonai and did not serve him”-Judges 10:6
In verse 6 of Judges Chapter 10, we’re told ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after the minor Judge Ya’ir died, Israel went right back to whoring after the gods of the Canaanites.
This reminds me of an alcoholic who decided to go cold turkey for a period time but then just couldn’t take it any longer and finally broke and decided to go on a beer binge.
So thorough was Israel’s relapse right back into idolatry that scholars have taken to calling this era the “Canaanization of Israel”.
A most appropriate way to describe the situation I’d say.
Israel’s national apostasy and their mixing of Canaanite pagan practices and beliefs with the Lord’s Torah isn’t any different than the interfaith religious syncretism so popular in our day.
Here’s the thing.
Israel never intended to go down a path leading to idolatry.
So how did they end up in such a messed up situation?
Well, it didn’t happen overnight, that’s for sure.
It’s not like immediately after Joshua’s death they all woke up one morning and said…
“Hey, let’s throw Moses’ teachings in the trash and and go participate in a sexual fertility rite with the Canaanites”.
And by the way, that’s why pagan worship practices were so hard to resist in those days.
Because there was lots of sex involved.
So getting back to what I was saying, the idolatry of Israel didn’t happen overnight folks.
It all started when the Hebrews started to WATER DOWN the Lord’s instructions to rid the land of the native heathens and their gods.
These were tiny, almost imperceptible steps.
God made it very, very clear that Israel only had 2 choices in terms of what to do to the Canaanites who refused to let go of their Mystery Babylonian religious beliefs.
Choice one was to DRIVE THEM OUT.
Choice two was to KILL them.
And yes, that included every man, woman and child.
This was a holy war man.
There was no middle ground here.
However, what did Israel end up doing instead?
For the sake of “peace” and “brotherly love for all humanity” nonsense, they decided it would be wiser to find a way to get along with the very people the Lord told them they were not supposed to get along with.
This obviously led to “interfaith worship” and “tolerance” of the gods and customs of the Canaanites.
Now doesn’t that sound familiar as all heck?
So what was the end result of the Hebrews listening to their hearts instead of obeying God’s instructions no matter how difficult?
Well, can you say the words “Middle East Crisis”?
Now here’s the big takeaway I feel the Lord placing on my heart as I type this.
I think we have a tendency to relax and become lax in our faith after a big victory.
I imagine the Israelites entered into the land, achieved some victories and then once they took control of what they thought was a good enough portion of the land, decided to kick back and ease up on their God-ordained mission to completely expel the Canaanites.
However, disobedience is like a cancer.
If you give it an inch, it’ll take you a mile.
In other words, there’s no such thing as being a little obedient.
Even if you’re 99% obedient, that remaining 1% left undone will be your undoing.
And herein lies the lesson.
TRUE Obedience to God is FULL obedience and FULL compliance to His instructions.
Think about it.
Because Y’shua didn’t completely expel the Canaanites as God told Him to do, we now have a Middle East crisis and have to wait for that other Y’shua to come back and finish the job.
Alright, I feel like I’m rambling here, so let me get to the main point I felt called in my heart to express.
The time to be most vigilant and on guard is NOT during a battle but AFTER we’ve won the battle.
During a battle, we’re fully alert with weapons in hand ready to act at a moment’s notice.
However, it’s after the battle when we’re at our most vulnerable and our guard is down.
And that’s when Satan likes to launch his attack.
That’s why we have to be extra careful and make an effort to be extra alert AFTER rather than during our battles.
Great stuff. No compromise!!!