Today let’s quickly go over the 3 main reasons for Israel’s fall from grace in the Book of Judges.
FIRST, the priesthood and the sacrificial system had completely fallen apart.
This happened because the tribes of Israel had fallen into a state of disunity.
Things had reached the point where they had even begun to war among themselves.
As a result, the upkeep of the Wilderness Tabernacle was neglected and it became worn and torn beyond repair.
And due to political tension, the Tabernacle was eventually moved to Shiloh.
Even the Ark became disconnected from the Tabernacle to the point where it wasn’t even viewed as an integral part of the Holy of Holies.
Bottomline, without a proper sacrificial system in place, the people’s sins could not be atoned for.
SECOND, the Israelites didn’t boot the Canaanites out of the land like they were supposed to.
I’ve already been over this one like a million times but according to God’s instructions, the Israelites only had 2 choices in terms of what to do with the Canaanites: Expel them or kill them.
There was no middle ground here.
Unfortunately, ancient Israel decided to do what modern Israel is still trying to do today.
They attempted to travel down that “safe” and politically correct path of appeasement and trying to get their enemies to enter into ridiculous peace treaties with them.
It didn’t work back then and it sure as hell ain’t working now.
In fact, just a few months ago, between May 10th and the 18th (in 2021), the Palestinians fired 3,440 rockets towards Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Jerusalem.
Fortunately a good 90% of the those rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome but still ten Israeli lives were lost.
That’s ten Hebrew lives that could’ve been saved had Joshua and his men properly followed God’s commands to properly boot the Canaanites out of the land in the first place.
THIRD, Israel failed to trust the Lord for their crop needs.
There’s some interesting background you have to know about this one.
The gods the Canaanites worshipped were nature deities.
When Israel entered the land, they were able to take control of the hill country but not the fertile valleys and plains.
It was hard both spiritually and mentally challenging for Israel to sit back and watch their neighbors so easily raise crops on their rich soil while they struggled to produce so much as a stubble on the rocky ground they had gotten control of.
As a result, Israel fell into idolatry because they assumed a connection between the sun, rain and fertility gods the Canaanites worshipped and their rich crop growth.
Israel couldn’t resist.
So they also started worshipping these gods.
Normally, I’d finish this post right here but there’s an incredible takeaway on this point I want you to catch.
Have you ever felt like your situation was hopeless especially in comparison to others who seemed to have it so good?
Maybe you’re in business for yourself and you feel outclassed by your competitors.
They have more money, more experience, a larger team or whatever.
Or maybe in the game of life, you feel like God shortchanged you in some way.
Maybe you’re not as good-looking or as tall (major dude worry here) as the other person or you’re not as smart, don’t have great athletic ability, or didn’t get into a good school or whatever complex you’re harboring.
My point is it really doesn’t matter if God is on your side.
And the history of Israel is evidence that this is true.
The Scripture says…
“Adonai didn’t set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people — on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. Rather, it was because Adonai loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that Adonai brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. From this you can know that Adonai your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generation”.
Getting back to my crop example, history shows that whenever Israel resided in the land, they were almost effortlessly able to product an abundance of crops…enough to feed not just them but countries all around the world.
Conclusion: Don’t judge what God can do based on your current circumstances because that’s a huge miscalculation.
Keep your eyes FOCUSED on the Lord and hold fast to His Promises.
Amen