You wanna know what the problem is with the spoiled and spineless fast-food microwave generation I grew up in?
It’s that we’ve never known hardship and war like the previous generations who came before us.
We have no idea what it’s like to have to wake up at the break of dawn and work the land until it yields its crops.
Nor have most of us ever experienced the horrors of combat resulting in lost limbs and close friends.
My generation is living off of the incredible sacrifices our parents and grandparents made.
As a result, we take the peace we enjoyed growing up for granted.
So pay attention.
Because what I’ve just described was the current situation of the 12 tribes of Israel.
This generation hadn’t experienced Holy War like their fathers and grandfathers had.
Don’t get me wrong.
The generation that Joshua led went through some intense learning experiences.
When they conquered Jericho, they learned when they obeyed God, victory was certain.
On the other hand, they learned when they became full of themselves and thought they could fight a war based on their own fleshly ideas and strategies, defeat was right around the corner.
That’s what happened when they tried to take the city of Ai.
They didn’t fully obey God’s Holy War protocol.
As a result, they were soundly trounced and sent packing.
After this failure, they picked themselves up off the floor and repented.
Then with renewed resolve to obey the Lord, they attacked Ai again.
And this time they won!
They had earned the battle scars and Godly wisdom born from the trials and tribulations of Holy War.
And that’s the takeaway here.
God causes us to grow in faith and wisdom by making us participate in a Holy War for His Kingdom.
And that’s what He was about to do with this current generation here in chapter 2 of Judges.
They had fallen into the trap all younger generations fall into.
They had failed to learn from the hard lessons of history.
So the Lord was about to wake them up.
And He was going to do that by teaching them how to fight a Holy War according to His Ways.
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