“They chose new gods when war was at the gates.
Was there a shield or spear to be seen
among Israel’s forty thousand men?”
-Judges 5:8
Verse 8 of Judges Chapter 5 goes into the big sin Israel committed that caused their oppression in the first place.
We’re told “they chose new gods when war was at the gates”.
What does this mean exactly?
It means one of either two things.
One is the Israelites chose to worship the gods of their oppressors.
In other words, they buckled down to pressure and worshipped the Canaanites’ pagan gods in the hopes of garnering their favor.
Two is that the Israelites chose to run to other gods for their salvation.
These weren’t the gods of their oppressors but other gods who nonetheless were part of the Mystery Babylon pantheon of gods.
Again, the reason why they did what they did is the same: they wanted to win the favor of these gods and be supernaturally rescued from Yavin.
It didn’t matter which choice the Israelites made, either one meant abandoning the God they had met at Sinai.
And both choices were rooted in fear rather than faith.
Next let’s take a look at the part where it says…
Was there a shield or spear to be seen
among Israel’s forty thousand men?
The NIV says…
“but not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel”.
Now this doesn’t mean the northern tribes didn’t have any weapons in their possession.
It meant there was no one in Israel at this time who had the courage to take up his shield or spear and fight their oppressors.
In other words, they preferred political expediency to civil disobedience.
And why?
Again, their actions were rooted in fear and nothing else.
The thought of risk and sacrifice proved too daunting for them.
Onward, let’s take a look at verse 9.
“My heart goes out to Israel’s leaders
and to those among the people who volunteer.
All of you, bless Adonai.”
-Judges 5:9
In this verse, Devorah is giving credit to those leaders who volunteered and made the difficult choice to stand up and do what was right in the face of great danger.
Their courage had the domino-like effect of influencing others to also wake up from their zombie-like slumber and accept the call to arms.
One thing here.
Don’t think “Israel’s leaders” here is referring to the elders of Israel or the tribal chiefs.
It’s not (though some may have stepped forward and volunteered).
This is a reference to what we talked about way back in verse 2 about those men who “grew their hair” and offered themselves up to the Lord in the spirit of a Nazarite.
These brave Nazarite-like men decided to lead their people back to the pure ways of the Torah instead of capitulating to their captors.
Let me close with a couple of interesting takeaways that are highly relevant for our times.
First, note how Israel’s first reaction was to turn to other gods for their salvation…whether those gods were the gods of their oppressors or belonged to some other gentile group.
And note the REASON WHY they decided to do those things: acting out of total fear.
Well, we do the very same things in our lives when we for example…
…participate in interfaith worship with believers from other faiths simply because we don’t want be seen as intolerant or politically incorrect.
Or…
…when we turn to other things for our peace of mind and salvation such as meditation, Tarot cards, new agey, “you-can-control-your-own-reality-with-your-thoughts” type of self-help books and the like.
In fact, just a week ago, I had to leave some meditation group when the Spirit of the Lord told me to get the heck outta there.
The program touted itself as being 100% secular, not religious and that it was open to people of all faiths (big warning sign there).
I was also taken in by the sales spiel that promised increased focus and enhanced clarity blah, blah, blah.
One thing I realized is there really is no such thing as a neutral middle ground or something being “secular” or “non-religious”.
It’s either of God or not of God.
You’re either relying on the Lord for your welfare, peace of mind and salvation or instead are relying on things like your job, your family, or your tarot card collection…
…OR…
…the mountain of self-help books piling up by your bedside including the ton of personal development courses taking up space on your hard drive on your computer.
Bottomline, you’re either trusting God for your well-being or your not…to the very last breath of your life.
Anyways, as for me, I confessed my falling into temptation to a Bible study group I’m a part of and received prayer to stay away from such “secular” temptations.
And I hope you do the same if you’re flirting with all of the temptations and gods of this world.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not love this world
nor the things it offers you,
for when you love the world,
you do not have the love of the Father in you.
For the world offers only a
craving for physical pleasure,
a craving for everything we see,
and pride in our achievements and possessions.
These are not from the Father,
but are from this world.
And this world is fading away,
along with everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what
pleases God will live forever.”
-1 John 2:15-17
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