JU6-1: Unless God Intervenes, We Seem Doomed To A Life Of Sin

Today we begin Judges Chapter 6.

For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.

For the King James Version, click here.

From this chapter, we officially enter the beginning of the 2nd half of the period of the Judges.

Recall that it was only a short 3 chapters ago when we began our study of Othniel, the first judge of Israel.

Well, believe it or not, 2 since centuries have passed since then to get to where we’re at now.

2 centuries!!!

That’s a long time.

Which means a hecka of a lot of changes occurred.

Let’s take a look at some of the things that happened during this 200-year period.

FIRST, various Canaanite kings would have risen to power and then disappeared by now.

SECOND, the size of the Israelite territories would have both grown and shrunk depending on how obedient any one tribe was to the Lord’s command to drive the Canaanites out.

THIRD, the importance of the priesthood was dwindling away.

FOURTH, the Tribe of Simeon was gradually swallowed up by Judah.

FIFTH, the Tribe of Dan, not wishing to battle the Canaanites anymore, were in the process of abandoning the area God had assigned to them on the Mediterranean to settle in a more comfortable area near Lebanon and Syria.

FINALLY, the 2 tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Mannaseh who made the decision to dwell on the east side of the Jordan River OUTSIDE of the Promised Land were sadly in the process of losing touch with their brothers who lived inside the land.

There’s an important lesson to be derived from all of this. 

NONE of these things would have happened if the Israelites had fully obeyed the Lord’s commandments from the get-go.

And there’s a direct parallel to our own walk with the Lord.

How so?

Well, when we’re first born again, in the beginning, it’s easy for us to be enthusiastic for the things of the Lord just as the Israelites were when they first entered the land.

But unless we remain vigilant, it can become all too easy for us to let our guard down and let the gravitational pull of wickedness bring us down into the mud again…which is unfortunately what ended up happening to the Israelites.

This seems to be an inevitable feature of life this side of heaven.

Unless God intervenes somehow, we seem doomed to a life of sin