Scripture:
Judges 6:1-10 NKJV
[1] Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, [2] and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. [3] So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. [4] Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. [5] For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. [6] So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. [7] And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, [8] that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; [9] and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. [10] Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”
Observation:
I would have to say that besides Acts chapter 3, Judges chapter 6 is probably the next on my list of favorites. I can really relate to the story of Gideon. A man who didn’t see himself as being the warrior that the LORD called out in him. I absolutely love the story and have written about it several times. This morning as I was searching the scripture, I found this little jewel tucked tightly at the beginning of an amazing moment in the history of GOD’S chosen people, to be honest the portion of Gideon’s story that I was intending to write about was chapter 6 verses 28 through 35, which is where he tears down the alters that had been built, but discovering why those altars were there in the first place came to my mind, so I backed up to the beginning of the story and what I found was that complacency had become an issue. At the end of chapter 5 what we see is the land at a point of rest for 40 years. Now we could go into some numbers and how important they are in the Bible but that’s kind of a rabbit trail, one unfortunately I don’t have time for this morning. What we see is that the rest they experienced brought them to a point where they did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them over to the Midianites for 7 years. I find that number interesting as well. 40 being a time of testing and 7 standing for completeness. The hand of the Midianites prevailed against the children of Israel, every time they would begin to get up they would come down and take everything, which put the Israelites in a position where they felt like they had to hide. I mean can you imagine how you would feel if every time you started to get up someone kicked your legs out from under you. I’m sure the desperation was growing, to the point that they finally did what they needed to. Verse 7 says, “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites. That was the beginning of change. The LORD heard their cray and sent them a prophet who reminded them of how far the LORD had brought them. Out of bondage, out of oppression, out of captivity, away from Egypt, driving all who had possessed the land in which they were living out. I feel like these statements are not to be overlooked. What I see is GOD saying I have done it before and I will do it again. HE is dealing with the issue of fear as well, HE had told them not to fear the gods of the Amorites, yet here they were hiding in caves, dens and strongholds. Another statement I see being made here is, if GOD is with you no one can stand against you. But the 40 years of peace had brought about complacency. Not only had they stopped seeking GOD but they went in the opposite direction, which led to a cry of desperation, and a reminder of why they were where they were. They had not obeyed the voice of the LORD. They were full of fear, but GOD was not done.
Application:
I can’t tell you how many times in life I have been at that point in life. Watching GOD do some absolutely amazing things in my life and then getting comfortable, and forgetting to seek HIM. I absolutely love how the LORD corrects us. He has given us a book of instructions and warnings. We can always turn away from the LORD but we don’t have to. We can build a relationship with HIM that praises HIM when things are going good as well as when they are bad. What I have found out in my life is that if the only time we cry out to the LORD is when life sucks….. well this cycle will continue. Life will suck because GOD wants to hear from you and if the only time you talk to HIM is in desperation that’s where you will stay. The term has been coined a tea bag Christian. That’s when you only call out to GOD when you’re in hot water. Life can be so much easier if we could just learn to stay tucked tightly under the shadow of the almighty. But that takes training and consistency. It doesn’t happen overnight. Little by little we start to realize that what GOD wants from us is to realize our dependency on HIM. When we get comfortable we start to forget how we got to where we are, not only that but we begin to think that we are good at making decisions, but we’re not. There is a reason we are referred to as sheep in need of a shepherd. I’m thinking about when Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt. A lot of pictures were painted for us. We need the LORD. The statement that GOD made at the burning bush, “I AM” HE was saying HE is all we need. If we would just pay attention to that we would not have to cry out in desperation. Not that HE won’t hear those cries because HE will, and HE will show up and do exactly what HE has promised, which is never leave us or forget about us, but what HE wants us to know is if we seek HIM first HE will take care of us. HE will never give up, but this is the warning, if you only depend on HIM is in your pain, buckle up and be ready to hurt, HIS desire for a relationship with you outweighs how you feel, and HE is willing to allow pain in your life if it will make you look up instead of out.
Prayer:
Father, we know that all you want is our attention, your word tells us that. You are a jealous GOD, wanting nothing more than a relationship with us, and it’s understandable, after the price that you paid for us. You gave it all, and we are so grateful, thank you for saving us from our. Today we just want to stay close to you, so that the cries of desperation turn into nothing but praise because we are inside of your will for us. We desire to be tucked up next to you so tight that nothing can fit in between us. You are our “I AM” you are all we need. We know today that if we seek you first, that we have no worries. Thank you for never giving up on us and always being there when we cry out in desperation. Thank you for the training that you have put in so that we would realize our dependency on you. Thank you for giving us a book that expresses how much you truly love us. What an amazing GOD and Father you are. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.