Somebody Has To Hold The Line
Today’s Passage – Judges 1 – 3
(Second Milers also read – Hebrews 9 – 13 (Hebrews 9 – 11; Hebrews 12 – 13); Proverbs 20; Psalms 96 – 100)
Scripture Memory for March – Psalm 1
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 92:1 – 4
“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.” – (Judges 2:7)
“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” – (Judges 2:10)
“And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.” – (Judges 2:12)
Years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to see the place where the great Civil War battle took place back in 1863. On the second day of the battle there were a group of men from Maine, lead by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who were entrusted with holding the southern end of the Union line at a place called Little Round Top. If the Confederate army could breach that line, or somehow get around it, they would have been able to defeat the Union army that day, and may have been able to win the war. Colonel Chamberlain, and the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment held the line, and held back the Confederate Army. Toward the end of the battle, the Union army had run out of amunition, and were forced to repel their attackers with a charge down the hill with only their bayonets as weapons.
Our Scripture passage today in the Book of Judges tells us that when Joshua and the leaders from his generation were alive, they held the line against idolatry and immorality in the land of Israel. On their watch, they kept evil from creeping into the land. However, when Joshua’s generation died off, the next generation allowed all kinds of wickedness to enter into the lives of the people of Israel. They didn’t hold the line. It seems that, though Joshua and his contemporaries were good at leading the people in righteousness, they failed at training the next generation to do the same.
I made a similar observation this morning about our generation today. In America today there are many churches that are attracting large crowds, but unfortunately they are drawing people in by making their worship services as comfortable as possible to a lost world. Now, don’t misunderstand, I am not against people being comfortable in church, and I want people to enjoy their time at our services. However, I don’t want to compromise what I know to be right, in order to make lost people, or carnal Christians, feel more comfortable at our church. I am more concerned with the Saviour’s pleasure, than with the Seeker’s. Today, our churches have become so like the world, that there is little difference between Christians and the lost people around them. My point in all this is that I believe that by watering down everything that we stand for, and by opening the church doors wide to worldliness, we are going to lose the next generation. If we have only “a form a godliness”, what will our kid’s have? If we have to tickle the ears of people now to get them to come in, or keep them from going out, what will the next generation have to do?
We need to hold the line, and we need to work to raise a new generation of godly Christians that will be more sold-our, more separated, and better soul-winners than we are. If we don’t, America will be totally lost. Somebody’s got to hold the line.
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They Did It Their Way
Today’s Passage – Judges 20, 21; Proverbs 27
(Second Milers also read – Revelation 4 – 6; Memorize John 10:29 – 30)
“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” – (Judges 21:25)
I hope that you are taking the time to carefully read these chapters in the Book of Judges. If you have, then you have noticed that there certainly is a lot of wierd stuff going on here in these passages; and you may be wondering if God is putting His stamp of approval on all that was happening. He certainly is not. The Bible here is merely recording honestly the condition of God’s people as they really were in this time period. They have certainly gone a long way away from the will of God. The concluding verse (above) to the Book of Judges seems to sum it all up: “every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. They could have sang the Frank Sinatra song, “I Did It My Way”. There was no earthly king, but the real problem was that they stopped submitting to the kingship of God. Israel was in a mess morally, and they had forsaken the system of worship that God had instituted for them as they wandered in the wilderness.
We can see this same problem in our country today. Our nation used to instill Biblical principles into the lives of her citizens. A lost heathen of 100 years ago knew more about the Bible and could quote more verses than the average Christian can today. We are a Bible illiterate society, and the dearth of the Word of God is manifesting itself in every area of our society. We are in a mess here in America. We call “right” wrong, and “wrong” right. We tolerate, condone, and even support the vilest immorality imaginable; and it is getting worse by the day. As a nation, we know precious little about the Person of God, let alone the Principles of His Word. We need to have an awakening like the children of Israel had in these chapters in the Book of Judges. Maybe God will have to shake our world a little bit more in judgment in order to get us to wake up.
I hate to say this, but the problem is also huge within our fundamental churches. It amazes me that people will come to church; listen to the Word of God as it is preached, and sometimes even nod their heads or say “Amen” in agreement; and then go out into their lives, and do the opposite of what God just instructed. And the crazy thing is, they don’t even realize that they are doing it. We need to wake up. We need God to shake us back into an awareness of our utter dependence upon Him. We need to follow the Word of God wholly, and allow the Spirit of God to guide us into all truth.
The nation of Israel entered into the land of Canaan with full intention to live according to the will of God for the rest of their existence. If you were to somehow show them how far away they would get, they would think it absurd; but slowly, and very gradually they moved further and further away from the truth. Christians, we are doing the same thing; and it is happening so gradually that we do not even notice it. Let’s get back to the basics of loving God, winning souls, and living in and by His Word.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Judges by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
You Can Do A Lot With A Little
Today’s Passage – Judges 7, 8; Proverbs 22
(Second Milers also read – 1 Peter 1 – 5; memorize Hebrews 1:8)
“And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.” – (Judges 7:4)
This is one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible. The nation of Israel was at war with the Midianites, who numbered 135,000. The Bible says that even the number of their camels was too large to count. The camp of Israel, on the other hand, was much smaller, numbering only 32,000. The people of Israel were already outnumbered by more that 100,000 men, yet God said that Israel had too many men, and He wanted most of them weeded out. First, He eliminates all that are afraid. I have to admit right here that I know that I would have been eliminated in this first cut. Afraid!! I would have been scared to death. Israel was outnumbered nearly 5 to 1. Amazingly, after the fearful left, there was still 10,000 left. Now they were outnumbered 13 to 1. This is not good military strategy folks. Yet, God said that they still had too many. At the next cut the troops of Israel were reduced down to 300. This was 440 Midianites to every 1 Israelite. You would agree, that this left Israel in a (humanly) hopeless situation. But you know what happens, don’t you. God gave the victory.
Consider some other verses:
“And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” – (1 Samuel 14:6)
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” – (Luke 1:37)
“Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” – (Genesis 18:14)
Sometimes, I get a little discouraged that we don’t have more people in our town that are saved and living for the Lord, serving Him in one of the Bible preaching churches. It also bothers me when there seem to be so few within the local church that are really surrendered to the Lord. But when I read passages like this I am reminded that God can do an awful lot with a little. He took down a great big giant with a little teenager. On numerous occasions He destroyed powerful armies with a few sold out soldiers. God loves to be the “underdog”. He loves to show Himself powerful in impossible situations. We may only have a few soldiers in the army at Jersey Shore Baptist Church, but God is more than able to reach the multitudes with them. And God is also ready to show Himself powerful in your life. What impossible situation are you facing today?
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