The Lord said, I will no longer deliver you.

“Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” The Lord said to the sons of Israel, “ Did I not deliver you  from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” The sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.”  Judges 10:10-16

Where do we go when God’s not home? I can’t think of a more frightening prospect than hearing God say “I’m done with you!” 

This didn’t happen in a vacuum.The sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Their Judge died and they began serving the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; Apparently, Yahweh wasn’t good enough for them. God’s anger burned and He let the Philistines overtake and rule them. Their lives were miserable for eighteen years.

Finally...they cried out. But this wasn’t the first time. God said “we’ve been through this several times. I’m no longer going to help. Let your new God’s deliver you.” 

You and I should never take God’s mercy and grace for granted. Yet...we often do. And when finally come to our senses, we often feel like God is not responding. Where do we go then? What do we do?

The most important lesson here is that Israel did not give up. They knew they had no place else to turn so they repented and began following God faithfully. They said...”We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord;” and God could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

Most often our troubles derive from our own disobedience. Trouble is only a symptom or consequence. Truthfully, we should be thankful that God cares enough to bring distress into our lives. It’s a sign that something’s wrong. When He does, we would be well served to NOT wait eighteen years to sort things out. That is truly testing God’s patience. If we wander long enough, we may even hear God say “I will no longer rescue you.” If that happens, don’t despair. We know what to do...return to God anyway.  He will do what’s right and...God honors obedience.

God will relent...

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said “they are rejecting me as their King”

All the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 1 Samuel 8:4-7

So, Israel asked for a King. It’s an interesting request. They claimed it was because they couldn’t trust the Judges to lead them in a righteous manner...and that caused problems. Of course, they were just ”passing the buck.”  Throughout the period of the Judges we are frequently told “Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” But, it seemed convenient to blame the Judges for their problems. Denial is the first sign of addiction and the Israelites we’re addicted to sin.

When we’re in denial we don’t often make wise decisions because we dont look at circumstances honestly. So, if not a Judge, what? A King seemed like a good idea...everyone around had one. There is a huge difference between a judge and a king. A judge is empowered, by God, to let the people know what God wants. A King is empowered by his army to demand from the people what “he” wants.

Samuel knew it was a bad idea but God said “Listen to what the people are asking you to do. It is what they have always done, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, rejecting Me and serving other gods.”

But make it plain to them what they are asking. Warn them about what will happen if a king is appointed to rule them...

So Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the Eternal One had said ‘If a king rules over you, things will be different from now on.”

• He will make your sons drive his chariots, be his horsemen, and go into battle ahead of his chariots. 
• He will select commanders over 1,000 and commanders over 50. He will make some of you to plow his fields and collect his harvest; some of you will be the blacksmiths forging his shields and swords for battle and outfitting his chariots. 
• He will force your daughters to make perfumes, to cook his meals, and to bake his bread. 
• He will seize the choicest of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards to give to his courtiers, 
• a tenth of your grain and your vineyards to give to his court eunuchs and servants. 
• This king you ask for will take your slaves, male and female, as his own and put the choicest of your donkeys and your young men to do his work. 
• He will take a tenth of your flocks. You will essentially become his slaves. 
• One day you will cry for mercy from the Eternal One to save you from this king you have chosen for yourselves, but be assured, He will not hear you on that day. 

Not one word about how a king would lead them in paths of righteousness or reveal God’s will to them. And the people foolishly said...we still want a king.They either didn’t believe Samuel or they didn’t care. They wanted a king. So God said “give them a king.”

They had outgrown God...addiction can be a dangerous thing.

If we aren’t careful, we react the same way. We live lives characterized by spiritual highs and lows. We pray, we try, we stumble, we suffer and God feels distant. After awhile we start to believe it’s God’s fault. If He was truly what he claims, we wouldn’t be on this roller coaster. We get weary and look for another way...a king. I’ve heard it countless times in my years of ministry: “God (faith, the Church, Jesus) just wasn’t working for me.”

We are fee to reject God. He isn’t holding a gun to our head. When we do, however, we should be aware of the consequences. Our new master will not discipline us to lead us back to God. Our new master will discipline us to establish and demonstrate his own power and authority. So...who do I follow? Who have I made “King?” My job? my spouse? My lusts? My possessions? My money? The answer comes when we identify what motivates us to do what we do.

As Bob Dylan said, “you’ve got to serve somebody.” If it isn’t God...it’s a problem

Live boldly out there today...