March 17, 2013 - Every Day God: Back and Forth, Back and Forth

Judges 2-3

Amplified Bible (AMP)

2 Now the Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you;

2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?

3 So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.

4 When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept.

5 They named that place Bochim [weepers], and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the Israelites went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He did for Israel.

8 And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.

9 And they buried him within the boundary of his inheritance in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10 And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel.

11 And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

12 And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

13 And they forsook the Lord and served Baal [the god worshiped by the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth [female deities such as Ashtoreth and Asherah].

14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes.

15 Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed.

16 But the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hands of those who robbed them.

17 And yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not so.

18 When the Lord raised them up judges, then He was with the judge and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to relent because of their groanings by reason of those who oppressed and vexed them.

19 But when the judge was dead, they turned back and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not cease from their practices or their stubborn way.

20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said, Because this people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not listened to My voice,

21 I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,

22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

23 So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out at once, nor had He delivered them into Joshua’s power.

3 Now these are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not previously experienced war in Canaan;

2 It was only that the generations of the Israelites might know and be taught war, at least those who previously knew nothing of it.

3 The remaining nations are: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath.

4 They were for the testing and proving of Israel to know whether Israel would listen and obey the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by Moses.

5 And the Israelites dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites;

6 And they married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

8 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the Israelites served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.

9 But when the Israelites cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel to deliver them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

10 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand and his hand prevailed over Chushan-rishathaim.

11 And the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

12 And the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

13 And [Eglon] gathered to him the men of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and they possessed the City of Palm Trees (Jericho).

14 And the Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

15 But when the Israelites cried to the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man; and by him the Israelites sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

16 Ehud made for himself a sword, a cubit long, which had two edges, and he girded it on his right thigh under his clothing.

17 And he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried it.

19 He himself went [with them] as far as the sculptured [boundary] stones near Gilgal, and then turned back and came to Eglon and said, I have a secret errand to you, O king. Eglon commanded silence, and all who stood by him went out from him.

20 When Ehud had come [near] to him as he was sitting alone in his cool upper apartment, Ehud said, I have a commission from God to execute to you. And the king arose from his seat.

21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into Eglon’s belly.

22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade, for [Ehud] did not draw the sword out of his belly, and the dirt came out.

23 Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the upper room upon [Eglon] and locked them.

24 When [Ehud] had gone out, [Eglon’s] servants came. And when they saw the doors of the upper room were locked, they thought, Surely he [is seeking privacy while he] relieves himself in the closet of the cool chamber.

25 They waited a long time until they became embarrassed and uneasy, but when he still did not open the doors of the upper room, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their master fallen to the floor, dead!

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the sculptured [boundary] stones (images) and escaped to Seirah.

27 When he arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the hill country, with him at their head.

28 And he said to them, Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and permitted not a man to pass over.

29 They slew at that time about 10,000 Moabites, all strong, courageous men; not a man escaped.

30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had peace and rest for eighty years.

31 After [Ehud] was Shamgar son of Anath, who slew 600 Philistine men with an oxgoad. He also delivered Israel.

So yeah. The children of Israel were God's unfaithful bride. A younger generation rose up who simply didn't want to serve God. Back and forth, back and forth. I can honestly say I've been this way in my heart before. Selfishly going my own way until things went wrong. I have fallen on my face and begged God to forgive me and help me out of the mess. Of course He did. And I enjoyed a brief time of fellowship with Him. Then as I started feeling better, I became selfish again. And started pulling away from Him. Oh, I didn't plan to pull away. Maybe a better word would be slipped back. And then the same scenario would happen again. Back and forth, back and forth. In 2007, I hit rock bottom emotionally and mentally. I literally couldn't function. In 'O8, I was completely delivered and for the first time in my life, I made a decision to giveHim everything. And I decided I would not slip back into my old selfish ways. So if you currently know me and admire me, let me clue you in. I haven't always been a Jesus freak like I am now. 

"Dear Jesus, I am reminded of how I used to be. I was an unfaithful bride to You. I was never unfaithful to my husband. Never. But I was unfaithful to You. I sporadically spent time with You. I read my Bible some. I prayed some. But I wasted many hours relaxing; thinking I was stressed out and needed down time. I was not a soul winner. I was not Your hands and feet. I was not an obedient servant. I was just like the goats on Your left hand in Matthew chapter 25.

32 All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them [the people] from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats;

33 And He will cause the sheep to stand at His right hand, but the goats at His left.

34 Then the King will say to those at His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God and appointed to eternal salvation], inherit (receive as your own) the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me,

36 I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me [j]with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me.

37 Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?

38 And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You?

39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You?

40 And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.

41 Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

42 For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me and entertain Me, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me [l]with help and ministering care.

44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?

45 And He will reply to them, Solemnly I declare to you, in so far as you failed to do it for the least [in the estimation of men] of these, you failed to do it for Me.

Thank You dear Jesus for putting up with me all those years. Thank You for believing in me when I was inconsistent. How I love You. How I adore You! I long to be with You. I long to see Your face. I long to bring people with me and dance around Your throne. You are amazing, Jesus, AMEN"