Cycles Of Sin

Cycles of Sin

Q: After the death of Joshua, the Israelites turned from God, and God let them be oppressed by their enemies. The Israelites called on God, and he sent a deliverer, which turned into a succession of deliverers. What were the deliverers called?

• a. rescuers
• b. commanders
• c. judges

The book of Joshua is full of victory. While Joshua was the leader, the Israelites followed God’s commandments. God blessed them and allowed them to be victorious. In contrast, Judges is a book of defeat. Judges 2:10 says, “After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.” The Israelites no longer knew the stories of God’s deliverance. They didn’t follow his way.

God told the 12 tribes that claimed the Promised Land to rid the land of enemies. They were to destroy the idols and tear down the altars. But through the years, they failed to do this. Instead, they made agreements with the enemy and even began worshiping some of their idols.

Because of the Israelites’ disobedience, God would let their enemies defeat them and rule over them. After the oppression went on for a while, the people would call out to God. God would choose a man—or in one case a woman—to be a spiritual leader for the Israelites. This person was called a judge. When the Israelites turned back to God, God would give them the victory. The land would have peace for a while. Then the Israelites would turn away from God again, and the cycle would start over. This happened over and over in the book of Judges.

You might think God used powerful, godly men to deliver the people, but God used unlikely people to be judges. That way, God would get the glory for the victory. You’ll read about a few of them in upcoming devotions.

For You

Does God have your attention? If not, what would it take for you to listen to God?

Answer: c

Every time Israel went out to battle, the LORD fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress. Then the LORD raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.   Judges 2:15-16

(The Whole Story: the book of Judges)