Lately I have been reading in the Book of Judges which, at times, can be a little depressing. Those three centuries when the judges ruled were characterized by failure and unpleasantness (Judges 2:11-19 summarizes this period). Before the days of the Judges, the Lord had used Joshua to set Israel up for success. Joshua had defeated the 31 Canaanite fortress cities, which removed the major military forces that Israel had to deal with. Joshua then finished his tasks by dividing up the land among Israel’s 12 tribes (Moses had started the process several years earlier). Then it was up to each individual tribe to completely remove the Canaanites from their tribal area.
Israel’s selective obedience. One did not have to have a Ph.D. degree to figure out what the Lord required of Israel. He had given two very clear commands in several places including Deuteronomy 7:1-4. These were: (1) completely remove the Canaanites from the land, and (2) don’t ever intermarry with them. To leave them in the land and/or to intermarry with them was to invite their gross idolatry into the life of Israel. The Canaanites were completely corrupt; truly a “XXX” rated culture. Their religions were of the crudest forms of fertility religions, where sexual activities were very much a part of their “worship,” and sacrificing children was also part of their “worship.” Obviously, the lure of such sexual involvement was a huge attraction to many. The following verses from the Book of Judges reveals some of the situation back then.
“AND IT CAME ABOUT WHEN ISRAEL BECAME STRONG (because of Joshua’s destroying of the fortress cities), THAT THEY PUT THE CANANNITES TO FORCED LABOR, BUT THEY DID NOT DRIVE THEM OUT COMPLETELY.” (1:28)
“YOU SHALL MAKE NO COVENANT WITH THE INHABITANTS OF THIS LAND; YOU SHALL TEAR DOWN THEIR ALTARS, BUT YOU HAVE NOT OBEYED ME” (2:2)
“SO, THEY FORSOOK THE LORD AND SERVED BAAL (the male deities) AND THE ASHAROTH (the female deities). (2:14)
Centuries later, Psalm 106 would give an overview of Israel’s history, emphasizing God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness. Included in that overview, the psalmist spoke of the terrible days of the judges (Psa. 106:34-39).
THEY DID NOT DESTROY THE PEOPLES, AS THE LORD COMMANDED THEM, BUT THEY MINGLED WITH THE NATIONS AND LEARNED THEIR PRACTICES, AND SERVED THEIR IDOLS, WHICH BECAME A SNARE TO THEM. THEY EVEN SACRIFICED THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS TO THE DEMONS, AND SHED INNOCENT BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS, WHOM THEY SACRIFICED TO THE IDOLS OF CANAAN, AND THE LAND WAS POLLUTED WITH THE BLOOD. THUS, THEY BECAME UNCLEAN IN THEIR PRACTICES, AND PLAYED THE HARLOT IN THEIR DEEDS.
At first, it was probably pretty nice to have all those slaves doing the work for you. Plowing fields, removing rocks, building houses, tending the animals, and hauling water was now done by the enslaved Canaanites. Apparently, a little disobedience was not all that serious. Modifying God’s rather harsh commands seemed to be working out quite well. But, of course, selective obedience was/is serious and did have consequences. On and off for the next few centuries, Israel experienced God’s discipline on them, as they were conquered and oppressed by foreign nations. Life was often miserable for God’s people. This miserable life was never God’s will or desire for them. The blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14 was what the Lord God wanted for them. A truly abundant kind of life would be theirs, characterized by peace and prosperity. But this abundant kind of life depended on their obedience to the Lord.
The Big Question. Why? Whenever unpleasant experiences come, the “why” question soon emerges. For example, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and informed him about Israel’s current situation, Gideon asked “if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13). Gideon was referring to the seven years of Midianite oppression when they made life hard for Israel by destroying all their crops and stealing all their animals. Those seven years were tough and unpleasant. However, Gideon’s question had been answered by a prophet sent from God who clearly declared “you have not obeyed Me” (Judges 6:10). They had not removed the Canaanites from the land and they had intermarried with them, and this was the predicted consequence. Israel certainly never wanted these unpleasant things to come into their lives, and they should have put two and two together and realized that being selective in their obedience to God’s commands would have negative consequences; consequences that the Lord never wanted for His people to experience.
Lessons to be learned. The Apostle Paul reminded the believers at Corinth that God had these Old Testament accounts written down because they contained truths which could benefit God’s people in all ages (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). As I reflect on ancient Israel’s tendency to be selectively obedient, unfortunately I can see myself resembling them in doing the same. Have you too had those moments when complete obedience did not really characterize your life? As an example, one significant subject area is that of idolatry in our lives. Paul exhorted believers to “flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14), and likewise the Apostle John said, “little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Clearly, they show us that idolatry can come into the believer’s life. Idolatry seeps into our lives when there is something or someone who replaces the Lord Jesus Christ as first place in our affections and loyalties. And we cannot serve two masters, which means our obedience to Jesus Christ will not be a complete obedience. Jesus was clear that He is to be Lord of our lives and no one and nothing should be a close second. Status, possessions, positions, the acclaim of others, another person, money, and a myriad of other possibilities cannot have preeminence over our lives without there being consequences. And it is here that we sometimes fool ourselves (remember that our hearts remain deceitful). Sometimes when negatives come into our life experience, we believe it to be God’s will when it is simply the consequences of idolatry (and our selective obedience). Other areas are ripe for selective obedience; such as Christ’s commands concerning marriage. Husbands are commanded to provide leadership which is characterized by love (seeking the best for the wife), while the wife is to respectfully place herself under the husband recognizing God’s order of home government (Eph. 5:22-33). Or, the command to love (seek the best) for other believers and to keep unified as a church (Eph. 4:1-3). There are, of course, many other areas that could be used as examples, but we all get the point. And it is possible that upon reflection we can see how our selective obedience in one of the above areas has brought pain and unpleasantness into our own lives.
The blessing of non-selective obedience. As with Israel, the Lord Jesus offers an abundant kind of life for you and I. And this is securely tied with the matter of our obedience. Many places in the Scriptures teach this. One on my favorite texts is John 15:1-11, which records Jesus’ teaching of the vine and the branches. A fruitful, full life is available to all believers when we “abide” in Jesus (that is, when we remain in fellowship with Him). And, Jesus says “abiding” is achieved by our obedience (John 15:10). When we live in fellowship with the Savior our lives are supernaturally productive and there comes JOY to us (John 15:11).
Even in the dark days of the judges, there were those, like Boaz/Ruth, who obeyed the Lord and were blessed by Him. The Book of Judges also teaches us that the Lord is characterized by mercy and grace and was so very willing to forgive His people of their selective obedience. That’s very encouraging to us, isn’t it? Perfection has alluded all of us, but it is spiritually healthy to take moments now and again to ask the Spirit of God to show us if there are areas in our lives where our obedience is not complete. We do not want to be like ancient Israel in the days of the judges who lived too much of their lives in the consequences of selective obedience. So, even if we are embarrassed by our times of selective obedience, we can turn from that way of living and experience the wonderful grace of God.
“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)