Daily Bible Reflection 12/1

Continuing a plan to get through the entire Bible in a year, follow as I journal through the reading. I have chosen a straightforward approach that begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. This will not be an in-depth study or a comprehensive commentary. There are plenty of sources for such material. This is stage one Bible reading, taking the text at face value and sharing impressions.

Today’s reading comes from the book of Judges, chapters 1 and 2, describing Israel’s slide into sin after Joshua’s passing. Some impressions from the text:

• In the wake of Joshua’s death, Israel begins a gradual slide into disobedience. Things begin well with continued conquest throughout the Promised Land. However, they fail to obey God’s commandments to the letter, choosing to keep slaves of their enemies rather than drive them out of the land.
• This seemingly minor infraction, allowing enemies to live among them, leads to significantly worse sin. Indeed, God gives them over to their desire, as we see exemplified time and again in scripture. What starts as unsanctioned mercy, as if the creation could be more merciful than the Creator, leads to full blown “whoring after other gods.”
• There’s a generational component to Israel’s slide into sin. The generation which witnessed the wonders in Egypt and throughout the wilderness died off, and a new generation “who did not know the Lord” wandered off into idolatry. Whose fault was this? How did the new generation not know the Lord? The text does not specify, but we can imagine that they were not properly taught by their fathers.
• The cycle of judges remains intact today. People are called out of sin, prosper, grow apathetic, and wander off into idolatry and subsequent suffering. Believers guard against this tendency by remaining steeped in the Word and engaged in prayer.

Return soon as we continue our year-long journey through the text of the Bible.

Catch up on the previous entries:

Archived Genesis posts (scroll down in link).

Archived Exodus posts (scroll down in link) .

Archived Leviticus posts (scroll down in link).

Archived Numbers posts (scroll down in link).

Archived Deuteronomy posts (scroll down in link).

Archived Joshua posts (scroll down in link).