Rescue the Perishing
“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.” Judges 13:1
Israel’s pattern of returning to idolatry continued once again perhaps beginning during the time of Abdon. He was a judge over Israel in the era of judges, before the time of kings. Scripture gives us no details about the behavior of the people of Israel during the reigns of the last three judges, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. To most people, Jew or Gentile, sin comes on gradually until it becomes full blown idolatry. To accept a “little” sin only leads to further distance away from God and an eventual abandonment of Him. All throughout the history of ancient Israel, scripture tells us that they would be obedient for a while, then their idolatrous neighbors would influence them into idolatry, God would punish them, they would repent, serve Him for a while, and then the cycle would repeat over and over. God’s punishment was not for retribution, but to urge them back into fellowship with Him. This time it was the Philistines whom God allowed to subject Israel to their rule, and this time, it was 40 years until God sent a deliverer. The number 40 is significant in scripture. In Genesis 7:12, God sent rain upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights while Noah and his family were safe in the ark. The Hebrew children wandered in the wilderness after their escape from Egypt for 40 years on the way to the promised land, which should have only taken about two weeks. It was their disobedience which caused their long journey (Exodus 16:35). Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights before He began His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:2), and the city of Nineveh was given 40 days by the LORD, through Jonah, to repent (Jonah 3:4). Most of the time, God gives people sufficient time to repent of their sins, but not all of the time.
An entire generation had grown up under Philistine domination and thus did not know the God of Israel. I believe that not every single Jews was a participant in the worship of idols or in the gross sins that accompanied idol worship, but that there were some who kept up the worship of Jehovah God, obeying His laws, keeping the sacrifices, and teaching their children to honor and serve the LORD. God has His remnant in every generation who will not abandon Him and turn to idols. I also believe that it was for the sake of these dedicated and loyal Jews that God continued to send a deliverer. He would not abandon His true followers, but protected them. However, they were affected negatively by the sins of their fellow Jews who fell into idolatry and all manner of sin. One cannot live in a sin-cursed world and not be affected by it. Likewise the unjust are benefitted by the obedience of the just because they are indirectly blessed as God blesses His people (Matthew 5:45). There is an old saying that “honesty is the best policy”, which is true, but honest people sometimes get the “short end of the stick” because of the deeds of dishonest people who take advantage of those who are righteous. Honesty is no longer valued as a desirable trait by much of the world. Noel Coward, the English playwright said, “It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” Is that not a picture of our world today?
I know that God is not limited in anything that He can do and that His thoughts and ways are so far above that of created man (Isaiah 55:8). He speaks and it comes to pass; He will not go back on His word, and neither does He need to repent for all His actions are justified (Ezekiel 24:14). He is not controlled by human emotions, but is aware of our limitations for He made us. He never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4), never gets tired of working for our good, never makes a mistake, and never judges unrighteously. Even though God is not limited in His responses to our failures, I still can’t help but wonder if He gets exasperated by the responses of people to Him. How many times did Israel backslide into their old ways and yet His great love had such compassion and mercy to forgive and take them back over and over.
And what about us? How many times does God forgive and forget and return us to a place of healing and comfort? Speaking of places, we are in a place of uncertainty in our nation at this time. This, of course, is not the first time that we have faced many obstacles, and it won’t be the last. I take comfort in knowing that the Lord will never leave or forsake His people, those who are born again, worshipping, serving, and loving Him. We must pray that no matter what the future holds for America and her people, that God will send a deliverer as He sent Samson in that particular time to save Israel and destroy the enemy. There is a song that was sung in my former church entitled, “He’ll Do It Again”, and I believe He will. I just hope it doesn’t take 40 years. God’s people have nothing to fear from man. Man is not in charge even though some think they are. We must keep praying and telling others about the forgiveness, freedom, and joy that is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ and never lose hope. God and His grace are truly amazing.