God’s Judgement

That IS The Punishment, Dude

Today’s devotional is a quick one. The cycle of Judges is that Israel does evil, God punishes Israel, Israel cries out, God raises up a Judge, the Judge delivers Israel, Israel does evil. In this particular example we are looking at the Ammonites. But what I found frankly kind of hilarious is when they call out to God to save them from the oppression that are under, He replies, “Why don’t you ask your new BFF god to save you?”.

[fire emoji]

And they reply, “punish us tomorrow, but save us today!” Not realizing the amazing irony that what they were experiencing WAS the punishment God was visiting on them for their perpetual disobedience!

Here’s the thing: we look at bad circumstances as God abandoning us. But God will never abandon us. He will let us have the desire of our hearts so that we can see how it actually HURTS us rather than helping us. But that is done in order to bring repentance. Whatever circumstance you are in, make sure you are open to the Holy Spirit and allowing God to do His good work in you. Gold is refined in fire, not a warm blanket.

Judges 9:22-11:28 | 093/365

You Are Your Own Witness

At the end of Joshua’s life, he recounts the story so far, spanning from God’s Covenant with Abraham to the arrival in Canaan. He outlines how God has been faithful and provided and delivered on His promises. And then he ends with an exhortation that I found deeply moving. In chapter 24 and verse 22 he says, “You are a witness to your own decision, you have chosen to serve the Lord”.

You are a witness to your own decision. Just think about that. Let it settle in your spirit.

God knows you inside and out, your coming and your going, He knows the deepest desires of your heart of hearts. But Joshua doesn’t point that out, instead he underscores that they know what they’ve said. And in the same way WE know what WE have said. This means that they are accountable for their choices. They understood what was at stake and we will be called to answer for how they have lived in light of that evidence.

The same is true for us. We know what we are committing to, and so if we choose to abandon that commitment we will have to reckon with the consequences for the oath we revoked. In a word that is trying everything it can — both subtly AND overtly — to cause distraction, doubt, disillusionment, and deconstruction… we MUST be on guard. We must stand witness to our decision. Joshua 24:31 paints an ominous picture:

Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elderswho outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

We aren’t told that Israel continued to serve the Lord, but rather that those “who had experienced” continued to serve. Friends, there is no reason we cannot experience the work of the Lord every day of our lives. If we draw near to Him we are told explicitly that He will draw near to us. Let’s near ever nearer so that our hearts do not grow cold, so that we do not fall away, so that we do not receive due judgement for abandoning our oath, but rather that we receive our reward in Christ Jesus for a life lived for His glory. Amen.

Joshua 22-24 | 089/365

Submission to the Lord’s Judgement

God decides it is time to visit His judgement on the Midianites. The tribes of Israel each prepare 1000 fighting men. 12,000 in total. This is far less than the total fighting personnel available. And they easily defeat the Midianites. All 5 kings fall in the battle. A sobering reminder of what could have been in the promised land if the Israelites had trusted God as prompted by Caleb and Joshua.

But it gets interesting when the soldiers return with the women and children as prisoners, or servants, or whatever the law allowed. Moses and Eleazar were furious and told the soldiers to kill the boys and any non-virgin women. But why?

The women part is pretty simple: these were the women who tried to draw their hearts away from God. And He had already pronounced His judgement on them. They could not be spared. They played a crucial part in the idolatry of Israel.

But why the boys? Because the judgement was carried out on the Midianites. And in that culture the boys passed down the lineage. So as long as these boys lived, so too did the Midianites. They had to die for God’s judgement to be completed. On an apologetic note, it is worth mentioning that these boys could well have been very young. Under the age of accountability. If so, I think it is reasonable that God visited an earthly judgement upon them, but then received them to Himself. They might well be in Heaven and we might expect to be able to talk with them when we get there.

When event like this come up in the Bible we like to get outraged, furrow our brows and click our tongues and say (to ourselves or others)… God should have done [your idea here].

Remember that God has an eternal perspective and knows everything. In fact, He knows MORE than everything, He knows everything that would have been, had circumstances been different. He can account for any counterfactual you can imagine. The takeaway is this:

You can’t out-justice God. You can’t out-mercy God. You can’t out-love God. If you and He disagree, you are the one who is wrong.

Mar 10 | Num 30-31 | 068/365

Lack of Faith is Rebellion

12 scouts are sent into the promised land, all 12 agree that the land is incredible and rich in resources. But only one, Caleb of the tribe of Judah thinks they can actually take the land. When 10 of the other scouts start spreading a bad report about the trip and telling all the people of Israel that they people are giants who will crush them like grasshoppers, Joshua joins Caleb in saying that with God in their side, they can take the land.

But the people refused to be convinced. Rather than acknowledge that God delivered them OUT of the powerful nation of Egypt and can therefore deliver them INTO the smaller, less powerful land of Canaan… they leave God out of the calculus entirely!

WE can’t do it. WE are like grasshoppers. WE will die. WE. WE. WE.

It feels crazy to me after witnessing all they had in Egypt, after being led around by pillars of smoke and fire, they still don’t have faith in God to provide for them! And when God has called us into something and has asked us to trust Him and we know it, to refuse is rebellion. And rebellion is sin.

If you know God is calling you into something, even if it’s scary or unknown, do it. He won’t lead you astray. And you may just find that it will turn into the blessing of a lifetime! If you don’t, not only are you missing out on God’s best, but you are rejecting His gift and His goodness. You are in rebellion against God.

Whose will be done?

128k.ca