Judges 10

The Explanation

Listen. There was a time when Israel had no king, only judges. A judge was a leader God gave them when things went wrong.

First came Tola. He lived in the hill country, in a town called Shamir. For twenty-three years he kept Israel safe. Then he died and they buried him.

After him came Jair. He had thirty sons, and every single one of them rode on his own young donkey. Can you picture that? Thirty donkeys clip-clopping down the road, thirty brothers on their backs. Each son had his own town. People still remembered those towns years later.

But then Jair died too. And something went wrong in Israel.

The people looked around at the nations near them and saw their statues. Baal. Ashtoreth. The gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, of the Philistines. Seven kinds of gods made of wood and stone. And Israel bowed down to all of them.

They forgot the God who brought them out of Egypt. The Bible says it plainly: "They abandoned Yahweh, and didn't serve him."

God saw it, and God was angry. Not the way you are angry when someone takes your seat. God was angry the way a father is angry when his children walk straight into danger and will not listen.

Then the enemies came. The Philistines from one side. The Ammonites from the other. For eighteen years they pushed Israel down, took their food, made their lives hard. The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan river and attacked Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. Israel was squeezed from every direction. The Bible says Israel was very distressed.

So they cried out to God. "We have sinned against you," they said. "We left you and served the Baals."

And now something happens that might surprise you. God does not say, "That's all right, come here." God says: Didn't I save you from the Egyptians? From the Amorites? From the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites? Every time you cried, I came. And every time, afterwards, you left me again.

Then God says the hardest words in this chapter: "Therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!"

Imagine standing there. Silence. The statues in the corner say nothing, because statues never say anything.

And Israel does not run away. They stay. They say, "We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today."

And then they do something. They carry all those foreign gods out of their houses and get rid of them. Every one. And they serve Yahweh again.

And the Bible says a beautiful thing about God: his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. God's heart could not bear to see them suffer.

What Does This Mean?

God is not a vending machine. You cannot ignore Him for years, then push a button when you are scared and expect Him to pop out.

But look closely at what Israel did. They did not just say sorry with their mouths. They carried the idols out the door. Saying sorry and then changing something, that is what God is looking for.

And God? He could not stay away from their pain. That is who He is.

The Common Thread

Israel asked, "Only deliver us, please, today." At the end of the chapter the leaders ask, "Who is the man who will begin to fight?" They needed someone to save them.

Years and years later, God sent the Rescuer everybody had been waiting for. Jesus. He came for people who had wandered off, again and again. He did not say, "I will save you no more." He said, "Follow me."

For You

Is there something you need to carry out the door this week? A lie you told that you still have not admitted? A mean word you said to your brother or sister? Do not just think it. Go and say it out loud to that person today.

Talk About It

Why do you think God said "I will save you no more" first, before He helped?

What does it look like to be really sorry, not just say sorry?

Praying Together

God, thank you that our pain matters to you. We are sorry for the things we do wrong. Help us not just to say it, but to change it. Amen.