New gods                                       02-26-16

Judges 5:8 (ESV) ⁸  When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?



I decided to start the Book of Judges this week past. It had been a long time since I read Judges so here I am. As I read yesterday, this verse kinda jumped out at me.I did a little research into the history and events surrounding the times of this passage and thought I would pass it along to you today. A short commentary proclaimed many times in the past, but relevant today as well.Reads much the same as what we read today from the citadels of leadership in this nation.

It seems that the history of the period of Judges in Israel looks much like today's world. A long ,gradual descent, although highlighted by some up ticks, into apostasy and idolatry. The title verse is taken from a passage called Deborah's Song. This passage is during one of the up ticks in Israel's decline, when a judge named Deborah led Barak and the Israelites to victory over the Canadians and their general Sisera. After the victory,Deborah's praise in song of the power and providence of God Almighty is recorded for eternity.While recounting the glory of the Israelites victory, made possible by the Hand of God, Deborah inserts a negative. A warning to future generations explaining the why's surrounding the wars and chaos in Israel then and even now. And certainly an insight into the whys or why nots that we in this nation are having our very life strangled by the wars and chaos inflicted upon our generation. 

"...when new gods were chosen......"

Israel's decline into slavery and captivity rings eerily similar to our own state of affairs doesn't it seem? If you read the two or three preceding verses, you will discover that the conditions in Israel leading up to this victory were unstable and chaotic.With no centralized and Godly leadership, the nation was unstable. Highways were abandoned because they could not be protected and secured from criminal activity. It was dangerous going from one place to another.Villages(see neighborhoods and communities in our day) had ceased due to the same conditions. Crime and violence ruled the day; and, government was either unable or unwilling to take action. Deborah gives reason for the low estate of the nation. "New gods were chosen,THEN(caps mine) war was in the gates." Sounds like the front and editorial pages of any newspaper in this land. What say you? And herein lie th the message, not only for our nation, but for us as individuals. My point being this:

Israel's spiritual decline, as well as it's people, preceded and mirrored their political,social and economic decline.You feeling me here? A nation, such as America, is identical to the church in it's structure and makeup. How so? A nation is not something in and of itself. It is not created separate from it's people. Just like the church is not the building, but the people that gather together in the building; a nation is made of it's people. It IS the people.As the people go, so goes the nation.

You can see the obvious can't you? If the people turn away from the God Of Israel. if the people choose other gods, the nation has no other alternative. It mirrors the people.You see brothers and sisters, it is not a poverty problem. It is not an inequality problem. Is not an educational problem. It's not a racial or violence problem, no. Those are indeed problems, oh yes, BUT, and here it is, they are symptomatic of the real problem. The REAL problem being, as in Deborah's Israel,a spiritual decline.   

Time and again in the pages of God's Word, we are confronted with and taught an immutable truth. When a nation or an individual consistently ignores or turns away from God's commands, that disobedience is the beginning of the proverbial slide down the "slippery slope" to trouble. It is not that God slaps us down.He isn't up there waiting to zap us every time we miss it. More often than not, it is a natural consequence of ignoring God's commands. 

If we are ever to right our course in this country, it won't be found in a political philosophy,conservative or liberal. It won't be found in an economic philosophy, socialistic or capitalistic. It won't even be found in the good works of a social gospel. Nope. It will only be established if we the people determine in our hearts to return to the God of our Fathers. To rend not only our garments but our hearts to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Psalm 22:27 (ESB) ²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.



God Bless