Albert Einstein once said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we use this definition, the people of Israel look pretty crazy in this chapter of The Story. In the time of the Judges the people of God went through the same cycle over and over again. Each time they rebelled and turned away from God they would face the same results: a foreign army would invade and they would end up an oppressed, occupied, and broken nation.
You would think that after living through this cycle two or three times they would have caught on. But this chapter of The Story makes clear that they did not learn from past experience. Every time they ended up oppressed and abandoned, they were shocked!
As we read these Bible accounts, it would be easy to wag a finger at our ancestors of the faith. But when we look into a mirror and examine our own lives, we just might see ourselves acting a lot like the people of Israel, wallowing in the same cycle of sin month after month and year after year.
In the continual cycle that occurs in the time of the Judges, God’s people kept embracing the sins, religion, and behaviors of those who lived in the land before they conquered it. Think about some ways Christians today embrace the sin, practices, and culture of our day and end up sinning and feeling distant from God?
The above is taken from The Story: Getting to the Heart of God’s Story, pages 55 and 57.
1. Contrast how God saw Gideon with how Gideon saw himself (Judges 6:11 – 16; The Story, p. 108). How does this breathe hope into our hearts in the moments we feel God could never do great things through us?
2. Israel is constantly running from the true God to other false gods. What are some of the false gods in our culture today?
3. How would you describe Deborah? In what ways does her story influence your view of women in leadership?
4. In what ways was Samson a faithful man of God? In what ways was he not?
The Israelites again disobeyed God’s laws and turned to pagan idol worship. The Canaanites’ influence on them was strong. They had inhabited this land before the Israelites, who were nomads in the desert for many years. The Canaanites’ farming skills were superior and turned out better crops. The Israelites were aware of this and might have come to believe that the Canaanites’ idol worship was the reason for this. Regardless of what the cause, and there were probably many, the Israelites turned away from God. God’s judgment came, and they cried out to Him for help. God always comes to the rescue.
There are many influences and false gods in our lives today. Sometimes a person can get lulled into a comfortable situation that turns out to be detrimental. The way we spend our time and resources is indicative of what we value. It is so easy be consumed by a culture that values entertainment and comforts. It is so easy for me to think, “I deserve this privilege” (or whatever it may be), when I don’t deserve anything. Everything I have comes from God and the many blessings I have are His gifts to me. I forget this and stumble so much, and have to remember to turn to God for help through prayer and reading His word.
Even though I am short on talents that many people posses, I can still use the gifts that God gave to me to honor Him. It is comforting to read about Gideon and see how God used him. Gideon did not feel worthy or competent enough for the task that God had for him, and therefore asked for signs from God that he had the right person.
Deborah, being the leader of the Israelites, settled disputes that occurred among the people. What a difficult responsibility that was! Also, when she asked Barak to lead men to Mt. Tabor in their pursuit of the Canaanites, he would do that only if Deborah went with him. This showed the respect and trust the people had in her.
ReplyDeletePoint to ponder…
Albert Einstein once said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we use this definition, the people of Israel look pretty crazy in this chapter of The Story. In the time of the Judges the people of God went through the same cycle over and over again. Each time they rebelled and turned away from God they would face the same results: a foreign army would invade and they would end up an oppressed, occupied, and broken nation.
You would think that after living through this cycle two or three times they would have caught on. But this chapter of The Story makes clear that they did not learn from past experience. Every time they ended up oppressed and abandoned, they were shocked!
As we read these Bible accounts, it would be easy to wag a finger at our ancestors of the faith. But when we look into a mirror and examine our own lives, we just might see ourselves acting a lot like the people of Israel, wallowing in the same cycle of sin month after month and year after year.
In the continual cycle that occurs in the time of the Judges, God’s people kept embracing the sins, religion, and behaviors of those who lived in the land before they conquered it. Think about some ways Christians today embrace the sin, practices, and culture of our day and end up sinning and feeling distant from God?
The above is taken from The Story: Getting to the Heart of God’s Story, pages 55 and 57.
ReplyDeleteQuestions to consider…
1. Contrast how God saw Gideon with how Gideon saw himself (Judges 6:11 – 16; The Story, p. 108). How does this breathe hope into our hearts in the moments we feel God could never do great things through us?
2. Israel is constantly running from the true God to other false gods. What are some of the false gods in our culture today?
3. How would you describe Deborah? In what ways does her story influence your view of women in leadership?
4. In what ways was Samson a faithful man of God? In what ways was he not?
The Israelites again disobeyed God’s laws and turned to pagan idol worship. The Canaanites’ influence on them was strong. They had inhabited this land before the Israelites, who were nomads in the desert for many years. The Canaanites’ farming skills were superior and turned out better crops. The Israelites were aware of this and might have come to believe that the Canaanites’ idol worship was the reason for this.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what the cause, and there were probably many, the Israelites turned away from God. God’s judgment came, and they cried out to Him for help. God always comes to the rescue.
There are many influences and false gods in our lives today. Sometimes a person can get lulled into a comfortable situation that turns out to be detrimental. The way we spend our time and resources is indicative of what we value. It is so easy be consumed by a culture that values entertainment and comforts. It is so easy for me to think, “I deserve this privilege” (or whatever it may be), when I don’t deserve anything. Everything I have comes from God and the many blessings I have are His gifts to me. I forget this and stumble so much, and have to remember to turn to God for help through prayer and reading His word.
Even though I am short on talents that many people posses, I can still use the gifts that God gave to me to honor Him. It is comforting to read about Gideon and see how God used him. Gideon did not feel worthy or competent enough for the task that God had for him, and therefore asked for signs from God that he had the right person.
Deborah, being the leader of the Israelites, settled disputes that occurred among the people. What a difficult responsibility that was! Also, when she asked Barak to lead men to Mt. Tabor in their pursuit of the Canaanites, he would do that only if Deborah went with him. This showed the respect and trust the people had in her.