God Rescues His People

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, "I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people of the land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you." Judges 2:1-4

The people of Israel went into the Promise Land with a clean slate. There was nothing to hold them back. But they didn't do what they were supposed to, they didn't wipe out the enemies that would plague them for years to come. They didn't destroy the altars and the idols, the asherath poles. They let them be, and those things would ensnare them time and time again.

We do the same thing. We have allowed those things that tempt us to stay in our lives. Those besetting sins that we just can't seem to shake. We should recognize those things, realize the traps that they truly are.

God hasn't left us alone in this, nor did He leave the Israelites. "Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers." Judges 2:16

Every time the Israelites cried out, God heard them. He sent people to rescue them. Every time he sent a new judge to save them. The judges accomplished their missions, they saved the people and turned them back to God. But the return to God didn't last. When that judge died, the people walked away. Every time there wasn't someone to watch over them, they went back to their sinful ways.

Don't be like the Israelites were. Don't turn away from God when you walk away from church on Sunday. Don't keep going back to those sins. The Lord rescues His people. Don't let His rescues go to waste.

Sam