Destructive cycles

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 9-12; Psalm 73

TO CHEW ON: “Then the children of Israel again did evil in th sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths…

So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines …

And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD…

And the children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned…’

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:6,7,10,15,16).

In the depressing chapters of our reading today we see firsthand the living out of the summary of this book from Judges 2:

1] The people leave God to worship idols - Judges 2:11-13. 

2] God gives them over to plundering neighbours and nomads who wreck their land and livelihood - Judges 2:14-16. 

3] In desperation the Israelites pray to God for help - Judges 2:15,18. 

4] God sends a leader—a judge—to deliver them - Judges 2:16. 

5] They have peace during the judge’s lifetime but on his death revert back to idol-worshiping ways - Judges 2:19. 

6] The cycle begins again - Judges 2:20-23.

As we read today’s stories of Israel descending with every generation and judge into greater anarchy, chaos, and depravity, it’s easy for us to feel critical. How could they not recognize the self-sabotage in their cycles?

Yet I would submit that their actions are only an outworking of the condition of the human heart that by default rebels against God and looks for other deities.  And I’m not so sure we’re immune from these same kinds of cyclical reactions that keep us from freedom and forward motion.

Do we find ourselves in the same spot of joblessness or debt or hoarding or obesity or addiction or relationship problems that we’ve broken free from in the past? 

Could the answer to complete and final breakthrough be that we need victory over spiritual rebellion in some chamber of our own hearts? Are we returning to our own idols of self, indulgence, fear of not enough, lust, etc. 

Let’s pray for God to give us insight into our own destructive cycles.

PRAYER: The destructive cycles of Israel are not unfamiliar to me. Please help me to see and recognize the rebellions and idols of my own heart that have me going in circles. Please show me the path to breakthrough. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 73

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Inherit the land!

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 1-3; Psalm 53

TO CHEW ON: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain” - Deuteronomy 1:6

“You have skirted this mountain long enough” - Deuteronomy 2:3 NKJV
“You have roamed around this mountain country long enough” Deuteronomy 2:3 AMP

“… inherit the land…” Deuteronomy 3:28

In these first three chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses reviewed for the Israelites the chain of events that had brought them to this time and place (40 years out of Egypt, camped on the eastern border of Canaan). Three bullet points in his lecture stand out and may apply to us too.

“You have dwelt long enough at this mountain” - Deuteronomy 1:6.

The mountain Moses was referring to here was Mount Sinai. We recall what happened there—an intense experience with God: the law, the Tabernacle, worship, all accompanied by God’s electrifying presence.

But they weren’t to stay there. The day came that God said “You have lived here long enough.”

“You have roamed around this mountain country long enough” - Deuteronomy 2:3 AMP.

Moses continued reminding the Israelites of their history in the wilderness, their 38 years of additional wandering. It was a fate they brought on themselves by their fear and refusal (two years into their journey) to trust that God would give them victory over the fearful giants of Canaan.

Thankfully the day came when God again said, “Enough! it’s time to re-engage with faith and courage and claim the promise I gave you 40 years ago” (my paraphrase).

“… inherit the land” - Deuteronomy 3:28

This is part of the assignment God gave Moses for Joshua at the end of our reading: “But command Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”

How do these things relate to us?

There are times we experience spiritual highs—times when God feels close and intimate. Like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, we’d like to camp there… and stay… forever! But that’s not what life is for. We need to re-engage with the world, life, and resume our pilgrimage to realize the purpose and destiny for which we were created.

We can also get stuck going in circles, as the Israelites did. Joyce Meyer has devoted a 10-chapter section of her classic Battlefield of the Mind to “Wilderness Mentalities”—attitudes which keep us from making spiritual progress. She says in the introduction to that section:

“We really shouldn’t look at the Israelites with such astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep going around and around the same mountains instead of making progress. The result is it takes us years to experience victory over something that could have and should have been dealt with quickly” - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 175.

If we’re n such a place, let’s stop trudging around in the desert and pray for insights into attitudes and actions that will bring breakthrough and take us into the land of all God has for us.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I need Your insights into the parts of my life that seem to be going nowhere. Please show me Your secrets of breakthrough. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 53

The Bible Project VIDEO: Deuteronomy (Read Scripture Series)



Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.