Saturday, September 5, 2015

Judges 4 - Justice

At first blush, this chapter would seem to scream for a commentary on girl power as we see the story of a woman judge and a woman warrior take center stage. There is no doubt that God can do mighty things with a woman when His Spirit is allowed to have control. We should all yield to the Holy Spirit and we would see God active and almighty in the circumstances we face. But that is not the topic of this devotion. 

I was struck by how God uses evil to bring justice while at the same time, overcoming evil. In Judges 4:1 after the death of Judge Ehud, Israelites again doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.  Here are God's selected people turning against God's leadership. They go their own way and once again disregard God. They prese that because they are Hos people that God will bless and bless without holding them accountable for sin. We could discuss some parallels for today among Christians, but there is no time for that. 

Enter the Canaanites. Remember in Chapter 1 how the Israelites did not annihilate the Canaanites, but allowed th to live in the land as well?  Now they have become more bold and have captured Israel. Note however, in Judges 4:2 that it was the Lord who initiated this action. This was not just their inclination or the natural result of their prior choices, but God is actively moving nations against His own people. Sisera, the commander of the armies was merely being used by God to execute justice against His people. God cannot be treated with such casual disregard by His own. He will defend himself and humble His people to bring them back to himself. 

Sisera cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 long years. When the Israelites had come to the end of themselves, they cried out to the Lord for help. It makes you wonder why they would wait so long but our sin nature is stubborn and headstrong. We resist yielding to God and resist doing our battle in prayer. We prefer our own efforts and it takes a while for us to realize again our efforts are nothing against the powers of God or the peers of Satan at work. Yet they did cry to God and He answered their prayer. 

Even though Sisera had a huge army and great power to oppress, even he was no match for even the most unlikely warrior, a woman who was aligned with him. God had a plan to defeat Sisera and there was nothing he could do to resist God. The armies of Israel didn't win the victory, but Sisera was taken out without a fight. 

God brought both Justice and victory to Israel all because one person led by the Spirit of God followed His leading. God seemingly allowed the pagan nations to overcome God's people and to reign for a time, but God will not let them escape Hos wrath. For those who do evil, God will not overlook. But for those who will turn to h in prayerful dependence He will offer great power to see victory over the enemy. Will we yield to God's Spirit at work in us?

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him. 

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