BACKSLIDING ISRAEL

 

Before Joshua died he entered the children of Israel into a covenant to serve God who brought them out of the ‘house of bondage’. The last chapter of the book of Joshua records the people promising four times that they would not abandon their God, that they would serve Him and obey His voice (Joshua 24:16,18,21,22,23).

The covenant came with three warnings as they were about to enter the promised land of the Canaanites: 1. Beware of social intercourse with them (Joshua 23:7; 2. Refrain from worshipping their false gods (vv 7-11); and 3. Avoid intermarriage with hem (v 12). Yet this is exactly what happened.

It only took one act of disobedience to lead the whole nation into centuries of spiritual decline, and this was it:  Israel failed to drive out all the heathen inhabitants of their promised land. Numerous unconquered cities remained (Judges 1:27-36). The tribe of Judah blamed the Philistines which introduced chariots of iron (Judges 1:19) but the real reason was that they had lost the power of the Lord through their lack of faith and their disobedience.

The people wept when an angel of the Lord came to them and confronted them about their failure to obey. He told them the Lord will not drive these inhabitants out for them but that they shall be as ‘thorns in their sides and their gods shall be a snare unto them’ as punishment (Judges 2:3,4; 21-23). It brings to remembrance the Lamanites whom the Lord said to Nephi would be ‘a scourge’ to his people to ‘stir them up in remembrance of Him’ and if they will not remember Him, they shall be the means to their destruction (2 Nephi 5:25).

When Joshua and the leaders of Israel who served under him died, the national spirit of Israel also died. There arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor what He had done for them (Judges 2:10,12). The covenant was soon broken and the vicious cycle of apostasy and repentance was born. How could Israel forget within one generation the God whom they worshipped? This is the period of time in ancient history where the inexhaustible mercy of Jehovah begins to show in earnest.

As the new generation intermarried and turned to idolatry of the Canaanites, ‘the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as He had sworn He would do’ (Judges 2:11-15; 3:6,7) but nevertheless, there was always mercy in the hope that they would return to Him. As they fell into the hands of the oppressors, the Lord would raise up judges to deliver them but once delivered, they would return to their former ways and corrupted themselves even more than before (v 16-19). It makes you want to weep…..

And this is the interesting part. They did not cry to the false gods they worshipped to deliver them but they cried to Jehovah (Judges 3:9). They knew full well who the real God was. So aggrieved was the Saviour about their backsliding and idolatry that He referred to their worship of false gods as ‘harlots with many lovers’ (Hosea 2:5; Jeremiah 3:1). This is heartbreaking as the Saviour always referred to His relationship with Israel as marriage.

He is the Bridegroom who is coming to take us as His bride in the everlasting covenant of love. May we always remember that and forsake the lovers of the world we hold onto today. We can do better than Israel of old.

As Israel, we have trodden worldly paths

That have left us battered, scarred,

And parched in search of love.

Our lovers were many but

Our hearts were empty.

At long last

We embrace the love that lasts,

We prepare for the wedding feast

And abandon our treacherous past.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sending Forth the Bride by Danny Hahlbohm)