Monday 17 August 2009

Background

This passage reveals a pattern that repeats throughout the bookof Judges. It consists of a general cycle of unfaithfulness,oppression, and then deliverance. A number of judges, later in thebook, go through this cycle.

For me, verse 16 is the wonder of this passage. God delivers thepeople of Israel; God saves them when they cry out in distress fromthe oppression they are suffering. Yet that oppression is seen tobe the result of their unfaithfulness.The contrast is stark. The people are unfaithful and disasterresults. God is faithful and deliverance results. Yet the work ofGod is never recognised for long, and the people soon forget andreject both the judges and the god who raised (called) them. ButGod neither gives up, nor breaks the covenant promise made to thepeople of Israel. God still rescues them.

This presents a huge challenge for today. Has God changed? If not,then does God still raise up people to deliver communities fromoppression when they call out in their distress?

If God has not changed then what about the people? Are they stillunfaithful? Do they continue to turn to other gods, whether they bematerial or spiritual? It is not hard to argue that there has notbeen much change here...

So if neither God nor the behaviour of people has changed much thenwhat does that imply for today?

Presumably, when people are faithless, when things go disastrouslywrong, then God will still raise up and will still call individualsto rescue and save them.

History is littered with examples of communities in distress thatare saved, in all kinds of ways, through the actions ofindividuals. But what about the others? Did they fail to respond tothe call of God?

Is verse 16 as true today as it has ever been? If so who are the'judges' God is raising up around the world now?

To Ponder

Where do you see the repeating pattern (ofunfaithfulness, oppression and deliverance) in your life?

Who do you recognise as being called by God tosave people in distress (like the judges in the passage)? How doyou respond to them?

Is God calling you to save any communities fromdistress? If not, then who is being called by God? What might thatmean for you and for them?