Year of the Bible: Week 14
Written by: Jake Withrow
“In those days, Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Judges 21:25
This week, we started reading through the Book of Judges. Judges is an important book, but it is also extremely challenging. It contains some of the most gruesome and disturbing stories in the Bible. However, it all serves a greater purpose. Judges, at its core, is a story of Israel falling increasingly further from God. The events in the book of Judges are cyclical.
All the while, the periods of Israel’s faithfulness and subsequent peace grow shorter, and their depravity increases.
The book of Judges shows us the vastness of God’s love and mercy
At no point throughout the book of Judges does Israel do anything to deserve saving. All they do is cry out to God, and God hears them. God forgives Israel’s depravity, and he remembers His covenant with them.
2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord! 3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. Judges 5:2-3
God is still pursuing us, and He will hear our cry when we repent
While our lives look vastly different than Israel at that time, God is the same; his abundance of love and forgiveness is the same. We may stray from God’s path, we may even try to abandon Him; however, God is still pursuing us, and he will hear our cry when we repent.