DAY 038: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR – JUDGES 1-6

February 6, 2024

JUDGES 1-6
Click here for the reading
DAY 038: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR

Today, we begin our journey through the book of Judges. At the start of our journey today, we see what happens after the death of Joshua and before a king is anointed by the Lord. The history of Israel is a history of repetition, making the same mistakes again and again.

Take a few minutes to read chapters 1-6 of Judges. Pray for God to reveal the true meaning of what you have just read. During your prayer, ask God for guidance in areas of your life where you struggle, ask Him to bless someone you don’t feel should be blessed, ask God to help you overcome that feeling. Pray for your country. Does it seem to you that your country is in the valley that confronted the Judges we are about to study?

The book of Judges tells the tragic story of Israel’s moral corruption and decay, leading to their abandonment of following the laws of the Lord as given to Moses. The Book of Judges gets its name from the types of leaders during this time, but they were not legal judges like we have today.

Judges 1-6: After Joshua and the other elders of Israel died, it didn’t take long for the people of Israel to forget their promise of loyalty to God by forsaking the destruction of all foreigners who inhabited the land God had given them. Instead, the people of Israel chose to live with them. Some inhabitants of “the Promised Land,” were made slaves, while others cohabited amongst the people of Israel. This resulted in the people of Israel taking foreign wives and, eventually, forsaking God by worshiping the false gods of the people they were to destroy.

The remainder of our reading contains the same story, but with different characters: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, and Gideon are the judges God sent to save Israel. The people of Israel chose to follow a life of sin. God sends a conquerer to take the people of Israel captive and oppress them. After a period of time passes, the people of Israel shout out to God and resume worshipping God again. God then uses a judge to deliver the people of Israel from their captors. After the judge, which God used to deliver them dies, the people of Israel resume sinning against God. (Judges 1:1-6:40)

Read chapters 1 through 6, and consider the following: Do you follow the way of the Lord? Do you follow the crowd? What/Who does an observer of your life believe you worship?

Godspeace!