The Ancient Cycle of the Book of Judges Still Churns; Are You Caught in It?

During the time that Nehemiah was Governor of Judah (5th Century BCE), the Jews, who had returned from exile, called on Ezra the priest and scribe to read the Book of the Law, which was their Bible (see Nehemiah chapter 8). The Bible reading stirred conviction in the hearts of the people, and they confessed their sins, while affirming the faithfulness of Yahweh their God (Nehemiah 9:33). Their prayer of confession gave an overview of Israel's history of unfaithfulness to Yahweh. Part of that history included the biblical period of the Judges as recorded in the Book of Judges (13th Century BCE).


There was a vicious cycle that churned over and again as found in these words of prayerful confession, voiced by Ezra for Israel's repentance: But after they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies (Nehemiah 9:28).


What is heart-wrenching is that for centuries, even close to 800 years after the time of the Judges, the Jews were still caught in this ruthless Merry Go Round, this on-again, off-again loyalty to the Lord!


As people of faith in God, often in our national life as well as in our personal lives we tend to repeat that same pattern of unfaithfulness on our part in spite of faithfulness on our Savior's part.

1. Rest: God blesses us; we cherish His presence; we love Him and enjoy serving Him.
   
2. Rebellion: we lose interest in the things of God; we get bored with God; we forsake God; we disobey Him; we choose self and sin; the flesh leads and reigns; God warns us through His Word, through His messengers; we disregard the warnings; we mock, scold, and persecute God's messengers.
   
3. Retribution: God withdraws His protection from us; the enemy dominates us and takes us down; our spiritual lives get dry; we feel pitiful inside; we have no real peace or joy, though we try to fake it.
   
4. Repentance: we feel the pinch of life without fellowship with God; we are broken; we confess our sins, and repent, asking God to rescue us; we recommit to reading and learning God's Word and ways; we start praying fervently again, going to church, truly worshiping, giving, living holy, serving the Lord again.
   
5. Rescue: in His mercy God forgives our sins, and by His grace He delivers us from the enemy, and we find rest in His blessed presence once again.
   

Then we hang out with God for a while until the next shiny bait of the flesh dangles before our lustful eyes, our wayward hearts. Worldly concerns and affairs draw our attention away from our Jesus who truly loves us. The pull of selfishness stirs us to rebel against our beloved Heavenly Father once again. We take the bait, get hooked, and we set the wheels of retribution in motion. On and on the cycle churns, for many of God's children....till we die! Does it really have to be that way? Right now, where are you in the ancient cycle? I hope you are in the Rest area. If so, why would you want to leave?