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| fractured society, where each family or group fought for its own rights alone. The result? These chapters tell the dismal story. Israel's Worst Enemy By the end of Judges, Israelites are reduced to fighting themselves. They have adopted their enemies' customs. They worship idols. They are sexually immoral. They lack respect for parents. They cannot remember the pattern of life God had set out. It is hard to say, by the end of Judges, why God should save Israel from their enemies. It is hard to say whether Israelites are the least bit different from their enemies. Israel has become, in fact, her own worst enemy. Only one glimmer of hope apprears: the Israelites shock at the Benjamites' gang rape. They can still get together to punish such outrages, and they still consult the Lord about them. But they are a far cry from the hopeful people Joshua led into the promised land. Life Questions: Do your troubles come more from your circumstances or from your own internal weaknesses? What kind of help do you need from God? |
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