March 2021 – Page 2 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Chapters: Judges 1-2
Message: Choose

Hello My Friend,

The first question people ask when something bad happens, albeit, an accident, a crazed lunatic killing people, a natural disaster destroying towns is, “If God is so good then why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?” Then you get the question by those who refuse to believe in God, “If God exists, then why all the evil?” Evil is a part of the curse that was passed down to man when sin entered the world. While God is in control, there is one thing that He will never control and that is freewill, He gives us the choice to believe in Him and or follow Him. Satan had a choice, he chose to rebel against God because he wanted to be God. Adam and Eve had a choice, they too rebelled against God because they wanted to be God. We all have a choice, until Jesus returns and we are raptured out of here or get to heaven, evil is something that God actually allows to give us that choice, and while this verse actually pertains to the tribulation, it is just as fitting for now, [Matthew 24:12-13 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.]

[Iniquity; Injustice; unrighteousness; a sin or crime; wickedness; any act of injustice. Abound; To have or possess in great quantity;] Jesus is not talking about His people who sin by nature, and repent when they do, He is talking about wicked evil, the kind that only Satan produces, the kind that he uses to possess people into doing those wicked and evil things. If there is one book that can teach us why God allows the evil it is the Book of Judges. The Book of Judges contains twenty-one chapters, the author is Samuel and it was written to Israel. The timeline for these events took place approximately 1425 BC to 1120 BC. The purpose of the book was to record Israel’s behavior after the death of Joshua, their repeated sin, confessions, and the judges God sent to redeem them. What we are to learn from the book is that God’s chastisement gets us to turn away from sin and to the Saviour, [Judges 10:15-16 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. 16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.]

Remember when Joshua stood before the congregation and fussed at them for not going in and getting their land? Then he told them that if they did not drive out the Canaanites out that they would become a snare to then? From Joshua we read, [Joshua 24:31,33 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.]

[and which had known all the works of the LORD,] The Book of Judges starts were Joshua dies, the Israelites who knew God took the initiative and took the land that was inherited to them. At first, they were strong in the LORD and even asked Him who should go up to patter first. [Judges 1:1-5 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.]

[Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first,] There is one strange factor here, and I have talked about this before, after Joshua died they had no leader, but I never considered the reason why. When you stop to think about it, God did not appoint one as He did when He appointed Joshua after Moses. So, if they wanted counsel or direction, then they had no choice, but to ask God. In fact, that is how He always wants it, [Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.]

Judah was the first to go up for two reasons, one; they were the first in line according to birthright, as Reuben was on the other side of the Jordan, not to mention lost that right when he got with his fathers concubine,[Genesis 35:22] Simeon and Levi lost their birthright when they killed Hamor, [Genesis 34]. And two; they were the most considerable of the tribes, they fully trusted that God was with them. Remember, Caleb was ready to fight, even when he was among the twelve spies when they searched the land the first time, [Numbers 13:30]. In fact, Judges goes into more detail of when Caleb offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to the one who would conquer Kirjathsepher.

[Judges 1:12-16 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.]

[Caleb’s younger brother,] This is not literally his biological brother, that would have made him her uncle, which was considered incest and against the Law. Othniel was the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, who was married to Kimchi, so they were cousins by marriage. Besides the word “brother” sometimes signifies only a kinsman, or near relation. [And the children of the Kenite,] We do not hear much about the Kenites, they met up with the Israelites when Jethro brought to Moses his wife and kids, [Exodus 18]. If you wondered what happened to Moses’ sons, here they are. Even though he was a Levite, his sons were only half of the bloodline, therefore, they could not be a part of the ministry. However, they were able to be among the rest of the tribes. We also learn of another family who was of the Canaanites actually that dwelt with the tribes of Joseph, the only other of the tribes to get rid of the people as God commanded.

[Judges 1:22-27 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.]

[but they let go the man and all his family.] God does not care what biological family you came from, in fact, He is the one who made you from them, He cares about your faith and your soul, [Romans 2:9-11 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.]

So, how does a nation go from being one under the protection and prosperity of God to one that iniquity abounds and the love of many wax cold? When it gets strong and stops depending upon God. The stronger Israel got the less they relied on God, and instead of driving the Canaanites out they put them under tribute, meaning they spared their lives in exchange for servitude. That proved to be a big mistake already for Dan.

[Judges 1:21,28-31,34 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:]

[when Israel was strong,] This is one of those times when God sits back and watches what is going on, He allows some blessings, and for His people to do their own thing for a bit in an effort to get them to see that without Him they are powerless. God watches as Israel started associating with those they failed to drive out, and He was not happy.

[Judges 2:1-5 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.]

[ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?] How would you like for God to ask you that question? This is actually Jesus by the way, and He does ask us that question. Pride is the reason why we disobey God. It really has nothing to do with giving into the lusts of our flesh or being rebellious to God, it is about our thinking that we can do whatever we want in our own strength. We think that we are strong enough to handle the evil on our own, we think that we are strong enough to handle that one drink, that one smoke, that one hit, that one night, but we cannot fight any evil in our own strength, it will always overtake us, [James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]

[I will not drive them out from before you;] And this is why God allows those snares in our lives, we will either turn to Him in repentance so that we can receive His protections, or we will turn away in true rebellion. We see the youth today and wonder what is wrong with them, well, they never were taught by their parents how to turn to God. The sad truth is that even among those who are saved, parents are guilty of not telling their children about the importance of repentance and how to endure those snares with Jesus. All it takes is two generations for God to be out of sight and out of mind, and this is exactly what happened with Israel.

[Judges 2:10-11,14-15 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.]

[and there arose another generation after them,] Two generations, that is forty years, that is how fast they lost sight of God. And how does this happen? Tribulation. A majority of the trials and tribulation that we deal with comes as a result of a sin, instead of repenting, they turn from God and then bring their kids up not knowing God at all. Do you think that God wants to see us suffer all the time, even if the suffering is caused by our own sin? He does not. He is always there to help us when we come to Him with sincere repentance, [I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.]

Although God left Israel to fend for themselves when they were lost in their sin, He still had compassion on them if they repented. We must understand that even though the majority of Israel would forsake God there were some that would not succumb and remained faithful to Him, so He raised up some men and women even, to judge Israel if they called on Him.

[Judges 2:18-22 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.]

[and corrupted themselves more than their fathers,] Each generation that passed got more corrupt than the last, which is why we are seeing so much evil today. You know, before God sent the flood that would destroy, everyone, but eight people, things happened the very same way. Talk about the definition of insanity. Things are going to get much worse, but there still is time, for God is faithful, [Isaiah 1:18-20 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.]

[That through them I may prove Israel,] God allows us to take our own path for one reason, to see if we are going to be wholly faithful to Him. Let me tell you, faithful Christians are going to take many detours in this path that God has laid out for them, but there is a difference between just taking that wrong turn, and turning to their own stubborn way. Those are faithful to God will repent, and Jesus will lead them back on the right path, those who are not faithful to Him are going to go off the path completely, and end up worse than they ever were, [John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Judges 2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace to save a sinner like me. This life You have given me, it is not always easy, it comes with many trials and tribulations, and yet it also comes with many joys, I am certainly more blessed with the little that You give me than the much I ever got out of the world. You promise the second we receive Your Son as our Saviour that You will never leave nor forsake us, and we know that is a promise that You will never break. You only ask Your people to love You with all their heart, and when we do, You will always be there for us, even to help us overcome sin should we come to You in repentance. Lord, Lead us and guide us through this trial, prove us, open our hearts, and show us what we need to do to show the world Your Son through all this. Give us Your power, Your strength, Your mercies, and grace, and deliver us from all evil. In ask this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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