Wed.’s Devo - The Downfall of Israel

Read: Judges 1-3:30
Finally Joshua died at the age of 110. Judah and Simeon banded together against the Canaanites and Perizzites and defeated them. Caleb gave his daughter to the one who attacked and captured Kiriath-sepher. Othniel, his nephew succeeded and later became Israel’s first judge. The first principality he brought down in Bezer was white magic. The second principality he brought down in Aram was black magic. The difference is that one looks good and moral and reaps deceivingly good fruit and the other is blatantly evil. Both have satanic roots and lead to death.
Sadly, we read how each of the last tribes had trouble driving out the Canaanites. Some gave up and moved in with the Canaanites and lived under their control. Others let them stay but made them slaves. God got so frustrated with them he declared he would not longer drive the people out but let them stay. (God promised to drive them out but they had to attack them in faith.) Because the Israelites let fear in, they wouldn’t attack and now their enemies would be thorns in their sides and their gods would be a constant temptation to them.
The next generation didn’t even acknowledge the Lord and what He had done for them. They didn’t know who they were. This was the parent’s fault. They were commanded to teach their children all the things God had done for them so they would know who they were and how to think. The judges is the saddest part of the Bible to me. God raised up spiritual and/or military judges throughout this period to deliver the children of Israel from their enemies but this was not the way God planned it for them. They were suppose to own the land and worship Him and be prosperous and in control. Their enemies were supposed to be able to look at them and want what they had.
We are to be the head and not the tail. We are to be the envy of the world, not the other way around. Our lives should look like joy, love, and contentment. The world should want what we have. We have a relationship with our creator and a heart for what is eternal. That supersedes anything the world can give.
Lord, may we let our light shine so the world will be drawn to You.