Judges 19-21

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2019-21&version=NIV

Judges 21:25 "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."

As we end the book of Judges, we see the depths to which Israel has sunk. Chapter 19 covers the sordid affair of the concubine who was raped, and then cut up into twelve pieces and sent throughout Israel.

Chapter 20 and 21 detail the Benjamite war that came about as a result of the events of chapter 19.

The people of Israel have once again acted immorally and as a result this has led to civil war within the nation.

You may say this could not happen today. We are not that bad. Why do we need to read about events such as these that happened so long ago and to such a primitive people?

1 Corinthians 10:11 says, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."

Reflect on your life. Are you doing what you want to do, rather than following God's will? Have you had success in life and have not relied on the Lord?

1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"

In the men's small group the fellas of the Bridge had, we learned that we ought to have a sober spiritual assessment of ourselves.

This comes from Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."

That means that we must look at these heinous sins and realize that we could do them. We are just as evil as the people of Israel are, save for that we have been purchased by Jesus Christ and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. When we operate in the flesh, it is easy to do things as we see fit.

I used to look at disgust when I was younger at others when they committed a grievous sin, like adultery, or theft, or the like. I thought how could they do that and that I would never do that. But I realize that I was wrong in this, I did not have a sober spiritual assessment of myself, and I now realize it is only by the grace of God that I have been kept these or other sins.

We will never be sinless in this world, but we can sin less. By staying in God's Word, prayer, fellowship and accountability with the Body of Christ, the Lord will enable us to stay away from these grievous sins. But you know, we also need to be aware of what Jerry Bridges calls "respectable sins". Sins that we often think are ok.

As one of my favorite authors has written, "Sin is doing what God forbids and not doing what God commands." That is all encompassing in my book.

As we move on to the book of Ruth, take a moment to reflect on how Israel as a nation has fallen so far from God after He had gloriously rescued them from Egypt.

The good news for us is that God is a God of grace. You have never gone too far from God as long as you repent of your sins and trust in Him and what He has in store for your life.

Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him

Soli Deo Gloria.

Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.