God In Us: The Final Part
The Epic Continues: Part 7
Daily Devotions – Complete Collection
Closer Walk Devotions 2024
The Prequel: Part 4
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The Kings and THE King: Part 3
The Book of Judges picks up where the Book of Joshua left off–with God’s people in the Promised Land.
But their hearts have turned. Under Joshua’s leadership, the people trusted God to lead them, and as a result, they were victorious in the battles against the vile, idol-worshiping people living in the Promised Land. But soon God’s people forgot the Lord their God (Judges 3:7)–even serving other gods, lesser gods, evil gods. As they serve other gods, their armies become weak and vulnerable. Periodically, God’s people, beaten and broken, cry out to Him. And He hears. He sends a military leader–a judge–to help them focus their hearts back on Him and to lead them to victory. But their victories are always short-lived. As soon as the judge dies, they return to rebelling against God.
This cycle continues for 400 long years. God’s people serve other gods. They’re beat up by the armies of vile nations. They cry out to Him; He hears and brings a new judge to lead them; they turn their hearts back to Him while the judge is alive, and then away from Him again after the judge dies. It’s a sad, dark time.
There are a few bright spots in this dark period of history.
The book of Ruth tells the story of a young foreign woman who leaves her homeland and all that she knows to join God’s people and follow Him. Samuel, the last judge and the nation’s first prophet, loves God and calls God’s people back to Him. Since God’s people are struggling to follow Him as a heavenly King, they beg Him to give them an earthly king. God tells Samuel to anoint Saul as king. While outwardly Saul seems powerful and the people love him, he doesn’t love God or follow Him. And the nation suffers. God directs Samuel to anoint David as king. Even though he isn’t perfect, David walks closely with God as His friend. A Temple would be designed by him for God to dwell among His people. Under David, the nation thrives, and God promises that history’s ultimate King will come from his family line.
After David dies, his son Solomon succeeds him. Solomon follows God at first, building the Temple for Him that his father, David, had designed, but his heart is eventually led astray to worship other gods. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel tell of Saul and David’s reigns, and the book of 1 Kings tells about Solomon’s. King Solomon’s divided heart is a prediction of the nation’s future. Because of a family feud, after Solomon’s death the nation of Israel splits into two nations–Israel and Judah.
The books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles tell the stories of the two nations and their kings. Despite hundreds of years of warnings from prophets to follow God, neither nation listens, and God allows both to eventually be taken captive. Assyria takes Israel captive, absorbs it into the Assyrian nation, and it vanishes. The Babylonians invade Judah, and lead the Jewish people off to captivity in Babylon. It seems as if the people’s lack of loyalty to God has voided His promise to Abraham– that a great nation would come through him.
But God is faithful even when His people are faithless.
True to His promise, He protects His people in Babylon. After 70 years of captivity there, some people of Judah are allowed to return to the Promised Land. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the Promised Land’s capital city. At the same time, some of God’s people chose to remain in the Empire now known as Persia, But God protects his people there too–even raising up one of his followers, Esther, to become queen. For the next 400 years God’s prophets don’t speak, but God is working as he has been all along.
From Adam and Eve to Abraham and beyond, God has been walking with his people through his captive, broken world, actively working in the lives of generation after generation–even when his people turn away from him. God promised that he wouldn’t leave his people in bondage and he has been working on a great rescue plan all those long years. Hundreds of years after his people had returned to the promised land, when his perfect time came, he put the crucial part of his rescue plan in motion. This time, he didn’t send a judge. He didn’t send a profit, He didn’t send an Earthly king,
He sent his very own Son.
Our bondage to sin was so big that only God Himself could fix us. And his love for us is so deep that he himself chose to rescue us. So, one night in Bethlehem, Jesus was born–a descendant of Abraham and King David, just like God had promised. He promised that He would bless all the people of the world through Himself. this child would crush the Serpent’s head and set his people free, just like he had promised. God Himself had come. He was the Savior who would rescue the world.
In case you missed it, read The Great Rescue: Part 2 here!
The Great Rescue: Part 2
Exodus is a book of rescue. It picks up where Genesis left off– with Abraham’s family, God’s chosen people, safe in Egypt. God had promised Abraham that his family would become a mighty nation, and in Egypt, God shows Himself faithful. He grows Abraham’s descendants into a nation of millions. Soon, the Egyptians feel threatened by their numbers and cruelly enslave them. Pharaoh orders the Egyptians to be ruthless and harsh with God’s people– forcing God’s people to do back-breaking manual labor and murdering their male babies for population control.
God’s people are suffering.
God hears their cries, they break His heart, and He begins His plan to rescue them from the evil kingdom. The God of the universe introduces Himself to a man, Moses, and calls him to be the leader of His people and His spokesperson before Pharaoh. Reluctant at first, Moses agrees. As he grows to know God, this former shepherd boldly proclaims God’s words to the ancient world’s most powerful ruler– “Let my people go!”
But Pharaoh has no intention of letting God’s people go. After nine miraculous, disastrous plagues that make a mockery of Egypt’s gods, God brings one final, devastating plague– the death of Egypt’s firstborn sons– to convince Pharaoh to release His people from their bondage. The angel of death passes over the land, sparing God’s people as their homes are covered in blood. But in the morning, it’s a sad day in Egypt. The Egyptian’s firstborn sons are dead. Pharaoh, grief-stricken and broken–his son has died too–let’s God’s people go.
God leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, and provides food, water, and protection for them as they trudge through the barren desert.
Years before, God had promised Abraham that a certain plot of land would belong to his family. But before God leads His nation back to their home, the Promised Land, they need to learn more about who He is and how to live. At Mount Sinai, God gives them instructions that will guide them to real, true life, as well as instructions on how to make the tabernacle, His dwelling place among them. The Book of Leviticus records these guidelines.
The book of Numbers tells of a scouting trip to the Promised Land, and how–despite what God had done for them in Egypt–God’s people doubt His ability to help them defeat the powerful people living in their promised home. Because of their disbelief, God is hurt. He knows that the journey to conquer the Promised Land is going to be a treacherous one, and that their trust in Him will be crucial. So He keeps His people in the desert for 40 years so they can learn more about who He is and how to trust Him.
Forty hard years later, after the next generation has grown up, Moses reminds them of God’s faithfulness and of His guidelines for how to live.
The book of Deuteronomy records his messages to them. Then Moses the great leader dies at the edge of the Promised Land and is buried by God Himself. Joshua assumes the leadership position, and through miraculous battles and God’s perfectly timed provision, the Hebrews drive out most of the people living in the Promised Land. Abraham’s family has finally come home.
It’s a long…hard… road… to undo what evil has done, but God is steadfast and unwavering, driven by His great love. God is faced with the situation where His people need to be set free, not only from their physical captivity, but from their spiritual captivity too. Evil has damaged everyone’s ability to see, know, and trust Him. He must teach His people what they have lost. Through miracles and wonders and the events of everyday life, God not only rescues His people, but He shows Himself to them. He is the Great Pursuer, a mighty Hero, and a valiant Warrior–One worthy of their hearts and trust. But as God pursues His people, will His people respond to His pursuit? Will they learn to love and follow Him?
In case you missed it, read Part 1: In the Beginning here!