Israel Did Evil Again - Judges 3:12

In the book of Judges we learned, “when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died”, and in chapter three and verse twelve of Judges, we learn how, “the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD” where we read,

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.

The verse reads, “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD:” The writer began with the words, “and the children of Israel” which means “and the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’ and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob” “did evil again” or “performed and produced bad, malignancy, unpleasantness, displeasure and wickedness another time” “in the sight of the LORD” which means “within the vision and presence belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God”. The writer shared how the offspring belonging to “Israel” performed and produced wicked and malignant acts and deeds yet another time in the presence of Jehovah God. 

The verse continues, “and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.” The writer added the words, “and the LORD” which means “and Jehovah who is ‘the existing One’” “strengthened Eglon” or “hardened, made courageous, resolute and firm Eglon whose name means ‘calf-like’ and was the king who oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years before he was killed by the judge Ehud” “the king of Moab” which means “the royal ruler and leader belonging to Moab whose name means ‘of his father’. and was a son of Lot by his eldest daughter and the nation that descended from him” “against Israel” or “in opposition to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’”, “because they had done evil” which means “since and on account that they, the offspring of Israel, performed and produced bad, malignant, unpleasant, displeasing and wicked acts and deeds” “in the sight of the LORD” or “within the vision and presence belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One”. The writer shared how Jehovah God made “Eglon” who was the royal ruler of “Moab” to be strong and powerful in opposition to “Israel” on account that they performed and produced wicked acts and deeds in His presence.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the offspring belonging to “Israel” acted wickedly in the presence of Jehovah God another time. This caused Him to make “Eglon the royal ruler of Moab” powerful in opposition to “Israel”. You would think they would learn not to stray from God’s ways, but they continued to fall away, and suffered again for their insolence. We shall see more about “Eglon” in our next few verses, but for now let us be mindful of Jehovah God’s involvement with “Israel” even when they have performed wicked acts in front of Him. God wants us to realize we have sin in our lives that goes against His ways, (See Romans 3:23), and those sins lead to separation from Him and death. (See Romans 6:23) For this reason He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and help us follow His ways so we never have need of opposition being “strengthened” against us. (See John 3:16; Acts 1:8; Isaiah 55:15-17)

Next time we learn how “Eglon”, “gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".