In the book of Judges we learned how, “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim”, and in chapter two and verse twelve of Judges, we learn how Israel, “forsook the LORD God of their fathers”, where we read,
And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
The verse reads, “And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, …” The writer began with the words, “and they forsook the LORD God” which means “and they, the people of Israel, left, let loose of, abandoned and neglected Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God and Supreme Deity” “of their fathers” or “belonging to their, the people of Israel’s, male progenitors and ancestors”, “which brought them” which means “who carried and led them, the people of Israel” “out of the land of Egypt” or “from the territory, region and country belonging to Egypt whose name means ‘land of the Copts’ and is a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows”. The writer shared how the people of Israel abandoned their relationship with Jehovah God who was their male progenitors’ Supreme Deity and the One who led them away from the country of “Egypt”.
The verse continues, “… and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.” The writer added the words, “and followed other gods” which means “and proceeded, lived and walked after alternate deities” “of the people” or “belonging to the human beings” “that were round about them” which means “who encircled and surrounded them, the people of Israel”, “and bowed themselves unto them” or “and prostrated, crushed, humbly reverenced and stooped their own selves to them, the other deities”, “and provoked the LORD” which means “and vexed, sorrowed and grieved Jehovah who is the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God” “to anger” or “to indignant, wrath and rage” . The writer shared how the people of Israel proceeded after pagan deities which were worshiped by the people surrounding them, and they stooped down and prostrated their own selves to them as well. This caused Jehovah God to be grieved and vexed to indignant rage.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how this “generation” who did not know Jehovah God nor the works He performed among the people of Israel began to bow down to, worship and serve the pagan deities of the people who surrounded them. This infuriated Jehovah God, and because this act was a direct violation to His instruction, we can only imagine how vexed, grieved and “angry” He was. We shall see the consequences for the actions of the people of Israel in our next verses, but for now let us consider that God wants to be first and exclusive in our lives. When we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us to ability to continue our relationship with Him and never forsake Him for pagan deities. (See John 3:16: 16:13; Acts 1:8; Matthew 6:33)
Next time we learn how, “they forsook the LORD, and served Baal”, 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".
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