In the book of Judges we learned, “after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died, and was buried in Camon”, and in chapter ten and verse six 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 served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
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” which means “fashioned, accomplished, produced and performed bad, malignancy, disagreeableness and wickedness another time” “in the sight of the LORD” or “in front and in the presence of Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name of the One True God”. The writer shared how the people of “Israel” performed and produced wickedness yet another time in the presence of Jehovah God.
The verse continues, “… and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, …” The writer added the words, “and served Baalim” which means “and labored, worked and worshiped Baalim whose name means ‘lord’ and was the supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites”, “and Ashtaroth” or Astaroth whose name means “star” and was “false goddesses in the Canaanite religion, usually related to a fertility cult”, “and the gods of Syria” which means “and the deities belonging to Syria or Aram or Arameans whose name means ‘exalted’ and was the Syrian nation”, “and the gods of Zidon” or “and the deities belonging to Zidon whose name means ‘hunting’ and was the ancient Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast north of Tyre”, “and the gods of Moab” which means “and the deities belonging to Moab whose name means ‘of his father’ and was the nation that descended from the son of Lot”, “and the gods of the children of Ammon” or “and to the deities pertaining to the offspring and progeny belonging to Ammon whose name means ‘tribal’ and was a people dwelling in Transjordan who descended from Lot through Ben-ammi”, “and the gods of the Philistines” which means “and the deities belonging to the Philistines whose name means ‘immigrants’ and were the inhabitants of Philistia and the descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) To the western seacoast of Canaan ”. The writer shared how the people of Israel began again to worship and serve “Baalim, Ashtaroth, and the deities of Syria, Zidon, Moab, Ammon and the Philistines”.
Finally the verse says, “… and forsook the LORD, and served not him.” The writer concluded this verse with the words, “and forsook the LORD” or “and left behind, alone, neglected and deserted Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “and served not him” which means “and did not labor, work or worship Him, Jehovah God”. The writer shared how “Israel” once again abandoned their relationship with Jehovah God.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we may be amazed that after being delivered and rescued from oppressors again, the people of “Israel” turned away from Jehovah God. God loves the people of Israel, and He is so patient with them. We shall see the results of their abandonment in our next verses, but for now, let us remember that Jehovah God is patient and loving toward us as well. When He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone and raised Him from the grave after three days, He made the way through faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord” to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and equipped with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and help us to understand this merciful God has been and will be gracious to us when we submit to Him. (See Ephesians 2:8-9)
Next time we learn how “the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel”, 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”.
No comments:
Post a Comment