A Turning Point
Judges 3:12-14
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel. … He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
Which is more troubling to read: that yet again, after forty years of peace under Othniel’s leadership, the people of Israel are choosing the Baals over God, or that, in response, the LORD chooses to strengthen the arm of His enemies?
The first isn’t surprising, sadly. We’ve seen men turn to devils ever since Eve’s decision to take that fruit from the serpent in Genesis 3. In fact, we’ve got our own biographies full of compromises to prove the point in black and white, don’t we? Maybe your rebellion didn’t last eighteen years—maybe it only lasted eighteen minutes; but the grim reality of Judges 3:12 is one we can all attest to. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Part of the reason I’m writing devotionals like these from day to day, and part of the reason you choose to read them or others like them is because we’re both acutely aware of our weakness. We know how quickly sin can lure our affections when we aren’t saturating our hearts and minds in the words of the LORD.
But is God really going out of His way to strength pagan idolaters here? Is He endowing Eglon with super-human, Samson-like strength or surrounding the Amalekite army with a protective pillar of fire? I don’t think so. I think the point here is that Israel’s sinfulness and lust and infidelity have weakened them against their foes, such that their spiritual paralysis has directly led to their political paralysis. God has removed the protection over them that they’ve needed ever since Moses showed up in Egypt to bellow to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” With God’s help, Israel is an unassailable giant. Without God’s help, Israel is just a grasshopper.
Friend, if we aren’t strong in the LORD today, we have no chance against the devils. But if we merely look to Christ for strength and call upon His name for help, there’s no way we can ever fail.