Judges 11:12-40 The Foolish Promise

“For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.” Judges 11:35

In our text this week we will see the great victory given to Jephthah and the Israelites. This is a clear picture of spiritual power and victory achieved through the presence of the Lord. The Scripture describes how Jephthah went about making preparations for the war and briefly describes the victory won.

Preparations were made to fight the war. The Lord’s Spirit came upon Jephthah and empowered him to command the army as they advanced against the Ammonites. Notice what happened someplace along the way: Jephthah made a special vow to the Lord. If the Lord gave him victory, he promised to dedicate to the Lord the very first person that came out of his house to greet him when he returned in triumph. He promised to give the person as a gift to the Lord and to offer a very special sacrifice in a burnt offering. Exactly what happened will be discussed during the message as some lengthy explanation is necessary.

The Lord gave the Israelites a great, stunning victory over the Ammonites, and the victory involved the destruction of 20 cities and the utter defeat of the enemy. This astonishing conquest brought peace to the East Jordan tribes in the land of Gilead, allowing the Israelites to live in the security and peace for which their hearts so longed. It was the Lord who gave victory to Jephthah and the Israelites. And the Lord will give victory to us – victory over all the enemies who oppose us. There are enemies who attack us, strong enemies who attempt to defeat and destroy us.

There are physical and spiritual enemies such as grief, gluttony, addictions, loneliness, depression, abuse, persecution and a host of others. There is no limit to the list of enemies who oppose us, trying to defeat and destroy us. But there is glorious, wonderful news: the Lord can give us the power to conquer all enemies. We can be triumphant throughout life, conquering whatever it is that opposes us. But we must remember victory is in the Lord. It is the Lord and the Lord alone who can give us the power to walk through life as conquerors and victors. Triumphant victory is ours through the Lord.

Ephesians 2:19-20 We Are Family

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…

In a world where people have lost a sense of belonging, and where individuality and one’s right to privacy is the primary rule of life, the kingdom of Jesus Christ and His Gospel should provide a striking contrast. While we in Christ’s church were once a people who were spiritually dead, in bondage to Satan, children of wrath by nature, and strangers to God and His covenants; while we lived our lives based upon selfish principles, looking after our own needs and the needs of our own families; now in Christ all this has changed! But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:13). Because of Christ’s work, we are now therefore no longer strangers, but fellow citizens – members of God’s household! In other words, we are family!

Instead of living as God’s family, one of the ways in which the church of our day has resembled the world, is in the manner in which the Gospel of the kingdom is presented as to the individual. As we breathe in the atmosphere of worldly individualism, it should not surprise us to find our theology affected. We hear much in the evangelical church today about making Christ “Lord and personal Savior.” With the strong emphasis of these words in today’s evangelism, would it surprise you to discover that there is no such language in Scripture? While it is true that salvation is a work of God within the heart of the individual, it is no less true that the consistent pattern of Scripture is that a truly born-again Christian is necessarily joined to a church. It was the view of the reformers that there can be no salvation apart from the church. This is not to be understood to suggest that the work of church attendance is in any way salvific, but that the new nature, created by the Holy Spirit’s regenerative work on of the heart, necessarily manifests itself in the desire to be with God’s household – His family – His church. Your salvation is designed to be worked out in the context of a living, breathing, community – a household – with brothers and sisters who encourage one another, pray for one another, confess sins one to another, help each other, forgive each other – in a word, love one another with a love that is deeper than our sins against one another, so that it may not be subverted by them.

Sadly, to most professing Christians, the concept of church has eroded into a place where people go – instead of what it truly is – the gathering of the family of God. Our concept of fellowship has been reduced to eating a cookie and having a cup of coffee after church over some idle chit chat. Compare this to what Paul is saying in Ephesians. Namely that we a part of a people with whom we now belong – a family with whom we learn to get along – a home to live in which has a deep and strong foundation. This is what is implied in Paul’s use of the term “household.” We are not guests – here today and gone tomorrow. We are not strangers, treated with merely a common courtesy; but we are in every sense of the word, family – begotten by God and entitled to the privileges of brotherly harmony and paternal direction and protection.

The people of God are often likened to a family or household in Scripture. God’s people in the Old Testament are often referred to a His house (see Num 12:7, Hos 8:1). Hebrews 3:2-6 links the Old Testament community with the New Testament household of Christ, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end (Heb 3:6). 1 Timothy 3:15 directly links the term church with the house of God. In Ephesians 2, Paul emphasizes the unity of the Christian household, by enlarging the “household” metaphor, to describe that this house, which is God’s family, is built upon a sound foundation, having its roots in the teaching of the apostles and prophets, all resting upon the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. The soundness of the construction of this house, that is the unity of Christ’s people, is based upon Christ being our foundation, our spiritual center. He is our “household head” and our spiritual protector.

Whom do you count as your family? In Matthew 12: 46-50, when Jesus is told that his mother and brothers were waiting to speak with Him, His response was, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Mt 12:48-50). At the very least Jesus is teaching that blood ties are not as important as spiritual ties. Likewise, the church is to be such a household – one in which those who remain strangers are welcome; where timid members feel secure because they are treated with grace. Such is only possible as each member of the household would count others as more significant than themselves. Where there is pride, there will be contention; but where there is humility the family of God can dwell securely, loving God and loving others.

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Ephesians 2:18 Equal Access

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

We have in this verse, the stupendous conclusion to the peace-making and conciliatory work of Christ. Access to the Father! There is nothing beyond this; there is nothing more amazing. It is our chief trouble that we fail to realize the magnitude of this statement.

For one, in this verse, we are brought face to face with the mystery of the Trinity. Through the Son, we have access by the Holy Spirit, to the Father. These three are engaged together, working in our salvation. Can you imagine that? The three Persons of the self-sustaining, eternally existing, Holy God have taken an interest in saving you – so that you might gain access to Him. The Son of God has so loved you that He has given Himself for you. The Holy Spirit so loves you that He comes into you to work out your salvation. The Father Eternal has had his eye upon you from before you were born, yes even from the beginning of time! Imagine if every Christian realized this privilege! Can there be anything beyond this?

Access to the Father can be said to be the final goal of salvation. This is ultimately why Christ’s blood put away the enmity – it is why we are forgiven. Jesus put it this way, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). Knowing God, or as our text puts it, Access to the Father is the chief purpose and objective of our salvation. Jews and Gentiles come together as one body into His presence; this is the climax of the portion of Ephesians we have been studying the past few weeks. Access means that a relationship has been restored. That which was forfeited by Adam because of sin – His walks with God in the cool of the day – is returned to man through Christ, by the Spirit. Though we had become unacceptable aliens and strangers, in Christ, the Father made a peace-initiative by removing the enmity, adopting us as His own children and permitting us free an open access to Him.

What Gospel there is here! Contrast this to the old manner in which man gained access to God. Read Hebrews chapter 9 & 10, paying special attention to chapter 9 verses 3, 7-8, 12, and 23-25. Meditate upon these verses. Then consider Hebrews 10:19-22: Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Are you enjoying your New Covenant privilege? Are you enjoying access to the Father? Are you resting upon it? Are you experiencing the peace that come comes from knowing the immediacy of this access? Do you know what it is to be in the holiest of all? Through Christ, by one Spirit, you can know the realized presence of God; something for which even angels long to see.

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Ephesians 2:14-17 One New Man

…having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two …

Christ’s peacemaking atoning work on the cross establishes: first, a peace with God, and then, as a result, peace between men. This peace is demonstrated and displayed in the unity of the body of Christ – first in the abolition of the ancient barrier which separated Jew from Gentile, and ultimately in the removal of all human barriers by which men separate themselves. Verses 14-17 of Ephesians 2 is the theologically packed centerpiece which explains how the readers’ coming near was made possible through Christ’s death.

Christ, in particular His life in the flesh and death on the cross, is the subject who, made peace, destroyed the dividing wall, abolished the enmity, created one new man, and reconciled both to God. We begin to see, from the use of these participles in italics, how many things the cross accomplished. Paul’s emphasis in the verses of our text is the restoration of the ‘horizontal’ component of peace between men and men. He describes how Christ created a new unity which transcends the old Torah-inspired spatial separation between Israel and the nations.

The text identifies the real barrier as being the Mosaic law itself – having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances … The three nouns, law, commandments, and ordinances convey a sense of the oppression and burden of the law. It is not the law, as a revelation of the character and will of God – that law which David and Paul and all godly men love – which is made powerless; nor does this suggest that God’s moral law ceases to exist or has no more relevance for the Christian; but it is the written code, threatening death instead of imparting life, which Christ has nullified and rendered powerless. Because of Christ, there is now therefore no condemnation – as the basis for condemnation is removed. The Mosaic law which is the written code linked to the Sinai covenant is no longer the direct and immediate guide to the new covenant believer. The immediate guide of the people of God today is no longer a written commandment, but the Holy Spirit who has written the law of Christ on our hearts. Wherever law and man-made codes and ordinances set the standard today, you be sure there will be an associated fracturing and division.

Nothing less than an entirely new creation was needed to bridge the deep gap that existed between Jew and Gentile. So Christ’s death created one new man – not an amalgamation the best elements of the two. The new man is not made by transforming Gentiles into Jews or visa versa; but the new man transcends them both. The formation of the one new man is a significant step toward the consummation of God’s eternal plan (Eph 1:9-10); and later Paul will contend that this one new man provides magnificent evidence of God’s glory, power, and manifold wisdom, to ‘rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms’ (Eph 3:10). So again, the centrality of Christ’s cross is reaffirmed in the unity it establishes in His church to the glory of God.

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Judges 11:1-11 The Rejected

In our text today, we have the rise of Jephthah as God’s deliverer. This is a clear picture of a rejected person, a person who is unacceptable to others, being called by God.

The leaders of Israel made a strong appeal to Jephthah to become their commander and rescue or save them from the Ammonite. Remember, the Ammonites had mobilized for war to attack Israel, most likely to replenish the supplies and provisions of their own people. Once again, the land of Israel was about to be ransacked, their crops, livestock, and possessions plundered or stolen. In response, the Israelites had also issued a call to arms in order to defend themselves.

Now the two armies were camped just a few miles from one another, making the last preparations for war. But the Israelites lacked a commander-in-chief, a man who was strong enough to command the entire army and who had the skill and knowledge to plan the military strategy. The Israelites were desperate for leadership. The reputation of Jephthah as a mighty warrior and strong leader had reached the ears of the leaders of Gilead. Thus, they sent a delegation some eighty miles to the land of Tob to make a desperate appeal for him to become their commander. In response, Jephthah made a painful and bitter complaint against the leaders of Gilead: they had taken part in driving him away from his home and the inheritance that had been due him. Bitterness was bound to fill the heart of Jephthah against these leaders for their part in his mistreatment, his being exiled, and the threat against his life. He wanted to know why they had taken part in his brothers’ greedy attack against him. And now they were coming to him for help when they were in trouble. Hearing this bitter response, the elders became even more desperate. They replied that they were willing to lift the banishment permanently, and they would make him the ruler over all Gilead. Note that this was the very offer the leaders had made earlier to the officers and soldiers of the army. This offer shocked and astonished Jephthah. Because of his past experiences with them, he doubted their honesty, so he requested a guarantee of their promise.

Note the faith Jephthah expressed in the Lord: it would be the Lord who would give him victory if he accepted the proposal. Victory would come from the Lord’s hand and His hand alone. The leaders of Gilead guaranteed or sealed their proposal with an oath, swearing that the Lord was their witness. They would keep their word. Moreover, the oath was ratified at a coronation service held at Mizpah, the campsite of the Israelite army.

Jephthah repeated his part of the agreement or oath at the coronation service before the Lord. By demanding a coronation service before the troops and the Lord, Jephthah was acknowledging his faith in the Lord and his dependence upon the Lord. He was declaring before the leaders and the armed forces that his trust was in the Lord. Victory would come through the Lord and the Lord alone. Becoming the commander-in-chief and the supreme leader of Gilead was not a political opportunity for Jephthah, but an occasion for trusting the Lord and serving the Israelites.

The Lord Himself was working behind the scenes and calling Jephthah to serve Him and His people in a remarkable way. The New Testament makes it plain: Jephthah was not an opportunist, but a man of strong faith.

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Ephesians 2:14-17 The Peacemaker

For He Himself is our peace… Eph 2:14

The popular 1970s Christmas song asks the provoking question, “Peace on earth, can it be?” The song continues to ask: when will the day of glory come, when men will live in peace again? I wonder what the godless, humanistic composers and singers were thinking about when they used the word, “again.” When do they suppose it ever was that men lived in peace in the first place, that he might live in it, again? Well the Bible tells us that there was indeed a time when man lived in peace. After God created man, He lived in peace and harmony with God and with all creation. This peace however, was almost immediately lost when sin entered the world through man’s disobedience in his partaking of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Since that time, peace was replaced with enmity, between man and God, between man and his fellow man, and between man and creation.

S.E. Porter writes:

The concept of peace in the Bible is different in many ways from modern ideas of peace. Peace as the absence of strife, war or bloodshed, so often sought by humanity at any cost, is far removed from the focus of the biblical teaching. The biblical concept of peace is one in which God’s authority and power over his created order are seen to dominate his relations with his world, including both the material and the human spheres. (New Dictionary of Biblical Theology 2001)

One can say that the entire Bible then, is the story of peace – peace lost and regained. Peace is a good synonym for salvation. We are saved because God is the God of peace. Jesus is called the Prince of peace. Paul refers to Christ in our text as, our peace. It was the message of the angels who announced Christ’s birth: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Lk 2:14). Indeed the very message of Scripture is that of Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace, making peace, through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross.

Sin always leads to separation. Sin left mankind aliens and strangers to God and His covenants. Sin puts men at enmity with each other, as individual pride, self-interest, and self-concern set man against man, each asserting and demanding his own rights, claiming and fighting over the same things. God, at the same time, commands us to love Him and love one another – the basis of human love being love for God. Man, in his human wisdom, supposes that he can love his fellow man, through negotiation – by being pleasant and friendly – but without needing to love God first. He wonders why this does not work, as wars, competition, striving, rivalry, and envy continue to separate men, despite his efforts. If men could be at peace through negotiation, then the Incarnation of Christ and the cross would have never been needed. But because He is our peace, and He has removed the horizontal, as well as vertical, enmity, the all-illusive, peace on earth is not only possible, but accomplished in Him.

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Luke 2:1-24 The Glory of the Lord

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

In Luke 2:19 we see the awe-stricken, pondering mother. This is a beautiful picture of a humble, trusting heart. Mary had been told that her child was of God, truly of God. Above all others she knew that the Messiah, the very Son of God, had now come. She had been through so much: pregnant, yet unmarried; the possibility of being found out and of rumors heaped upon rumors; the discussions with Joseph and with her parents; the long trip from Nazareth; the exhaustion of giving birth without help in a smelly stable; the visit of some rough looking shepherds with an amazing story of the heavenly host proclaiming the praises of God. Mary was tired, as weary and exhausted as a person could be. So much had happened, and she was at the very center of it all. No one could even begin to know the thoughts that had filled her mind for nine months, nor could anyone know the feelings and emotions of the experience. The wonder, the amazement, the astounding reality was too much to talk about. All she could do was continue in the humble sweetness that had so characterized her over the past months. She merely bowed once again in humble adoration to God and quietly entrusted all these things into God’s keeping. She said nothing, only pondered in her heart what was happening. God has also spoken to us in these last days through this very same Son Jesus Christ. Though exhausted, tired and weary we are to bow in humble submission to all that has been spoken to us from God and entrust all things to Him to the praise of His glory.

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Ephesians 2:12-13 Aliens

… were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Gentiles, besides being the objects of Jewish contempt, were also in a spiritually bankrupt condition. Not because, as many of the Jews had thought, they were uncircumcised, but for other reason, which Paul summarizes in five descriptive phrases. Paul reminds the church at Ephesus of their past as a corporate people, so that in light of this, God’s grace in joining them with the Jewish people into one new society might be magnified.

First, they were without Christ. While the Jewish people clung to the hope of a coming Messiah for centuries, even in the midst of their darkest hours, Gentiles were not even aware that such a promise was made. Though the Jewish nation for the most part rejected Jesus, their expectation for the coming of a Messiah had been a source of strength and courage in the midst of their otherwise very dark history – in fact, their expectancy actually rose in the darkest of those times. Gentiles knew of no such promise.

Second they were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Aliens, is a word that carries with it the idea of separation or estrangement; it is also a political word related to one’s right of citizenship or lack thereof. Gentiles were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, meaning they had no place, no right of citizenship in the kingdom of God’s government. There was no godly society which they could participate in by privilege, whereas those born Jewish in the flesh, whether truly in the kingdom of God or not, experienced the privileges associated with the kingdom. Yet still more awful than this:

Thirdly, Gentiles were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no idea that God would even enter into a covenant with man. They knew not from Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, or David. The whole concept of the covenant was established in the Hebrew Scriptures, so the Jews were very familiar with that which was foreign to the Gentile. As a result of this:

Fourthly, Gentiles had no hope. Now this does not mean that they had nothing to live for. Gentiles, like Jews, had hopes and aspirations to attain better things in life; certainly Gentiles enjoyed familial relationships, friendships, nature, seasons of rest and even a sense of happiness from the elements of common grace which God has bestowed to the world at large. But Gentiles were a hopeless people because, even though God had planned to extend the borders of salvation outside of the nation of Israel, they did not know it. They were a people, very much like animals, pushed by the past and driven in the present, but never enticed by the future. There was no confidence, when they left the tomb of a loved one, that they might see them again. They had no hope, that is, no expectation, that death would ever be destroyed or swallowed up in victory.

Finally they were, what really is the source of their condition, without God in the world. The word in Greek is atheoi, where we get the English word atheist; but this does not suggest that did not believe in god, in fact they had many gods and many lords. Rather they had no knowledge whatsoever of the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Without God, and left in the world (as opposed to the commonwealth of Israel where they had access to God’s kingdom), they were left to be ruled by Satan and his kingdom of darkness which dominates the thinking and activity of this present evil age.

When people come to Christ, they are in Paul’s words, no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. (Eph 2:19). What a God-glorifying contrast between what you were and what you are in Christ! Meditate upon the difference that Christ has made in your life and worship Him, for He alone is worthy to be praised!

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Ephesians 2:11-22 Jew & Gentile

But now in Christ Jesus you [Gentiles] who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

We have seen how the first half of the second chapter of Ephesians speaks of the spiritual death of all men (Jew and Gentile) and our subsequent resurrection as individuals in Christ. Now in the second half of the chapter we find the corporate experience explained, as the apostle Paul writes how, through redemption in Christ, Jews and Gentiles are made into “one new man.” While the relationship between these two groups may be of lesser concern in the 21st Century, this was the burning issue of the first Century. This is illustrated in the Apostle Peter’s initial hesitancy to fellowship with the Gentile, Cornelius (Acts 10:17-29), and his later hypocrisy in refusing to fellowship with Gentiles while other Jews were present (Gal 2:6-16). F.F. Bruce observes: “no iron curtain, colour bar, class distinction, or national frontier of today is more absolute than the cleavage between Jew and Gentile was in antiquity.” He called the unity between Jew and Gentile in Christ the “greatest trial of the Gospel in the apostolic age.” John Calvin wrote:

“… God, who was pleased to admit our fathers into the number of his own people, deserves to be held in everlasting remembrance. The calling of the Gentiles is an astonishing work of divine goodness, which ought to be handed down by parents to children, and to their children’s children, that it may never be forgotten or unacknowledged by the sons of men.”

The matter of Gentiles being saved weighed upon the apostle Paul’s thoughts in the book of Romans, where he wrote: … is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (Rom 3:29-31). In chapter one, he made the unprecedented statement that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Rom 1:16). In the first and second chapters of this epistle, Paul proves that both Jew and Gentile are likewise under sin; but in Christ, Paul concludes in Galatians 3:28-29: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Why is that which is astonishing, taken so much for granted in our age? First because it has been 2000 years since the dividing wall, which kept Gentiles for the most part from receiving salvation, has been removed. For two millennia, Gentiles have been coming to Christ, becoming fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, so the idea of the exclusion and alienation of the Gentiles from God’s kingdom seems remote to us. Also, today’s church emphasizes the Gospel’s work toward the individual coming to Christ and making a personal choice to follow Him; there is far less concern in the modern church for the corporate expression of the unity among the people of God. Paul writes: For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, … so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity (Eph 2:14-17). Amidst the emphasis on the individual’s atonement, the atoning or peacemaking work of Christ in bringing separated people together in Him, has been neglected in evangelical churches. Over 100 years ago, James Denney wrote:

Is the great appeal of the Cross one which is intelligible only to men of a single race …? On the contrary, there is nothing in the world so universally intelligible as the Cross; and hence it is the meeting-place not only of God and man, but of all races and conditions of men with each other. There is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, bond nor free, there. … But of all Christian truths which are confessed in words, this is that which is most outrageously denied in deed. There is not a Christian church nor a Christian nation in the world which believes heartily in the Atonement as the extinction of privilege, and the leveling up of all men to the same possibility of life in Christ, to the same calling to be saints. The spirit of privilege, in spite of the Cross, is obstinately rooted everywhere even among Christian men.

How tragically accurate this statement is. While the grandeur of the Biblical vision for a new and unified society cannot be overstated, today Christians continue to erect new barriers of denominationalism, racism, prejudice, jealousy, and divisive class and caste systems. Personal animosities engineered by pride separate human beings, while Christ is most glorified where there is unity and love among of His people. May this text challenge us to live as we indeed are – with all barriers which separate us from each other, torn down by Christ’s peacemaking cross-work.

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Judges 10 R.S.V.P.

The oppression against the Israelites had shattered their lives. They were subjected to a foreign nation; their homes were destroyed; their property and crops confiscated, possessions stolen, and spouses and children abused. People were brutalized and often killed. Under this cruel, savage treatment, the hearts of God’s people were crushed and broken. At long last, helpless and hopeless within themselves, the Israelites cried out to the Lord, confessing their sins. Crying out to the Lord for help was the result of the chastisement of the Lord, a clear picture of calling on the Lord only in times of emergency. They confessed their terrible desertion of God and their having engaged in false worship and idolatry. But note the response of the Lord. Shockingly, He did not accept their confession. Why? – because it did not include repentance. They were confessing

their sins, but they were not turning away from their evil. They wanted forgiveness and acceptance, but they wanted to continue in the ways of the world. They wanted the pleasures, wealth, and comfort of the world without having to suffer the oppression and evil that permeated the world and that is so characteristic of heathen nations.

Confession without repentance is never accepted by God. God reminded the Israelites that He had repeatedly rescued them from the oppression of their enemies In fact, He had rescued them from seven major enemies, the very enemies whose gods they were now worshipping. Because of their terrible evil of false worship, God charged them with repeated apostasy. He charged them with having forsaken Him and turning to the false idols and worship of this world. Consequently, He refused to hear their confession and to rescue them. And He challenged them to cry out to the false gods they were following. Let these false gods deliver them from their distress! Their trust in false religion and false gods was a perversion, a deception and a lie; for these false gods could do nothing to help the Israelites. God’s children had done the unthinkable: they had forsaken the Lord God Himself in order to worship the false gods of this earth – gods created in the minds of men. God issued His challenge for the Israelites to cry out to the false gods they had chosen over Him. In the past, He had responded to their cry, but no more. There had to be more than just crying out: there had to be genuine repentance.

The Lord’s rebuke or chastisement was all the Israelites could bear. In desperation, they again confessed their sins, but this time they repented. They totally surrendered themselves to God and to His will for them. They cried out for God to do with them whatever He thought best, but begged Him to rescue them immediately. They clearly could bear no more. Their repentance was not just a verbal confession; but they turned away from false worship, destroyed the false gods they had been worshipping, and they began to follow God in a renewed commitment. Once the Israelites had confessed and repented, God responded in compassion. He heard their cry and began the movement to deliver His dear people from their cruel, crushing oppression.

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