The Book of Judges Chapter 10:6, 14, 16
Geneva Bible Translation Ed. 1599
6 And the children of Israel wrought wickedness again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, 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.
14 Go, and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen: let them save you in the time of your tribulation.
16 Then they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
Brethren;
The patience of the Lord is long suffering. Indeed, He is slow to anger and quick to forgive. Yet there are times when it is we that turn our faces away from Him, that He allows us to wallow in the misery of our own making. We are reminded here of the parable of the weary judge in the Gospel of Luke 18:5-8, of the judge who is entreated by the widow continuously to take action in a matter. The lesson learned here is two fold; remain steadfast in your belief and serving of God, and secondly God does hear, and will take action on your behalf, should you falter, yet return to him, confess, and put away your sin.
Study notes
They were so dreadfully sunk into idolatry, that they had wholly forsaken the Lord and his worship at the tabernacle, and made no pretensions to it, but entirely neglected it. They grew worse and worse, and so ripened themselves for ruin. Before they worshiped God and idols together, now they forsake God, and wholly cleave to idols. They had not been forced to worship those gods by their oppressors; but had freely chosen them before Him.
Gill and Wesley (Ed. by RPW Sr.)
While those two judges, Tola and Jair, presided in the affairs of Israel, things went well, but afterwards,I. Israel returned to their idolatry, that sin which did most easily beset them (verse 6): They did evil again in the sight of the Lord, from whom they were unaccountably bent to backslide, as a foolish people and unwise. If they did it in compliment to the neighbouring nations, and to ingratiate themselves with them, justly were they disappointed; for those nations which by their wicked arts they sought to make their friends by the righteous judgments of God became their enemies and oppressors. In quo quis peccat, in eo punitur—Wherein a person offends, therein he shall be punished. They did not so much as admit the God of Israel to be one of those many deities they worshipped, but quite cast him off: They forsook the Lord, and served not him at all. Those that think to serve both God and Mammon will soon come entirely to forsake God, and to serve Mammon only. If God have not all the heart, he will soon have none of it. God renewed his judgments upon them, bringing them under the power of oppressing enemies. Had they fallen into the hands of the Lord immediately, they might have found that his mercies were great; but God let them fall into the hands of man, whose tender mercies are cruel. Yet later onward we read that they made a humble confession to God in their distress, verse 10. Now they own themselves guilty, like a malefactor upon the rack, and promise reformation, like a child under the rod. They not only complain of the distress, but acknowledge it is their own sin that has brought them into the distress; therefore God is righteous, and they have no reason to repine. They confess their omissions, for in them their sin began. It was kind that God took notice of their cry, and did not turn a deaf ear to it and send them no answer at all; it was kind likewise that when they began to repent he sent them such a message as was proper to increase their repentance, that they might be qualified and prepared for deliverance. True penitents dare and will refer themselves to God to correct them as he thinks fit, knowing that their sin is highly malignant in its deserts, and that God is not rigorous or extreme in his demands. They supplicate for God’s mercy: Deliver us only, we pray thee, this day, from this enemy. They acknowledge what they deserved, yet pray to God not to deal with them according to their deserts. Note, We must submit to God’s justice with a hope in his mercy. They knew it was to no purpose to go to the gods whom they had served, and therefore returned to the God whom they had slighted. This is true repentance not only for sin, but from sin.V. God’s gracious return in mercy to them, which is expressed here very tenderly (verse 16): His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. Not that there is any grief in God (he has infinite joy and happiness in himself, which cannot be broken in upon by either the sins or the miseries of his creatures), nor that there is any change in God: he is in one mind, and who can turn him? But his goodness is his glory. By it he proclaims his name, and magnifies it above all names; and, as he is pleased to put himself into the relation of a father to his people that are in covenant with him, so he is pleased to represent his goodness to them by the compassions of a father towards his children; for, as he is the Father of lights, so he is the Father of mercies. As the disobedience and misery of a child are a grief to a tender father, and make him feel very sensibly from his natural affection, so the provocations of God’s people are a grief to him (Psalm 95:10 ), he is broken with their whorish heart (Ezekiel 6:9 ); their troubles also are a grief to him; so he is pleased to speak when he is pleased to appear for the deliverance of his people, changing his way and method of proceeding, as tender parents when they begin to relent towards their children with whom they have been displeased. Such are the tender mercies of our God, and so far is he from having any pleasure in the death of sinners.
Matthew Henry - Theologian - 1662 - 1714 (Ed. RPW Sr.)
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