Judges 2:17-23: a reflection

17Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the LORD’s commandments. They didn’t do so. 18When the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved the LORD because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. 19But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways. 20The LORD’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice, 21I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them; 22that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep the LORD’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.” 23So the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.

This passage describes the sad cycle that ran through the time of the judges. When God raised up a judge, he delivered his people from their enemies, and while the judge lived, they followed God. But as soon as the judge died, they turned back, and became even more corrupt than before, chasing after other gods. Again and again, the deliverance would come, and then, once the pressure lifted and the deliverer was gone, they would return to the very sins they had been rescued from.

Notice the pattern: rescue, followed by a return to old sins once the pressure lifted. While the judge lived, and the memory of trouble was fresh, they followed God; but as soon as the immediate pressure was gone, they drifted back, and even deeper, into what they had been delivered from. Their turning to God had been driven by distress, not rooted in the heart; and so, when the distress passed, so did their faithfulness.

That cycle is a warning, for the same pattern can run through our own lives. In times of trouble, we turn to God earnestly; but once the pressure lifts and the crisis passes, we can drift back to the very things we were delivered from, our faithfulness having been driven by distress rather than rooted in the heart. Guard against this cycle. Let your turning to God be rooted in the heart, not merely driven by trouble, so that when the pressure lifts you do not drift back to old sins. When a hard season passes and the pressure eases, do not let your devotion ease with it; hold to God in the calm as earnestly as in the crisis, so that you are not caught, like Israel, returning again and again to what God has delivered you from. Faithfulness rooted in the heart outlasts the trouble that first drove you to seek him.

Lord, the time of the judges ran in a sad cycle: you raised up a judge and delivered your people, and while he lived they followed you; but as soon as he died and the pressure lifted, they turned back, even deeper, to the sins they had been rescued from. Warn me by that pattern, for it can run through my own life. In times of trouble, I turn to you earnestly; but once the pressure lifts and the crisis passes, I can drift back to the very things I was delivered from, my faithfulness having been driven by distress rather than rooted in the heart. Guard me against this cycle. Let my turning to you be rooted in the heart, not merely driven by trouble, so that when the pressure lifts I do not drift back to old sins. When a hard season passes and the pressure eases, do not let my devotion ease with it; help me hold to you in the calm as earnestly as in the crisis, so that I am not caught, like Israel, returning again and again to what you have delivered me from. Root my faithfulness in my heart, Lord, so it outlasts the trouble that first drove me to seek you.