Sunday School Lesson -Return to Obedience Judges 10:10-18

Introduction:The children of Isreal experienced peace during the judgeship of Tola and Jair.But soon as Jair died they began to worship the gods of Syria,Sidon,Moab,Ammon,and the Philistines.God's anger was extremely hot.As a result of their repeated rebelliousness, He allowed the Philistines and the Ammonites to oppress the people.They exploited the children of Isreal for 18 years.In their heavily burdened-down condition, the Isrealites cried to the Lord.

The Lord responded,"I've heard this before.I delievered you from the Egyptians,Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines ,Sidonians, and Amalekites,yet you continue to forsake me and go after other gods.Let their god's save you this time".But the children of Isreal continued to cry out,"we have sinned,please deliever us".

Crying out to God

judges 10:10-14KJV

¹⁰And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

   ¹¹And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

   ¹²The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

   ¹³Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

   ¹⁴Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

footnote:

When the Isrealites cried out to God this time,they did not simply plead for relief from their oppression.Rather,they reconized that the root cause of their problem was their own sinful ways.So they confessed their sin to God,an important step of repentance.They also understood that there was a two-step process in their sin:turning from forsaking the true God of heaven and earth,and turning to serving the false gods of their neighbors.Same is true today,when the people of God stray from Him and His ways, it is a very small step to becoming ensnared by the evil ways of  our surrounding

society.

True Repentance

Judges 10:15-16
¹⁵And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

   ¹⁶And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

Footnotes:

The Israelites passed the test of sincerity, as seen by both their words and deeds.By their words,they continued to acknowledge their sin and expressed their willingness to accept from God whatever He desired to do to them.Their one request was that they be delievered from the oppression of their enemies.This speaks volumes to the heart of true repentance,then and now.However Israel's repentance did not end with just words,their actions also testified to the truth of it.That their repentance was genuine and their hearts were again right before the Lord is seen by His response.

Facing The Consequences in Faith

Judges 10:17-18

 ¹⁷Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

   ¹⁸And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
footnotes:

In their willingness to accept whatever came from the hand of God,the Israelites did not whine or complain when the Ammonites encamped against them.Instead the repentant people of God called a meeting to determine who would lead them into battle against their foes.It is important to see that God did not simply"bail them out" so to speak.the Israelites had to face up to the consequences of their sins.The difference is ,having repented from their sins,they had every reason to believe God would see them through,which he did.

We too must realize to be reconciled to God, we must acknowledge our sins,turn from them,and turn in faith to God through his darling Son Jesus.Only in Christ is there forgiveness from sin and life everlasting with Him.Through the years we can become complacent in our relationship with the Lord.We can begin to take Christ's sacrifice and God's daily grace for granted.Daily meditation in God's word,prayer,and communion are all reminders of the new covenant He has made with those who believe in Him.