Recovery Devotional 335 Covenant Breakers

JMD Devotional 335 Judges 2 Covenant Breakers

1-4 NOW THE Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you; and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept.

In the course of this chapter, these are the ways that Israel broke their covenant with God:

1. They failed to train their children in the ways of the Lord, and pass on their values.

2. They served Baal (involving infant sacrifice for prosperity) and Ashtorrth (involving lustful images, temple prostitution and worship of sex).

3. They forgot God and they did not acknowledge what God did for them in the past.

4. They forsook God (broke allegiance, and aligned themselves with other gods).

5. They failed to be the (righteous) Light to the Nations that God had commissioned them to be.

6. They brought disgrace upon the Name of God.

Verses 14,15 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes. Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed.

Verses 20-22 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said, Because this people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not listened to My voice, I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

Dear God,

Is America not unlike the nation of Israel? The Pilgrims, Puritans, pioneers and our Founding Fathers appealed to You for divine help in establishing a righteous nation: but as we prospered materialism and indulgence displaced the noble commitments of our early works. Our centers of learning slander You daily; preferring the worship of man and nature in intellectual idolatry. We have squandered our opportunity to export righteousness: the most shameful materials and entertainments are homegrown, and have soiled the internet and the air waves of many nations. All who forsake You shall be forsaken; it is a bitter thing to place our benefactor into the seat of judgment. We have earned trials, testing and difficulty; but for the sake of Your people, who still cling to Your Name, raise up deliverers to set us back on the right course.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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