Judges 10

Judges 10

Maintaining Peace • Two judges are listed during this 45 year period – Tola and Jair • Little is said about them, but the evidence seems to indicate that a there was a certain level of spirituality and justice. • Jair had 30 sons who reigned over 30 cities which give the picture of a glimpse of what is to come.

Business as Usual Judges 10:6-10 • As soon as the judges were gone, Israel went back to serving other gods. God-called leadership just kept things in check but the peoples heart was still evil • 7 pagan god Israel served • Some of the old enemies that were never appropriately dealt with in the past are back to collect their pound of flesh

Repentance or is it? Judges 10:10-14 • Israel feigns some kind of repentance which first of all demonstrated that they knew the problem and the solution. Most people aren’t as stupid as they try to appear • God wasn’t impressed, but reminds them of past deliverances, and recommends that they seek help from their new gods.

Try it again Judges 10:15-18 • Repentance is not just lip service, but it must come from the heart. • Israel’s first repentance was with the mouth only, but the second had a stronger ring to is, because they actually put the strange gods away (vs. 16) • We just can’t repent and remain in the same thing, we must get rid the strange gods

Judges 10:16 • He could no longer bear to see Israel suffer. • There comes a point, sooner or later, when God becomes real and acts in our lives. Even though we have continually rejected Him, and even though we have pulled all this suffering down on ourselves – he can not bear to see us suffer very long. • Because our God is also LOVE, he acts in our lives, in our actual history, to deliver us from oppression.