The Story: Judges 10
Before Israel had kings, they were guided by judges. These judges either led them to God or away from Him. In Chapter 10, Jair died and no one stepped up to become the new judge. The line of succession was broken.
As I read this chapter, the question of why came to mind. Why was there no judge after Jair? Why did a son or brother not succeed him? He had 30 of each. Why then led to who. Who was the next one to guide them? When people presumably have no one to guide them, they make their own leader. They will pick themselves or someone else.
In the case of Israel, they appointed multiple leaders, which were the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. All of these “leaders” were inanimate items without the power to heal, save, or deliver. Ultimately, they forgot about and rejected the One, who had led them out of the wilderness and through other challenges. They forgot about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They chose the wrong who.
However, when trouble came, they remembered the other who. The Israelites prayed to the true God for solace. They revived their repentance song in hopes of getting divine assistance from God. This was the same song they often rehearsed when they sinned against God and trouble was at their doorstep. God heard this rendition many times before and directed them to the ones they regularly paid homage. He recounted the many times He delivered them in the past and how they continued to serve other gods.
The Israelites determined that they needed to put work to their lip service. They removed the other gods and returned to the God of their fathers. Faithful God loved them so much that He couldn’t bear their misery.
The Ammonites prepared for war and the Israelites returned to the question of who. They wanted to know who would fight for them. They also decided that whoever fought for them would also lead them. Unfortunately, they didn’t ask God to direct them to a leader.
The Lesson
Admittedly, it would be easy to condemn the Israelites for not realizing that who is a moot question. When we know God, we always have the answer to who. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are our Provider. Therefore, the Trinity will provide the who, what, when, and where. He is the originator of the WHAT so He knows WHO needs to walk with you on the journey. He knows WHEN it is your turn and WHERE you need to be.
Our problem is that we try to figure out the who before we entertain the why. We want to ensure that we’re not alone. God says “I’m with you always.” We respond, “Yeah, yeah. But who is with me?” We ignore the essential role in our lives that God serves and we begin to add people to our journey. We put people in position or build relationships that are detrimental to the path that God has for us. Nothing is wrong with the people we choose because they may be upstanding, God-fearing citizens and seemingly able to walk this journey with us.
However, the trouble is that we chose them and not God. Our choosing only compounds our trouble. The blessed thing is that we don’t have to remain in the trouble. We can return to our who and ask for forgiveness and help. He will come through at the appointed time and deliver us. Yet we must know that we will pay the consequences by waiting to enter the Promised Land. While we wait, we can keep our eyes on our Faithful Who.
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
