Daily Devotion for Friday 10th April

 
Judges 2:1-10
 
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, ‘I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, “I will never break my covenant with you.  For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.” But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!  So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, 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 voices and wept.  So they named that place Bochim, and there they sacrificed to the Lord.
 
When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites all went to their own inheritances to take possession of the land. The people worshipped the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.  Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years.  So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.  Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
 
Reflection
 
This section reads like a second introduction to the book.  It links back to Joshua 5 and the story of Israel’s entry into the promised land at Gilgal.  It pre-supposes the stories of the exodus and the law-giving at Sinai; and says that Israel has already broken the covenant made by God by disobedience and worshipping the gods of their new locality.  It is as though God says: ‘I will never break my covenant with you; but you have “messed up” and have to live with the consequences of that’.
 
The people turn to God with weeping; but God remains resolute.  
 
In verses 6-10 we are surprised to read about Joshua as though he still lives, contra Judges 1:1.  This section is a virtual repeat of material at the end of the book of Joshua (24:28-31) although the verses are in a different order.  However verse 10 moves the whole story on another generation to one that didn’t know God or what God had done for Israel.
 
This generation hadn’t witnessed the great works of God for themselves; but the author is saying that they hadn’t been told the story either, nor had they been nurtured towards a relationship with God for themselves.  No wonder they went astray.
 
These are cautionary words.  The great works of God narrated in scripture have not been witnessed by the current generation in our world.  I don’t discount the possibility of God performing new great acts but we cannot presume this.  Unless those of us who do know God through Christ tell the stories – in credible ways – to the people around us and to our children’s generation, we leave them in ignorance and fail to nurture them towards a living relationship with God.
 
They deserve better of us!  Perhaps it is a time for us to weep and turn back to God with a resolve to try harder to share our faith for the sake of the whole world that Jesus came to save.
 
Prayer
 
Faithful God 
you revealed yourself in the story of Israel,
in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus 
and still do by the activity of your Spirit.  
We rejoice that we’ve heard 
of your wondrous works 
and come to know you as our God.
 
We thank you 
for your unbroken covenant of love 
towards all that you’ve created – 
even when we’ve failed to obey your commands.
 
We repent in tears.  
Renew us and equip us 
to share your story more faithfully.  Amen.