Week Twenty-Six, Day One
Even if you know nothing about the Hebrew’s history during this period you would notice that the opening sentence of chapter six is a constant refrain. It would be easy for us to begin to wonder just what kind of thick-skulled heathens the Jews were. It seems that the same thing happens to them over and over, but they just don’t get it. We have to remember, though, that this book is written in retrospect. It is easy enough from that perspective to see patterns that are painfully obvious. It is not nearly so easy to recognize those patterns when we are in the middle of them. If you can look back over your life and recognize patterns you are one of the lucky ones. You are lucky because you have, at least, the beginnings of self-awareness, which is a vital ingredient for recovery and healing. If you can’t recognize them, take my word that not seeing them does not mean they don’t exist. (I bet a convention of your exes could identify them in two minutes.) The people of God repeated an extremely dysfunctional pattern in their community life, but it was only later that, looking back, they recognized it as the source of much of their trouble and pain. They were reaping a bitter harvest, but they never seemed to connect that harvest with the seeds they sowed. Notice how verse six talks about how they were impoverished by the Midianites. Think for a moment about areas of your life where you feel impoverished. Now, it probably is not difficult to trace the cause of that. You may know instantly who/what is to blame, but is it possible that you need to trace the roots of that poverty back further until you discover the part of it for which you are responsible? In verse one, it is clear that whatever pain the Midianites felt it was the Hebrews who were ultimately responsible. Blaming someone for our problems certainly makes us feel better; however, the only growth that will come from the situation comes from recognizing the role we played. We can’t do anything to change the people we blame, but there is always something we can change in our own lives.Blessings, TODAY'S Liberating Word || Subscribe Today! || HOME |
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Reading the book of Judges you find examples of the kind of thing that makes English teachers pull their hair out. Chapter five ends with a great heroic poem, but look at how abruptly chapter six begins: