If you know much about me, you will know that Judges is one of my favorite books of the Bible. So when I realized that it was my turn to write the GRIP Thoughts when we were in Judges, I was pretty stoked! To me, Judges is kind of like Noah’s Ark meets Chuck Norris. There’s tons of action, war, and crazy stuff going on. I’m really not a violent person, but the stories of 300 men taking on the Midianites, Jael driving a tent peg through Sisera’s skull, and Samson launching 300 flame-laden foxes into his enemies’ fields are just too epic to not enjoy!
That being said, it’s probably also one of the most depressing books in the entire Bible. You see, in the very last chapter of Joshua, the Israelites are challenged by Joshua to renew their covenant and choose whom they will serve. The Israelites respond in Joshua 24:16-18 by saying that they will wholeheartedly serve God. Now, this sounds really great, but unfortunately since I’ve read through the Bible several times, I know what’s coming next and I know that it’s not good. By the second chapter of Judges, the Israelites have already turned their backs on God and have started worshiping other gods. These are the same people that two chapters before said that they would be faithful to the one true God. It’s just so sad to watch them crumble so hard.
It’s such a good reminder that it is so easy to be swept away by our evil desires and complacency. I think we can often tend to think that we are invincible and don’t need to worry about falling away from God. However, as we just read a couple weeks ago in Philippians 2:12, we are supposed to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Staying committed to God is not easy and it requires dedication and continual effort. The moment we become complacent, we become very vulnerable.
I want to wrap up by talking about one of my absolute favorite stories in the book of Judges. That’s the story of Shamgar. Who the heck is Shamgar? He’s a guy whose story is told in one single verse! It’s this random little story at the end of Judges 3 that simply states that he killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad and as a result, saved Israel. What the heck is an oxgoad? It’s essentially just a stick. That’s intense! And he just gets one little verse. Our God is such an incredibly big and powerful God. He takes a random dude carrying a pointy stick and does incredible things through him. At times I can feel like I’m really nothing special and that I don’t have much going on, but I have to remember that our God is so much bigger than what I have to offer and that He wants to do big things through me.
Never forget that our God wants to use you for big things!
-Ryan Guerra
(Associate Pastor)