27.3: Jesus in Judges 1: New Generations of Israelites Plunge into a Vicious Cycle

<p>Life is messy. So is the Book of Judges. As we &nbsp;continue our journey through God’s Story, the History of Israel and &nbsp;Jesus’ ancestry, we find a phrase repeated over and over again… “The &nbsp;Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight.” Over and over again. It became &nbsp;a vicious cycle. As the generation that knew Joshua dies off, the next &nbsp;generation starts doing what God told them NOT to do — mix with the &nbsp;pagans. So….</p> <ul> <li>They get in trouble by worshiping the gods and <a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2020/05/22/idolatry-and-immorality-jesus-speaks-to-the-churches-revelation/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">idols</a> of the local <a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2020/08/02/proven-truth-how-paganism-and-idolatry-started-in-the-church/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">pagans</a>, resulting in oppression and suffering</li> <li>They call to God</li> <li>God sends a “judge” or leader</li> <li>He/She is victorious</li> <li>The judge dies</li> <li>They get in trouble, AGAIN, by worshiping the gods and idols of the local pagans resulting in oppression and suffering</li> </ul> <p>And it starts all over again. A vicious cycle.</p> <p>We easily get into vicious cycles. Take attempting to lose weight. &nbsp;You try a diet plan, start exercising, you’re very gun-ho. It works and &nbsp;you lose weight, then you slowly starting eating the foods you shouldn’t &nbsp;eat, and you gain the weight back. So you try another diet plan….and on &nbsp;and on. This vicious cycle goes on until you seek help from God — yes, &nbsp;God — for guidance, self-control and self-discipline, along with a &nbsp;professional, who gets you on a meal plan that works for you and you &nbsp;lose the weight for good.</p> <p>How bad does this Old Testament book get? Pretty bad. We meet a &nbsp;variety of different characters — including familiar names like Deborah, &nbsp;Gideon and Samson. Each with a story. Each with a lesson for us today. &nbsp;See if you can recognize Jesus in these stori