After the awful war between Abimelech and Jotham, Israel had peace under the leadership of Tola and Jair. But once again, Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped idols. The Lord sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and the Ammonites, and they were oppressed for eighteen years (Jud. 10:1-9).
This time, however, things were different. When the children of Israel cried out, the Lord rebuked them. He reminded them of all the times he had delivered them, and yet they continued to worship false gods (Jud. 10:12). The Lord said, “Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress” (Jud. 10:13-14). In other words, if Israel wanted to worship false gods, then they should rely upon those same gods to deliver them from their oppressors.
The Lord’s rebuke of Israel should strike fear into our hearts. God’s grace and mercy shouldn’t be trifled with. We may not think we reject Christ to serve false gods, but anytime we choose to serve the lusts and desires of our flesh we are rejecting Him. In essence we are placing our trust in those desires to fulfill our wants and needs. In reality, though, they are enslaving us. What we believe yields satisfaction actually produces slavery.
Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray” (Jud. 10:15). So they put away the false gods from among them and served the Lord. Please take note of the Lord’s response: “and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel” (Jud. 10:16). God couldn’t stand to see Israel suffer any longer.
Many believe the the God of the Old Testament was only a God of judgement. The book of Judges proves otherwise. God is holy and demands justice for sin. On the other hand, though, God is merciful and doesn’t give sinful humanity what they deserve. Those of us who have been forgiven of our sins, know first-hand that we did not get what we deserved. Let us be thankful for the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.