The Length of the Rebellion

The book of Judges is a very repetitive one. This phrase is included over and over:

“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.” (Judges 3:7)

They forgot God, and by forgetting God, they ran headlong into sin. After this passage we normally find one like the following:

“And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.” (Judges 3:9)

God would punish their sin and the punishment would make his children cry out for deliverance. God, who is faithful and mighty to save, always sent a deliverer upon their repentance, but it wouldn’t be long before the cycle repeated itself.

I want to note something interesting though. The length of the rebellion corresponds to the length of the obedience. Shorter rebellion = shorter obedience. Longer rebellion = longer obedience. That seems contradictory doesn’t it?

You would think the more stubborn individuals who stayed in sin much longer would be less likely to maintain their obedience upon repentance, but scripture teaches us otherwise:

Luke 7:47 KJV
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

The more messed up we are, the more we appreciate God’s forgiveness, mercy, and love. That doesn’t mean the person who grew up in church and got saved at the age of 8 doesn’t love God. It just means they doesn’t understand his grace to the same degree as the person who is deeply entrenched in sin.

Regardless of which person you are, the route to heaven and a victorious life are the same. Keep your eyes on Jesus!