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Let Them Save You

Judges 10:13-14 (ESV) -- Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.

A running pattern throughout the book of Judges is sin. The people of Israel have no king and everyone does what is right in their own eyes. They rule themselves. This doesn’t end well for them. They don’t seek the Lord or His ways. Sin marks the people of God, and as a result, the devastating consequences of sin. They experience defeat and captivity from surrounding peoples. Only after their captivity becomes unbearable do they cry out to the Lord for redemption. And He does. God rescues them and raises up deliverers for the people. After they are spared, there is a period of peace, but inevitably, they return to their old ways. This cycle happens throughout Judges. 

We see in our text today, how God’s response is to this constant rebellion. We read, “Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”

Israel’s rebellion is a direct affront against God. They worship and serve idols that aren’t even gods. This is forsaking the God who covenanted with them and made them His own. He has saved and rescued them from calamity and hardships, despite themselves. But God makes the devastating statement: I will save you no more. This statement should terrify anyone who hears it. For God’s mercy and kindness to turn into wrath and judgment is horrifying. God tells them to go and cry out to their fake gods that they’ve chosen over Him. If they want to be devoted to those gods, then those gods can save them from calamity. But we already know they can’t. Those gods aren’t real. Israel has put its hope in idols of the imagination. 

The lesson for us is not to shake our heads in disbelief at Israel. It is to not repeat their mistakes in our own lives. It’s not hard to turn away from the Living God and put our hope in places that can’t help us. Our hearts are prone to adopt and invent false gods to be our functional saviors and helps as we reject and turn away from the Living God. But we don’t need anything from the LORD. But the LORD is still there for His people. Do not forsake Him by serving other gods. We never want to hear Him say, “Let them save you.”


Reflection & Journal:
- Why do you think Israel so easily turned to false gods?
- What is the lesson to learn on presuming upon the kindness and mercy of God?
- How do we look to false gods or functional saviors today? What are some examples?


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