Mar 21, 2019
I sometimes refer to myself as being in God’s remedial school for slow learners. It just seems that God keeps holding me back, not allowing me to move on to the next grade level because I haven’t quite picked up the lessons He wanted me to learn. Sometimes, this is just a case of stubbornness on my part, not stupidity. And the nations of Israel and Judah suffered from the same tendency. As we read the Old Testament history of God’s interactions with His chosen people, we can’t help but notice that they seemed to go through the same painful lessons over and over again. But they never seemed to learn. And the book of Judges provides one of the greatest illustrations of the cyclical tendency of the people of Israel. They would sin and then suffer the consequences. That prompted them to cry out to God, who would send them a rescuer in the form of a judge. God would redeem and restore them. But, in a matter of time, the people would rebel again and the cycle would repeat itself. Ad nauseum. And in Isaiah 42:18-25, we have the serial unfaithfulness of Judah juxtaposed with the faithfulness of God.