Judges 2:13-14

In my very first post on Telemoonfa Time, I said, "I'll try to write well and think well about important things." It occurred to me that a very important thing, if not the most important thing, is religion.

That having been said, I've decided to offer my own commentary on the Scriptures on this blog, at least for today. Keep in mind that I do not officially represent the views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I do not represent the views of anyone divine.

Here's a verse in the Bible I just came upon:

Judges 2:13-14. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

One of the things I love about the Bible is that it offers both history and principles. (For example, the story of the exodus is history, and the Ten Commandments are principles.) It's interesting to read a proverb like “pride goeth before the fall,” and then to read about prideful kings or nations fall. Judges 2:13-14 is an example of history.

But sometimes the principles don’t match up so nicely with the history, though. Why don’t they? If God is perfect, why does there sometimes seem to be incongruities between what God says he will do and what He actually does? Good question. Many people have wondered about this. Here’s my answer: I think history and principles don’t mesh perfectly because history only covers this short mortal earth-life, whereas principles are eternal. A long long long time from now, I believe, we will all understand that the Judge of all the earth has done right.

Simply, though, Judges 2:13-14 talks about something easy to understand. When Israel is obedient to God’s commands, Israel prospers. When Israel is disobedient to God’s commands, Israel dwindles.

Another thing, though, the verse doesn’t just say something karma-ish and wishy-washy like, “Do a bunch of nice things and nice things will be done to you.” The verse describes the LORD as a being capable of action and as a being involved in the lives of humans. In Judges 2:13-14, God is directly, actively punishing the Israelites. The verse says that God “sold them into the hands of their enemies.” Thus we see that is capable of and has a history of punishing people. He’s punished others; maybe he’ll punish you.

I must warn you, though, it’s hard to pin certain things on God. It’s hard to say exactly what he did and didn’t do. There are some things that he actively does, and other things he just allows to happen.

Reading and thinking about the Scriptures is a good thing to do.

Have a nice day.