Scripture for meditation: Judges 6:1-10
One of the things that we read about yesterday, was dealing with the open doors in our lives, through which the enemy can, or has come in to attack
us or accuse us before God.
In today’s key Scripture, we read the story of the Israelites in the days of Gideon being under attack by the Midianites on a periodic basis. This
the bible said, was because the Lord had turned them over to the Midianites for seven years because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.
There are a few things that I’d like us to look at in this Scripture:
Israel was overwhelmed by the Midianites. It was a persistent cycle of defeat, losses and discouragement that had occurred consistently every year for
seven years.
They would Sow their crops, but as the bible says:
“3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 4They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.”
Whenever the Israelites planted the crops, they had an onslaught from their enemies who over ran them and devoured their harvest. This was a systemic attack on Israel’s prosperity and wellbeing that the bible says, left Israel impoverished and as written in the ESV translation:
“And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.”
(Judges 6:6 ESV)
If we read the story further (Judges 6-10), we see God through the mouth of His prophet, telling Israel why they were suffering such a fate. They were
living in disobedience to God’s command.
An interesting thought about this story can be found in Judges 6:1, 6 – 8.
Let’s first look at Judges 6:1 – “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.”( ESV)
Then Judges 6:6 – “And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.”
And finally, Judges 6: 8a – “When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel.”
It is interesting to note that WHEN the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help (v6), He sent a prophet to tell them what was wrong (v8),
and thereafter raised a deliverer for them in Gideon. Reading verse 1 of the story again, the thought occurred to me: Could Israel have been in this
terrible situation for so long, and only just cried out to the Lord for help after suffering for 7 years?
If that was so, the reason may be deduced from the verse: The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them over
into the hand of Midian 7 years. Could it be that they were not aware, that they were oblivious to their disobedience and that the Lord had turned
His back on them? Could it be that they did evil in the sight of the Lord but not in their own eyes? Think about that for a moment…
How many of us are suffering under the cosh of oppression, defeat and discouragement and have spent years fighting and “binding” the devil, but the
real “enemy” is closer home than we thought?
God allowed the Midianites to devour Israel’s harvest!
For you reading this today, if you have been caught in a cycle of defeat for any length of time, maybe the first step to take in breaking this cycle
is for you to allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart and show you where you may be at variance with God.
We see a similar scenario of God allowing the devourer to prevail over his people in Haggai 1:1-11.
But as we will have noticed in both instances, when the people cried out to God for help, God sent a word through the mouth of His prophets, showed
them where they had gone wrong, stopped the mouth of the devourer and brought restoration when they repented. Hallelujah!
This is a prophetic word of God to you today, that your change has come! If you will align yourself to him and align your heart to His word and will
for your life, He will manifest as your Deliverer and the Restorer of your destiny!
For we know by His word, that He will not always be angry with us…that is the Good News, the benefit of the grace and redemptive power in the blood
of Jesus and the cross of Calvary.
TODAY’S PRAYER POINTS:
• Meditate again on 1 John 1:8-9 and also on 2 Chronicles 16:9a – For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong
support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. (ESV)
• Pray again as David did in Psalm 19:12-14:
“12Who can know all his errors?
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of.
13Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant sins;
do not allow such sins to control me.
Then I will be blameless,
and innocent of blatant rebellion.
14May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my sheltering rock and my redeemer.”
• Cry out to God for help against the devourer
• Petition God to bring an end to your cycle of defeat.
• Ask God to turn your cycle of defeat into cycles of victory and blessings.
*** Pray these prayers for yourself, your family and the church.
God bless you as you wait.
Pastor Wale Ola