As we open the curtain on chapter 4, we find the enemy within God’s people. God’s people did evil again in the sight of the Lord. God’s people swallowed Satan’s lie, that “sin is satisfying.” As we enter chapters 4 and 5 of Judges, we find the spiritual merry-go-round continues to go around in circles. As we have already seen, as God’s people forsook the Lord they went into bondage for eight years; God raised up Othniel to deliver them, and the land had peace for forty years. They later forsook the Lord again and went eighteen years into bondage; God raised up Ehud to deliver the people, and the land rested eighty years. By this time, you would think God’s people would have noticed the pattern – that when they rebelled against God, they’re lives began to fall apart. They lost their freedom and were thrown into bondage, but as they followed the Lord, they found peace and rest.
Christians today act and live the same way. Some fail to pray, read and obey the Bible, go to church, tithe, or in general live for Christ; others harbor sin or bitterness, and then wonder why things aren’t going well in their life and why they are often so miserable. They wonder why it is that their life is in turmoil and they have no peace. Make no mistake about it – when Christians rebel and disobey the Lord, it leads to a life of frustration, failure, fear, and fighting. When we obey the Lord, even though we may suffer trials, it leads to a life of serenity, spiritual success, stability, strength, and significance. Israel failed to learn this! Have you learned this?
