The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. … This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. [Judges 2:11-12,14 (NLT)]
The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the Lord. [1 Chronicles 9:1b (NLT)]
At an elevation of 12,388 feet, the oxygen at the summit of Japan’s Mt. Fuji has two-thirds the density of oxygen at sea level. With an elevation gain of about 5,000 feet, the climb up takes from 5 to 10 hours and the descent down about 3 to 4 hours (not including time taken for much-needed breaks). Covered with snow most of the year, Mt. Fuji’s trails are closed from September 10 to early July because of freezing weather and hazardous conditions. Nevertheless, in April of last year, a 27-year-old university student attempted to climb to its peak. Unfortunately, his adventure ended when he had to be airlifted to a hospital because of altitude sickness.
It’s common sense that, if you get stuck on a mountain and need a helicopter to rescue you, you probably shouldn’t go back. Nevertheless, the same young man returned to Mt. Fuji four days later. Apparently, having left his mobile phone and belongings behind on the mountain, he hiked up to retrieve them. Fortunately, another hiker alerted authorities when he came upon the young man shaking, injured, and unable to move on the trail; once again, he was airlifted to the hospital because of altitude sickness!
That university student certainly was slow to learn his lesson; once should have been enough. His story made me think of Israel’s history as told in the books of Judges, Kings, and Chronicles. God clearly told them the rules—love, honor, obey, and worship only Jehovah and love their fellow man—and He warned them of the consequences of disobedience. God’s rules were as clear as the “Trails Closed” signs on Mt. Fuji. Moreover, unlike the guideposts that are removed when Fuji’s trails are closed, God made sure the Israelites always had the Book of the Law to guide them on their way! Nevertheless, just as the hiker was free to ignore the closed signs, the Hebrews were free to ignore God’s Word and engage in idolatry, immorality, apostasy, and other sins.
As a consequence of the young man’s willfulness and perversity, he came dangerously close to dying. As a consequence of Israel’s willfulness and perversity, God allowed them to be oppressed by their enemies. Eventually, they’d repent and call God for help. While I’m not sure about his repentance, I imagine the young man regretted his defiance of the rules as he lay on the ground nauseated, dizzy, exhausted, and struggling for breath. But, just as the hapless young man was rescued by paramedics in a helicopter once help was called, God always intervened and delivered Israel from their oppressors once they returned to Him. A time of peace and well-being would follow but, just as the young man failed to learn his lesson and attempted the climb again, Israel was slow to learn their lesson; they’d sin again and the cycle of suffering and oppression would be repeated all over again.
Time and time again, in spite of their unfaithfulness, God intervened to save His people and rescue them. Along with the consequences of sin, the Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of God’s divine grace, forgiveness, and patience. When we repent of our sins and turn back to God, He will be there for us! As for that foolish young man—I hope he finally learned his lesson. He was fortunate that another hiker found him and alerted authorities; next time he may not be so fortunate! Moreover, the local taxpayers (who bore the cost of his rescues) are not as patient and forgiving as God and they’re now looking into ways to make reckless hikers bear the cost of rescue!
Just as Mt. Fuji’s “Trails Closed” signs don’t prevent foolhardy hikers from ascending the mountain, God’s law didn’t prevent Israel from idolatry and other sins. Like them, we’ve been given the liberty of choice but that doesn’t mean we always will choose wisely. Nevertheless, it’s been said that mistakes are for learning, not for repeating. Unlike ancient Israel and that university student in Japan, let us repent when we err, learn from our errors, and not repeat them again!
But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. [Edmund Burke]
Jesus clearly promises forgiveness of our sins but some people treat this gift like Monopoly’s “Get Out of Jail Free” card. In John Bunyan’s wonderful allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, we meet such a person—Mr. Selfwill. Confident in God’s promise of “eternal security,” Selfwill feels free to live any way he wants. Since David committed adultery, Rahab lied, and Jacob deceived, Mr. Selfwill reasons that he can deliberately do those things, as well. He thinks anyone who believes that Jesus has forgiven his sins has the freedom to sin willfully as long as he has some virtues to go along with his sins. Foolishly thinking his good deeds cancel out his bad ones, the unregenerate pretender deliberately sins.
The only prayer found in Proverbs is that of Agur in Proverbs 30. While he probably was one of the sages of Solomon’s day who helped compile the proverbs, other than saying he was the son of Jakeh, we really know nothing about the man. In his prayer, Agur asked for two unusual things, the first of which was that God would, “Remove far from me falsehood and lying.” His second prayer was that God give him neither poverty nor riches. These are not typical requests and I suspect that we’ve prayed neither prayer. The first one because we don’t see the need and the second because we can’t imagine not wanting something a little more than just enough!
When writing about enemies earlier this week, I couldn’t think of anyone with whom I interact who qualifies as an enemy. But, when I broadened my search and considered the various people Satan uses in his evil schemes against God, I realized I have several—some whose names I know and others whose names I don’t. When they become Satan’s agents, they become God’s enemies, and, if they are God’s enemies, shouldn’t they be mine? So, who are they?
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 139 but, as I read it this morning, I got annoyed with David. Near the end of this beautiful psalm praising God for His omniscience, omnipresence, and intensely personal involvement in his life, David mentions hating his enemies (something he and other psalmists frequently did in Psalms). David certainly had his share of enemies. Along with the Philistines, Moabites, Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, his enemies included Goliath, King Saul, Absalom (the son who tried to overthrow the kingdom), Ahithophel (the counselor who defected to Absalom), and Adonijah (who tried to wrest the crown from Solomon). Looking at Israel’s history, I understand why David and the other psalmists mentioned enemies so frequently, but I’m not running for my life, fighting a rebellion, or fending off Assyrians and Babylonians, so why do I care about their enemies?
