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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily

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Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day

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Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible verse, Judges

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Speaker 1: two three. Today's Bible Verse is Judges two three, and

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Speaker 1: I have also said I will not drive them out

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Speaker 1: before you. They will become traps for you, and their

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Speaker 1: gods will become snares to you. How did your primary

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Speaker 1: caregivers respond to your misbehavior when you were growing up?

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Speaker 1: Did they shame you, withdraw act, harsh and exacting one

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Speaker 1: moment and apathetic the next? And how do those experiences

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Speaker 1: impact how you relate to God? Now? Do you readily

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Speaker 1: turn to him for forgiveness and help or do you

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Speaker 1: shrink back in fear. Maybe you're so confident of his

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Speaker 1: faithful care you view his corrections as the displays of

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Speaker 1: pure benevolent love that they are. Judges reveals this aspect

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Speaker 1: of God's character clearly. When he allows his people to

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Speaker 1: experience the consequences of their choices, his grace remains evident

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Speaker 1: as it is during this dark period of ancient Israel's history.

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Speaker 1: Today's verse gains weight when we read it in context.

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Speaker 1: Let me do that now, Beginning with Judges two to one,

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Speaker 1: continuing to verse five, the Angel of the Lord went

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Speaker 1: up from Gilgal to Bocham and said, I brought you

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Speaker 1: up out of Egypt and led you into the land.

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Speaker 1: I swore to give your ancestors. I said, I will

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Speaker 1: never break my covenant with you, and you shall not

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Speaker 1: make a covenant with the people of this land, but

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Speaker 1: you shall break down their altars. Yet you have disobeyed me.

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Speaker 1: Why have you done this? And I have also said

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Speaker 1: I will not drive them out before you. They will

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Speaker 1: become traps for you, and their gods will become snares

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Speaker 1: to you. When the Angel of the Lord had spoken

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Speaker 1: these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud,

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Speaker 1: and they called that place spoken there they offered sacrifices

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Speaker 1: to the Lord. Notice how this chapter begins. The Angel

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Speaker 1: of the Lord, likely the pre incarnate Christ, addressed his

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Speaker 1: people directly. He clearly identified both their disobedience and its consequences.

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Speaker 1: But first he reminded them of his covenant. If they

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Speaker 1: rejected him, they would forfeit the blessings he longed to provide.

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Speaker 1: Recognize He's a tenderhearted father who's saddened when we turn

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Speaker 1: from him and land in messes of our own making.

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Speaker 1: But he parents with the perfect blend of mercy, justice, grace,

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Speaker 1: and truth. He practices what some call reality discipline, which

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Speaker 1: allows children to experience the natural consequences for their disobedience.

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Speaker 1: In this case, he refused to do for ancient Israel

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Speaker 1: what he instructed them to do, drive the Canaanites from

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Speaker 1: the land. Those of you who followed our Moses series

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Speaker 1: might be thinking, wait, I thought that was something the

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Speaker 1: Lord said he'd do. Yes, he did, but the people

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Speaker 1: still had to do their part, and the same is

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Speaker 1: true for us. We must do our part. But as

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Speaker 1: my mentor often says, God does the heavy lifting. He

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Speaker 1: honors our agency, our ability to make decisions, including whether

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Speaker 1: we want to live aligned with him. Those addressed in

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Speaker 1: today's passage seem to want that they responded to the

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Speaker 1: Lord's correction with weeping and sacrifice, Yet they're following cycles

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Speaker 1: of sin cast doubt on the authenticity of their remorse.

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Speaker 1: It seems they grieve the consequences, not their sin.

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Speaker 2: They repeatedly sought the relief God provided, rather than a

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Speaker 2: relationship with their creator. But this is where God's grace shines.

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Speaker 2: His people repeatedly rebelled, landed, in painful circumstances, cried out

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Speaker 2: for rescue, and He responded by through a warrior judge,

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Speaker 2: conquering their enemies and instituting a season of peace until

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Speaker 2: the cycle began again. That's the driving message in Judges

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Speaker 2: and all of scripture. The Lord is faithful to his

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Speaker 2: promises and his children while he allows us to experience

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Speaker 2: the consequences for our actions. Even then he lavishes us

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Speaker 2: with grace and often the help we need. That's the

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Speaker 2: driving message in Judges and all of scripture. The Lord

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Speaker 2: is faithful to his promises and his children, while he

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Speaker 2: allows us to experience the consequences for our actions. Even then,

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Speaker 2: he lavishes us with grace and often the help we need.

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Speaker 2: And he also remains faithful to his warnings, which actually

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Speaker 2: is important in developing trust. If you've ever had an

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Speaker 2: inconsistent parent who says one thing one moment and does

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Speaker 2: something totally different than next, you understand this. So what

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Speaker 2: does that mean for us? First, it assures us that

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Speaker 2: the Lord's grace is always greater than our sin. The

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Speaker 2: moment we confess, he forgives us and purifies us from

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Speaker 2: all unrighteousness when we abandon our self destructive path, and

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Speaker 2: each time we do so, he welcomes us with open arms.

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Speaker 2: But he won't force us to live in relationship with him.

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Speaker 2: He wants us to choose him, not merely for what

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Speaker 2: he can provide, but for who he is. Is there

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Speaker 2: a behavior the Lord might want you to turn from?

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Speaker 2: And will you out of a desire to grow closer

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Speaker 2: to your savior? Or maybe you're ruminating on past mistakes

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Speaker 2: for which he's already granted forgiveness. If so, may his

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Speaker 2: interactions with the men and women in Judges encourage you

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Speaker 2: to rest more deeply in his inexhaustible brace. If that

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Speaker 2: feels hard, ask for his help. Let's pray, Holy Father,

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Speaker 2: you are faithful, You are consistent, and you honor your word.

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Speaker 2: When you give us warnings, you're not just blowing smoke.

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Speaker 2: You're actually giving us necessary guidance for thriving life. And

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Speaker 2: we know that's a huge part of our ability to

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Speaker 2: trust you is just knowing that when you say something,

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Speaker 2: you mean it and you will follow through, And therefore

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Speaker 2: we can trust your every word, and Lord, today's page

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Speaker 2: helps us recognize there are consequences for our choices, for

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Speaker 2: our behavior, but even then, you always meet us with grace.

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Speaker 2: You are faithful, you are loving, you are present, You

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Speaker 2: are working in our messes. You are able to untangle

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Speaker 2: the messes that we create. And we know your desire

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Speaker 2: is never to punish or to inflict pain, but it

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Speaker 2: is always, always, always, to lead us to greater freedom.

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Speaker 2: Remind us of that when maybe we're dealing with unpleasant

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Speaker 2: consequences and we feel abandoned or rejected, or maybe when

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Speaker 2: we're just in a season where you seem silent or

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Speaker 2: you feel distant, remind us that you are our good, loving, faithful,

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Speaker 2: always present Father.

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Speaker 1: You hold no favorites, and you're not punitive. And so

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Speaker 1: whatever we're experiencing today ever feels confusing or hard or discouraging,

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Speaker 1: remind us of who you are. Remind us of your heart.

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Speaker 1: Remind us of your promises, particularly of what Jesus said

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Speaker 1: in John ten, verse ten. The thief comes to steal, kill,

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Speaker 1: and destroy, But he came that we might have life

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Speaker 1: and have it to the full. He moved heaven and

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Speaker 1: earth to pave the way for that thriving life, and

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Speaker 1: he died on the cross to break the chains that

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Speaker 1: keep us from it and to enable us to have

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Speaker 1: a close relationship with you. And we praise you for that.

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Speaker 1: We are so grateful for the gift you gave us

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Speaker 1: in your son and Lord. When we do mess up,

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Speaker 1: remind us of that gift. Remind us to open that gift,

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Speaker 1: to fully receive that gift. Your mercies are new every morning,

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Speaker 1: every prayer, every act of repentance, which is basically just

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Speaker 1: turning back to you. And we turn back to you

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Speaker 1: a thousand times each day, and each time you welcome

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Speaker 1: us home, and we're so grateful. We love you and

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Speaker 1: we praise you. And it is in the name of

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Speaker 1: your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray am