Two-a-Days

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Introduction to Judges
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 2:6-23 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

 

In high school, two-a-days were a rite of passage for anybody who wanted to be on the football team. For two weeks in August, during the dog days of summer, we went out in the morning for practice, only to return in the afternoon for a second practice. It wasn’t unusual for a player to throw up.

 

Although there were many reasons for two-a-days, one was to find out who had what it takes. In a word, it was a test. If you could persevere through the mental, physical and emotional stress of two-a-days, then you could persevere through the season.

 

Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan where each tribe claimed their inheritance of land. Having done that, they were to drive out the people who lived there along with their foreign gods. Everything worked fine, until Joshua died.

 

Then Israel went into a free fall. Instead of driving out the pagans with their foreign gods, they worshipped their gods. Because of this, the Lord no longer drove out any of the remaining nations. They were to be a test to see if Israel could persevere. They were Israel’s two-a-days.

 

²¹ I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. ²² I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.”            NLT

 

The only problem was that the Lord was no longer with Israel. The result was predictable. After suffering from the oppression of the other nations, Israel would cry out for the Lord’s help. So, the Lord would raise up a judge who saved them.

 

¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. ^19a But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways behaving worse than those who had lived before them.  NLT

 

It was a cycle that was repeated time and again. But through it all you can see the Lord’s faithfulness. Twelve times in fact with twelve different judges. Each one saving Israel from their oppressors. Each one saving Israel from their sinful ways.

 

In fact, over the millennia, the Lord never gave up on Israel. Even to the point of sending his one and only son who he loved to die for their sins. And he did this, not because we first loved him, but because he first loved us.

 

Life is still full of tests; it’s full of two-a-days. But they’re not on a pass/fail basis. Instead, it’s progress, not perfection.

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.                                              James 1         NIV

 

And through it all, the Lord is always faithful.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com