Key Verse: Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
The book of Judges was probably edited from manuscripts written during the years when the Children of Israel still held to the belief that the God of Abraham was their King. It would appear that there was a godly king in Israel at the time this record was finalized. There was no revision of history which might have made the people look better. The good, the bad and the ugly are all here. These last five chapters of Judges are the most depressing in the entire Bible. This was because, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” When the human family turns away from an objective standard of moral behaviour, disaster always follows. How often do we hear, in our time, statements such as, “If it feels good, do it” or, “I have my own beliefs,” etc. If we read these stories with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, one cannot help but notice a similarity in human behaviour.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I realize more than ever that I need to follow Your unchanging standards for my behaviour if I am to truly live my life pleasing to You and as a good influence on others. I know that I need the prayer of the man of whom Jesus spoke who prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” It’s so very true that, “All [including me] have sinned and come short…” Please lift me up higher in my conduct so that I may glorify You. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’ve just read a great book which shows the amazing benefits which have come to the human family as a result of having firm objective standards as opposed to “everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.” The book I highly recommend to all my blog readers is “How Christianity Changed The World” by a Lutheran pastor and scholar named Alvin Schmidt. The forward is by Dr. Paul Maier, a man well known to long-time 100 Huntley Street viewers. It shows us what the world might be like if Jesus had not come. It deals with the value of human life, sexual morality, the freedom and dignity of women, charity and compassion, hospitals and health care, education, labour and economic freedom, science, liberty and justice for all, and other areas of life in which, as I’ve often said, “Jesus changed everything.” It’s published by Zondervan and has 442 pages. Are you ready to tackle reading a book which will show to the world that “YOU NEED JESUS!!!” I’m not sure what it costs, as I borrowed my son-in-law, Bruce Stacey’s copy. I intend to buy my own copy no matter how much it costs. It’s just that important a book (click here to order).
Yours to take a stand for God’s standards and for life,
David
Up Next in Year 1 | February
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100 Words - YR1 February 17 - Speak Up
Key Verse: Judges 19:22
As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!”Perversi...
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100 Words - YR1 February 18 - Dan to ...
Key Verse: Judges 20:20a
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin…Israel had extremely hard lessons to learn. Again they were fighting members of their own family; all of them were children of Abraham. When people are estranged from God, trouble and divisions usually follow....
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100 Words - YR1 February 19 - Kidnapped
Key Verses: Judges 21:3a & Judges 21:15
“O Lord, the God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel”…And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.It is gratifying to find that, after the violent war between the tribes, there ...