The Book of Judges is the R-rated book of the Bible. It is a squalid, tangled mess of human depravity. And this is precisely what the writer wants us to see. Many people fail to understand the book of Judges because they are expecting it to provide them with inspiring stories of godly people and wonderful examples of how to live life. You won’t find any such thing in the book of Judges, and if you go looking for this you will be disappointed. Why did the writer of Judges record this terrible line-up of events in the way that he did? The answer is simple. It is the ultimate case of, “I told you so!” God had told his people that, if they failed to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, these people would become a snare to them and oppress them (Joshua 23:12,13). He told them that, if they worshipped the gods of the nations, they would be oppressed by them. What we see in the book of Judges are the results of a little bit of compromise. The Israelites failed to clear the evil influence from their lives and the result was that they were oppressed and were led to become as depraved as the other people in the land. It is a sad story. May it not be the story of your life. Never compromise to bad influence. Never put off what God calls you to do. For either you move forward with God in obedience, or you slide back into becoming a victim to the world’s evils.
Have you made any compromises to bad influence in your life? Talk about this with God, receive his forgiveness and do what you can to reverse this.
Read Joshua 23:6-16 again
