They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
Judges 2:13-14
Idolatry always has consequences. In Israel’s case, it took just one generation for God’s people to become pagans. A generation chose idols over Yahweh. They forgot their history. They took for granted that their life in a land that their ancestors fought to receive from God would just always be. They assumed it was always theirs. They abandoned the Lord.
And such casual drift into worship of false gods is easy to do. The nations around Israel that previous generations just tolerated, to the next generation became role models and lifestyle barometers. One generation failed to completely follow God’s will. The next generation chose to completely follow Baal and Ashtaroth. Disobedience to God has generational decay as a sad consequence.
The idolatrous generation that preferred gross pagan worship (rites that included child sacrifice and religious prostitution)… that generation experienced judgment by God as well. Israel was regularly plundered and oppressed. Occupying Canaanite forces grew stronger. Sadly, the pagan gods just brought pagan occupation and oppression. Idolatry made everything worse. It always dominates and destroys.
Hearts that are drawn to worship the stuff of this earth, or the lifestyles of those outside God’s people, are always going to pay this kind of price. Heeding the setup warnings on the Book of Judges requires that we guard our hearts from “culture creep”. There are still types of Baals and Ashtaroths that can lull us into idolatry, and then oppress our lives miserably!
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