TUG OF WAR
- Anna
- Jul 8, 2019
- 4 min read
*Please listen to the song first, and then move on to this week's lesson.
What was going through your mind as you were listening to this song? Can you sense the actual 'tug of war' that sin can put you in the middle of? You want both the pleasure of sin and Christ at the same time. But both cannot dwell together. They are like oil and water--they just don't mix. This bible verse says,"For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You." (Psalm 5:4) Like any war, the struggle can be tiring, confusing, and discouraging. Tiring--This struggle is wearing me out. Confusing--I am not really sure of which side to choose. Discouraging--I just want to give up the fight.
The Israelites were God's chosen people (
). He loved them dearly, and He wanted nothing but the best for them. He rescued them from the bondage of slavery, and He led them to the Promised Land--a land flowing with milk and honey. This would be a land that they could call their own, and God promised to continue to bless them if they would only put Him first in their lives. Unfortunately, the Israelites' loyalty to God bounced back and forth more than a yo-yo. Here are a couple of examples:
"Then Joshua told the people: Worship the Lord, obey Him, and always be faithful. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. But if you don’t want to worship the Lord, then choose right now! Will you worship the same idols your ancestors did? Or since you’re living on land that once belonged to the Amorites, maybe you’ll worship their gods. I won’t. My family and I are going to worship and obey the Lord! The people answered: We could never worship other gods or stop worshiping the Lord. The Lord is our God. We were slaves in Egypt as our ancestors had been, but we saw the Lord work miracles to set our people free and to bring us out of Egypt. Even though other nations were all around us, the Lord protected us wherever we went. And when we fought the Amorites and the other nations that lived in this land, the Lord made them run away. Yes, we will worship and obey the Lord, because the Lord is our God."
--Joshua 24:14-18
"So the Israelites did something very evil before the Lord. They began serving the false god Baal. It was the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped, who had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But they stopped following Him and began to worship the false gods of the people living around them. This made the Lord angry. The Israelites stopped following the Lord and began worshiping Baal and Ashtoreth. The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so He let enemies attack them and take their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them. The Israelites could not protect themselves from their enemies. When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost. They lost because the Lord was not on their side. He had already warned them that they would lose if they served the gods of the people living around them. The Israelites suffered very much."
--Judges 2:11-15
As you can see, God's chosen people were on a roller coaster ride of a mess. There are other scripture passages and books of the bible, such as the book of Jeremiah, that also tell of the Israelites' wishy-washy ways. And like them, how often do we find ourselves in a spiritual tug of war?
Questions:
1. What do you think about this week's song? Are there certain lyrics that are more relatable to you than others?
2. Can you relate to the frequency of how the Israelites would continually voice and act out their loyalty to God for a little while, but then they would turn away from Him?
3. If you are familiar with the
, they were commands that God gave directly to the Israelites. One of them says that they were not to worship any other gods except for Him. In other words, do not make anything an idol. How does viewing your sin, issue, or struggle as an idol change your thoughts or perspective about it?
4. In God's Word, John said this while he was
: "It is I, your brother John, a fellow sufferer for the Lord’s sake, who am writing this letter to you. I, too, have shared the patience Jesus gives, and we shall share his Kingdom! I was on the island of Patmos, exiled there for preaching the Word of God and for telling what I knew about Jesus Christ. It was the Lord’s Day and I was worshiping..." (Revelation 1:9-10). At one time, the Israelites were in physical bondage, and they seemed to cry out to God and acknowledge Him more so under those circumstances than when they were free from slavery. Not to promote or justify any form bondage, but do you think it would be better to be in a tough or unpleasant situation but still have Jesus as your Lord and Savior or have physical freedom and no Jesus? Why or why not? (ex:
;
)
Guess what? You made it through another freedom lesson! Yippeee!! Feel free to share any bible verses, songs, or just some words of encouragement that come to mind. What you share may be a big help to someone else. Another lesson down, and another lesson to go. Keep going, and I will see you next Monday :-)
Sooo, true !!!