Today’s reading: Judges 10; Acts 22
I think this is something I’ve written a bit about before, but it is really striking how difficult it is for Israel to stay faithful to Yahweh when they have no trouble staying faithful to the other gods they are turning to.
If you think about it, this is an incredibly ironic reality. Yahweh has spoken to Israel directly, worked miraculously for Israel over and over, gave Israel the land they are in, etc. On the flip side, these other gods have never done anything for Israel. And yet, it is the one who is actively providing for them that they continuously abandon in favor of those who offer them no benefits for their allegiance.
Ultimately I think this comes down to opposition.
Think back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had every reason to trust and follow God, but they were deceived and led astray by one of God’s enemies. Similarly, Israel has every reason to trust and follow God, but God has enemies who are actively deceiving and leading them astray. On top of that, we are told in the New Testament, in Romans 8, that one result of the Fall is that our flesh is at enmity with God. What this means is that when Israel is trying to be faithful to Yahweh, there are spiritual forces as well as internal forces, leading them astray, but what opposition do they face when they are trying to follow those other gods? Little to none… God calls His people back to Himself over and over, but He leaves it up to them to decide if they want to follow Him or not.
So as ironic as it seems, this reality actually makes a lot of sense.
It’s also worth calling out that these same factors are still operative today. There’s a reason people seem to have so much less trouble staying faithful to other religions than they do Christianity. And there’s a reason that Christian beliefs and practices get attacked while similar or more extreme beliefs and practices in other religions seem to be accepted without any real issues. Do you want to be a faithful Buddhist? Not only will God’s enemies not oppose you, they will strengthen and encourage you in your pursuit, and neither will your own flesh oppose the pursuit like it will the pursuit of God.
We should not be surprised when we face difficulty and opposition in pursuit of our faith, but we have a God who has proven Himself faithful over and over again, and is worth following no matter what opposition we face.
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