The tribe of Gad, along with the tribe of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh, made a terrible mistake when they ditched the “God of their fathers,” 1 Chronicles 5:25, and “prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land” they were in, instead.
But how did they fall for these other gods in the first place? According to Judges 2, it began when the Israelites lost sight of their history. In verse 10, a “generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel” – much like our western nations today losing sight of our Christian heritage and the basic Christian values that enabled our nations to lead the world in law and justice.
The result of losing sight of our history is similar to that of Israel too. When the Israelites “abandoned the God of their ancestors, and went after the gods of the people around them” (12), God’s response in Judges 10:13-14 was: “Well, since you’ve abandoned me to serve other gods, I won’t rescue you anymore. Cry out to the gods you’ve chosen instead, and let them save you when you’re in trouble.”
And that’s the situation we find ourselves increasingly in today. As we abandon the biblical values that built us, we seek to fill the gap with gods of our own making to save us from all our human ills. Like all the ‘isms’ we’re now stuck with: Socialism, Secularism, Nationalism, Materialism, Globalism, Utopianism, Capitalism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Atheism, Wokism, Environmentalism, and all the man-made religious ‘isms’ too, that we identify our lives with, devoutly follow, fiercely defend, depend on for meaning and purpose, and seek to enforce on others.
So we’re experiencing what Israel experienced, that when the biblical God is abandoned for “images made by man’s design and skill” (Acts 17:29) the ‘isms’ take over. For the Israelites it was Ba’al(ism) and Ashtoreth(ism) that took over (Judges 2:13). But, fortunately, Judges 10:15-16, when the Israelites woke up to what they’d done, they ditched all their gods and turned to God to rescue them, and in response “God took their troubles to heart.” And whenever they turned to him like that he always responded.
Will our western nations cotton on to that too, then? Because the promise that God will respond is as real today as it was for Israel (Acts 17:26-31). Which ties in with the next son of Jacob, “Asher: the rich one”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 