The book of Judges: I like the book of Judges. The stories are the stuff novels, movies and TV are made of. We have Jehu driving his chariot as if it was a car chase, we have Jael driving a tent peg through the head of the enemy general, Gideon leading a band of commandoes against a very large enemy…Very exciting stories and definitely box office material.
But there is also another side to this. This book tells us how quickly Israel forgot the Lord and turned to idolatry and false gods. The book of Judges opens with the people asking the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” And the Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.’ So Judah, along with Simeon, went against the Canaanites and destroyed them. However we soon read of how the other tribes went to possess the land but did not drive out the people of those lands. They lived along with them. The Amorites forced the sons of Dan out of the country and Dan lived in the hills and could never live in the valleys.

The Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years. They fed on manna from heaven and forgot how to cultivate the land. When they reached the Promised Land their children did not know how to plant crops. So their harvest was less than the Canaanites’. Then the Canaanites showed them how sacrifices to the gods of fertility increased their harvest. Soon Israel followed their ways and turned to idolatry. They forgot the Lord and sacrificed to strange gods whom their fathers did not know (Deut.32:17).
 
In Judges 17 we have a Jew, Micah, who made a silver image and a house for his gods, and his Jewish mother encouraged him. A Levite was searching for a place to stay instead of staying in a town appointed for Levites. Micah made him a priest in his house. Judg. 21:25,’in those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  
In Judges 19 we have immorality, in chapter 20 we have civil war and sin. In chapter 21 we have an open disregard for the law of Yahweh when the tribe of Benjamin took the daughters of Shiloh as their wives.

As long as Joshua lived, Israel obeyed the Lord. After his death a new generation arose which did not know Yahweh nor the wonders and miracles that He did. When the people sinned, the Lord sent enemies against them. The people cried to the Lord and He sent judges to judge them. During the time of the judges there were periods of war, with occasional peace.
 Moses told the children of Israel just before his death, “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you” (Deuteronomy 5:32, 33).

The incidents in the book of Judges are true, they really happened. The same things are happening today in the Christian world. We are living in the days of compromise.

One of the first and most dangerous compromises started during the time of Constantine. The Greeks and Romans had a huge collection of idols to worship. This was a stumbling block to the Church at that time. In order to gain more converts, some church leaders renamed their pagan gods with Christian sounding names and put ‘Saint’ before their names and they had a lot of new converts, worshipping their pagan gods with new names. Thus the “Roman’ Catholic Church was born, born of compromise and based on idolatry.

Everywhere we go we see compromise in the church. A Christian used to be one who was always different from others. Now we are so much snared in the society that we conform to the world and not to the Word. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). The sad truth is that millions of people want to strike a compromise between to please their fellowmen. There are some things we as Christians should never compromise on. Pro 21:2,’ Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.1Tim. 2:9’ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel…’
Rom 13:13-14,’ Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Yahshua Messiah, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.’
Eph 5:4,’neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.’
We should not compromise in the clothes we wear. We should not blindly imitate the way others talk, using foul language. We should not smoke or drink just because our friends do it. We feel that our image matters a lot in society, but it is our heart that matters to Elohim.

One area where we make the most compromises is the way we worship Elohim. ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ Yahweh’s commandment is very simple. But we have made gods of all types for ourselves. All our possessions are our gods. We spend our lifetime in pursuit of these material things, forgetting that it is He who gives us power to get riches.
Rom 12:1,’I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohim.

Worship is reserved only for Elohim. We should not worship saints, prophets, statues, angels, any false gods, or even Mary, the mother of Yahshua. Worshipping Elohim expecting some divine favor in return is also not true worship and should be avoided.

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