All that the LORD commands us, we will do.” That’s the solemn promise of God’s own people, first to 
Moses and then to Joshua. But, as we’ll soon see, they couldn’t even keep the first commandment. (By the way, do you remember what the First Commandment is?) I find the book of Judges to be one of the most depressing books of the Bible, with some of the most appalling stories. Samson’s pathetic decline isn’t the half of it.
But perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to judge the third and fourth generations of God’s own people. We often assume they deserted their God for the pagan deities of Canaan, but that’s probably not the case. More likely, they kept the Tabernacle and the sacrificial rites and the feast days and so on, but added a few other practices too. Just to keep from offending the local gods. They may not have seen this as blatant disobedience; it just made sense at the time.
But the results were tragic. To find out why, click the link below for a printable download with this week’s reading passages, questions, and activities:
(This is a continuation of a series of posts about the “whole story” of the Bible. I plan to run one every week, on Tuesdays, with a printable PDF. The printable includes a brief 2-3 paragraph introduction, Bible passages to read, a key verse, 5-7 thought/discussion questions, and 2-3 activities for the kids. Here’s the Overview of the entire Bible series.)
Previous: Week 16: The Nation – Home at Last
Next: Week 18: The Nation – Ruth
Exodus all your good intentions to stay awake fall off a cliff. Detailed instructions for festivals and holy days, scrubbing your leprous walls, burying your polluted waste, purifying your bodily discharges . . . What could have less relevance today?
meeting with God on Mt. Sinai. Did you know it was the same mountain? Moses has become the mediator of a covenant, and now the people are called to a covenant ceremony similar to Abraham’s in Genesis chapter 15–but bigger. Much bigger.
What’s there to think about Isaac? A promised child, a near-victim, a weak husband, a gullible father . . . meh. He fades into the crack between Abraham and Jacob. and we see very little of his actions, even less of his inward thoughts. The defining moment of his life may well have been the instant when, somewhere around 15 years old, he lay bound on a stone altar gazing up at a knife held by his own father. Trustingly? Fearfully? Incredulously? Maybe all those things at once, and the experience could have scarred him for life. But now he enjoys an eternal existence as one-third of the patriarchal triumvirate, the “Abraham-Isaac-and-Jacob that the God of Israel would identify Himself by.