Judges 3 Devotional Reflection
A test of man’s heart to see if the people would obey the Lord or go their own way.
Oct 19/2025, Sunday Morning Devotion
Judges 3:1-2
1These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. 2 He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle.
Father's heart: To teach warfare to those who have no experience in battle. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen. World and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
Christ has given us the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm us. Luke 10:19
We are being trained for war in the spirit. To lean on and trust the LORD to fight for us as we lean on him to stand in the battle. Equipped with the blood and spiritual armor.
Judges 3:4
“ 3 These are the nations: the Philistines (those living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. 4 These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.”
A test of the people to see if they would obey the commands of the Lord. A test of the heart. They fail the test, intermarry with the people and worship their gods. How often do we mix the spiritual world of darkness into our relationship with God? More extreme examples would be mixing wokeism into our daily lives. More subtle is in the Shows that we watch. The things we choose to consume. We can choose to get rid of these things by standing against them, or by joining in through compromise and losing ourselves entirely. We cannot stand on the fence and be lukewarm. We must remain pure and blameless. The Blood washes us clean, but our walk needs to be blameless —fix on him, not the lure of the enemy. The book of Proverbs gives many examples of how to walk in the ways of wisdom.
Judges 3:5-6 NLT
"5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 6 and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods."
When we take our eyes and hearts off Jesus, we start to do evil in the sight of the LORD and then forget him, following a dark path to destruction. Judges 3:7 As I wrote that, I got the image of a light at the end of a tunnel. Unfortunately, the light was from the hellfire of destruction. A false fire, false hope that lured the rebellious and naive in. The light that reveals the fruit of going their own way. Thinking that they knew better than the God who created them. The light of their final destruction is ready to consume their unholy pride, revealing the truth of their eternal nature and dismantling every lie that they ever believed.
Before being cast into the fire, they will face judgment. But while on earth, their man-made ways may seem righteous, but they are a lie from the pit of hell. There is only one way to eternal salvation: through Jesus Christ.
In contrast, the truth of their reality burns them as they stand in that fire forever thirsty for what they threw away. Ravage by regret as the maggots that will not die refuse to relent, feasting on them. Mark 9:48 Pain and suffering are their portion now, bought by their free will. To live life without God and his ways. Never to be heard or thought of again. The finality of their reality forever curses them.
The part that makes Hell so unbearable is not the forever-burning fire or the undying maggots, etc.. The fact is that God is not there, and there is no hope of ever being with him again. Before going there, you will have sat in judgment, seen him for who he truly is, and come to understand the depth of his love and his attempts to convince you to change your mind. You would see the vast difference between the creator and creations and yield to his authority. You will know the truth, but it will be too late to change your mind. You will witness being discarded and cast into the fire by the one who loved you more than you could ever comprehend and understand. It was by your own rejection of his son and his ways that brought this fate on you. After that is done, you will become aware of how much the LORD was with you, no matter where you went, now knowing that he is not there anymore. Take some time to read the parable of the rich man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31
Luke 16:24-26 NLT
"24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’"
Think of a fish and how it lives in the water. The fish only knows life in the water, and the water fulfills the needs of the fish to live. The fish is unable to understand how much water it needs to live fully, taking for granted the fact that the water is always there. When a fish is taken out of the water, it dies a slow, painful death. We are the fish, and God is the water around us. His love, mercy, and grace sustained us in ways that we cannot comprehend until it's not there. Like the fish is made to live in the water, we are made to live in God. That is where the true pain of Hell comes in, to fully comprehend what it means to never have God again and be in pain like a fish out of water, but you will never die. We are eternal beings designed to be with God. The actual death of a human is to be separated from God. Matthew 5:45 NLT "... For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and unjust alike."
John 12 : 46-48 NLT
46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. 47 I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48 But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.
On earth, for the believer, this time is the closest we will ever be to Hell. For the unbeliever, this time on earth is the closest they will ever be to heaven.
God does not send people to Hell; they choose to go there.
Heaven is not for good people but for people who are forgiven by the work of the cross.
Believing in Jesus is what saves you. Believing in Jesus is more than just lip service, agreeing to facts about him. It is trusting in Jesus and agreeing that we are sinners in need of a Saviour, repenting of our sins and accepting that Jesus is the only way to save us from them. True believers produce much fruit, bringing glory to the Father in their lives. This fruit is evidence that they are following Jesus, not works, trying to pay for salvation. That is a big difference. Salvation is a free gift from God by his grace. The conditions required to receive this gift are to believe in your heart that Jesus is who he says he is. He died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later. Now he is in heaven and sits at the right hand of God. 1Peter 3:22 Repentance is necessary to believe in your heart. Jesus talks about coming to Him, believing in Him, and remaining in Him.
Jesus wants us to believe in him. Let's look at what he wants us to believe about him.
Luke 24:46-47NLT
46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
John 3:16 NLT “16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Jesus wants you to believe that God the Father sent him by believing in him so that he can give eternal life. He also wants you to believe that there is no judgment for those who believe in him, John 3:18 NLT "18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son."
Prayer
Father God, I lift these people to you today. Thank you for your mercy and grace in our lives. Thank you for your loving kindness, making a way for us to come back to you and live in communion with you once again. Thank you for not giving up on the people. There is no one greater than you, God. You are God alone and set the standard in how we are to live our lives. Teach us to obey and strengthen us when we struggle to follow you. Help us to remain humble in walking with you. Let us love your praise more than the praise of man. Open our blind eyes and soften our hardened hearts so we can see and our hearts can understand you more deeply, turning to you, Father, and be healed. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
Let us be alive in truth, Lord. Don’t let us fall for the illusion of man's reputation of being alive but being dead in your eyes, Lord. You see the truth of a man's heart, and nothing is hidden from your sight. Wake us up, Lord, and those around us. Strengthen what little remains. Let our actions meet your requirements, God, and return to our first love, as we first believed. Help us to hold firmly to our first love in you and repent, turning back to you, Father. May they never forget about their first love in you, Jesus. May our lives remain pleasing and honouring to you. All the glory, honour, and praise to you, Jesus, you are worthy of it all. In your mighty name, Jesus, amen, and thank you.