And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
Disobedience to God Invites Unwanted Conflict
Since most have a view of God that He is full of love and kindness, the above passage might come to them like edges of a sword. But, God’s Word can do that sometimes to us:
Hebrews 4:12-13 (ESV Strong's)
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Sometimes we need to be cut by God’s Word to remove the fat of our lives. In the above passage we read that the nation of Israel, despite all of God’s blessing in their lives, disobeyed God. That disobedience brought in God’s anger and discipline. That discipline was manifested by God allowing unwanted wars and conflicts in their lives. God can not sin and God can not make sin happen. But, God CAN and often DOES pull back a measure of His grace, which allows sin to run rampant. This is what happen in Job’s case. God told Satan he could touch Job’s family, income, resources and, eventually, his body, but not his life. God’s grace pulled back to allow Satan to do what he wanted. When we walk in disobedience, God can pull back His divine favor toward us and allow conflict to come into our lives. That does not mea all conflict is from our disobedience (Paul was very obedient and had much conflict in his life). But, it does mean this a tool God uses to correct our walk with Him. In the book of Judges, God would allow these wars to come upon Israel. The wars would force Israel to their knees. That would touch God’s grace and He would send them a “judge” to deliver them. That is the story of the book of Judges. God allowed the wars and conflict to correct them and to drive them to repentance. That is the story of Judges. When we fall away from God (and we will) we can experiment the conflict that comes from that disobedience. That is real. But, we can also repent and return to God and God will send deliverance. That is also real.
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