Learning From History

This week in my Basic Bible Study I am teaching the Book of Judges and I have always been intrigued by the cycle of life presented there. When times were hard or threats of war were immanent God called out strong Judges to lead the people. Under strong Judges like Othniel, Ehud and Deborah Israel grew strong and prospered through forty years of peace. That should have been a time of spiritual growth and devotion to God.

 

An interesting human fallibility occurred after the strong Judge died, Israel immediately returned to doing what was evil in the sight of God. Years of peace and prosperity did not foster spiritual growth but rather complacency and sin. The people of the covenant let down their guard and spiritual lethargy crept in and took over.

 

This human condition prevails today when we forget that spiritual warfare is going on all the time. During the times of peace or when there is no visible crisis at hand we relax and the forces of the dark side creep in to take over. By the words of our mouth, such as debased language and hate talk, and by the actions we take such as doing harm to others we allow evil to take control. When that happens we are led down the path of ruin both as individual and as a people.

 

Can we ever learn from history?