How did it happen so fast?
And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (Judg. 2:10) It seems incredible that it could happen. Only a generation after Joshua, Israel no longer knew the Lord. How is such a development possible? This is a very important question, not just for the ancient Israelites, but for us. Churches, too, have seen a sudden decline from one generation to another. How can we understand and prevent this kind of calamity? The book of Judges provides a very clear answer to our questions. Its answer does not say everything that might be said in general, but it does say specific, crucial things that we must ponder to understand both Israel’s situation and our vulnerability. To begin with, Judges shows us that Israel descended into a calamity when it moved away from living by faith in the Word of God to living by sight in the wisdom and values of the world. As we see in Judges 2–3, Israel rapidly descended into gross sin and di...