Chance to Change
Provoked the LORD to anger…Judges 2:12
After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals, Verse 11. The punishment of their sin was to become slaves to those who worshipped Baals, Verse 14. In other words, God gave them over to their debased minds, Romans 1:28.
Judges 2:12: they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the LORD to anger. Since God is slow to anger, this took a while, Exodus 34:5-6.
In essence, they worshipped fallen angels—demons. To make offerings to idols is to worship demons, 1 Corinthians 10:20-21. God is always angered by sin. First, because sin usually involves disobeying God for the purpose of honoring false gods. Second, sin usually causes harm to other people—people created in the image of God. When we do this, God will give us over to the desires of our self-will.
Remember Pharoah. During the days of his reign in Egypt he ordered the drowning of all the boys of the Hebrew people. One who escaped was Moses. Who was raised in Pharaoh’s own house. Years later, Moses offers Pharoah a chance to change and let God’s people go. Pharoah refuses. God gives Pharoah ten more chances to change. Finally, Pharoah relents. But then he changes his mind and pursues Moses to the Red Sea. There, God drowns Pharoah. Pharoah’s punishment was by his own design.
Because God is slow to anger, later, much later, Jesus comes to give mankind another chance to change. Those who refuse will reap what they sow. Romans 2:5-9: But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.
Meanwhile, God, being slow to anger, patiently waits for men and women to repent and come to Him for life. Eventually, our chance to change will come to an end.
