"Mom" - cool

Samuel is born but Hannah does not immediately act on her vow.  No biggy – she hadn’t set a time frame.  She decides to keep Samuel at home until he is weaned (until he is about 3 years old).

What I love about this is it’s a real “Mom,” thing.  It also had to be tough.  She had him with her for three years knowing she would give him up.  That was one faithful lady.

Of course what tickles me is wondering what the Priests at Shiloh would have done with a rug rat still in nappies.  I don’t want to be irreverent but what would they do with a three year old?  At least they missed the terrible twos.

I’m sure there were women, wives, daughters, sisters etc. who would provide care for Samuel but just the thought of Eli standing there with a three year old in his arms wondering, “Oh my, what do I do with this?” is kind of funny.

Folks – we’ve made these stories and people into too much of a fantasy.  These are REAL people in REAL circumstances.  What we might feel in their shoes is very likely spot on.

This next is wonderful!

1 Sam 2:18-19  Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod.  (19)  And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

“Boy” indicates perhaps an adolescent.  If so then Samuel had been in the care of Eli and company for ten years.  Each year Mom made a little robe for him and would go and visit him.  This is verisimilitude at its finest.  It is utterly normal.  We would expect something like that. 

But perhaps we would also wonder why she went only once a year.  I want to suppose that she had come to a place where Samuel was not just a male child she had given birth to.  He was, by her own vow, God’s male child that she had given birth to.

One curious thing is that in some English translations it says that she “lent” him to the Lord in others it says “dedicated.” (1 Sam. 1:28).  The word has both the picture of lending and the picture of requesting.  Is it that she is saying that she let God borrow Samuel or that Samuel is the one she requested in order to dedicate him?

Gill expresses the idea that Hannah indeed “lent” Samuel to the Lord for as long as the Lord required even up to Samuel's death.  There is a neat idea here that had the Lord ever found Samuel’s service not needed Hannah expected him back.

Now I wouldn’t push that point as absolute but it is worth considering.  It would be normal for Hannah to express that desire – but not to count upon it happening.  This too is verisimilitude at its best.  A Mom is Mom with only a few and terribly distressing exceptions.  “Lord, I lend my son to You for as long as You want him.  But, if you get through with him, send him home.”

Though Hannah did have other children we can suppose that she never stopped valuing Samuel as her first born, God’s answer to prayer and God’s servant as long as God would desire.  But, she never quit being just Mom.  I doubt she had a cloak with, “My son serves god at Shiloh.” Or “Proud mother of a Prophet,” written on it but she surely had the same joy and gratitude that such a cloak would express.

As you read the scriptures – especially when it deals with people – please always keep in mind that they are REAL people just like you and me.  Their circumstances may be very different but, people are people always.  Hannah, by God’s grace was Mom.  Regardless of Samuel’s ministry she remained his Mom.

Father, help us to see the people whose stories You instruct us through as REAL people.  Help us to empathize and appreciate them as people.  Help us to remember that You can and have worked through donkeys and men and that the donkey remained a donkey and the man remained a man.  Help us also keep in mind that just because You do great things through a man or woman that does not make then a great man or woman.  Let us never think that we own any of Your greatness.

Hurrah for Hannah

You’ve read Judges – right? OK – No King – everyone doing their own thing.  This is not God’s plan.  Things are not as they should be.  Rejection and rebellion, faithlessness and futility are the order of the day.  Except in the hill country of Ephraim in the house of Elkanah.

Here we have a peek at what scripture calls, “the remnant.”  The remnant refers to those who remain faithful to the faith of Abraham, who trust in God’s promises, who submit to Him exclusively.  From the descriptions, Elkanah and Hannah would be numbered among these.

Hannah has a problem and in her day it was a big problem.  She is not able to bear a child.  In her day this was a source of criticism and no little shame.  Not only does she bare the cultural stigma but in her own house her sister-wife (?) taunts and belittles her mercilessly.

Elkanah does what he can to mitigate the pain and shame but none the less Hannah suffers.   So, when once in Shiloh for worship Hannah pours out her heart to God.

1 Sam. 1:10-12 impressed me for a couple of reasons.

First, God wants us to understand the intensity of her distress.  She wept bitterly.  Bitterly indicates a state of mourning.  She’s not just crying about being childless, it goes deeper and is more painful.

What I wonder is how long did she wait before she prayed such a prayer?  Was she, like many of us, trying to figure it out on her own?  Was she buying into the cultural view that she was barren because she was bad?  Regardless, she waited until her grief and pain poured out of her in a mighty flood.

Second, she makes a promise.  If God will give her a son she will give that son to God.  Not only that but she will dedicate the son as a Nazarite.  A Nazarite?  This was typically a man who vowed to drink no wine and not cut his hair for a specific term.  It is also interesting that the purity requirements for the Nazarite agree with the requirements of a serving Priest.  However a Nazarite vow was usually of a determined duration, it came to an end.  In this case Hannah vows that this desired son shall uphold this Nazarite vow for life.

Thirdly, having made her request Hannah continues in prayer.  I would suppose that she didn’t continue repeating her request but that she prayed about other things on her mind and heart.

She is confronted by Eli who thinks she is drunk.  But she explains what she is about without specifics and receives a blessing/encouragement from Eli.

Then we read:

“Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.”

Does this mean all was well?  Certainly not.  The circumstances were the same – as was the pain and ridicule.  However it may be that Hannah knew she had done all that could be done and so, trusting in God’s providence she was able to live with hope even in the midst of her sorrow.

Going to God with our petitions and requests never means that the answer will be the one we desire.  But it does mean that we have done the mightiest thing we could ever do by placing the issue in the hands of the One who can provide us with what is best.  I’m sure Hannah knew and we must accept that God’s answer to prayer, though not our preference, is always the best answer to prayer. 

One extra point.  

In verse 11 Hannah asks God to “remember” her.  Later in verse 19 we see that the Lord “remembered” her.  In both verses it is the same word; zâkar  zaw-kar'.

We would typically think she was asking God to un-forget her (as though He could forget anyone or anything).  But the word also carries the idea of “marking” someone or something and the idea of “bringing someone or something to the forefront of one’s mind.”  Also, when the term is used in reference to God action is not far off.  “He remembered…” is more often than not the introduction to God’s action.

Verse 20 states:  “And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son.”  That “due time,” is God’s due time.  It is not simply “after a while.”  They had to wait until His time, the best time – actually the only time.

I don’t know what you’ll take away from this but I am amazed at the finger of God in it all.  From Hannah’s need for a son to His future need for a Prophet God was at work.  There is a convergence of our need and His need in all this.  I leave this portion more confident about trusting His plan for this evening, tomorrow and all times to come.  His plan (and there is only one) is utterly complete and has always been so.  Yeah, we’re just along for the ride – but what a ride.

Father, help me “remember” that You have done all that needs to be done even if it is not needed yet.  Help me trust Your “due time.”  Calm my fidgets and my fears as I look for Your hand in all things.

Why does it feel like a very bad Monday?

I've started four articles built around the following quote;

"Jesus and His early followers were deeply rooted in the rich Hebraic soil of their ancestors. They thought, taught, and lived out of this soil. God planted Christianity in this soil and we must return to it in order to be biblically nourished."

Each article kind of died on the vine.  

I kept hitting the, "Why bother?" wall.

There is so much wrong with this statement.

I hope you can see it.

It's nice.  It sounds profound.  

But it is so very very wrong in so many ways, on so many levels.

Too many believers are being sucked into this sink-hole.

It's agonizingly painful.

If this is true, why did they reject and kill Him?  Why was Paul commissioned to arrest believers?  Why was Stephen murdered? 

I know - enough - enough - enough.  

You can only scream "Fire!!!" so many times until you have to get out of the building yourself.

MS

Understanding the Prophets -

"For nothing could be more fatal to the proper understanding of Holy Scripture, or of the purpose of God in His dealings with His ancient people, than to transport into olden times, the full spiritual priviledges, the knowledge of divine truth or even that of right and duty, which we now enjoy"
A. Edersheim

The above quote ought to be printed in every Bible as the cover page for the Old Testament.  Though the people of God proclaimed:



(ESV)Deuteronomy 5:27 Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.''

They would not understand and in not understanding they would not do. We can not impose the Gospel upon the text of the Old Testament though we may discover it in the text. The Gospel here is a promise, a shadow. A reality in heaven but an expectation here.

If and when we impose the Gospel upon the text of the OT we utterly change the story - our understanding of the dynamics of God working in and through this people. Of all the things to be learned from the Prophetic labors the clearest lesson is that people - even a special and privileged people in whose midst God dwelt - would not - could not satisfy His demands for righteous living. There was never, at any time, an expectation on God's part that Israel would be faithful. Every time they were unfaithful and experienced the consequences they came clamoring back to God with the cry - "We will - we will be faithful."

 Noble? Indeed!

 But as wrong as wrong can be - for their cry should have been, "We can't, we can't."

But as the rest of us proud and stiff necked creatures they would not accept their utter inability to live holy lives. They, like we, harbor a secret suspicion that we can "get it right" if only-------.

That Israel was called is fact. That Israel was commissioned is fact. But that Israel was never converted to utter dependence upon and allegiance to God is fact as well. We have focused too much I believe of either their faithlessness or their repentance. In this either/or perspective we have missed the lesson God was teaching. We must have a Redeemer, a Mediator, indeed, a Savior. Not as Israel sought, a messiah who would make God's promises an earthly and fleshly reality, but a Messiah who would deliver us from our slavery to sin.

A holy life is, fundamentally and essentially, a sinless life. As long as sin persists no amount of liturgical and cultic activities serve any real purpose. Worship - true worship - is not possible while sin reigns. Service, obedience, any performance towards or for God is rendered useless while sin reigns.

In His covenant with them He created both the environment and the conditions under which Israel could live and prosper and indeed be a light to the world. They would not be sinless, though that was the goal, but they could address sin through both the civil and cultic conditions and practices - the "Law." Though this would not bring forgiveness for their sin it would delay it's judgement until the Redeemer redeemed.

Israel was not a or the Kingdom of God. Their existence was one of expectation. Their history - especially as seen through the eyes of the Prophets - demonstrates clearly that even when God provided man with what man in his fallenness can do to honor and serve Him - men won't because men can't and they can't because the won't. Beware however the danger of isolating Israel in their faithlessness for God makes it plain that NONE of have an excuse. Israel may, through God's gracious revelation, have had less reason for failure but their slavery to sin ( like our own) would always result in failure.

As I've said before, the revelations of the OT have naught to do with Israel except that they are the people He chose. The revelations in the OT are about God, His will and His plan for His creation. Yet we prefer to focus narrowly on - people - and we miss what God wants us to know about Him.

Our Lord - exhausted

The Man

JC

My heavenly homey

My blessed bud

Such poor names

For the King of King

Lord of Lords

But

Safer names

Friendlier names

Happy names

Brings Him

Down

To

Our level

Makes Him

Palatable

Comfortable

Nice

Manageable

Malleable

Down right mousy

Haven’t we done well.

From a beating

To a bumper sticker

From the cross

Ball-cap

From a tomb

To a T-shirt

How we have exhausted exalted Him.

Help me!

"Help me!"

a prayer without solice.

"Make me!

more to the point.

I want to

but I won't.

Too much

I have too much

distraction my constant state.

My wanting has no off

my "me-ness" knows no bounds.

Hating me

almost

but me is His

hate has no place.

Anger at Him

for lack of magic bullet

but

not His way

not His will.

Our expectations

here

are

hate

tribulation

Suffering

pain

sorrow

tears

He said so - He said so

No joy here

no joy

but in Him

But then

seems so far

from now

and now IS now.

One day

some day

so far from

today

we gasp for breath

we tremble with weariness.

Help me!  Make me!  COME!

Michael Sanders

A point . . .

Edersheim wrote, " The two were imcompatable, and therefore no alliance could ever be formed with heathenism, no intercourse cultivated, nor even the presence tolerated."

This must be kept in mind as we move through the Prophets.  But as we see in both Joshua and Judges, the die was cast, the idol of idolarty would always remain as a trap and tangle for God's people.

It is no less true for you and I.  It is sorrowfully whimsical to proclaim that we do not battle against flesh and blood - although true.  We constantly battle against our own flesh and blood and those of flesh and blood who serve a false lord.  In this study we will see why attacking others who are not of our faith is a panecia - a false cure - when the seeds of our error lie within us.

"We have met the enemy and they are us." Is a cute but horrifically true statement.  It was not that Israel could not cleanse the land of the evil it is that they would not. 

What about you and I.  Where do we tolerate "heathenism" in our own lives?  Certainly the heathanism of our day is less bloody and more subtle but it is there, all around us.   We are told that our yes is to be yes and our no is to be no but I know I struggle against the comfort of "maybe."  Asctheticism has its a lure but it is not an answer.  So what is?

The answer is not in what we can do or will do.  The answer is not ours at all.  I will never not sin as long as I carry this body of death.  But that does not relieve me of the obligation to resist.

Not to be picky - but;  we enjoy watching professional and college sports on TV.  Is this wrong?  Mmmmmmm.  Let's see.  How many starving people could be fed by the money spent on one, just one, professional or college sports event?  Count the whole cost from the per game cost of the players to the hot dog bought by a fan.  30 seconds encouraging us to buy a certain beer can cost a million dollars.   Mmmmmmmm.

Should that give us pause? 

What is your favorite sit com or drama?  What is the message delivered?  Why is it funny?  Why is it entertaining?

NO alliance.  NO intercourse.  NO presence.  What part or NO do we resist? 

We can say NO to it all and that would be a great blessing but that is not the solution.  We all know that the Redeemer is the only and final solution.  We all know that Rev. 21 shows us the solution.  BUT that is not yet so what NOW.

How do you address this?  I wonder if until we are willing to see the depth and bredth of the ways in which we compromise we will not long deeply for His return.

It's kind of scary when Paul writes

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 9:25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 9:26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (ESV)

Jumping over Judges

It is not that the book of Judges is not important.  It is!  If nothing else, Judges should convince the reader that when it comes to following God, we are just going to do our own thing.
Moses (God) was right.   The influence of the paga peopke left in the land was just too irresistable.  Jesus put it this way, "A little leaven, leavens the whole."

I strongly encourage you to read Judges.  My favorite is Ehud and Patti loves Jael.

The point of reding Judges is to get a clear picture of God's people as we move into 1 Samuel.

We have to banish this false picture we have.  We tend to idolize Israel in the OT as though they got it right.  They didn't - and haen't yet.  Of course you have to keep in mind that we never get it right either -duhh- that's the whole need for a Redeemer.

Just read Judges - get the feel of the culture, coditions and the compromise.  Then start reading 1 Samuel.

As we read and study the Prophets keep some notes on the knowledge you gain.
What is normative (what does God expect)?
What is the situation/context?
What are the people doing/experiencing?

REMEMBER, this is HISTORY not fiction ----  it's real ---- what does it tell you?

Taking a moment for Moses . . . .

Moses was a Prophet.  Somehow we seem to not get that.  Yes, he was God’s instrument for leading Israel from Egypt and overseeing them in the wilderness but he was no less a prophet.

So why backtrack to Moses?  I want you to see that the issues that the later prophets dealt with where (perhaps are) nothing new.

I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.  (Exo 6:8-9)

Leviticus 26 (all)

And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.   (Exo 23:31)

"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them."   (Num 33:51-56) 

Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.   (Jos 23:11-13)

Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.    (Jos 13:13)

Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.   (Jos 17:13)

They (Israel) did not drive them out!  So they paid and are still dealing with the prophesied consequences.

Oops!!

Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. "When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods?--that I also may do the same.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. "Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.   (Deu 12:28-32)

Moses’ prophetic message comes before the compromise - the disobedience of Israel and with this disobedience comes the fulfillment of God’s prophetic word through Moses.

A point I hope you see is that this fantasy we have created around the Israel we see in the Old Testament diminishes the impact of what is actually happening.

Imagine you’re visiting a friend in the hospital who is dying from Ebola.  As you approach the room you see all the signs warning of a bio-hazard.  You see racks of sterile suits and masks.  You see posters telling you how to dress and what to watch for.  There is even a tech there to assist you.  The message is plain.  Do these things or you will become infected by the hazard?  Don’t do these things and, well, you die.  What are you going to do?

Those who occupied the “promised land” were worse than a bio-hazard.  They were a spirit-hazard.  Their idolatry was highly – actually unavoidably – contagious.  There was no way to not be infected by their corruption.

I hate cooking chicken.  It’s too much work.  All the cleaning you have to do.  Actually, all the sanitizing you have to do to avoid a danger that may or may not be present.  And regardless of how much or how carefully you clean you still might get contaminants.  But ignore the sanitizing at your own peril!

This is Moses’ prophetic message to Israel.  They were fortunate in that he prophesized before they went into the land.  He warned them of the danger.  In the later prophets we will see God, calling through the prophets for His people to repent, to do a 180 and escape the hot zone they are standing in.

Jesus will do both.  He will cry out to God’s people to repent (leave the hot zone) and warn all men of the judgment to come.

There is God, God’s message, God’s messenger, God’s audience and then there are God’s consequences.

It is not, as far as I can see, the prophets job to convince or persuade the people to heed the message.  He cannot make then follow God’s directives or leave off from their evil ways.  The prophet speaks the authoritative word from God.  It is the word, God’s word that has all the authority, not the prophet.

We will see that despite the frustration and in some cases futility of the mission the prophets were on they are, each and every one marked by faithfulness.  No matter how weird what God called then to do was and no matter how virulent the opposition they were faithful.  Sure, we’ll see them frustrated and wanting to quit.  We’ll see them questioning the utility of their ministry but their sweet and loving Lord is always there to reassure, comfort and restore them.

We love to place Israel in the Old Testament in a fairy tale like setting.  We may look at the few glaring sins of individuals but we squint hard enough to miss the insidious sin that all of Israel rests upon.  They reject the prophecy (fore and forth – telling) and go and do as they please, paying lip service to God and His righteous requirements.  This was and is Israel.

Of course, to be fair, my ancestors were in that condition way before Israel so “takes one to know one,” applies here.  I could never consider exposing the sin of Israel were I not ready and willing to do the same not only for my blue painted-naked-tree hugging ancestors but for myself as well.  If I say all of Israel sins I say nothing different or more harsh when I say all of Israel is human.  We all quack – we’re all some kind of duck.

I also really hope you get this point.  What Israel had that no other ‘people” had was opportunity.  God chose, called and commissioned them.  They are His living, breathing lesson to us.  Actually they are us – except God pitched His tent right in the middle of their camp.  

Paul makes it plain – there is no excuse.  But, neither is there a ringer on Israel’s team.  My wild Celtic ancestors would not have done any better – actually they’d have probably eaten the prophets to get their mojo (sorry – a little earthy dark humor there).

Israel didn’t “blow it.”  If God is sovereign – if He is really really in charge – then everything has been ok always.  Oh, it doesn’t look ok, it doesn’t act ok it doesn’t smell ok but since He is in control – it really is ok.

As we look at the prophets we will have to do so within the context of Israel.  I really hope you will begin to develop an appreciation for these people we will study.  Where-ever they lay (individually and collectively) on the continuum of badness they are the threads with which God weaves His tapestry of redemption.  Each and every, as well as all the Israelites we will look at are intended to serve as lessons to ALL of us (humans).  We will see goodness and we will see evil and we have to realize that we see it because God chose this one people to demonstrate it.

Are the Jews/Israel more special in God sight than we (the redeemed) are?  Good question – looooong and difficult answer. But they are more special in my book.  How would I know the grace and mercy and kindness and wrath and anger – how would I know anything clearly about my God had He not called a people with whom He weaves His wonders? 

Of course, it’s kind of like with Job.  I thank God for Job and his faithfulness and his realness.  Then I thank God it was Job and not me.

God called a people to be His own.  They said, “Yes.”  God, knowing full well they’d never keep their yes took them anyway and through them teaches us about us, Himself and brings us our Redeemer.  

So as we look at the prophets and to oopses of Israel, look for yourself – even if you’re not Jewish – you’ll be there – individually and collectively.

As we begin with Prophets (starting in 1 Samuel) keep the below in mind:

But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you." And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day. Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them. The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.   (Jdg 1:21-35)

Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you."   (Jdg 2:1-3)

Here we go . . . . .