Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann once wrote, “Prosperity breeds amnesia.”
I find this to be a good description of what was happening to the Israelites in Judges. Every time the Israelites prospered, they didn’t simply forget God; they forgot what it meant to be God’s chosen people in the world. They forgot their own sin. They forgot the world’s brokenness. And they forgot how desperately they needed God. So they lived as if they didn’t.
Their forgetfulness led to sin, and their sin led to death and destruction. It’s a pattern we’ll see repeated throughout the book.
We should never be too quick to explain the stories of violence and suffering in Judges. Neat and tidy answers almost always do a disservice to these difficult passages. But I think it’s safe to say that the cycle of foreign invasions had an eye-opening effect on the Israelites because God tested “all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan” (Judges 3:1). I wonder if this was another way of saying, “The Israelites forgot who they were. They had forgotten their weakness. They had forgotten their vulnerability. They had forgotten that they needed God.”
Don’t we sometimes do the same?
It was true then, and it is still true today: prosperity breeds amnesia. In times of comfort, we do not simply forget God, but we also forget the seriousness of sin, the reality of suffering, and our desperate need for salvation.
The book of Judges challenges us to remember. It is painful and difficult—and certainly not tidy—but in it we can almost hear the Spirit whisper, “This is why you need a Savior. This is why I came.”
Thank you for the reminder!
I have been missing my sister’s in faith
So true. Lord help me remember
Wow. Needed this.
“4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. – Judges 3:4”
It’s so interesting because we have Jesus now. But either way we have a way of forgetting our need for closeness with Jesus. When we have closeness and connection with our Savior we see a different aspect of His face and get to delight in Him with His Protection and knowing He will cover. I’m sure the Israelites felt so uncovered, and that’s how I feel when I’m not daily spending time with my Jesus. Yet God in His might rose up a judge so they had a face to connect with who was connected with God. That for us is Jesus. Jesus help me to connect with You daily and feel/experience Your covering!
I pray that I never forget all God has done for me! He has been so faithful and I want to be faithful to Him always!!
Molly R that’s incredible! Hello all. Happy to be back here. Was really missing you all. I’m really not feeling well emotionally (still or again) and asking for prayer for peace and guidance. Again. Thank you all !! Praying for requests
❤️❤️