DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 26 October 2022 

TOPIC:  New Gods New Woe

Text:  Judges 5:1-9
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.

KEY VERSE
“They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?”

Judges 5:8

DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 26 October 2022 OUTLINE

Hideyoshi, a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500s, commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men five years to build, but the work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue. In a rage, Hideyoshi shot an arrow at the fallen colossus, “I put you here at great expense,” he shouted, “and you can’t even look after your own temple.”

Click here for Previous Devotionals

From the text, Deborah and Barak sang to God’s glory who had given Israel victory over Sisera and his host. She highlighted things that gave rise to their erstwhile captivity. The people chose new gods, thereby, forsaking the God of Israel. There was great insecurity in the land such that the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. They praised God for the people’s willingness to offer themselves for the war and extolled God’s great and mighty power to deal with the enemies of His people.

People suffer unnecessarily because they abandon God. Israel is a classic example. There was so much fear in the land because they failed to obey His word. In the world today, peace has become scarce because of the multiplicity of evil. Challenges abound in life, but the solution is in seeking God with all our heart, depending absolutely and waiting on Him until the change comes (Job 14:14).

He has promised to give “power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength” (Isaiah 40:29). No one who truly trusts in God will be put to shame. Let us hold onto His promises in faith; no matter the difficulties, soon the dark nights shall turn to a bright sunny day.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Challenges abound in the world but solutions come from above.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Proverbs 15-17