Contemplative Bible Reading

Judges 2:1-4 (New Living Translation)

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. ² For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? ³ So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”

⁴ When the angel of the Lord finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

God’s people were told to remove the people living in the land He promised them. They were also told to remove all the gods and idols of the people living in the land.

God’s people disobeyed. The angel here tells them the result of their choice:

those gods would be a constant temptation.

When they realized the consequences of their choice, the people wept.

Today? Do we keep things around us that tempt us? Evil is everywhere. What do you want me to do, live in an isolated cabin in the woods?

No, not that. The Gospel won’t spread it we do that. So, what do we do? How do we live without temptation near to us? I just ask the questions; I don’t have all the answers.