Derek Thomas

They commit apostasy.

They did that which was right in their own eyes.

They lived a lifestyle to please themselves, and they forgot the promises of the covenant, and God comes in judgment.

But then God steps in and restores them, and He sends deliverers like Ehud.

They pray to God to send a deliverer, and God hears their cry and comes into their defense.

And things go fine for a while, and then there's an endless cycle of restoration and apostasy, and restoration and apostasy, what they need.

is a king.

What they need is someone like David or Solomon, and that's in their future.

But for now, it's all so very messy.

Most of our Christian lives have messy aspects to it.

Dale Ralph Davis tells the story of the Peanuts cartoon.

Linus and Lucy and Linus is eating a PB&J sandwich.

And he notices his hands and he begins to do what Linus often does.

engages in some oratory and he says, these, I love my hands.

He says, these hands build bridges and they write novels and they heal the sick and they hit home runs and they change the course of history.

And Lucy says, they have jelly on them.

And that's our life, isn't it?

That's how it often is.

Ehud's hands have something other than jelly on them as he makes his escape.

He's a, well, he's a nobody that God raises up.