This fascinates me.  The Israelites literally heard the voice of the God of Heaven and Earth.  They saw Him consume a mountain, they saw Him fill the tabernacle with the thickness of His Presence, they saw Him perform miracle after miracle. To have been so wayward, they were more privileged than anyone else in all of history!  And yet…how terribly sad…and yet within 2 generations of those who crossed the dry Red Sea, who saw God rescue them so miraculously, there was no knowledge of God or what He had done for His people.  (Judges 2:10) How does that happen? How does someone ever get over seeing all that they saw?  How does the newness, the coolness, the awe of it ever wear off?  How is it that every one they ever saw didn’t know about their God and what He’d done for them? And somehow, not even their children and grandchildren knew.  How does that happen?

The Israelites forgot about God, they became complacent about passing Him on to their children because they didn’t have enough faith.

Bold statement.  Sounds a little pious and judgmental really.

Here’s how I say it anyway: All of life with the Lord is the beautiful balance of grace and works.  It is so hard to quantify, impossible to grasp, inconceivable to wrap our minds around, absolutely the reality of the situation.  God could do everything all by Himself.  He chooses not to.  He requires things, He enables success, He intervenes miraculously, but He makes us play the game.  We have to be willing to put out our hands for Him to place the gifts within.  It simply is what it is.  If you wait until you grasp the enormity of these truths, you will live a life of confusion and disappointment because some things are just His ways and are far to great for us to fully grasp.  You can’t wait to “get it” before you live like you believe it.

For the Israelites, God had told them that He would give them the land.  He called it theirs, He made His promises and His covenant and He held up His end of the deal.  Until they reneged on their part.

All of the story of the Israelites conquering Canaan is this back and forth between the people “never drove them out completely” (Judges 1:28) and God’s driving them out Himself (“I will No Longer drive them out, Judges 2:10).  You see it takes a little of both.  God could have had every Canaanite drop dead in his tracks without standing from His throne, but He didn’t.  He could have had a plague run through all the land and kill every last one of them, but He didn’t.  He called men like Joshua and Caleb, He called men of every tribe to strap on armor and get in the game.

God said He would do it, but the men still had to put on the armor.

Life with the Lord is a wonderful balance between letting God work and be willing to join Him when He does.  It is man acting in faith that God is acting in power.  It is man’s reaction to God’s promises and provision.  It is the evidence of man’s faith playing out in the wars we wage and the promises that we put out our hands to receive.  God will do it, but we have to be willing to suit up.

I can say the Israelites lacked in faith because if they had truly believed that God would do what He said He’d do, they would have put up the fight, they would have suited up day after day for the simple joy of seeing how their warrior King would take the victory today.  If they believe the God who revealed Himself, they wouldn’t have struggled to see Him in all the glorious splendor we see detailed in Revelation 19.  If they really knew Him, that image would just fit and it would inspire greatness.

Your relationship with the Lord is not an amusement park ride.  At salvation we do not get inside the little car and let the wheels of life drive us through all the greatness of an exciting adventure as we watch the Lord whiz by us in all His greatness and glory.  We have to suit up.  Life is Not a passive journey.  We are not simply called to action, we are called to war.  How dare we.  How dare we thank Him for offering everything and not even consider that we might be called to offer so little.  He paved the road, He opened the gate, He paid the bill, He prepared the house, He put in all the work, and we don’t even attempt to do so very little as just showing up.  Show up today.

Suit up today.  Trust He’s doing His part and show up to do yours.  Christ didn’t die a brutal death so that you could selfishly demand a cush life.  He paid it, don’t despise it.  Seize it, utilize it, build on it, participate in it, fight for it.  Suit up for life today.  Fight for Him, work to take hold of the gifts He’s secured for His people.