“So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.” Judges 6:6
In pride Israel turns their back on God. Their pride takes over .They had served Him, were mature believers. But they could handle their own lives now. The did not need God. They began to turn from God and the consequences were not too bad. They could handle this! Little did the realize Satan was behind this temptation which, as they yielded to it, would end in disaster. But why were they so willing to compromise with sin? It was because they were no longer broken in spirit over their own sinfulness against God. Their pride deceived them into believing success came from them not God. Now for seven long years they are enslaved by the Midianites while God allows them to experience the sad and enslaving results of the desires of their hearts.
So Israel was greatly impoverished God tells us the wages of sin is
death. Death produces separation and here we see, because of sin, Israel is separated from God’s blessings. The word impoverished is also translated “brought low, emptied or failed”. Israel faced great (abundant or exceedingly) impoverishment. They were destitute with no hope. This is the state of the prodigal son in the pig pen eating the food the pigs did not want. They could go no lower.
Because The Lord tells us what caused Israel’s impoverishment
Of the Midianites God makes clear the people they had intermarried with in violation of God’s word now enslaved them. The ones they
committed sin with now stole all they had. Israel was painfully experiencing God’s truth, “you reap what you sow.”
And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord Up to this point Israel endured the pain. They tried to avoid the consequences, outsmart their tormenters, save themselves in their own strength. Failure after failure took its toll. The Israelites were soon broken – they could not win, they had no hope. It was at this point that the nation realized they had no choice but God so they began to cry to Him for help. This is the same word used by the children of Israel in bondage in Egypt. “Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.” (Exodus 2:23) Brokenness begins when one realizes the state he is in, that he is responsible for his sin and suffering and that he can do nothing about it – he has no other hope than God.
What can we learn? God is a loving and compassionate Father. He gives us clear direction and then allows us to choose the path we will walk. When we chose not to listen to Him He allows us to learn by experiencing the consequences of our choices. God knows our frame and He knows we struggle. He is not insensitive to our pain yet He wants us to learn and mature in our faith in Him so that we will walk in His way. Israel reaches the first part of being broken before God. They recognize their desperate straits and they realize God is the only one who can help them. These steps are good, they are essential but by themselves they so not go far enough. Many people are in dire situations and cry out to God to get them out of their “mess”. The unrepentant thief on the cross was like this. He knew that unless there was a miracle he was going to die and he realized God was the only person who could get him off the cross. He cries out to the Lord “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” Israel reaches this point. They want the pain to stop and so they cry to God. Scripture tells us how merciful our God is. Despite the nation’s
repeated rebellion against Him, He hears them when they cry out in desperation. Psalm 10:17 says, “O LORD, you hear the desire of
the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear.” God is not unmoved. These are His children, they are in pain and they are crying to Him for help. So He hears. Yet God is just and never can gloss over sin no matter who commits it.
He will answer but in a way to bring true restoration to His people. Here we learn that brokenness requires realizing one’s desperate situation and realizing that God alone can help. But that is not complete Biblical brokenness. God desires true restoration
and so he shows Israel and us what is missing – what is required to reinstitute genuine fellowship with Him. The great news is that when true repentance happens God will ”restore the years that the locust
has eaten“. (Joel 2:25) Repentance and restoration, not relief from pain – that is what God desires.