Israel was greatly oppressed, so they cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals…Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today! ”
So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the LORD, and he became weary of Israel’s misery. (Judges 10:9-10, 15-16)
I was wondering today just how sincere the Israelites’ repentance was. At a guess, not very.
And God clearly knew that.
Yet ultimately, he showed them mercy.
The amazing thing is that God hadn’t allowed them to be destroyed long before. But as he would tell them later through the prophet Malachi,
Because I, the LORD, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. (Malachi 3:6)
That’s comforting to me. Though God knows my faithlessness, he remains faithful.
That said, I don’t want to be like the Israelites. I want to be as faithful to God as he is to me.
Father, please cure my faithless heart.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 