Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.
”The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jdg 2:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.”
”The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jdg 2:21–22). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Some other passages that address this subject are
Numbers 33:55-56 and Joshua 23:13
William Gurnall in The Christian in Complete Armour said:
He doth not by this shew thee to be a hypocrite, but gives thee a fair advantage of proving thyself sincere; not much unlike his dealings with the Israelites, before whom he did not, as they expected, hastily drive out the nations, but left them as thorns in their sides, and why? hear the reason from God’s own mouth, Judges 2:22 : ‘That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it, or not.’ Thus God leaves these corruptions in thee, to prove whether thou wilt at last fall in and be friends with them, or maintain the conflict with them, and continue praying against them, by which perseverance thou wilt prove thyself to be indeed upright.
Gurnall, W., & Campbell, J. (1845). The Christian in Complete Armour (p. 252). London: Thomas Tegg.
When we think about “Thorns in the Flesh” we most often think about the passage in
2 Corinthians 12:7-8 Where the Apostle Paul, speaks of his “thorn in the flesh”. Most folks tend to think that this was some type of physical affliction that affected Paul, and it may well have been. But in looking at some of these passages it’s apparent that there are times when God may give us a Spiritual “Thorn in the Flesh” and based what we read here it sometimes is a result of our own disobedience to God’s Word.
Do we ever have people in our lives, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances, that it’s clear by their behavior, actions and, speech that they are not believers? I know I have co-workers that every other word out of their mouth is profanity. Their morals or lack thereof are obvious. Yet they and many others like them are placed in our lives. Often, we tend to think our lives would be so much easier if these kind of folks were not around us, that all the unbelievers we encountered were calm, easy going and not blaspheming every time they spoke, and receptive to the gospel, or at least not in open hostility to it? Generally, the folks we are around most of our days are a mix with some on either extreme and most somewhere in the middle.
Certainly, we are called to share the gospel with all the kinds of folks like I just described, even the most vial of these people can have moments where there is an opening to show them that they are sinners in need of a savior, and we must seize those opportunities to introduce them to Jesus.
However, if we look at the passages above, do we ever consider that it could very well be that God has allowed them to be in our lives as a test of our own unfaithfulness, just as He did when He did not remove the nations from the land of Canaan? And not just those on the extreme, but the “good guys” we are around who may not cuss like sailors, or gawk at every female that walks by, but are just as lost as those who do, can be a test for our own faithfulness. He allows people in our lives that are living in idolatry and it is our responsibility to remain faithful as we go about our lives. We must be careful how much association we have with unbelievers, while we often need to have a working relationship with them, if we begin to develop personal relationships that are not deliberate evangelistic opportunities it very easy to fall into the same idolatrous practices that consume their lives.
This was the Apostle Paul’s warning to the Corinthian church when under the influence of those who were denying the resurrection.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
This is why the Israelites were warned by God over and over not to allow inter marriage with the pagan cultures that lived around them and why it usually led to disaster when they did it anyway.
We must find the balance between being salt and light to a lost and dying world and crossing over into idolatry ourselves by too close an association with unbelievers. We must also surround ourselves with faithful brothers who will keep us on the right path and even bring us correction if they see us start to stray, and we must have boldness to confront our brothers when we see them start down a path away from the truth of the gospel, by their interaction with unbelievers.
So, this week as we go about our daily lives when we encounter unbelievers, remember, look for those opportunities to share with them that they are sinners and that there is nothing they can do to save themselves, but that there is a savior who will save them by His grace. We must also need to see the encounter as whether we will, as the author of Judges says, “take care to walk in the way of the Lord.”
Reformed Baptist Thinking 