One of the primary ways God is drawing Muslims to Himself is through simple Bible studies that highlight passages of scripture from Creation through the Resurrection. The Waha app contains many story sets that have been translated into dozens of languages. Throughout the 30 days we will pray through these story sets that reveal Jesus, the Word made flesh.
As you read these familiar passages, prayerfully imagine what it would be like to read them for the first time – to see the wisdom, power, beauty, and authority of God and to be drawn to trust in Christ and yield your allegiance to Him.
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 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.” So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
God is both personal and emotional. In this passage, we see both His anger and compassion motivating Him to act on behalf of His people. We also see that God allows people to choose whom they will love and serve. When they reject Him and follow other gods, he releases them to the consequences of their decisions.
This passage teaches us that humanity is quick to forget the works of God in their lives and are easily influenced by the beliefs of those around them. Instead of remembering God’s faithfulness, people often drift toward what is popular, familiar, or culturally accepted.
Picking olives far out in the country one crisp December morning, Naima, a single woman home on vacation, eagerly shared her thoughts with her family and the visitor in their midst. She talked about angels, evil spirits, the healing power of the Qur’an, and her convictions about true religion. When one of the other olive pickers shared about her faith in the Messiah, Naima immediately responded, “You Christians worship three gods.” “No,” the believer replied, “we worship one God.” “What about the Trinity?” Naima accused. The visitor replied, “If you want to understand that you need to take the time to actually read God’s Holy Word and understand the plan He has given to return us back to him in relationship.” To this Naima dismissively responded, “The Bible is corrupted. The Jews changed God’s word because they didn’t like it and that’s why God sent the Qur’an.”
This memorized argument is repeated all around the world, often without understanding its validity or understanding that God’s Word does not change or fail. True prophets call people back to the truth of His Word, they do not invent new truth.
This passage reminds us that God does not have grandchildren. He only has children. Faith must be personally owned, not merely inherited.
In Acts 13, Paul and his companions arrive in Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath, they went into the synagogue and sat down. They began retelling Israel’s story, including the story found in our previous passage in Judges.
“For forty years he put up with them in the wilderness, and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years, and after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet…” (Acts 13:18-20) They continued the story through to Christ, declaring: “Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
Their message received mixed responses. Paul and Barnabas were opposed by some, yet Acts 13:48-49 tells us: “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.” Pray for believers to be empowered to preach boldly whether they are reviled or whether the Word of the Lord spreads rapidly, trusting God with the outcome.