There is a sadly recurring account in the book of Judges, one we've encountered five times already. We're about to encounter it for the sixth time. It's the account of Israel turning away from God, then God sending a nation to oppress them, then their crying out to God in their suffering, and then God raising up a deliverer, a judge.

This time what the Israelites have done is worse than before. They cry out for help and this time God directly responds, but what he says is deeply unsettling. Israel has failed to learn the lesson He has been trying to teach them and the consequences are severe.

Many of us have trouble with repeated sin. Perhaps we make little of it, excusing ourselves or justifying our behavior. We'll learn that is a dangerous thing to do, and we'll learn the help born-again Christians have in dealing with sin that the Israelites did not have. Sin deludes then sin destroys. It isn't something to play around with.