Ob and In:
1. They received deliverance from God, but they did not obey. Instead they prostituted to other gods and worshiped them.
There was a problem of their allegiance. Why did you got help from one and worship another?
Reflection: Have I been this unreasonable to God? Getting His blessings, but not obeying Him?
2. The adverbs
quickly-not only did they turned aside from the path of their ancestors, they turned aside quickly, unreasonably.
more wickedly than the previous one-They were more wickedly not only when they compared with Joshua's generation, but also when compared with just the immediate previous generation.
(BKC) Israel reactivated her downward spiral of progressive deterioration by following ways even more corrupt than the immediately preceding corrupt generation. (The “fathers” of v. 17 seems to refer to the obedient generation of Joshua’s day, while the fathers of v. 19 refers to the preceding generation.)
3. God was amazingly gracious
v.18b The LORD felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.
(EBC) The Lord spared the people throughout the lifetime of a given judge, even though they deserved to be resubjugated. The divine compassion was as great as it had been in rescuing the people from Egypt, where they had “groaned” (cf. Exod 2:24; 6:5) under the severe “oppression” of Pharaoh (cf. Exod 3:9). The language of v.18 clearly looks back to the Egyptian bondage
Reflection: Another generation came and another round of rescue were done, but not more faithful to God. The reverse was true. However, God's grace was also more unreasonable. We do not deserve the grace of God just as Israel.
4. The stubbornness v.19c.
(EBC) The word “stubborn” (qāšāh) was applied to Israel when Aaron made the golden calf (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; NIV, “stiff-necked”). The Israelites were stiff-necked in the wilderness, but they were even more obstinate in the Promised Land. A new environment, alas, did not mean a new attitude.
Audrey
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