And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. (Genesis 17:7)

In the Book of Genesis, God created a covenant with Abraham, that He would be their God and they would be His people. He desired a relationship with Abraham and his descendants that most likely entailed walking and talking with them as He had Adam and Eve before they sinned.

Time passed, and the Israelites (Abraham’s descendants) became slaves in the land of Egypt, but God still had a plan for His people. So He chose Moses to confront Pharaoh and to lead His people to freedom. God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky (Genesis 26:4), and when the Israelites left Egypt approximately 430 years later (Galatians 3:17), there were already 600,000 men not counting women and children (Exodus 12:37).

After a series of plagues against the Egyptians, the Pharaoh finally agreed to let God’s people go so Moses led the people out of Egypt and toward the land of Canaan.

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21)

Moses had a walk with God that consisted of communicating with God on a daily basis, but when God tried to speak to the children of Israel, they did not want any part of that. They were willing to obey God (they thought), but they preferred a mediator who would bring God’s messages to them.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.” (Judges 8:22-23)

In the Book of Judges, we find another man that God used to deliver the Israelites. This time from the hand of the Midianites. The Israelites were overwhelmed by God’s power, but their adoration was misplaced when they asked Gideon to rule over them. In other words, they would have made him a king if he had been willing. But Gideon knew that it was not his might that saved them, so he rightfully directed the people back to God.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:4-7)

Some time later, another group of Israelites approached the prophet Samuel and asked him to appoint a king for them. Up until this time, although they had judges and prophets, God Himself had reigned over the people of Israel. This grieved Samuel, but God decided to give the people what they wanted and so began a lot of ups and downs with Godly and unGodly leaders.

But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15)

Eventually, the Jewish kingdoms ended after being conquered by the Babylonians, but the Israelites had become so far from God that they did not recognize Jesus as their king but, instead, they affirmed loyalty to Caesar and had their Messiah put to death.

It is scary how easy it is to start strong in an area and then slowly but surely become more lax until you are so far from where you started and you wonder how you got there. I’ve also noticed that where one generation becomes lax, the next will often become even more lax until God does not exist in their homes. People make fun of those they deem legalistic, but I would rather see people go against the grain with a purpose of bringing glory to God than to become lukewarm in their faith so that their descendants reject God completely.

I would encourage you to ask yourself, Who is your king? Is Jesus truly Lord of your life, or are you serving other masters? Have you gone so far down the slippery slope that it seems impossible to get even partway back to where you want to be? No matter how out of shape you are spiritually, it is never too late to start exercising once again. You may start by confessing your sin to God and then begin to read His Word. Spend daily time with Him and seek His will for your life. Don’t fall into the trap of wanting the pastor to tell you what God says while you ignore God completely or to constantly look for a ruler other than your Father. Read what the children of Israel went through in 1 Samuel through 2 Chronicles when they chose to follow humans instead of following God. They learned a costly lesson that we do not have to make.