You Have Been Warned

And I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed my voice. Judges 6:10

In wrestling, which I competed in years ago, you’ll often see a referee give a verbal warning to a wrestler for some infraction of the rules. For instance, if a wrestler is stalling – passively avoiding activity – the referee will blow the whistle and deliver a verbal warning. Perhaps the wrester didn’t realize he was stalling. But if the wrestler does it again, a point is then awarded to the opponent. Repeated violation of the stalling rule results in increasing penalties and eventually forfeiture of the match. With that first verbal warning, the referee is saying, You know the rule. If you keep breaking it, it’s going to cost you.

I felt like that in my addiction. Perhaps I first became addicted to opioids out of ignorance. Initially, I was honestly surprised to find myself experiencing withdrawal. Then, for several years, I denied that I had problem, believing I could stop if I really wanted. When I first went to treatment though, that was like my first big verbal warning – Now you know. If you keep doing this, it’s going to cost you. My counselor implored me to continue working at recovery, but I boldly told him I had no intention of going to meetings once I fulfilled my obligations. I simply knew I was never going to return to addiction. He just smiled sadly. You have been warned. Unfortunately, I didn’t heed that warning, and eventually paid a painful price for my foolish arrogance.

This is where the Israelites found themselves in today’s passage. In it, God had repeatedly explained that as his people, they were not to follow foreign idols and gods, but rather, they were meant to follow him alone. They knew this rule and yet they repeatedly broke this rule. To their stubborn disobedience, God said, You have been warned. Now this is going to cost you.

Many of us have found ourselves here. At first, we may have wandered into gluttony, lust, greed, or addiction out of ignorance. Then, we experienced some painful consequence, which was God warning us. Now we know. So, when we repeatedly violate the rules, despite having been warned, we can only expect progressively painful consequences. In wrestling, it’s arrogant and foolish to ignore the verbal warning of the referee. If we don’t want to be arrogant fools, we must learn from our mistakes, listen to God’s warnings, and begin to consider the consequences of our actions. You have been warned. Repeating the same behavior is going to hurt.