JUDGES 9

Have you ever heard of collective salvation? It is how some people believe the human race is saved—not individually, but collectively; not personally, but as a community. If one is lost, all are lost. If one is saved, all are saved. I suppose it’s a nice idea, but I think it would be hard to make the case that God looks at us as one, big communal organism and not as individuals. Certainly, He wants everyone to be saved, but He’s not the only one who gets a say.

Gideon and his family are a great example of this. Back in Judges 6, we saw how God approached Gideon and recruited him to defeat the Midianites. We noted how Gideon was apparently willing to work with God—even though Gideon’s father had set up altars to Baal and Asherah at home. God looked at Gideon as an individual, not holding his father’s sins against Gideon, but giving him the opportunity to take a different path.

And, unfortunately, in Judges 9, we see that Gideon’s son Abimelek was also not obliged to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father had listened to God and brought peace to the land of Israel. Abimelek, on the other hand, selfishly grabbed at power by killing his 70 brothers in one day and throwing Israel back into chaos and strife.

God looks at us as, treats us as, and saves us as individuals. Just because the previous generation chose the good doesn’t mean that the next generation can’t choose evil. And just because the previous generation chose to turn away from God doesn’t mean that the next generation can’t choose to return to God. Our salvation or destruction is not determined collectively, but individually. God gives you, yes you, the opportunity to make your own choice for or against Him!