"Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of The Lord and served the Baals. They forsook The Lord, The God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked The Lord to anger ... In His anger against Israel The Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them ... Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of The Lord was against them to defeat them, just as He had sworn to them. They were in great distress. Then The Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders ... The Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them ... Therefore The Lord was very angry with Israel ..." Judges 2:11-23 (NIV)
This pattern of disobedience, defeat, and deliverance was repeated throughout the period of the judges. Because of their worship of other gods, The Lord allowed Israel to fall into the hands of their enemies. After letting them suffer for a while, The Lord would use a judge to save them. However, they would soon return to their evil and wicked ways.
Today, in spite of the goodness that God has shown us, we continue to return to our sinful ways. We really enjoy our sins and bad habits, that is why we keep on repeating them. That is also why we have so much trouble in our lives as God is allowing us to be punished. We want to be blessed, but we don't want to follow His word. He said, "If My people, who are called by My name, would humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins ..." (2 Chronicles 7:14) Repeated disobedience will result in repeated punishment.
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