Evil

Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help...

 - From Judges 4

Over and over again, in the Old Testament, we find God's children forgetting everything that had happened before, and departing from His ways. The language is used: "The Israelites did evil . . . "

And, our understanding of evil comes from what God had said, over and over again, what He wished they would do:

* Take care of orphans and widows
* Be hospitable to aliens in their midst
* Be sexually pure

And if they stopped doing those three, for a period of time, God would lose patience and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. God's favor comes with a special portion of His protection. This is the only way to make it, when you're surrounded by enemies.

So we can conclude that, by the time of the Prophetess/Judge Deborah, in Judges 4, that Israel had been letting orphans and widows starve and go homeless (which means they were probably too busy having fun). They were probably practicing the racism of mistreating foreigners in their land (because they had become too selfish), and they were way too loose and libertine with their sexuality (because they were having too much fun and had become too selfish).

That's evil.

Maybe the key to true selflessness is to practice sexual abstinence and overall self-denial.

Ya think?

Maybe there's a reason the three go together. Like the Vulcans of Star Trek: advancement and progress for humanity must go hand in hand with the conquest of one's own drives and hungers. 

Before Deborah came on the scene, though, it says that Israel had suffered for twenty years, under the cruel hand of the Canaanites. Finally, after a generation . . . finally . . . the people cried out to God, to deliver them. He listened, and He did, in the form of a great and courageous leader, Deborah.

It's too bad when you let it get so bad that the entire country joins in prayer to God. A twenty year wait is the same as throwing an entire generation under the bus.

That's selfish.