March 4 - Judges 17-21
This final section of the book of Judges is proof that "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (17:6; 21:25) The point is made by telling about two Levites. The members of the tribe of Levi were the priests and the ones to work in the service of the Lord. Therefore, they were given cities among all the tribes, so they could have a positive influence on all of Israel. Unfortunately, this passage shows that even the tribe of Levi had fallen away from the Lord.
The first story tells of a Levite who sells himself to the highest bidder, a man named Micah, who hired him to be his priest and to use his own household idols to promote worship. It is a business decision for the Levite, and Micah thinks he will be blessed for having a household priest to go with his idols. However, when the Levite gets a better offer from a group of raiding Danites, he quickly steals the idols and goes with them so he can have a bigger congregation. This is pure idolatry and materialism. Do you see any of this around us today in our Christian circles? I do.
The second story is just gross. There is a Levite who has a concubine. Now, a concubine is a second class sort of a wife, but really a concubine is more property than a wife. The Levite takes his concubine to the city of Gibeah, an Israelite town, because he is too prejudiced to stay in a pagan town. However, when he gets to Gibeah there is a lack of hospitality, and there is a great amount of perversion. It is another Sodom. Instead of being attacked by the men of the city, he gives them his concubine, and she is raped all night and killed. Then, what does the man of God decide to do? He cuts her body up in twelve pieces, and sends one piece to each tribe to lead them to action against this crime. The tactic works, and the men of Israel gather to fight against the men of Gibeah, who are backed up by men from their tribe of Benjamin. Both sides lose many men in the fight, and in the end extreme measures are taken to keep the tribe of Benjamin from coming to an end. It seems to be that God is disgusted with the whole mess. He allows them to get deeper and deeper in the whole, because they won't realize their sin and turn to Him.
The entire book of Judges shows just how far believers can get from God, if they forget His word and follow the people of the world who live around them. We see the same things happening around us today in our churches, as we hear accounts of Christians stooping to immorality and idolatry of all kinds. I pray that we will learn from the history of Israel and turn back to the Lord, before it gets any worse.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ruth 1-4.
The first story tells of a Levite who sells himself to the highest bidder, a man named Micah, who hired him to be his priest and to use his own household idols to promote worship. It is a business decision for the Levite, and Micah thinks he will be blessed for having a household priest to go with his idols. However, when the Levite gets a better offer from a group of raiding Danites, he quickly steals the idols and goes with them so he can have a bigger congregation. This is pure idolatry and materialism. Do you see any of this around us today in our Christian circles? I do.
The second story is just gross. There is a Levite who has a concubine. Now, a concubine is a second class sort of a wife, but really a concubine is more property than a wife. The Levite takes his concubine to the city of Gibeah, an Israelite town, because he is too prejudiced to stay in a pagan town. However, when he gets to Gibeah there is a lack of hospitality, and there is a great amount of perversion. It is another Sodom. Instead of being attacked by the men of the city, he gives them his concubine, and she is raped all night and killed. Then, what does the man of God decide to do? He cuts her body up in twelve pieces, and sends one piece to each tribe to lead them to action against this crime. The tactic works, and the men of Israel gather to fight against the men of Gibeah, who are backed up by men from their tribe of Benjamin. Both sides lose many men in the fight, and in the end extreme measures are taken to keep the tribe of Benjamin from coming to an end. It seems to be that God is disgusted with the whole mess. He allows them to get deeper and deeper in the whole, because they won't realize their sin and turn to Him.
The entire book of Judges shows just how far believers can get from God, if they forget His word and follow the people of the world who live around them. We see the same things happening around us today in our churches, as we hear accounts of Christians stooping to immorality and idolatry of all kinds. I pray that we will learn from the history of Israel and turn back to the Lord, before it gets any worse.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ruth 1-4.