Judges 17-18
This is
the first of two snapshots given to show the depth of the religious confusion
that followed when Israel refused to love and obey the Lord. The first story
deals with the religious apostasy and the second deals with the moral apostasy.
You could title the stories “worse” and “worser.” Looking at Romans 1:18-32,
you see that religious confusion always precedes moral catastrophe.
We will
get two more views into this time period in the book of Ruth and in the early
history of 1 Samuel. Ruth will show some confusion, but overall, this book will
show us people who followed God. 1 Samuel will show one family that seems
fairly balanced, but it will also show a corrupt priesthood and the defiled
worship at the tabernacle.
Judges 17
What
stands out in this story is the sincerity of the mixing of the true and the
false. These people were highly sincere, yet couldn't have been more lost.
The time
when this takes place might be very important. Look at Judges 18:30. It
identifies the Levite as Jonathan the son
of Gershom, son of Moses. A couple of considerations here. In most copies
of the OT, Moses' name is found. It is thought that a well meaning scribe added
an "n" to turn "Moses" into "Manasseh" and get
Moses off the hook. They have so many copies of the OT that they can see that
this is an error. Also, it is possible that Jonathan was not the son of
Gershom, but a grandson or great grandson, etc. There are instances of a
grandson being called the son of someone and the generations in between are
skipped. I think he was the grandson. And to think that this guy was related to
Moses.
However
this works out, there are two terrible dynamics at work here. First, this shows
that after Joshua's generation died (Joshua told the people in his farewell
speech to put away their foreign gods), the nation sank into almost immediate
spiritual confusion. Gershom, Moses' son, would have been that generation of
elders who lived with Joshua. Jonathan would have been the next generation.
Second, it means that even those closest to the truth, the family of Moses,
became too busy with life to really know the law (Bible) well. The system God
set up, and the nation He created, could only function if everyone obeyed. If
the people didn't worship, they wouldn't support the Levites. If the Levites
had to fend for their own living, they couldn't learn and teach the law as they
were supposed to. It was all very interconnected. Apparently very few obeyed
and the nation fell apart immediately.
So what was the cause,
besides sin? This reminds me of something Jesus repeatedly told His disciples, as
in Matthew 6:25, “Therefore
I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than
food, and the body more than clothing?” What Jesus is warning against is not just anxiety, but allowing
these things to take our attention away from serving Him on this earth. It was
because of this preoccupation that Israel never celebrated a Sabbatical year or
the Feast of Booths. Like Israel we forget that we are not here to live; we are
here to serve. God says He’ll take care of the rest. That means as disciples we
are free to devote our hearts to following our Lord in the harvest. Or as Jesus
put it in Luke 12:33-36, Sell
your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that
do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no
thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also. Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from
the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes
and knocks.
I know this seems hard to
grasp and otherworldly, but if we cannot grasp the spirit of what Jesus is
saying, as disciples, we could end up like Samson, or the story we are about to
read.
Vs. 1-6
Notice the editor's note in v. 6. That means this is written during the time
when there was a king and order was taking root, looking back on this time of
lawlessness.
V. 2 The
mother praised God and then dedicated the money to God, to make an idol.
They were sincere in their belief and service, and totally displeasing to God.
How awful.
Some of
what she did here was to remove the curse she put upon whoever stole the money.
V. 4
Either she made two images or it was simply one process, the wooden image,
covered with silver.
V. 5
Micah's shrine is a little, eclectic temple, filled with something from all the
gods of the land. Notice that he has an ephod. I think the ephod was a tool for
discerning the will of the gods. In Israel, the ephod held the Urim and
Thummim. In chapter 18, I think, it gets used.
God had
put the ephod with the high priest at the tabernacle. One aspect of our need
and our worship is to find answers to our questions. The key is really the
relationship with God, on His terms, not ours. Still, God set up a way for
answers to be found. All you had to do was go to the tabernacle. Well, if the
tabernacle was far away, and if the priests and Levites couldn't be trusted,
why not have your own ephod and your own Urim and Thummim? This got Gideon in
trouble and we see here, in this story, it began years before Gideon, in fact,
right after Joshua died.
Vs. 7-13
This brings the confusion to a stellar level. A Levite of the best upbringing
is totally lost.
V. 13 is
an incredibly ignorant and sincere statement.
Judges 18
Vs. 1-6
Notice again that v. 1 is a commentary given at a later date to explain the sin
and confusion of this particular time in Israel's history. You don't flaunt
your ignorance in your national literature, unless this isn't national
literature, but the record of God's redemptive working with humans, sick with
sin.
The tribe
of Dan never controlled the land of their inheritance and must have begun
looking for a place to live very early.
Vs. 5-6 I
think this is where the Levites used the Urim and Thummim to give them advice.
Apparently you could get a pair of these at any convenience store.
Vs. 7-26
This story is very straightforward and spiritually dysfunctional. For the tribe
of Dan to steal the idol and the ephod and take the Levite made perfect sense,
since they were a tribe and these things were better in the service of a tribe
of Israel, than for a single individual. The irrationality here is of epic
proportions. What kind of god do you have if you can steal him?
Vs. 27-31
The significance of this story is not only the description of the spiritual
ignorance and confusion, but it shows how Dan was the first tribe to go
entirely apostate.
Vs. 30-31
Dan as a tribe set up official worship away from the tabernacle; after all, it
would have been a long way to walk. Some of the tribe of Dan stayed in the
south on the original homestead and were spared this apostasy: Samson's parents
for example. Verse 30 is like a surprise unveiling in a movie. The Levite turns
out to be the grandson of Moses. This shows that the Levitical system and the
worship at the tabernacle must have gone to seed pretty soon after the death of
Joshua. Again, remember that in Joshua's last address, he was warning people to
put away their idols.
In
Revelation 7:2-8, when the 144,000 are selected to give testimony during the
Tribulation, there is no mention of the tribe of Dan. The presumed reason is
that Dan was the first tribe to fall into total idolatry and apostasy. In other
words, the punishment for what they did here is that they were removed as a
tribe of Israel. Those who were true to the Lord would have been absorbed into
the other tribes through intermarriage. After the exile, too, many people lost
track of their genealogy and family tree.
It is
obvious that our "need" for spiritual connection can be sincere and
still be controlled by the power of sin in us. We cannot deny the need, but we
can deny God and make "spirituality" what we define it to be. This is
tragic and true. What is alarming in this story is that it only took one
generation to fall into total confusion. That is very sobering, especially with
our desire today not to be bored and to have our needs met. Our churches have
been built, in previous generations, by men and women committed to the truth.
They sat through boring sermons in very plain services being built on very
strong teaching. I'm not confident that same emphasis exists today. As a
result, and all the studies show it, our biblical literacy is plummeting. We
have more resources than any generation that has ever lived, yet we insist that
reading the Bible is just not "the way” we learn. And we don't sit through
sermons that are full of teaching and content. Paul's command to Timothy was to
preach the Word urgently, because people would turn from listening to the truth
and seek teaching that tickled their ears. I think we need that same charge
today, and leaders need not be ashamed to expect and exhort people to read
their Bibles every day.
John 3:1-21
Vs. 1-16
It seems that Nick sought Jesus out of his own interest, otherwise there would
have been two or more witnesses with him from the Pharisees. Nicodemus will be
mentioned a couple more times in a good way.
V. 3
Jesus' words were trying to force Nick away from his focus on the signs, to
what was going on behind the signs. Even though Nick was a "spiritual
leader," he was fixated on the physical.
Born again is the
right interpretation as seen in Nick's question of crawling back in his
mother's womb. He understood what Jesus meant, but the spiritual dimension was
too deep for him.
V. 6 Jesus
was trying to get Nick to see that before there is entrance into heaven, there
has to be a spiritual birth. Like most religious people, Nick focused on
behavior and rules. Sin is the most powerful force on the earth. Without a new
spiritual life (the breaking of sin's power in repentance, forgiveness and
regeneration) and the help of the Holy Spirit (every minute, every day, leading
us in the Word to obediently follow our Savior), we'd be toast.
Vs. 7-8 The
wind illustration simply says there are things you can't see, but they are
real. The spiritual is real and the spiritual life is real. The same word for
wind also means spirit.
V. 14 So
what is the point here? I think it is that the cure for those people was unseen
and spiritual. It didn't come through medicine or cutting the wounds and
sucking out the poison. It came transmitted invisibly and spiritually through
faith. But, you had to believe and you had to look at the brass serpent. In the
same way, salvation and rebirth come through faith and turning to the object of
that faith, Jesus.
V. 16 This
is one of the most well-known verses in the Bible for good reason. It is the
gospel in a sentence, beginning with God's love and ending with our salvation
in Christ.
Vs. 17-21
I memorized these verses the first year I gave my life to Christ. In fact, I
think they were part of the Awana leader's memory verses, and not knowing any
better, I thought I was supposed to memorize them because I was an Awana
leader. I was overwhelmed by the timelessness and simplicity of this truth.
This is exactly why people don’t come to Christ.
Psalm 104:1-23
What a
beautiful psalm.
Vs. 1-4
This seems to express the grandeur of God being surrounded by what He created,
framing Him and giving glory to Him.
Notice
that v. 4 is quoted in Hebrews 1:7, where "winds" mean spirits. (See
the note on John 3:8 above.)
Vs. 5-9
Here it shows God’s control and power over the might and chaos of His creation.
Vs. 10-13
Through God’s power, He uses the forces of nature to feed and water the
creatures He made.
Vs. 14-15
Not only does God care for animals, but He cares for mankind, each day. I had
to laugh because I looked in a commentary and it mentioned the oil and food,
but skipped the "W" word. God made it, too, for a purpose, but like
all the good things God made, there needs to be control.
Vs. 16-18
These animals are probably mentioned by David, because David saw these as he
lived in the mountains. These animals are hidden from and forgotten by man, but
never by God.
Vs. 19-23
Notice that the creation of the moon and sun is mentioned for the same purposes
expressed in the creation account in Genesis. This means, especially given that
the sun, moon, planets and stars were created on the fourth day, that their
sole purpose was for us and the rest of His creation on earth to mark times and
seasons, day and night. There was already light for three days before God made
the sun.
Notice the
mentions of power, provision, protection and control in this psalm.
So, what
does this psalm say to you? How did God intend this psalm to strengthen our
hearts?
Proverbs 14:20-21
I think v.
21 is telling the rich guy in v. 20 to make friends with the poor, who is his
neighbor in both verses. That sure sounds like, "Love your neighbor as
yourself," to me. It’s amazing where you find that command.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
No comments:
Post a Comment