Judges 17-18

Judges... It's a book for the church today.... That's not a good thing.... It's an indictment against us.....

Over and over - we read the SAME refrain - "There was no king in the land, and every man did what was right in his own eyes"....

The episodes about this idolater Micah and the tribe of Dan (Judges 17-18)... What the heck is this all about?

Some things to help make sense of this....
Judges 18:7 - there was no magistrate (Judge) in the land to put them to shame...
Far from the Sidonians
Far from everybody else...

Dan had been living in Zorah and Eshtaol - which are basically in Judah... Unable to inherit... So, here's Dan... Not inheriting their own land... Stuck in somebody else's inheritance... They gotta go along with the Judges of Israel - do what the Judges say... and apparently, it's not going all that well - by the comment "There was no magistrate in the land to put them to shame" we infer that they had taken quite a bit of flack from God's judges up till then... They want a land of their own where they don't have to listen to anybody else....

They are going to go take their own land where nobody will tell them what to do - that's good and all.... But then... OOOHHHH.... Here's the icing on the cake - their own Do-It-Yourself Religion all cooked up for them... Idols, priestly vestments, AND a Real life Bona-fide Levite...

so NOW - they are going to not only have their own PLACE that's far away from Israel - where nobody else will tell them what to do from a CIVIL perspective - BUT - they will have their own PRIESTS and Religious ordinances - so NOBODY ELSE will tell them what to do from a RELIGIOUS perspective either....

What worries me is how much this rings true with our churches today... Don't like the way things are going - split off... Go find another... The Church organization clamps down on you - doesn't let you do whatever you want.. No problem - just start your own and then shop for a denomination where they will let you do whatever you want (So you aren't shamed by the judges so to speak).... Hire some Ministers to do it the way YOU like it.... If they won't let you run your church the way you like or they won't preach the flavor of God that makes you happy - fire them and go buy some new ministers.. There are plenty out there who just want a job and will go along with most anything to get it... There are over 44,000 "denominations" - and within those denominations hundreds of thousands of choices... Wow, look at all those churches.....

Except... That's NOT God's model.... God's model doesn't include us picking up our chips and throwing a tantrum like a little kid whenever we don't get what we want... God's model doesn't include firing the pastor when he doesn't go along with us and hiring a fresh, new pastor who will declare that God says whatever we want.... God's model doesn't include us going where there is no "Judge" to criticize our evil deeds and do-it-yourself religion....

See - we read Judges and think: "Gosh, if it wasn't for these evil Phillistines and surrounding nations - Israel would do just fine".... but that's missing the whole point... Even WITHOUT all that noise - they don't do fine.. The root of their problems are NOT external... And just like them - WE are doing exactly the same thing TODAY.....

Every CHURCH did what was right in their own eyes....
 
What scares me is how much this rings true with us today.....

AND so many times - it happens for perfectly "Good" reasons.....
For example we experience "Ungodly" leadership within our church/denomination.... This is a real problem - and it's one that GOD declares WILL happen - even within a GOOD organization.....
For example - we may DISAGREE with the direction chosen or the plans of the leadership.... Even for GOOD reasons....

What is our response?
To go pick up our chips and LEAVE - go start our own thing where NOBODY will tell us what to do?
Go some place that is more "Accomodating" - where nobody will tell us what to do?
Fight back - Manipulate the situation to achieve our own goals?
Give in... Get disengaged and just go along with it....

Even in real life - realistically, LEAVING a place may be the RIGHT answer in some situations..... but it's our response - HOW we do it - that makes a big difference....

Do we seek out TRUE, Godly leadership? Seek to put ourselves UNDER Godly authority? See- DISCERNING the Spirit is very important.... There are MANY bona-fide needs... Many places that seem warm and loving... But - it's important to DISCERN what and where The Spirit is truly working....

Align YOURSELF with God and His Spirit.... Be a part of THAT.... Frequently, it takes you places you didn't expect - but you end up AVOIDING exactly what Dan ran through here - Getting fed up and starting something NEW - so that NOBODY can tell YOU what to do....

Thanks
 
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