Judges 17:1-13
Final Phase: Anarchy
Review: Samson…A life marked by wrong choices…the consequences of those actions…made a mock of sin.
…Samson’s story is our story…Strong “at times” v.13:25…in the power of the Holy Spirit v.6, 19…pitifully weak in others…a walking contradiction.
Anarchy
Progression from apathy, to apostasy, to anarchy…
True passion for God goes first…self comes first.
True worship goes next…truth goes out the window.
True fruit of it then becomes evident…lawlessness. 1Tim 4:1-2, 2Tim 3:1-4
Recapped…this last section, not in chronological order…flashbacks.
Micah/Danites …Chap 17-18 total religious anarchy…abandon God
Levite/Benjamites…Chap 19-21 total moral and societal collapse…destroy ourselves
Note: Dan and Benjamin were in the heart of the country, not the fringe
Between Judah and Ephraim
Micah…”who is like the Jehovah”
Jew in name only…Rom 2:17-29 “Behold, thou art called a Jew”
Robbed his own mother!
Confessed only because he feared her curse pronounced on the thief…great family.
Mom...Chip off the old block…steals from mom, who steals from God… also…appearance only
…1,100 shekels of silver…dedicated to God…200 given.
Enabler and/or indulger…no rebuke of the theft…rather a blessing…once she get the money back!
Levite… Levite from Bethlehemjudah…out looking for a job.
In the wrong place to start with…Bethlehem not a Levitcal city.
Had a vocation…supposed to be serving God.
The evil of having no authority…”No king in Israel” …17:6; 18:1, 19:1; 21:25
Eccl 8:4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
The evil of unbridled liberty… “and every man did that which is right in his own eyes”
Lawlessness…do what we please
Deceitfulness of the heart
Pr 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
The evil of hirelings
Those who minister for a paycheck
Preach what is most appealing…not the truth.
What is right in God’s eyes? The Word of God.
The evil of thinking that having religion in your house will save you.
“God will do me good”…their worship not about God, but about them…or how God benefits them.
Imitation…playing church…let’s pretend
Own house of gods, ephod, idol, and counterfeit priests
Cross between Judaism and paganism
Self-complacency vs. contentment
Graven image…Ex 20:4, Deut 4:16
Image or idol worship…man-made god…man-made worship…man-made priest
“home-made worship of a man-made god”
God also forbids the false images of the true God…gives people the wrong picture of God.
They mislead men and give false impressions of God.
“I like to think of God as……..I don’t envision him as………!
Grace and Truth… the Lamb and the Lion… Love and Judge…Carpenter and KING.
Religion without Revelation.
Sanctuaries…Deut 12:4, 14…16:1-7…Tabernacle in that day at Shiloh…not too far away.
Making your own gods
Hire your own priests