In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. [Judges 17:6 (NLT)]
Although God passed along some very detailed commands, the people of Israel frequently refused to obey them and, in Judges 17-18, we see what happens when people do whatever seems right in their own eyes. After stealing 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother, Micah hears her curse the thief. Fearful of her curse, he confesses and returns the money. After blessing Micah to remove the curse, his mother dedicates the money to the Lord. In honor of her thieving son, however, she gives 200 of those coins to a silversmith for the fashioning of an image (a figure carved from wood overlaid with silver) and an idol (a figure cast from molten silver). Micah then sets up a shrine for the prohibited items, adds some household idols of his own, makes an ephod (a priestly garment), and installs his son as his own personal priest. This was wrong in so many ways: not only were people expressly forbidden from making either carved images or molten idols but only a Levite could serve as a priest!
A Levite who seems to have no better grasp of God’s instructions than Micah stops at his house. Thinking the Levite’s presence will bring him prosperity and give legitimacy to his shrine, Micah buys the Levite’s services as his own personal priest. Wrong again! A Levite was to serve God only in the tabernacle but the man accepts and serves Micah in an idolatrous shrine.
The story continues with the arrival of five scouts from the tribe of Dan. Unable to conquer the land originally given to them, the Danite scouts are in search of easier pickings in Israel’s northern frontier. Finding the unprotected town of Laish, they return with 600 warriors. After stopping at Micah’s, where they steal his shine, ephod, image and idols, they offer the Levite a position as priest to their entire tribe and he accepts their offer. Although Micah protests the theft of idols and priest, he’s outnumbered, admits defeat, and returns home empty-handed while lamenting that he has nothing left.
The Danites easily defeat the town of Laish and rename it Dan. Micah’s pagan shrine is worshiped there for another 200 years. When the Kingdom divides, Jeroboam places a golden calf there for Israel’s worship while the Levite’s family continues to serve Dan until Israel’s exile.
Not once did any of these people consider God in their actions. Saying she dedicated the money to the Lord, Micah’s mother didn’t use it to honor Him. She used it to honor her larcenous son and what began with a son stealing from his mother evolved into idolatry. Micah wanted to worship the god he created rather than worship the God who created him. God made man while Micah’s gods were made by man. God is truth and righteousness but Micah’s gods came from deception and deceit. The tribe of Dan was too strong for Micah and his gods but nothing and no one is too strong for God. Unlike Micah’s gods, God can’t be stolen from us.
Without a king, the people did whatever seemed right to them but, sadly, as seen in Kings and Chronicles, they did little better with an earthly king. An earthly king may prevent social anarchy but only a Heavenly King can prevent spiritual anarchy. Without God as their King, people do only what is right in their own eyes. We have a King in Jesus; may we always do what is right in His eyes!
Unlike some laws, the Ten Commandments actually were set in stone; nevertheless, in a 2010 article in Vanity Fair, Christopher Hitchens posited that they were just a work in progress and badly needed a rewrite. Hitchens, who called himself an anti-theist rather than an atheist, had no use for the first three commandments. Getting out his hammer and chisel, he proposed getting rid of them altogether, revising others and adding a few more. While I didn’t agree with Hitchens’ misleading arguments, they caused me to consider the relevance of these laws that were given to an ancient nomadic tribe some 3,500 years ago.
Yesterday I told about a friend who was reading her Bible in a coffee shop when a young Jewish man belittled her belief in God. Admitting that he once believed, he explained he no longer did because the Torah had too many laws. My friend was pleased when the Holy Spirit provided her with this simple response: “Try the New Testament; there are only two laws in it!”
A friend told of reading her Bible in a coffee shop when a stranger came up and made a disparaging comment about her belief in God and Scripture. Identifying himself as Jewish, he said he no longer believed the Bible, adding “There are just too many laws in the Torah.” Observant Jews have even more than the 613 laws found in Scripture. The words of Exodus 24:12 were construed to mean that, along with the written commands in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God gave Moses additional explanations and examples that he was to teach. Believing these oral explanations were passed from Moses to Joshua and on down to the following generations, Deuteronomy 17:8-11 was understood to mean that, along with declaring verdicts in disputes, the priests or sages could further clarify and interpret the law.
Protestant reformers summarized the essentials of the Christian faith in five short statements, the first of which is “Scripture alone” (Sola Scriptura) which means the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is the sole, definitive, dependable, and essential authority for our faith and practice. While the Bible is not the only place we’ll find truth, the concept of “Scripture alone” means that everything else we learn about God must be interpreted in light of Scripture. When it comes to theology, if an idea doesn’t stand up to the Bible it hasn’t passed the acid test of truth.
In 2 Samuel 20, we find the story of the “wise woman from Able.” Even though David and his men had suppressed Absalom’s revolt, hostility remained between the people of Judah (David’s tribe) and the ten northern tribes of Israel. When a “troublemaker” named Sheba led the men of Israel in rebellion, Joab and an army of Judeans pursued him. After Sheba’s men found refuge in the town of Abel, Joab’s forces raised a siege ramp against the ramparts of the city and began to batter its walls. Knowing the city and all of its inhabitants would be destroyed once the walls were breached, a “wise woman” came to the wall and asked to speak with Joab. After reminding him that her city was famous for the wisdom of its inhabitants, she assured him of their loyalty and inquired what it was he wanted. Telling her that all he wanted was Sheba, the woman struck a bargain with him and traded the life of Sheba for the safety of the city. After she convinced the town to turn over the rebel leader, his dismembered head was thrown over the city wall, Joab and his army withdrew, and the city was safe.
Devotions of the Heart 