Our reading this week took us through the period where the Israelites were ruled by Judges to their first King. There are many wonderful events written about in these chapters. We read about Deborah and Ruth. It is in these chapters we read about Jael, the Kenite. (This is where my daughter-in-law gets her name.) We read of the almost annihilation of the Benjamites due to their sin of homosexuality which lead to the rape of the Levite's wife which caused the Levite to chop her up in to 12 parts and send her to the 12 tribes of Israel which led to Israelites going out to destroy the Benjamites which caused misguided oaths to God.....etc etc etc.
These chapters told us about Sampson, the Nazarite, and how he used/missued his annointing as the last Judge. The end of the Levites as leaders with the death of Eli and his sons when the Ark of the Covenant was captured. Next we have Samuel who is used to bridge the people from the leadership coming from Judges and the Levites to transitioning to Saul as their first King. God always wanted a theocracy but knew that eventually the people would ask for a King to rule over them "like the other nations". God made provision in his laws and rules to the people about how a king and the people were to interact. He wanted a closer long term relationship (theocracy) but in his wisdom and love gave guidelines to Moses about how to set up the rule of a King (monarchy).
Over and over again in these verses, you read of individuals and groups of people making oaths and promises to God or acting upon a "belief" that causes them to go down a road of disobedience. Whether its a promise to sacrifice the first person walking out of their home if a victory in war is won; to promising God that none of Israelites daughters will be allowed to marry a Benjamite and so forth. Reading these chapters we see evidence of great sin and its counterpart, great devotion and obedience to God. It's not possible to obey God fully without devotion to Him which includes wanting to know about Him. Another way to put it is, to know what makes God tick. It is impossible to really know about God without knowing what his word says and spending time with Him in meditation and prayer. Otherwise the decisions you make will eventually not follow God's word. That's where the rubber meets the road. That's where we end up following the wrong "thinking", all the time thinking that we are all right. "There is a way that seemeth right to a man but the end thereof is destruction." (Proverbs 16:25) We end up deceived if we do not have a relational knowledge of God and his word. If you have a good Bible concordance, I want you to take time and look up the words destruction, deceive, and way. Many of the scriptures listed will or should be familiar to you. All throughout the Bible, human beings were constantly reminded to know, love and follow after God or else sin that leads to death and destruction follows.
When reading these events, we need to ask God to show us where we may have set up idols that take precedence over God or attitudes and "beliefs" that are not in line with who God is and his word. Is it our families as with Eli? Is it our own lust or desires as with Sampson? Is it making our own "religion" as with Micah and not recognizing that it is counterfeit? The scripture that stands out to me in all the chapters and verses is in Judges 21:25. It summarizes the spiritual health of the Israelites and reads "In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit." It was in those days that God was suppose to have been their King. Take time today to see who or what is ruling you life. Don't generalize. Be specific in your review. Who do you spend time with? Where do you spend your time? What do you do with your time? Is God included first of all in the Who, Where and What of your life? Don't forget!... Always remember!...how wonderful it is to know that when we want to learn about, love and follow God what wonderful blessings are ours. Just think about Jesus' gifts to us on the cross: salvation, healing, peace, mercy, and grace just to name a few.
Keep reading and Bon Apettit
No comments:
Post a Comment