A Strange, And Not So Strange, Story (4)

 

Judges Chapters 17 & 18

 

As we continue to ponder Judges Chapter 17; even though Micah and his mother are referring to Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel, their actions are pagan and idolatrous. This ought to be a warning for us, we can talk “Jesus talk,” but that doesn’t mean that our thinking and practices reflect Jesus Christ – we can be just as far from the person and teachings of Jesus Christ as Micah, his mother, and the Levite were from the Law of God given through Moses.

 

Micah, his mother, and the Levite were making up their own rules as they went along. They were melding talk of Yahweh into pagan practices. They were referring to Yahweh while worshipping idols. Micah first consecrates one of his sons to be a priest, then he recruits a rootless Levite to be a priest (one wonders what happened to the son who had been consecrated). Micah took upon himself the authority to consecrate, thus usurping the Law of God. One of the great threats to the People of God through the ages has been syncretism, the blending of the Word of God with the cultures, religions, and philosophies of the world – syncretism is often subtle and seductive, and other times it is overt and blatant. Syncretism can be obvious to us, or we can be oblivious to it.

 

When we are raised in a syncretistic culture, such as in the United States, it can be challenging to discern what beliefs, thinking, and practices belong to the Kingdom of God and what don’t belong. Peer pressure, both in general society and in the professing church, can discourage us from pursuing the truth of God’s Word, for communities typically do not care for the destruction of their idols – whether those idols are within the church or in general society.

 

Micah operated without regard to the Law of Moses, without regard to the established priesthood of Aaron, and without regard to the covenant that Yahweh established with the Patriarchs. Is there a difference between Micah, his mother, and the Levite, and ourselves?

 

We are taught that we belong to the communion of saints, and that we’ve been “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20). But do we actually believe this? Does this actually inform our thinking, our decisions, and our actions?

 

Are we linked to the apostles and prophets? Do we build upon this foundation? Do we know the Bible well enough to answer this question? Is the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, central to all that we do? Do we have a functional understanding of the Patriarchs? The Patriarchs of the Old Testament and those of the Church, those whom we term the Church Fathers?

 

Do we, as individuals and congregations, live with reference to the Body of Christ? That is, are our lives informed by the reality that we do not live in a vacuum, but that we are to serve, and to be accountable to, the Body of Christ? This means the Body of Christ in our communities, in our regions, and in our world.

 

What would you think if you were on a tour of the Mississippi River, traveling north from New Orleans, and that you were promised that you’d be taken to see where the Father of Waters began, only to find that after a few hours your riverboard docked in upper Louisiana where a small creek enters the Mississippi and were told, “This is where the Great River begins?”

 

Or perhaps the riverboat tour traveled a bit farther and stopped at where the Ohio River entered the Mississippi, or where the Missouri River entered the Mississippi – and you were told at each place that “this is where the River begins.” What would you think?

 

O friends, this is what happens when we begin our history with our traditions; whether it is a renewal movement in this decade or that century, or a reform movement in another century -we fail to reach the headwaters of the Great River, we fail to see where we have come from, we fail to build upon the Apostles and Prophets, with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. When we limit our heritage and understanding and praxis to a tributary of the Great River, we fail to live in the fulness of the Great River, we fail to live in the context of the heritage and trajectory that is expressed in Hebrews Chapter 11.

 

Little wonder that we are a fragmented people, when we dogmatically insist that our own tributaries are the Great River, when there is only one Great River, flowing form the Throne of God (Rev. 22:1; John 7:38).

 

Are we really any different than Micah and his mother and the Levite?

 

What do you think?

A Strange, And Not So Strange, Story (3)

 

Judges Chapters 17 & 18

 

Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.” Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.” Judges 17:7 – 13 (NASB)

 

What do you see in this passage? What do you see concerning Micah? Concerning the Levite? How do the thinking and actions of Micah and the Levite conform to the Law of God given through Moses? Do you see the two men as being well – meaning? How would you characterize the relationship between Micah and the Levite?

 

Let’s begin with the Levite. The tribe (or clan) of Levi was to be dedicated unto God and the service of Tabernacle. Unlike the other tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was not given land as an inheritance, for Yahweh was to be their inheritance. However, while they were not given land, they were given cities to live in and the land immediately surrounding those cities on which to grow crops. Within the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron was specifically dedicated to the priesthood and the rest of the tribe was dedicated to the service and maintenance of the Tabernacle. Every Levite had a place to live among his people and every Levite had a job to do.

 

It appears that our Levite of Judges chapters 17 and 18 wasn’t happy with his place or his job, for he was on the move; he was looking for a place and a job that better suited him. When the Levite leaves Bethlehem of Judah he is not looking for a particular place or job, he is not “looking for that City that has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God”; he is looking for “wherever I may find a place.” In other words, he is looking for opportunity.

 

Because the writer of Judges simply describes this man as a Levite, and not a Levite of the family of Aaron, I think we can surmise that he was not of Aaron’s priestly family. However, if he were of Aaron’s family then his actions would be even more egregious, for he would not just be abandoning his calling to serve the Tabernacle and the God of the Tabernacle, he would be abandoning his calling as a priest of the God of the Tabernacle. Let’s keep in mind that he is not only abandoning his calling to serve the True and Living God, but he is serving the idols of Micah and Micah’s family – he is taking an opportunity to serve idols and to lead others in the worship of idols.

 

The Levite, however, is not only taking an opportunity, but what is worse he is missing an opportunity. The Levite is missing the opportunity to instruct Micah in the true way to worship Yahweh, he is missing the opportunity to encourage Micah to destroy his family’s idols – the Levite is rejecting the opportunity to teach others the Way of God in order to personally profit by serving idols.

 

Sadly, the history of Israel and Judah would include the abandonment of the Law of God by its priests and Levites, a rejection of the true worship of Yahweh, and the adoption of myriad idols, even bringing idols into the Temple of God. The sons of Eli in 1 Samuel show us that this abandonment began at an early stage of Israel’s history, though it would reach horrendous proportions in the latter seasons of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

 

In Judges 17:10 we see that money sealed the deal, Micah made the Levite an offer that the Levite couldn’t pass up – now the Levite had a place and a job that suited him. But the Levite also had something else that we should not ignore, he had a place in Micah’s family, for the Levite “became to him [Micah] like one of his sons.” There is a lot to be said for having a place to belong, for being part of a family, and often our desire to belong can override our spiritual common sense, it can override our submission to the Word of God and our faithfulness to Jesus Christ…if we succumb to the temptation to place ourselves above the Word of God, if we give into the temptation to go along to get along, if we place our personal peace and affluence above faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We’ll return to the Levite and Micah in the next post.

 

A Strange, And Not So Strange, Story (2)

 

Judges Chapters 17 & 18

 

Continuing with the first six verses of Judges 17:

 

And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image…

 

Consider that Micah’s mother is blessing her son in the name of Yahweh (the LORD) and is also consecrating her silver to Yahweh so that her son can “make a carved image and a cast metal image.” Micah’s mother is talking “God talk” but she isn’t talking true God talk for she is not only worshipping idols, she is encouraging her family to worship idols – all in the name of the True and Living God. Do we see the confusion here?

 

Do we see that it is possible to use Biblical language, to use Christian language, and yet not worship the True and Living God, and yet not actually live in obedience to Jesus Christ?

 

 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest.

 

It was common in the ancient world for households to have household gods. While families would worship and idolize the gods of their communities and nations, they would also have family gods, gods of their own households. Of course, this was not to be for the people of Israel, for they were to worship Yahweh and Yahweh alone, and they were forbidden to make images to worship, they were to have no other gods in the Presence of Yahweh. Therefore, a distinguishing feature of faithful Israelites was that there were no idols within their homes, while such idols were common in the homes of other peoples, they should not have been found within the homes of Israelites.

 

Yet, Micah and his mother not only saw no problem with making idols for their family, they made these idols in the name of Yahweh; then they took things a step further, Micah took one of his sons and made him a priest – Micah set up his own little idolatrous religion. While other households might have their family idols, Micah’s household would go them one better, it would have a family priest. Now we have a family in Israel not only making idols, in violation of the Law of God, but the family is now consecrating its own priesthood – this is in clear opposition to Yahweh’s decree that the family of Aaron was to serve as priests and that the broader family of Levi was to serve the Tabernacle. The actions of Micah and his mother were without regard to the Law of God and without regard to the people of Israel. How could this be?

 

It could be because, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

 

Is there a King in the Kingdom of God? If so, then what we do as individuals, as families, as congregations, as denominations or movements or ministries – ought to be done in obedience to the King and with reference to His Kingdom. If there is a King in the Kingdom, then our language ought to reflect that, our thinking ought to exhibit it, our relationships with other professing Christians ought to be under the authority of the King.

 

But are they? Or have we produced our own household idols? Have we carved our own denominational idols? Have our movements left their first love, Jesus Christ, and become movements of self-love? Are we making our own rules and priorities? Like ancient Israel, is everyone doing what is right in his or her own eyes? Micah and his mother were not accountable to anyone; what about us?

 

Are our denominations accountable to anyone or anything outside themselves? Our movements? Our ministries? Our “nondenominational” congregations? Are we using “God-talk” while all the time making idols for our households? Do we need to hear the voice of the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration saying, “This is My Beloved Son, hear Him!”?

 

O dear friends, we are to worship Jesus Christ, to hear Jesus Christ, to obey Jesus Christ. We are to beware of our propensity to make idols out of the good things that God gives us; whether those things are wonderful teachers, or deeper understandings, or blessed experiences. Micah and his mother lived in Canaan, the Promised Land – it was in the Promised Land that they made and worshipped idols. Let us not be so foolish as to think that the temptation toward idolatry was left behind in Egypt – it followed us in the Wilderness and it followed us into our inheritance, the Promised Land.

 

I have made my own idols, I have made my own rules, I have made my own priesthood. I have made things other than Jesus Christ the basis for my fellowship with other Christians. I have not sought accountability, I have not wept for the schisms in His Body, I have lived without reference to the universal Body of Christ. I have been prideful regarding doctrinal distinctives, experiences, movements, traditions, and associations with like-minded brothers and sisters.

 

In short, I have made idols.

 

What about you?

 

A Strange, And Not So Strange, Story (1)

 Judges Chapters 17 & 18

 

How about a journey through a pretty strange passage that reflects the pretty strange condition of the professing church? I am referring to Judges chapters 17 and 18, a description of much of the church and many of its pastors, congregations, and its popular “personalities.” I should hasten to add, that it also gives a pretty good description of seasons of my own life – I am sickened as I write that, but it is true and I might as well confess it and you might as well know it…maybe the confession will help someone.

 

Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return them to you.” So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:1 – 6.

 

Let me encourage you to read chapters 17 and 18 so you’ll have a context for this journey, even as we begin with these first six verses. What do you see in the above passage? What are the incongruities between this passage and the Ten Commandments? Between this passage and the faithful worship of Yahweh [the LORD]? Had you been a neighbor of this family, what would you have thought? What might you have said to Micah and his mother?

 

As we ponder these strange, yet not so strange, chapters in Judges, allow me to suggest that we focus on what we know and not on what we don’t know. The Bible tells us what we need to know and God doesn’t appear to be interested in satisfying our curiosity about things we don’t know. I am not sure why, but one of the challenges in facilitating many small groups is that people want to focus on what the Bible doesn’t tell us, as opposed to understanding and obeying what the Bible does tell us. Perhaps this deflects attention from our own lives and how we are to obediently respond to the Biblical text. We are quick to talk about others, about how others ought to behave and think and speak, but we are not keen to submit ourselves to the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to deal with the depths of our hearts and minds and souls. We would rather amuse ourselves in conjecture  than submit to the searching work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

 

What we know is that Micah stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from his mother and that she didn’t know who the thief was. It’s a pretty good hunch that eleven hundred pieces of silver was a whole lot of money – these people weren’t poor. We also know that Micah’s mother uttered quite the curse regarding the person who took her money, and she wasn’t quiet about the curse either – she said it loud enough that Micah heard it and it must have frightened him.

 

In his fearful state Micah confesses to his mother that he is the thief, and she responds by saying, “Blessed be my son by Yahweh.” Let me point out that it wasn’t the Law of God that convicted Micah of his theft, but rather his mother’s curse that scared him into confessing his theft and returning the money. Now how is this a blessing from Yahweh? Conviction of sin would have been a blessing, conviction of sin leading to confession and restoration would have been a blessing, but I don’t see how being frightened by his mother’s curse was a blessing from Yahweh. Yes, God can use our fear of the consequences of our sin to drive us to repentance and confession, I’m just not sure that this is what we see here, and I think subsequent events confirm this…for what happened after the money was returned?

 

The mother says that she is going to “…wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to Yahweh for my son to make a graven image and a molten image…”

 

What is wrong with this picture? How does this thinking and behavior line up with the Ten Commandments? How in the world did this woman have such confused thinking and such misconception concerning the True and Living God and the Law that He gave to Moses?

 

This is what I ask myself about the professing church today. This is what I ask myself when I look back at my own life and see confusion and misconceptions regarding the holiness of God, the truth of Christ, the call to obedience to His Word. What idols have I made in the past? Are there idols in my life today? What idols have we, His People, set up in our corporate temple? Are we so foolish as to make idols in the name of Jesus Christ, just as Micah and his mother made idols in the name of Yahweh?

 

Keep in mind that Micah and his mother were convinced of the sincerity of their beliefs. Otherwise, why would they have invested themselves so readily and deeply in not only making the idols, but in setting up a system of worship in their family that would come to include the employment of a Levite to serve as priest?

 

This is a strange passage, but it is not so strange when we consider that it reflects the condition of the professing church, that it reflects a danger that we have faced down through the ages, and that it reflects an ever – present abyss into which the most sincere of us can fall into.

 

Now my idols may not look like your idols, just as my temptations may not be your temptations; but not only do we face the temptation to religious idolatry, we also face the temptation to make our idols a religious benchmark for others – in other words, we may find ourselves insisting that others destroy their idols only to adopt ours. Furthermore, let us not be deceived into thinking that we could never make what God once used in our lives for good into an idol, it happens all the time – consider how Israel did this very thing with respect to the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:6 – 9; 2 Kings 18:4).

 

Is it possible that we have idolized things, people, experiences in place of worshipping the True and Living God? Have we taken experiences or people or particular perspectives that God has used in our lives and made them idols in place of being wedded in purity to Jesus Christ? Are there images that we cultivate that are other than the image of our Lord Jesus Christ?

 

I need to ponder these questions.

 

What about you?

 

Not Incumbent

 

It strikes me that it is not incumbent upon the follower of Jesus Christ to have an opinion about everything, nor are we called to judge all things – we have better and higher things to do. While Martha runs here and there, with her attention like a shotgun blast with pellets everywhere, Mary sits at the feet of Jesus with her heart, eyes, and ears fixed on Him. Martha moves to a cacophony, Mary responds to the sweet voice of Jesus Christ (Luke 10:38).

 

This is not to say that we, as a people, cannot judge all things if needed (1 Cor.2:15), but it is to say that we have better and higher things to do, living lives fixed on Jesus Christ and in service to others.

 

The notion that we can transform the world and culture, when the world system and its culture is under judgment, is a notion that distracts us and dissipates our strength (John 12:31; Gal. 6:14; 1 John 2:15). Yes, we are called to be salt and light, mitigating the evil and darkness of the world and leading others to Jesus Christ, but this is not the same as thinking that somehow we are going to make what is inherently evil and opposed to God into something righteous – see Psalm 2 and Daniel 2.

 

One benefit of realizing that it is not incumbent on us to have an opinion about everything is that we can model hearts and lives which are devoted to Jesus Christ, we can model what it is to sit at the feet of Jesus. This is the Light that others need, this is the City which does not need lesser lights, for it has the Light of the Father and the Son (Rev. 21:23; 22:5). How foolish to carry a flashlight when the sun is brightly shining, how nonsensical to eat food dead by the roadside when the Master has a seat for us at His Eucharistic Table.

 

However, it is not just that it is not incumbent upon us to have an opinion about everything in the world, it is also not incumbent upon us to have an opinion about everything in the Kingdom – indeed, it can be dangerous. Paul asks, “Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4). Then, “Judge nothing until the time comes…and then shall everyone have praise from God" (see 1 Cor. 4:5). (Writing this is not without irony!)

 

When Peter wanted to know about the trajectory of John, Jesus says, “What is that to you? You follow me.” (John 21:21ff).

 

When we should be relieved that we are not called to know everything, to judge everything, to meddle in everything...we insist on being mental and emotional busy bodies…and we call this wisdom and understanding? What’s worse, we model this scattered way of life for others and make it normative.

 

The ways of the world are not to be our ways, it is not incumbent on us to know everything, to understand everything, to have an opinion on everything, to judge everything. It is, however, commanded that we love God with all that we have and all that we are, and that we love our neighbors as ourselves and our brethren as Jesus loves them. It is incumbent on us to lay our lives down for others, with our eyes looking unto Jesus.

 

If we desire to demonstrate the relevancy of the Gospel, it is not by responding to every headline in the news that we will accomplish this; but rather by living in Christ, as Christ, declaring the Good News that there is an everlasting Kingdom and an eternal Way – the Way of Light and Life, the Way of Jesus Christ.

The Love of God Is Self-sacrificing

 

We marvel (I hope) at John 3:16, but do we marvel at John 3:16 along with 1 John 3:16 and with John 17:18 and 20:21?

 

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). God’s love commands us and impels us to lay our lives down for our brothers and sisters in Christ, as Jesus says, we are to love one another as He loves us  - He is the measure of our love for one another, He is the Nature of our love for one another, He is the model of our love for one another.

 

But we are not only called to love our brothers and sisters as He loves us, we are called to love the world as God loves the world, for this is how Jesus Christ sends us into the world.

 

“As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).

 

“So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

 

This understanding gives us an expanded way to read John 3:16, for God not only so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, but He so loves the world that He gives and gives and gives again, His begotten corporate Son. God the Father continually gives the Body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the Head, to the world. God does this generation after generation; God gives us again and again and again, for just as the Father sends Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ sends His brothers and sisters. “As the Father sent me, so send I you.”

 

O dear friends, are we indeed going into the world as Jesus went into the world? Are we loving one another as Jesus loves us? Can we say with Paul, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God”? (Acts 20:24).

 

That message that “God so loved the world that He gave…” is not only rooted in eternity, it is not only rooted in history, but it is rooted in God’s present sending of His Corporate Son into the world with each rising of the sun. God’s giving is ever present, the laying down of our lives should be ever present, our confession of the Gospel of the grace of God ought to be ever present.

 

Did not Jesus commission us by saying, “Go into all the world”?

 

Even as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus has sent us. He has sent me…He has sent you.

 

What does this look like in my life today?

 

In the lives of our congregations?

 

What does it look like in your life?

 

When we read John 3:16 let us see the Father sending Jesus Christ to us, and Jesus Christ sending us to others.

The Love of God Is Self-sacrificing

  

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34 – 35). 

 

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12 – 13).

 

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16).

 

Is this love the hallmark of our lives? Of my life? Of your life?

 

Is this love the hallmark of our congregations and of the professing church?

 

We are called and commanded to love as Jesus loved. There are no excuses for us not living and loving as Jesus Christ.

 

Well now, are we obeying this commandment?

 

We must obey this commandment, for Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Also, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23 – 24).

 

If we are not keeping Christ’s great and new commandment, how can we keep His other commandments? If we are not keeping that great identifying – commandment, by which others will know that we are His disciples, how can we truly keep His other commandments?

 

You say, “How can we keep such a commandment?” Jesus says, “By abiding in Me.”

 

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

 

Does our love for others stop short of laying down its life? Then we are not obeying Jesus Christ. The hallmark of God’s love for us (John 3:16), and of our love for others, is the Cross, it is self-sacrifice.

 

Dear, dear friends, self-sacrificing love as a way of life is so radical that the world cannot help but take notice when it sees it. The world may be attracted to it, or the world may try to destroy it, but the world cannot ignore it.

 

This is another example of God’s love having form, substance, and definition. God’s love is defined by self-sacrifice, by the Cross. Referring back to Philippians 1:9 – 11 in previous posts, can there be anything more excellent than the self-sacrificing love of God? Anything falling short of this self-sacrificing love as a way of life falls short of the excellence of our calling and the beauty of our koinonia in the Trinity.

 

Dear friends, how caught up we get in the signs of the times and prophecy, desiring to have our curiosity satisfied concerning present and future events. Consider that it is the self-sacrificing Lamb of God (Rev. 5:6 – 10) who is the only one worthy to open the book – and I will venture to say that it is only those who join with Him in His self-sacrifice, in His Cross, that are truly able to see present events for what they are in their foolishness and vanity, and to anticipate the glory of future events as the unfolding glory of the Lamb is manifested in His People and as His judgments work their way in the world.

 

Our nature and our calling is the love of Jesus Christ; to know that love and to live that love.

 

What does this love look like in our lives today?