Two Laws

While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, "Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him." The old man stepped outside to talk to them. "No, my brothers, don't do such an evil thing. For this man is a guest in my house, and such a thing would be shameful. Here, take my virgin daughter and this man's concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can abuse them and do whatever you like. But don't do such a shameful thing to this man." But they wouldn't listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and pushed her out the door. The men of the town abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman returned to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door of the house and lay there until it was light. When her husband opened the door to leave, there lay his concubine with her hands on the threshold. He said, "Get up! Let's go!" But there was no answer. So he put her body on his donkey and took her home. (Judges 19:22-28 NLT)

I shutter every time I read this story.  It just sickens me to remember how horrible people really can be.  Perhaps the thing that strikes me the worst, though, is context in which this took place.  Maybe this story sounds familiar to you because you know your Bible stories.  You may even be able to pull out the names, Sodom and Gomorrah.  This sounds just like that story, doesn't it.  But look at the reference at the end of the passage.  It doesn't match.  The story of Sodom and Gomorrah took place in Genesis 19...right before God destroyed the whole area with fire.

This story took place in Israel.  God's chosen people did this.  They were supposed to be set apart as Holy.  They were given His Law.  They were being handed the Promised Land.  Now look at them.  They're all acting worse than the people who were destroyed by fire for their evil deeds.

It's been awhile, now, since I first discovered the difference between God's Law and the law of our land.  There are many significant differences.  I can live as a good citizen and never break any laws of my country, state, or locality and still be living in rebellion against God.  Just because the law of the land says it's ok to do something, doesn't mean it's really alright to do.  

There may be two laws, but there's only one God.  Follow Him and you have no worries of becoming like Sodom, Gomorrah, or God's Chosen People who have fallen far, far, far from His Grace.

Seemed Right

Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation and not really know what to do?  Whatever the circumstances, you made a choice.  Then you thought about it afterward.  Was it the right thing to do?  Could I have done something differently?  Would a different response have brought about a different result? 

We all face this kind of struggle day by day, moment by moment. Did I make the right choice?

The entire book of Judges is filled with story after story of people making choices and getting it wrong.  The irony of that statement is that they thought they were right at the time.

In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. (Judges 17:6 NLT)

After doing something that "seemed right," God would punish Israel because they were doing something wrong.  

You might be thinking, "That's not fair!"  God shouldn't punish people when they try to do what is right and just didn't know better.  Unfortunately, though, it is fair.  You see, they were doing things that God had already instructed them not to do.  They were going against God's Law.  

My dad used to have a saying, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."  He was right.  When I run a red light, it doesn't help my case to say, "I didn't know that red light meant I should stop.  I thought it was just a decoration!"  The traffic judge would definitely punish me for that one.  Why would I expect anything different from The Great Judge?

Take the time.  Read His Word.  Start to learn how He's already instructed us to live.  It makes those day to day decisions go a lot easier.

Samson

Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years. In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. The Angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines."(Judges 13:1-5 NLT)

This story of Samson is quite beautiful when it first begins.  In fact, it almost has the feeling of the story of Jesus.  An Angel of the Lord appears and tells a family that they are going to miraculously have a baby.  The baby they have will be a savior to God's people.  He has a God-given assignment even before He was born.

Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end.  Jesus grew up, lived a sinless life, and died to become the Savior of all mankind.  

Samson seemed to do the exact opposite.  He was self-centered, egotistical, sex-driven, and rebellious against his parents.  His battles against Israelites enemies, the Philistines, were not driven out of a desire to please God nor a desire to do what is good, right, or Holy.  He fought out of jealousy, anger, and hatred for hurting him personally.  When he died, he killed God's enemies because of what they had done to him.

I often hear people speaking about God's plan and how we cannot get in the way of it happening.  I believe that is true.  But when all is said and done, my words and actions will make up the life I have lived.  I will be judged by God before all people for that life.  So will you.  When we get "home," we won't get to see whether God's plan worked out or not.  We already know the answer to that.  We will see all of our individual stories and how we fit into His plan.  The question will see answered is this.  Did God accomplish His plan through our willingness (like Jesus) or in spite of our disobedience (like Samson)?  Which will it be when we see the results of your life?

How Often?

Finally, they cried out to the LORD for help, saying, "We have sinned against You because we have abandoned You as our God and have served the images of Baal." The LORD replied, "Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to Me for help, and I rescued you. Yet you have abandoned Me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!" (Judges 10:10-14 NLT)

How often do you talk to God?  

Is it a part of your daily routine at meal times or before going to bed?  Do you talk to Him throughout your day, asking for wisdom in your conversations with each person?  Is talking with God simply a part of your walk with Him through every moment of every hour throughout every day?

Perhaps it's closer to the other end of the scale.  You hardly talk with God at all.  God makes it onto your list of ones to confide in only as a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted.  Then and only then will you turn to Him to talk about what worries you.  Then you not only talk to Him, but, with a hint of guilt even, you cry out to Him - hoping He will be a forgiving and merciful God.

Wouldn't it be much better if you were already on a first-name basis?  Wouldn't the conversation in crisis be much better if you knew you were approaching a friend you just talked to a little earlier?  

The Israelites learned this lesson the hard way.  They ignored God until things got bad.  Then they cried out to Him.  It didn't work out too well for them.  How is it working out for you?

Corrupting Power

Gideon, as we discussed yesterday, did some amazing things in battle.  When you read the story in Judges 6-8, though, you find out that Gideon isn't the real hero of the story.  God is.  In fact, the battle is approached in such a way that there can be no doubt that God won the battle - not Gideon or the army.  The thing I find most interesting about the story is what comes next.

Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Be our ruler! You and your son and your grandson will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from Midian." But Gideon replied, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you! (Judges 8:22-23 NLT)

Gideon receives all kinds of praise and honor for what God had done.  The people tried to raise him up and make him King.  Gideon refused.  He knew what God was calling him to do, and it wasn't to be the ruler as king.  His role was to point everyone to the LORD as ruler and king.  That's exactly what he did.  In only one generation, though, power corrupted his family.

He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives. He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named Abimelech. (Judges 8:30-31 NLT)

One day Gideon's son Abimelech went to Shechem to visit his uncles—his mother's brothers. He said to them and to the rest of his mother's family, "Ask the leading citizens of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by all seventy of Gideon's sons or by one man. And remember that I am your own flesh and blood!"  He went to his father's home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid. Then all the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the pillar at Shechem and made Abimelech their king. (Judges 9:1-2, 5-6 NLT)

His dad understood that leadership was about doing what the LORD wanted him to do.  Abimelech didn't get it at all.  Gideon had the opportunity to lead all of Israel and turned it down.  Abimelech tried to kill all seventy of his half-brothers to have the right to lead Shechem.  Shechem was a clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh.  It wasn't even a full tribe.  Manasseh made up one half of the representatives for Joseph.  Shechem was one sixth of that.  It would be like saying Gideon was offered the Governorship of the State of Indiana and turned it down.  His son, Abimelech, murdered all his brothers for the equivalent of becoming the mayor of Valparaiso.

Power corrupts.  It doesn't have to be a lot of power.  It doesn't even have to be real or achievable power.  The desire for power is all it takes to mess us up.  True leaders are humble people and willing to submit to the LORD themselves.  It is only then that they can lead the way God designed them to lead.

My point is this: What do you pursue?  
Do you pursue power, prestige, and control like Abimelech? 
Or do you pursue the peace that comes from knowing you are doing the will of God like Gideon?

A "Normal" Walk

The Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight. So the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help. (Judges 6:1-6 NLT)

I love reading the story of Gideon.  I guess it's because it reminds me of a "normal" walk together with God for all of us.  It starts out with the people straying away from God, so they start receiving the consequences for their actions.  The consequences they receive, by the way, they were warned about multiple times.  Then, in final desperation, they cry out to the LORD for help.  God, in His love, sends help.

The help they receive is not what they expect.  The person chosen is not big, strong, or famous.  It's a person that everyone would consider  "normal" or "unimportant."  But they will soon be important in their eyes.  He argues with God, not wanting the assignment.  But God convinces him.

Then, God sets up a plan that makes it clear.  Gideon will not win this battle.  The LORD will win the battle!  Gideon is not allowed to take the full army of 32,000 men into battle.  He is not allowed to take 10,000 into battle.  No, he will take 300 men.  That is all God will allow.  God encourages him in a way that helps Gideon know this is God leading them.  Then they attack.

The battle is clearly the LORD's.  The camp is thrown into disarray.  Warriors in the enemy camp either kill one another or run away.  The rest of Israel's army does the clean up work.  When they get done, the Israelites rejoice and try to make Gideon their king.  "But Gideon replied, 'I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you!'" (Judges 8:23 NLT)  He points them straight to God.

Are you walking away from God, receiving the consequences for your actions, crying out to Him to save you, listening to His plan, applying His plan to your life, or celebrating the victory He provided you.  When you make it to the end of this list, who will get the glory?  Will you glorify God or the person through whom you saw God at work?  So...where are you in your walk? 

Testing and Tempting

These are the nations that the LORD left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle. These are the nations: the Philistines (those living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the LORD had given to their ancestors through Moses. (Judges 3:1-4 NLT)

The other day I had an interesting conversation with some friends. We were talking about the difference between God testing us and God tempting us.  The conversation came up because we are reading through some Old Testament passages like the one above, that state that God was testing someone.  The tests seem pretty rough.  God puts the very thing He commands them not to do right in front of them.

We know that God doesn't tempt us, though.  He tells us, "And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, 'God is tempting me.' God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else." (James 1:13 NLT)  What, then, is the difference?

Well, I think it really just comes down to this.  Testing reinforces teaching.  Tempting encourages rule-breaking.  Let me try an example.

Let's say that I teach you about fire for the first time.  I tell you that fire is good for heat when it's cold.  I tell you fire is good for cooking certain foods, thereby keeping them safe to eat.  I tell you that fire can burn you, though, so it must be handled properly.  Never touch fire.

Now, I get done teaching you all these things and I start a campfire.  We sit around the campfire, I pull out some hotdogs and ask you if we could cook them over the fire.  Then I ask you if we should hold the hotdog in our hands and hold our hands over the fire.  That's testing.  

Then I go inside.  Your best friend is sitting next to you and says, "I bet you can't cook the hotdog while holding it in your hand.  Try it.  I bet you can't do it.  I'll give you a buck if you do it."  That's temptation.

Testing reinforces teaching.  Tempting encourages rule-breaking.  We follow the example of the Tempter when we tempt people.  We follow the example of God when we test. Who's example do you follow?

One Generation

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things He had done for Israel. The Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the LORD burn with anger against Israel, so He handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. Every time Israel went out to battle, the LORD fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as He had warned. And the people were in great distress. (Judges 2:10-15 NLT)

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things can change.  During my dad's childhood, his family's number one concern was having food to eat.  The Great Depression was in full force.  By the time he was 18, his number one concern was staying alive.  World War II was in full force and he was going "over there."  Upon his return, the primary concerns became a steady job, marriage, and children.  Then it became about us carrying the torch into the next generation.

The thing is, we were able to hear the stories of his childhood, teenage years, and early manhood.  Bud we didn't experience the same things.  I don't know what it's like to live through a Recession or Depression with no unemployment system.  I don't know what it's like to be a part of a country that rallies together and goes half way around the world to fight obvious evil.  Wars aren't fought that way anymore.  I grew up watching such things on T.V.  My children don't understand either.  They watch such things on YouTube and Facebook.  Things change quickly from generation to generation.

That's why it's so important that we focus on the most important thing to pass down from generation to generation: a relationship with God.  God is always available.  God always meets us where we are.  God isn't dumbfounded by technological changes nor is He stumped when it comes to speaking with any generation.  He's God.

The Israelites blew that play.  They didn't pass their relationship with God down from generation to generation.  Now the children and grandchildren are turning away.  They are receiving the consequences of their actions.  They were attacked by their enemies and they lost.  They were hurting.  They were in distress.  All of this took place because their parents didn't make the main thing the main thing.  They didn't teach their children to, above all else, walk together with God.  Do you?