Written by David Self Monday, 20 February :00 - Last Updated Thursday, 23 February :33

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1 Explore the Bible Lesson Preview February 27, 2017 The Domino Effect Background: Judges 17:1 21:25 Lesson: Judges 17:1-8, 12-13; 18:30-31 Motivation: The theme of Judges has been: obedience brings blessing disobedience brings judgment. The book closes with two vivid pictures of disobedience and judgment. Christians should understand that obedience to God s revealed will in the Bible is serious business. Examination: I. Disintegration of a Family (17:1-6) The theme verse for this section is...everyone did whatever he wanted. (6) (Gen. 6:5, 11; Matt. 24:37) Post-modern thought diminishes absolute truth. Our culture wants to trivialize the Ten Commandments and to commend any behavior as long as it seems right to the practitioner. Chapter 17 is a case study of relativism gone amuck. A. A Disobedient Heart Will Not Produce True Worship...here, I have the silver with me; I took it. (2) Micah (not to be confused with the minor prophet) stole 1100 shekels of silver from his mother. The N ew Bible Dictionary, pp , gives some comparisons of value: Silver was used for the purchase of real estate, whether a field, such as that purchased by Jeremiah at Anathoth for 17 shekels of silver (Jer. 32:9), the cave at Machpelah bought by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver (Gen. 23:15, 16), the village and hill of Samaria bought by Omri for 2 talents of silver (I Kings 16:24), or the threshing-floor of Araunah bought by David for 50 shekels (II Sam. 24:24). Silver also formed the basis of a dowry (Ex. 22:17) or a bride purchase-price (Hos. 3:2; Zech. 11:12). Only when he heard his mother issue a curse did he confess to having the silver. His actions were a clear violation of the eighth commandment (Ex. 20:15; Rom. 1:16-25). 1 / 7

2 B. Hypocritical Lips Will Not Produce True Worship My son, you are blessed by the Lord! (2) Blessing and cursing were not taken lightly in ancient times. Having cursed her son, the thief, the mother tries to reverse the curse with a blessing (Isa. 5:20-21). Such action makes the sin relative. It s condemned if practiced by anyone else; it s OK if practiced by my son. Her hypocritical example sets the stage for her son to break even more commandments. C. Compromising Actions Will Not Produce True Worship I personally consecrated the silver to the Lord for my son s benefit to make a carved image (3) Micah s mother dedicated the silver to the Lord and requested an idol. Making an idol, even one dedicated to the Lord, was breaking yet another commandment, the second. (Ex. 20:4; Isa. 44:9-20) D. Half-hearted Commitments Will Not Produce True Worship Then his mother took five pounds (200 shekels) of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image overlaid with silver. (4) She dedicated 1100 shekels and gave 200 shekels, a violation of the ninth commandment concerning false witness (Acts 5:1ff). E. Ignorance of God s Word Will Not Produce True Worship This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons, to be his priest. (5) The scary thing about this verse is that our postmodern culture would look at this scene and see absolutely nothing wrong with it. Micah seems sincere and true to his own values, they might say, If it works for him, no one should criticize. We must be tolerant! The issue is God. He provided His Word, the Bible, as an instruction book. It s not enough to be sincere; one can be sincerely wrong. Micah broke God s law in several places: graven images (Ex. 20:4), household idols (Gen. 31:19; Deut. 18:9-14) and consecration of priests (Nu. 18:1-7). When we begin to substitute what feels right for what God says, then we re worshipping ourselves rather than Him. II. Degradation of a Priesthood (7:7-13) 2 / 7

3 A. Consumerism Will Not Produce True Worship Wherever I can find a place (8-9) Perhaps an ancient version of Church shopping, He seemed to be seeking a good deal. B. Outward Appearance Will Not Produce True Worship Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me,... so the Levite went in. (11) Micah s homemade religion felt phony, even to him. He dressed his son up as a priest and worshipped his household idols, but his conscience bothered him. Enlisting a wandering Levite to become his priest gave him a fig leaf of legitimacy. The most dangerous heresies are those that closely resemble the truth. Having a Levite in the house gave Micahism the appearance of genuine religion. However, he did it for the wrong purpose (13), in the wrong place (17:31) and with the wrong person (only Aaron s descendants, properly ordained could serve as priests) (Nu. 18:1-7) Paul warns Timothy having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Tim. 3:5) C. Wrong Motives Will Not Produce True Worship Now I know that the Lord will be good to me... (13) People attend worship services for all manners of reasons: obligation, tradition, social, or business. Ultimately, worship has to be about God on His terms. A failure to understand this premise, leads to all manner of confusion and misperception. Some people who think of themselves as worshippers focus on everything but God! (John 4:24) III. Degeneration of a Tribe (18:1-31) Micah s homemade religion eventually was adopted by the entire tribe of Dan. Even before officially adopting this idol worship, the tribe suffered from not trusting God: A. Powerlessness the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy (1) The tribe of Dan was searching for a homeland because they had not possessed the land promised and allotted to them by God. Dan is not even mentioned in Revelation 7. B. Falsehood The priest told them, Go in peace. The Lord is watching over the journey you are going on (6) Was this priest speaking for God? No. God was not involved in a plan that resulted in the whole tribe being converted to idolatry. 3 / 7

4 C. Disappointment You took the gods I had made, and the priest, and went away. What do I have left? (24) The problem with homemade religion is exposed for all to see. The Danites took his idols, ephod and priest leaving Micah with only sarcasm, ow can you say to me, What is the matter with you? (24) The worship of the one true God gives satisfaction (Neh. 8:10; John 10:10), security (Rom. 8:35-39; Heb. 13:5), and success (Josh. 1:5-8). H D. Multiplication of Error The Danites set up the carved image for themselves (3 0) What started in a living room had spread to an entire region. While God was being worshipped in Shiloh (31), Moses own grandson, Jonathan, led the heresy in Dan. IV. Depravity of a Nation (19:1 21:25) A. The Levite s Concubine (19:1-30) J. Vernon McGee writes...the downfall of a people begins with religious apostasy. From there it goes to the second stage, which is moral awfulness. ( Thru the Bible, vol. 2, p. 85; 2 Thes. 2:3; Luke 18:8) This story is about as awful as it gets. A Levite takes a secondary wife (concubine) who became a harlot (2) and moved back to her father s house. The Levite took her back and went on a trip. He was urged to spend the night in Jebus (Jerusalem) but replied We will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let s move on to Gibeah (12). In the Benjamite city of Gibeah, perverted men of the city (22) demanded homosexual relations with the Levite (Gen. 19:4; Luke 17:28). To save his life, he gave them his concubine. The ensuing gang rape resulted in her death. The grisly message (29) was another indication of the moral decline of Israel. B. The Benjamites Punishment (20:1-48) To the credit of the other tribes, they were outraged by the atrocity of Chapter 19. Uniting together, the remaining tribes demanded surrender of the guilty men of Gibeah. When Benjamin refused, civil war resulted. At a time when Israel should have been fighting the Canaanites, they were fighting each other! Israel lost 40,000 warriors (21, 25) and Benjamin was almost exterminated (44-47). C. The Benjamites Survival (21:1-25) The spiritual decline of Israel exacted a terrible 4 / 7

5 price. Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today? (3, 6) This chapter chronicles the efforts of Israel to remedy the effects of a civil war with Benjamin. Having vowed not to give wives to the Benjamites (1), they used violence against women to kidnap 400 virgins from Jabesh Gilead, (12) and then allowed the Benjamites to kidnap an additional 200 women at Shiloh (21) for their wives. What extremes they utilized to avoid breaking their own vow of intermarriage is quite a contrast to the casualness of breaking their bows to God against intermarrying with the Canaanites (Joshua 23:12). The entire chapter is an illustration of the final verse in the book everyone did what he wanted. (25) Application: 1. God s Word is our standard for behavior, worship, and obedience. 2. Without Godly leadership, whole nations tend toward spiritual anarchy. 3. False teaching leads to moral sin which brings terrible consequences. Explore the Bible Leader Pack Item 17: Lesson Outline Illustrator: (no article this week) Notes: **You may access David s Lesson Preview in MP3 format at: g Dates 2012: 5/31 8/2 METRO Live, Thursdays; 7/21-28 Rush Week; 7/27-28 First Place Summit; 8/1 5 / 7

6 Summer Rush Celebration; 8/2 - MetroLIVE ends; 8/17 Daycation ends; 8/19 Back to school Sunday; 8/20 FBA Orientation; 8/21 FBA Classes begin; 8/24 Parents Night Out; 9/2 Labor Day Weekend, norm. sched; 9/3 Labor Day Holiday, church offices closed; 9/9 Parent Commitment; 9/9 Make it Your Church Orientation; 9/14 Summit 7:00, chapel; 9/16 Fall LBS Leadership Lunch; 9/21-22 Men s Ministry Special Event; 9/28-29 KHCB 50 th Anniv. Celebration; 9/28-30 SPF Camp; 10/7 Lord s Supper in all services; 10/12-13 Women s Ministry Retreat; 10/19 Parents Night Out; 10/20 Celebration Ticket Sales Launch; 10/22 FBA Openhouse; 10/26-28 Middle School Retreat; 11/3 6 / 7

7 Men Pray; 11/4 Daylight Saving Time ends; 11/11 - Christmas Store Collection day; 11/11 Parent Commitment; 11/11 Make it Your Church Orientation; 11/22-23 Thanksgiving Holiday, church offices closed; 11/25 Thanksgiving Sunday, no LBS; 11/30 Parents Night Out. 7 / 7