“The
average age of the worlds greatest civilization is has been two hundred years.
These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual
faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from great courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to
apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency into bondage.”[1]
This
is the vicious cycle that Israel was faced with throughout the book of Judges.
Judges 17-21 shows us a nation that had rejected its king and how it sunk so
deep into moral decay and anarchy. The phrase ‘in those days Israel had no king’ (Judges 17:6;18:1;19:1; 21:25) is contrasted with the spiritual and
moral break down in the heart of Israel and only a civil war (Judges 20)
awakens the nation and raises its conscience to be in tune with Gods plan and
calling.
Israel’s
unity in Chapter 20 as Dale Davis says is both impressive and tragic-and tragic
because it is impressive. An exceptional unity indeed for an exceptional crime…
yet it is a unity of Israel against Israel.[2]
They gather from Dan to Beersheba and the narrator qualifies it by the phrase
“as one man” (Judges 20:1, 8, 11) to show the kind of solidarity exhibited as
George indicates, “the convention seems not to have been summoned together by
any superintending head, but by the consent and agreement as it were of one
common heart prompted by a holy zeal for the Lord of Hosts and the honor of
Israel.”[3]
Determined
to put away evil in Israel they are probably oblivious of how near to
themselves[4]
their drawn sword would cut. As the story of Micah evidences the evil is not in
Benjamin only but all over Israel. This may be the reason why in spite of the
numbers of the allied forces of Israel they were twice defeated by the
Benjamites an indicator that the double edged sword of Gods judgment swings
against Benjamin and Israel as a whole. By Israelites failure the Benjamites
acquire self-sufficiency (20:32, 39) which brings them to ruin, they are nearly
obliterated. Israel’s setbacks however bring them closer to God in repentance,
weeping and fasting, an earnest attempt to find Gods will.
The name Micah in Hebrew proclaims “Who is as Yahweh?” yet he is the man
behind idolatry in Israel, a sin that sets precedence even for generations to
come. Spiritual and moral depravity sweep across the whole society in Israel.
The Levite a grandson of Moses is available for hire and takes upon himself a
task that is neither his by calling nor merit. He is ready to serve in total disregard
of Gods set standard if he can only be assured of upkeep. The Benjamites on the
other hand are up in arms against their brethren in defense of ‘the sons of
Belial’ (Judges 20:13) amongst them. There is no striking difference between
Israel and its surrounding nations but lest we become critical about Israel we
need to let the sword swing closer, by asking ourselves, “who is like our Lord
Jesus Christ?” Isn’t this what every Christian proclaims by the name Christian?
As
Micah said by his name “who is as Jehovah” even so the Christian says by
his/her name “who is like Christ” and should expect to look around and see all
fingers pointing at him. As we read in Acts of the Apostles it’s at Antioch
that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Ac 11:26 NKJV)Not
by fellow believers but by the nonbelievers because they bore resemblance to
their master.
As
Campbell says spiritual compromise has been the problem of the Christian church
since the beginning.[5]
It is a dangerous cancer that is so subtle because it sinks slowly but surely.
If the church has to be the light that she is meant to be she must guard
against compromise. Materialism and idolatry pose a great threat to the church
in Kenya today as it did to Israel. We
should never allow Gods word to loose its place and power to govern both our
faith and practice otherwise just as it was in the time of Micah wicked acts
will be done religiously and in the name of God and will plunge the church into
spiritual mess and the nation in confusion and possible anarchy. It is
presumptuous to think that God is favoring us simply because we are succeeding
when we are acting contrary to Gods word. Personal interest and gain on the
part of the pastorate and parishioner should never be permitted to take center
stage.
God
seeks to work from the inside of us and be seen on the outside in the quality
of life we lead. He cannot lead a heart He is not controlling as the Lord and
King. What the writer of Judges condemns in this section of the book is this
simple fact that God as the King over Israel has been deposed by Israel’s
rebellion as every man does what he wishes. Micah would ask years later “is there no king in your midst” (Micah
4:9) oh Israel? Why then do you live like the pagans, isn’t God
King in Israel? Jennings says “if God be lost; if dependence on him be gone, if
He as the one object of reverence, obedience, fear; - the winsome lovely
attraction to the heart, be lost sight of, men cannot walk together in peace
and love…” As Webster also reiterated
“if God and his word are not known and received, the devil and his works will
gain ascendancy …anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery and corruption and
darkness will reign without mitigation or end.”[6]
This is what happened in Israel and definitely would happen in church and in an
individual unless it’s checked by a determined devotion on a daily basis.
We
need to connect and submit every area of life to the authority and transforming
intention of Christ[7]
because by doing so we will represent him more accurately without contradiction
between our profession and lifestyle.
[1]Donald
K Campbell, No Time for Neutrality (Grand
Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 1994), , 232
[2]
John
J. Davis, Conquest and Crisis (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House,1969) , 218
[4] F.C.
Jennings, Ruth and Judges (New York:
Gospel Publishing House, 1905), 245
[5] Campbell, 234
[6]
William J. Federer, Americas God and
Country, (Dallas: FAME
Publishing, Inc., 1994), 671.
[7]
Rebecca M. Pippert, Out of the Salt
Shaker and into the World (Downers Grove: InterVasity Press, 1999), 247
