A Thought from Judges

There were such chaos and obtuse decisions. Jephthah and Samson were the beginning illustrations of this—people trying to do the right thing but absent of the knowledge of God’s word (Jephthah) and a heart still in love with the world (Samson). Then, we have the twisted and contorted story of Micah and his family priest who is stolen but also lured by more money to the tribe of Dan. This man should have never even been considered a priest. It was only for assurance of blessings from God upon the family. Then, this tragic and sickening saga bridged to gang rape and retaliation which resulted in a near extinction of one of the tribes of Israel. And now, a plan to preserve this tribe but more death involved with rash oaths. It is just a litany of one bad idea after another, but prayer and seeking the Lord were notably absent. Thus, the only thing left to do was to figure it out on their own, or as the Scripture said, “Everyone did was what right in their own eyes.” A terrible spiritual condition is summed up in these few words. I wonder if we are under the same assessment as was declared by the book of Judges. I wonder if we have this same philosophy because of our lack of knowing God and his word; or because our heart is in love with the world; or we are treating God as if he is our “good luck’ charm for blessing; or if we are attempting to fix all kinds of twisted life plots in our own reasoning—never really fixing anything, but putting band aids on our spiritual cancer? Am I this way, O Lord? Perhaps, the Lord is calling out the Western church today?