Bible Chapter: Judges 17 & 18

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    What happens when God is rejected in a society and the influence of righteousness is missing?  People will sink to the lowest common denominator.  Their actions and beliefs sink to doing whatever they want, whatever they think is right (or fun) in their own estimation.  This always leads to sin.  This always brings rejection of God’s ways.  This is what happened to Israel at this time.  Everyone was a law to themselves.  They resented being told what to do.  Verse 6 tells us In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  So, we have a story of Micah and his mother.  They made idols and worshiped them.  They hired their own person priest, thinking this would give them protection.
    This is a sad time in the nation’s history because of the statement that everyone did what was right in their own eyes.  What happened over and over was the pull of worshiping other gods.  It happened again at this time.  People thought they could maintain God’s blessings on their lives as they actively broke His commandments.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    Corruption.  That is what we see in these chapters.  There was a man, Micah, who was willing to hire a young Levite as his personal priest.  The Levite was willing to take the job.  Then later, when a better offer came by, the Levite left and became the priest to a larger group.  But, they still had idols and worshiped false gods.  I must be sure to not allow corruption to interfere in God’s calling on my life.  One thing I have observed in life is that many people don’t look at the big picture.  People can’t see beyond the end of their nose.  So, they see something that looks good and take it without seeing the long-term impact.  Having an eternal perspective will help prevent corruption and promote righteousness.

3.  How can I help someone?
    It may seen desirable to create a set of beliefs that makes one comfortable, but that is not possible.  Since God created the world and gave the human race His set of standards to live by, we must seek to learn what He says and then actually LIVE BY what God instructed.  We must avoid corruption and learn that doing life God’s way is always best.