Judges 17:5-6 5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. NIV
First the curse – she lost her money and cursed that fact (Judges 17.2). I’m assuming she also cursed whoever took the money. Next the confession (same verse) – he confessed he’d taken the money and felt remorse (sorrow, guilt, and superstition) about what he’d done. Then the creation of some silver idols (Judges 17.4) that laid around and stayed around until the captivity of the Northern Kingdom around 722 BC (Judges 18.30)
Here are some realities: Cursed are those who steal; those who choose this kind of a life-style to get by in life. They steal money, time, resources, and relationships; they feel as if they have an inalienable right to everything. Nothing has a price because all of it is theirs – potentially. To them there are no boundaries and whatever isn’t nailed down or red-hot is just one more opportunity.
Blessed are those who confess and repent – what I did was wrong and I will turn from that, make restitution wherever possible and live rightly from that point on.
Doomed are those who make idols; who substitute the things of this earth for God; or make them to be suitable representations of God. God is not represented by things. Doomed also is the one who wanders from the truth and chooses to live by the principles of this world – this world and all that is in it is dead or dying and the rules are ever-changing and the scales are tilted against anyone who says I can play by the world’s rules and win. And doomed is false religion that creates a god of its own making to dodge the One who made us all.
We need a Savior because within certain boundaries and certain realities, we do as we see fit. As long as my fit doesn’t interfere with yours, or yours doesn’t inhibit mine; we’re gonna be okay – or so our rationale. We don’t need a king, we need a God! But not a god of our own making – we need God. The closing chapters of Judges are just plain bizarre to me – but so is the mentality that says, I can do whatever I want and no one’s gonna stop me…
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