1 Samuel 2:12-4:1, Do you take God serioulsy?

Few years back, there were billboards so called, "God Billboards." These were initially put up by an anonymous person who contacted The Smith Agency in Florida in 1998 to get people to think about spirituality. The proved so popular that Outdoor Advertising Association of America made them their national public service campaign. Soon, "God Speaks" campaign brought about 10,000 displays throughout America.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

• Let's meet at my house Sunday before the game.
• What part of "Thou Shalt Not..." didn't you understand?
• We need to talk.
• Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer.
• Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage.
• That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing... I meant it.
• I love you…I love you...I love you.
• Will the road you're on get you to my place?
• Follow me.
• Need directions?
• You think it's hot here?
• Do you have any idea where you're going?
• My way is the highway.

Don’t you wish it was that easy to hear from God? When you get on highways, just look up and read your today’s God’s Billboard message. But, life isn’t quite like that, right? Does it ever feel it is not easy to know what God is saying to you these days?
If you feel that way, I would like to talk to you this morning.

During the time of Judges, people had real difficult time hearing God and knowing God’s will for them. Would you turn your scripture to 1 Samuel 3? ­Verse 1-2 says, “The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.” This specifically meant that there was hardly any message from the LORD spoken through prophets. It was a time when the revelation from God about who he was, and what he expected from his people were scarce.

1. You cannot hear God if you don’t take God seriously.

What is the cause for the word, visions of the LORD, being rare during this time? The cause was that God’s people didn’t take God seriously. The principle is that you cannot hear God if you don’t take God seriously.

In chapter 2:12-36 underscore how bad things were. The priest, Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas were described as wicked men who had no regard for the LORD in verse 12. Since they didn’t know the LORD, they didn’t care about God. Since they didn’t care about God, they were wicked that is they were worthless, good for nothing. It is ironic that Eli thought that Hannah was wicked in chapter 1 when in fact she was the godly woman and his sons were the wicked ones.

Leviticus 7:28-36 and Deuteronomy 18:3 said the priests were to have specific portion from
the sacrificial animals given to the LORD. But things were different in Shiloh where Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas served. Instead of taking the specifically designated portions of meat, Hophni and Phinehas would thrust a fork into the boiling pot and pull up whatever came out stuck on the fork. Leviticus 17:6, says, “burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” Fat of sacrificial animals therefore were to be set aside and be burned for the LORD (Leviticus 7:23-25, 31; 17:6). But, even before the fat was trimmed off to be burned for the LORD, they demanded their meat. When the worshippers made concession to give them whatever they wanted but only allow them first to burn the fat for the LORD. But, the Eli’s sons would not have any of it. They threatened to use force to get what they wanted. This is how they had no regard for the LORD (verse 12) and how they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt (verse 17).

When all this was going on with these two sons, their father Eli talked to them about this in 2:12-25 but that was the extent of what he did… just talking about it. His sons did not listen to Eli; they continued to work in the temple of the LORD. It was like a coach calling players outside for not playing by the rules of the game, talking to them how they need to abide by the rules, but putting them right back into the games. He took no further measure to restrain them. Because Eli was not going to restrain them from dishonoring God, it says in 2:25, God’s will was to put them to death.

A man of God came to Eli and gave God’s charge against him. 2:29 asks, “Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?” God said in verse 30, “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”

Eli’s family was given the privilege honor to minister God forever according to 2:30, but because they didn’t take God seriously, but took him and his promise lightly and disgust, God was no longer going to honor his promise to them. To be disdained is to be cursed. The curse was that his two sons would die on the same day, 2:34; that all his descendants would die in their prime of life, 2:33. The curse was that the honor once bestowed on Eli’s family to minister before the LORD forever would be revoked.

The vision, the word of the LORD was rare during this time because they didn’t take God seriously.

2. If you honor God, if you are serious about God, you hear from him.

But the story of Samuel tells a different story. His story tells us that if we honor God, if we are serious about God, we can hear from him.

Chapter 2:35 says, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.” 1 Chronicle 28:9 says, “for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” Having rejected Eli and his sons who rejected him, his good promise to them, God sought after a faithful person who was determine to do things according to what was in God’s heart and mind.

In the backdrop when the word of the LORD was rare and there were not many visions, revelation from the LORD, we see God at moving. It was a dark time. Eli is said to be legally blind. People were spiritually blind and deaf because they were determined to do as they saw fit, instead of being serious for God.

But, God was still moving. In darkness, there was still a flicker of hope. 3:3 says, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out,” meaning that God was not done with the Israelites. Know this. Our God is God who moves to awaken the souls to himself, to his service. He is searching for those who would honor him, who would take God seriously.

Samuel was that person God was looking for. While it was still dark outside and there was that flicker of a lamp light in the temple of the LORD, Samuel heard someone calling. He answered “Here I am,” and he “ran” to Eli and said to him, “Here I am; you called me.”

He ran perhaps thinking legally blind Eli needed some help! But, it wasn’t Eli who called him. Eli told Samuel, “I did not call; go back and life down.” This happened again. This time Samuel didn’t run, but went to him perhaps unsure what was going on. Eli again sent Samuel back.
Verse 7 explains what was going on. It says, “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD.” It doesn’t mean that Samuel didn’t have relationship with God. Hannah, his mother wanted him to honor God for the rest of his life. Samuel was young and his heart was in the right place. It just that Samuel had not learned to recognize God’s voice yet.

When God called the third time, Eli who was spiritually insensitive finally got it that God was calling Samuel. Eli gave Samuel a helpful tip in what he should do when he was called again, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” Samuel responded to God who showed up and called him as Eli instructed him to say.

There are two things that I want you note in Samuel’s response to God’s call him. To refer to himself as God’s servant revealed he honored God as God; it also shows his willingness to listen. Samuel humbly desired to hear from God and listen to him. He was seriously about God. And, God spoke to him.

3. When God speaks, you need to act on it.

The next thing we see in Samuel is that when God spoke to him, he acted upon it.
God told Samuel in verse 11-14, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, `The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'”

Verse 15 says Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. You can imagine this little boy who respected and looked up to the priest Eli, not knowing what to do with what he heard from the LORD. Eli was like a father to Samuel. It is not too difficult to see why he was afraid to tell Eli what he heard from God.

When Eli confronted Samuel about what the LORD said to him and “Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him,” verse 18. As hard as it was for Samuel to reveal what God had spoken to him to Eli, he did it without withholding any truth from God. And, verse 19 says, God “let none of his words fall to the ground,” meaning that whatever God revealed to Samuel came to be true.

God’s further word was possible because Samuel acted on God’s word. This was God’s priest in making. His childhood experience of hearing God for himself and listening to him and carrying out God’s word was Samuel’s initiation into the lifetime of service to God. When God speaks, we need to act on his word.

Applications

• Do you want to listen to God?

When I mentioned about the billboards in the beginning, I asked you, “Don’t you wish it was that easy to hear from God?” Hearing the voice of God seems difficult. But, this is not because God doesn’t speak to us today. You shouldn’t expect God to show up routinely in the middle of the night, call you and reveal to you his plan like he did with Samuel. To hear God’s voice audibly is rare thing. I personally have not heard God speak to me audibly for the last 35 years.
The way God choose to speak to us today is through his Word and to our hearts. And, because we have the word of God, the Bible, so readily accessible, it is wrong to say that the word of God is rare, or God doesn’t speak to us any more.

The problem is not the accessibility to God’s word or he doesn’t speak. God’s word is abundant. God speaks to us today! Through his word, he speaks to us about his character, his will, his desire, his purpose for each of us, for our church, for our lives, for our families, for our careers, for our school works.

The problem is not that God doesn’t speak to you. The problem is that you don’t want to listen God; if you don’t want to listen God, it means you don’t want to know God. If you don’t want to know God, you don’t want to do things as God sees fit, but you do things you see fit. You don’t honor God.

God has a way of making things very clear to us. He shows you two pictures

• a picture of Samuel who eagerly desired to hear God, who heard God call him, and was used mightily for God’s purpose
• a picture of Eli’s two sons who didn’t want to hear from God, did things as they saw fit and met God’s curse, and forfeited the privilege to serve God. They were wicked, worthless, good for nothing

Everyday, you must declare your intention before God. Are you going to listen to God as Samuel did or are you going to disregard God like Hophin and Phinehas did?

• Have an expectant heart!

When you declare you intention to listen to God and open the Bible to read God’s word, have an expectant heart that God is going to speak to you.

• You need to act on God’s word.

What you do with the word of God declares your intention to become like Samuel or Eli’s family. Here is the second application point I want you to consider. You need to choose to honor God over your fears and feelings. Again God shows two clear pictures.

• a picture of Samuel, declaring God’s word over his fear of talking to Eli and becoming God’s prophet
• a picture of Eli, not restraining his sons in sinning against God and thereby forfeiting God’s promise

1 Samuel 1-2:11, When you are disappointed, to whom do you turn to?

Judges 21:25 closes the book of Judges; “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” We saw how this affected the life of the Israelites. When the people of God rejected the kingdom of God, that is God’s sovereign reign over them, they did as they saw fit. The outcome was the inability to tell right from wrong, disastrous moral decays and confusion, lost of many lives…
In contrast, the book of Ruth told a completely different story about Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and God. These two women experienced great difficulties in life, loosing their husbands, relocations, struggling to survive during and after the severe famine. They did not do things as they saw fit; they turned to God and God turned things around for them. Instead of emptiness, bitterness, childlessness, hungry stomach, they experienced fullness in life, joy, new life and wellbeing.
Now, we turn to the books of Samuel. Judges was about people doing things as they saw fit without regard to God’s rule over them. The stories told in the book of Samuel focus on this; establishment of the kingship in Israel under the leadership of Samuel, a last judge.
Initially, there was no break between 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. It was one book. But, in the 15^th century A.D., Samuel was divided into two parts; this division is first seen in the first printed Hebrew Bible called the Bomberg edition published in 1516-1517 in Venice.
Also, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, called LXX, Septuagint instead of dividing Samuel into two parts, it grouped Samuel with the book of Kings. So, together, they were called “Books of Kingdoms.” So, Samuel and Kings were known as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings. This emphasized the big change that occurred after the period of Judges, going from no kingship to fully established kingship in Israel.
The books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel obviously bear the name of Samuel, the last judges. He played an important role in the history of Israel, going from without kings to kings.

Hannah and Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:1-8)

The story of Samuel begins with the birth account of Samuel to his childhood ending in 4:1. Today, we are going to consider the story of his birth.

We are introduced to his parents in verse 1 and 2, Elkanah and Hannah. Verse 2 says that he had two wives, Hannah, and the other Peninnah. Their names relates to their current situation. Peninnah means, “prolific” while Hannah means, “charming.” It is likely that Elkanah’s first wife Hannah, who was charming, meaning he was beloved, was not able to conceive and give birth; so, Elkanah got his second wife, Peninnah according to the custom of the time. His second wife Peninnah was prolific in having children.

Let me say few words about polygamy in the Old Testament. In the big picture of the Bible, polygamy was never intended as God’s ideal for marriage. Genesis 2:24 tells us that marriage is between one male and one female. Adam and Eve were monogamists. However, after the fall, the marriage institution suffered from the effect of sin. In the New Testament, we see no examples of polygamy. Jesus emphasized God’s original intention and design for marriage as “the two shall become one flesh,” according to Mark 10:2-12. The church leaders were told to be the husband of only one wife (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).

In the Old Testament, the impact of polygamy was negative on family lives. In Abraham’s case, there were great discord and jealousy between his wife Sarah and the maid Hagar (Genesis 16:5). In David’s case, his sons from the various wives fought among themselves for the throne (2 Samuel 5:13; 13:22-33). And, in the case of Solomon, his 700 wives and 300 concubines turned his heart from the LORD (1 Kings 11:1-8).

It is likely that Elkanah got Peninnah as his second wife due to having no children with his first wife Hannah, as it was custom during the time. We see the strain in the relationship. Peninnah is described as Hannah’s rival. Verse 6 says, “because the LORD closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.” And, verse 7 continues, “This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.” Whenever she would weep and not eat, her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you so downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

This went on whenever the family made to Shiloh for their annual visit to the house of God, where they worshiped and sacrificed according to God’s law. It was during these yearly journeys to the house of God, Peninnah picked on Hannah, provoking and badgering her for not being able to have any child. Elkanah tried without success to comfort Hannah. As his beloved and favored, verse 5 says, “but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her though the LORD has closed her womb.”

Hannah before the LORD (1 Samuel 1:9-20)

What did Hannah do when she got depressed, picked on, provoked by her rival? We see in verse 9-11 that she took her sorrows, hurts, and pains to God. Verse 9 says after the meal at Shiloh, Hannah went before the LORD. There at the tabernacle before the LORD, verse 10, “in bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.” This is a picture of godly woman. She was not fighting back, getting back at Peninnah. Hannah took the matter to the LORD. She poured her heart to the LORD.

There before the LORD, she made a vow in verse 11: “O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

Verse 11, during her prayer, she felt led to make a Nazirite vow to the LORD. It was a vow of separation, complete devotion to the LORD. Samson before he was born was given also the Nazirite vow. But, we know what Samson did with his Nazirite vow. As we will see Samuel was vastly different person than Samson was. Her prayer tells a lot about this woman. Her payer tells us that she recognized that children were gifts from God. God is the one who enabled conception and childbirth as it was the case in Ruth. She knew God as LORD Almighty. Nothing was too typical for God; he saw herself as God’s servant. She knew that the God cared for her. She was a woman who also knew how to be thankful to the LORD.

(Verse 12-18) Hannah was praying silently, only moving her lips. Eli, the priest at the house of the LORD saw her and thought that she was drunk. Apparently drunkenness was not uncommon during the time of feasts. But, Hannah wasn’t drinking. According to verse 7, she wasn’t even eating anything at all, a self imposed fasting.

For Eli to assume that Hannah was drunk because she was moving her lips without praying aloud and weeping tells something about this priest’s spiritual insensitivity.

Contrary to his mistaken perception, Hannah told him that instead of having poured wine or bear into her mouth, she was pouring out her soul to the LORD. She was pouring out her great anguish and grief. She was far from being a wicked woman; she was a godly woman.

Verse 17, to this, Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

Things were different for her now. She poured her anguish, broken, grieving heart. She poured out her deep desire for a child to God. Having heard the priest pronounce the blessing over her prayer, it says in verse 18, “she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.”

Verse 19-20, we see how God answered Hannah’s prayer. The family rose early next morning and worshiped before the LORD before heading home. Elkanah lay with Hannah and it says, “the LORD remembered her.” The LORD came and answered her prayer, helping her to conceive and to give birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which sounds like in Hebrew word meaning, “heard of God.”

Hannah dedicated Samuel (1 Samuel 1:21-28)

In the follower year, the family of Elkanah was making another annual trip to the annual sacrifice to the LORD. This time Hannah told Elkanah she wished to stay behind. She told him, “After boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.”
We see that Hannah did not make a rash vow that she would regret later. She knew in her heart that the child was a gift from God, a merciful response to her heartfelt prayer. She was determined to follow through with her vow to dedicate her son in Nazirite vow. What we see is a thankful woman who owed everything to the LORD.
It took about three years for women to wean their children from breastfeeding back then. So, it is reasonable to think that she kept him for three years to raise him up.
At the age of about three, still very young, she took Samuel back to the house of the LORD as she promised in her vow. There, she worshiped God and sacrificed to the LORD. She told Eli, “I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”

Hannah’s Prayer and Praise (1 Samuel 2:1-11)
In verse 1-2, we see where Hannah put her trust in. Her trust was squarely in the LORD. Sherejoiced and delighted in the LORD who delivered her, who strengthened her. Her confession was this, “There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” When she felt bitter with disappointment, she turned to God because God alone was the Rock, the sure foundation, her Cornerstone. Although circumstances might be shaky and heartbreaking, she wasn’t shaken by them. She remained strong, firm and unshakeable because her foundation was the Rock of her salvation.
In God, the Rock of salvation, she confessed, “those who stumbled are armed with strength, who were hungry hunger no more, who was barren has borne seven children” in verse 4-5.
God, the Creator, alone is sovereign “for the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; upon them he has set the world” verse 8.
In this God, her Rock, her sovereign Creator, she found her confidence for the LORD guards the feet of his saints, verse 9.

Applications

When you are bitter because of your disappointments, to whom or what do you turn? Do what Hannah did!

• Take your disappointments to the Lord. He is strong enough to take your disappointments.
• Pour your heart out to the LORD. God knows your heart
• Trust God who is merciful and remembers you.
• Know that all gifts are from God and be grateful.
• Let your thankfulness motivate you to service to your God.

Judges 19-21, What happenes when you do things you see fit without relying on God.

Last week, we consider Judges 17 and18. There, we saw what happened to God’s people when they neglect God’s word; we witnessed the idolatries at a personal level from the story of Micah and his mother and at a tribal level from the story of a Levite and the tribe of Dan. Today, we are going to consider the rest of the book of Judges, chapter 19-21. What we are going to see is the level of idolatry affecting, not just at the personal and the tribal level, but the whole nation of Israel. We are going to see what happened when the Israelites did things as they saw fit without wholeheartedly relying on God.

A story of a Levite and his concubine (Judges 19)

Judges 19 tells a story of another Levite. This Levite is a different person from the Levite, Jonathan the grand son of Moses from chapter 17-18. We are not given the name of this Levite in chapter 19. We are told that he lived in the hill country of Ephraim. Just like Jonathan the Levite from the chapter 17 & 18, the Levite in chapter 19 was not living in his designated Levite city where he was to serve God. This Levite too was a renegade Levite who wasn’t living out God’s will for him.

We are told that this Levite took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. We are not told that the Levite has another wife, so it appears that this concubine was the first and sole wife for this Levite. Verse 2 tells us, “she was unfaithful to him.” But, another translation, New Revised Standard Version, translates this as “his concubine became angry with  him.” The differences come from the different manuscript sources used to translate this verse. New Revised Standard Version used older manuscripts to translate this verse; it exonerates the concubine and places the blame for the marital problem on the Levite. It seems unlikely that this concubine indeed if she committed adultery would have been able to go back to her father’s house. If she committed adultery, likely outcome would have been honor killing by her husband. Verse 2 and 3 tells us that the Levite after four months since she left, he went after her to persuade her to return to him. The Levite going back to his adulterous wife to have her come back to him seems unlikely considering how he treated her later in this story.

Now, when he went back to his concubine’s father’ house, verse 3 says that her father gladly welcomed him. As it was a typical custom, the father-in-law was hospitable to his son-in-law. The Levite stayed with him for three days, but wanted to go on his way with his concubine. But, he ended up staying another night because of his father-in-law’s insistence.

On the fifth day, the father-in-law again insisted his son-in-law to stay over night. But, we are told in verse 10, he was unwilling to stay another night. He left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with two saddled donkey and his concubine along with his servant.

The servant suggested to the Levite to stay over night in the city of Jebusites. But, the Levite rejected his servant’s suggestion because Jebus was still an alien city, whose people were not Israelites. He might have thought that he would receive a better welcome from his own people than from the foreigners in Jebus. So, he pressed on and reached a town called Gibeah by sunset. The city of Gibeah was a part of the tribe of Benjamin.

Verse 15, they went into the city of Gibeah and waited in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night. Unlike the warm welcome hospitality the Levite received from his father-in-law, in Gibeah, supposedly a town belonging to the fellow Israelites, no one was hospitable to the Levite.

Verse 16 tells us that it was an old man from the hill country of Ephraim who was living in Gibeah, who stopped to find out what was going on. The old man came from the same town, Bethlehem, where the Levite lived and was heading to. The old man warmly welcomed them to his house; he hospitably fed the Levite’s donkeys; he also washed their feet, gave them something to eat and drink.

While all things seem to be going well, verse 22, the wicked men of the city of Gibeah surrounded the house. They demanded the old man to send out his guest, the Levite so that they could have sex with him. This reminds us the story of Lot from Genesis 19, where Lot faced the mob of men who wanted to have sex with his guests who were the angelic visitors.

The old man seems to be a religious man for he told them, “No my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this disgraceful thing.” But, then he offered them, “Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.” What we see here is moral confusion. The old man was repulsive by their attempt to rape the Levite in homosexual act. But, somehow in his mind, giving his daughter and the guest’s concubine to be raped by this gang of wicked men was better than the Levite getting raped.

Now, here is the telling scene about the kind of man the Levite was. When the men wouldn’t listen to the old man, verse 25 tells us that the Levite took his concubine and set her outside to them; they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. Verse 26 reads, “at daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.”

The Levite didn’t protest against the wicked men of Gibeah. He didn’t stand up for his concubine, his wife. Instead, to save himself from being raped, he gave his concubine into the wicked gang of men to be raped and abused. He had the appearance of religiosity when he wanted to stay in a town belonging to the Israelites. But, the Levite was a man who only looked out for himself.

What was he doing during the night while his wife, his concubine was being raped by a group of gang? Verse 27 says, “When her master got up in the morning and opened to the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.” He slept through the night comfortably while his concubine was being raped and abused; when he woke up he got himself ready to leave; when he was about to step outside of the house he saw his concubine lying motionless by the threshold. What did he say to her? Verse 28, “Get up; let’s go.” Cold, loveless… no wonder the concubine left this man. With no answer from her, he put her on his donkey and set out for home. No mention of tears, moaning… nothing from him!

Verse 29, He came home and took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and set them into all the areas of Israel. One commentator suspicious of this man’s character wonders if the concubine was still alive when he dismembered her.[1] By sending dismembered parts of the body of this concubine, the Levite was calling the Israelites to arm to deal with the wicked men of Gibeah, the Benjamites.

The Israelites responded (19:30-20-15)

When the rest of the Israelites received the dismembered body parts of the concubine, they were enraged; at Mizpah, a near city to Gibeah, they enquired the Levite of what happened. Verse 5, he told them, “During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one peace to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.” Listening to his story, it sounds like he was a helpless victim, a caring husband. But, we know that they weren’t after him to kill him. They were after him to have sex with him. And he conveniently skipped the part about how his concubine ended up outside of the house. It was he who pushed her outside to save himself.

The Levite gave them an embellished account of what happened. With the witness of this one man, without investigating further to learn what really happened, the Israelites reacted as one man. Verse 11 says, “So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.” Each tribe sent out 10 percent of their people to deal with the men of Gibeah. They were responding to Deut. 13:12-18:

If you hear it said about one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you to live in that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sward all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.

With the embellished account of what happened by the Levite, the Israelites didn’t carefully inquire, probe and investigate the matter thoroughly to determine if it was true and proven. The Levite took no responsibility for his action.

If they indeed investigated carefully and learned the true nature of what really happened according to God’s word, the story might have very different outcome.

The Israelites mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen according to verse 17 to deal with the situation. Verse 13, the Israelites demanded from the tribe of Benjamin, “Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.” Verse 15, but the Benjamites refused to give the men who sexually abused and violated the concubine. Instead of turning those men of the city of Gibeah, the whole tribe of Benjamin decided to protect these wicked men. The Benjamites had mobilized their own 26,000 swordsmen and 700 chosen men who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

The Israelites fought the Benjamites (Judges 20:16-48)

Chapter 20:16-48, we are told about three battle scenes between the rest of the Israelites against the Benjamites who were protecting the wicked men of Gibeah. In the first scene, being confident they were doing right, they ask the Lord in verse 23, “Who of us shall go to fight against the Benjamites?” God answered, “Judah shall go first.” He gave them no promise for victory though. The Israelites although vastly large in number suffered 22,000 casualties at the hands of the Benjamites.

After been defeated, now less confident of themselves, verse 23, they approached God with weeping, “Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers? Again, the LORD told them to go up against them, but without the promise of victory. Again the Benjamites killed another 22,000 of the army of the Israelites.

For the third time, they approached the LORD, this time verse 26, with weeping, fasting, and presenting burnt and fellowship offerings to the LORD. They were no longer confident of themselves. They finally humbled themselves to seek God’s will on this. Through the prophet Phinehas son of Eleazar, the LORD told them, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”

With the LORD’s promise, they set an ambush around Gibeah and fight against the Benjamites. Verse 35 says, “The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.”

When the battle was over, verse 47, only 600 men survived. They fled into the desert of the rock of Rimmon; there they stayed four months. Verse 48, the men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword according to aforementioned Deuteronomy 13.

The wives for the Benjamites (Judges 21)

After all that had happened, the men of Israel took an oath at Mizpah, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to Benjamite” Do you remember what happened when Jephthah rashly vowed to sacrifice whatever came out to greet him first when he returned home in chapter 13. He sacrificed his own daughter for his hasty vow. In the same way, the Israelites made a rash vow here as well without bothering to hear from God only to regret later. They also took the second oath in verse 5, “anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.”

The excessive measure to kill all the Benjamites except 600 left the tribe on the brink of extinction. All because of their rash and thoughtless oaths! When they realized what they had done, verse 2-4, they sought the LORD, weeping bitterly, building an altar and presenting burnt and fellowship offerings. But, the LORD didn’t answer them.

So, what did they do? They found that no one from Jabesh Gilead showed up earlier at Mizpah when they decided to arm against the Benjamites. And, on the condition of their second oath, they decided to wipe out the people of Jabesh Gilead, except the virgins. Jabesh Gilead didn’t participate in the oath not to give their daughters to Benjamin. This meant their virgin daughters were not prohibited from being given to the Benjamites in marriage. So, the 12,000 fighting men killed all the people of Jabesh Gilead except 400 young virgins.

Verse 13 and 14, they offered peace to the 600 Benjamites by giving these unfortunate 400 young girls to them. Still 200 Benjamites were left without wives.

The elders of the Israelites devised a scheme to get 200 women for the remaining Benjamites. They saw a loop hole in their first oath. Their first oath was not to give their daughters as wives to the Benjamites and “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamite.” The plan was for each of these 200 Benjamites to abduct the unsuspecting girls of Shiloh to make them their wives.

Verse 23 says, “So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.”

K. Lawson Younger would call this scene “the rape of daughters of Shiloh,” and he compares this to the rape of the concubine.[2]

Applications

The question today’s sermon asks is, “What happens when you and I do things as we see fit without wholeheartedly relying on God.”

1. coward and selfish (the Levite’s action to give concubine for abuse, lies to make himself look better).
2. moral confusion (the old man’s action to offer his daughter and the concubine of the Levite).
3. you mess things up (the Israelites attempt to deal with situation... not following God’s word to investigate carefully, rash oaths, killing after killing to remedy their own rash decision…

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[1] K. Lawson Younger, The NIV Application Commentary: Judges and Ruth, P. 359

[2] Ibid., p. 383.

Judges 17 & 18, What happens when you neglect and reject God's word?

Today we are going back to the book of Judges to go back to where we left off. We left Judges after the story of Samson in order to study Ruth together. We saw in the book of Judges the moral and spiritual decays spiraling out of control. In the midst of chaotic time of Judges, we saw Naomi, Ruth and Boaz shining brightly with their godly character and their devotion to God. Now, we are returning back to Judges, specifically to chapter 17 and 18. These two chapters along with the chapter 19-21 form the double conclusions for the book of Judges.

Micah and his mother (Judges 17:1-6)

In Judges 17, we are introduced to a character named Micah. His name means, “Who is like God?” But, as we will see, his meaningful and godly name didn’t translate into godliness for him.

His mother was quite wealthy. Someone stole eleven hundred shekels of silver from her. A yearly wage of ten shekels would make eleven hundred shekels, worth 110 years of wages. That is a lot of money.

There was an article titled, “Children Who Steal”¹ by American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In this article, it says that children by the age of three to five years old are able to understand that taking something which belongs to another person is wrong. And, here were the recommendations to parents when their children are caught in stealing.

• tell the child that stealing is wrong

• help the youngster to pay for or return the stolen object

• make sure that the child does not benefit from the theft in any way

• avoid lecturing, predicting future bad behavior, or saying that they now consider the child to be a thief or a bad person

• make clear that this behavior is totally unacceptable within the family tradition and the community

I would add to this list why stealing is wrong from the biblical perspective as well. What did Micah’s mother do when her son stole from her?

Having lost the huge amount of her wealth, the mother cursed the thief, not knowing that it was her own son who stole from her. Matthew Henry comments, “Outward losses drive good people to their prayers, but bad people to their curses.” We don’t know the nature of Micah’s mother’s curse. But, it was severe enough to scare her son into confess how he stole from her.

Having confessed his sin of stealing, according to Leviticus 6:1-6, Micah was required to do the following. He was to present his guilt offering to the Lord at the tabernacle. Another word, he was to confess his sin before the Lord and offer a guilt offering through the priest to receive forgiveness of his sin. And, on the same day, he was to pay back a fifth of the value on the top of the principal to his mother whom he stole from. The only thing he did was to pay back the principal he stole from his mother. His mother didn’t say anything about what he didn’t do right, what he needed to do to make things right, how he could walk in God’s way.

Instead, when Micah brought the money back to her, she replied, “The LORD bless you, my son!” in verse 2. Perhaps, she was proud of him for having come out clean. She continued, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son…” This appears to be a great expression of worship, devotion to God; to dedicate all eleven hundred shekels of silver!

But, then she went on to say, “…to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you.” What appeared to be a solemn consecration and devotion to the LORD turned out to be nothing more than “deviation to self-serving idolatry and demon-worship” according to Matthew Henry. She hired a silversmith to make the image and the idol with two hundred shekels of silver; she pocketed the rest.

Verse 5 tells us that the carved image, the cast idol Micah’s mother made along with an ephod and other idols, household gods, were all placed in a shrine in Micah’s house. Micah then installed one of his sons as his priest.

Micah didn’t deal with his sin of stealing in God’s way; it is not surprising that he disregarded God who prohibited him from making any carved images or cast idols according to his second commandment (Exo. 20:4, 23; Lev. 19:4). He made an ephod just like Gideon did again against God’s laws; he also made idols, teraphims, which were used for inquiring the will of gods, not the God of Israel; he also installed someone other than a Levite as a priest, his own son (Exodus 29:9; Num 16:10). Not to mention his ethically and morally deprived action to steal from his mother. To have a personal shrine was against the law which permitted only one place for true worship according to Deuteronomy 12:5-7:

But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; ⁶ there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

All this took place in Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim, not too far from Shiloh, which was the legitimate place for worship where tabernacle was placed during the period of Judges.

What was going on with this family? Verse 6 tells the story, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

There was an appearance of doing what was right; confessing sin and returning the stolen money, consecrating the returned money to God… but for everything else they did as they saw fit, not according to God’s will.

Micah And the Levite (Judges 17:7-13)

The story of Micah and his mother is followed by the story of Micah and a Levite in the rest of chapter 17.

17:7 introduces to us a young Levite. He is said to be from Bethlehem, but left Bethlehem in search of some other place to stay. From 18:30, we learn that this young Levite was Jonathan, son of Gershom who was the son of Moses. Joshua 21 lists specifically designated 48 Levitical cities where Levites were to live. Bethlehem was not one of these 48 cities. The way God intended was for the Levites to live by what people offered to God. But, because the Israelites failed to obey God’s laws, the support system for the Levites failed as well. This explains why this young Levite was in search of some place to live.

This young Levite, Jonathan a grandson of Moses, came across Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. And, Micah having learned Jonathan was a Levite offered him a yearly pay, clothes and food to become his spiritual father and priest. Verse 12 tells us that the Levite became Micah’s priest and lived in his house. And, verse 13 tells us how this made Micah feel, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.” It felt so right for Micah to have this Levite as his own priest at his own home for the worship of the carved images and the idols; he was convinced that the LORD was going to bless this arrangement.

His was going about against God’s will; yet he was so confident that God was now going to bless him so much! Isn’t this ironic?

The Levites and the Danites (Judges 18)

Chapter 18 begins with all too familiar saying, “In those days Israel had no king” in verse 1. Chapter 17 was an illustration of what happened at the individual level when Israel had no king. Now, chapter 18 addresses the broader impact at the tribal level when Israel had no king. Having no king meant that they didn’t live under God’s kingship.

Judges 18:1 says, “the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.” Why were they not in procession of the allotted land from God? Judges 1:34 answers this question. It says, “The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.” They were not able to overcome the Amorites’ presence and their pressure against them. Joshua 19:40-46 records the actual cities and towns that God allotted to the Danites. But, Joshua 19:47 says that the Danites had difficult time taking the land that was allotted to them. Instead of persisting in their effort to appropriate their God given allotment, it says, “they went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and named it Dan after their forefather.” Judges 18 expands this account from the book of Joshua on the Danites’ failure to appropriate their inheritance and their possession of a city not allotted to them. This is a picture of God’s people not following God’s will because of the opposition and the difficulty.

Having met the resistance and the difficult of appropriating the land God has given them, the Danites sent out five warriors to spy out and to explore the land where they might settle. They gave up on the land God had given them; instead they wanted to explore other alternatives out there.

These five warriors came across the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim and spent a night there. When they came near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. Perhaps, his local accent gave it away. The spies asked the Levite why he was at Micah’s house. The Levite explained how Micah hired him to be a priest over the images and idols in Micah’s house for yearly wage, clothes, and food.

Anyone with even the minimal knowledge of God’s word would have seen this arrangement as downright sinful! What would these five Danites say to this renegade Levite doing as he saw fit instead of living by God’s word?

Verse 5, they said to the Levite, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” No rebuke against the Levite for his unfaithfulness by these five Danites! All that they cared was someone to validate their waywardness.

Verse 6, the Levite replied, “Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.” How could this Levite pronounce God’s response to the Danites so confidently when he himself wasn’t even walking with the Lord? He couldn’t have. The Levite walking wayward couldn’t see how wrong it was for the Danites to seek validation on their sinful adventure. God already revealed to Danites what they were to do; they were to go and take the land God had given them as their inheritance. God didn’t give them Laish or Leshm as their inheritance in Joshua 19:40-46. This Levite wasn’t speaking on behalf of God; he was speaking as he saw fit.

18:7, we learn their reasoning for wanting to take Laish. It was an easy target to them. The people of Laish were living in safety… unsuspecting and secure and living in isolation with no ties to other people. They were easy target! They reasoned with the rest of the Danites in verse 10, “When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

The only problem with their logic was that God didn’t give this land to the tribe of Dan. God didn’t put Laish into their hands.

They ushered six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, left Zorah and Eshtaol, and came to Micah’s house, verse 11-13.

There at Micah’s house, the five spies told them about the ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol belonging to Micah’s shrine. They went in and stole them. And, they got caught by the priest, the Levite. But, when the Danites presented to the Levite to the bigger and better ministry opportunity in the tribe of Dan, the Levite gladly left with them with all the paraphernalia for the idol worship.

Verse 22-25, Micah got his people to go after the Danites to retrieve the stolen idol paraphernalia and the priest. But, they were no match to the. So, he gave up the pursuit and returned empty handed.

The rest of the chapter 18 records how they were able to overtake Laish. They burned down the city killing the unsuspecting and peaceful people. The city of Laish was an easy target. The Danites met little to no resistance and easily overtook Laish. Rebuilding the city and setting there, they renamed it Dan. In this newly gained city of Dan, they set up the idols and had the Levite, Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, as their priest. And, they had the Levite and his sons oversee the idol worship.

Verse 31 is telling, “They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.” Another word, not too far from them was the real house of God where they were commanded to go to worship God. But, they didn’t.

Applications

The question of today’s sermon asks is, “What happens when you reject God’s word?”

1. When you reject God’s word, you cannot tell right from wrong. So, you end up asking God to bless you with things that God has no desire to bless you with. And, the greater tragedy is that you feel confident that you are asking the right thing, that you are seeking God’s will!

2. When you reject God’s word, you get deceived by the appearance of success! Micah succeeded in securing idols and a priest for idol worship although it was completely against the will of God. The appearance of success deceives you and you begin to think that you are succeeding because you sought after God’s will. The truth is that the appearance of success does not guarantee that you are in God’s will! The only way you can walk in God’s will confidently is when you allow God’s word to make claim upon your thinking, perspective, emotion, decision, and action.

3. When you reject God’s word, you cannot deal with the root of sin. The root of the sin is doing things as you see fit instead of how God see fit. When you reject God’s word, you reject him from being your King. When you reject God, your King, you do whatever would maximize your own agenda, your gain, your pleasure. When God is not your king, when God’s word doesn’t make claim upon you, you set out to make yourself a king!

The cost to reject God’s word, to reject God, our King, is too great! May the Lord help us to trust him as our King, to allow his word to make full claim upon us!

1 http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+Who+Steal&section=Facts+for+Families