RPG Adults
THE MEN WHO FAILED GOD (I)
LORD’S DAY, FEBRUARY 26
Judges 17:7-13
Numbers 8:5-22
“…the priests the Levites
shall teach you:
as I commanded them…”
THE MEN WHO FAILED GOD (I)
The story of Micah presents to us that the failure of the domestic system is rooted in the failure of religious instruction and guidance. The people groped in darkness mainly because those who were supposed to shine the light of God’s Word had hidden it under a bushel. Micah, the man who stole from his mother, the one who only restored what he had stolen due to pressure from superstition, was the one who now had a “house of gods” and “made an ephod, and teraphim,” and consecrated “one of his sons, who became his priest.” The failure of religious instruction and guidance is presented to us in the introduction of the Levite who passed by and became a priest for hire.
“…I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place” (Judg 17:9). The family’s religious arrangement sufficed the family of Micah until a visitor passed by. Upon interaction with the man, Micah realised he was a true Levite who appeared displaced. Why the Levite was displaced is not told to us, but here is presented to us a man who had been forced by circumstances to forsake his call and seek out a living for himself. Micah invited him to stay and minister to his family with a promise of provision for basic needs (food, clothing and housing) and some stipend.
“…Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest…and the young man was unto him as one of his sons” (Judg 17:10-11). The offer given by Micah and the reality that came to be did not correspond. The failure of the religious system is not only revealed in the idolatry of Micah’s family and the seeking out a living of the Levite, but also in the changed roles. Though he was asked by Micah to be “unto me a father,” he became “as one of his sons.” Micah’s superstitious heart was appeased and the Levite’s physical needs were fulfilled and both were content with it. None sought to know or do God’s will. All just sought to quieten the discontent within. That is what religion is turning into today: the silencing and dulling of the conscience through the scratching of itching ears and the satisfying of fleshly desires.
THOUGHT: Doctrine fuels faithfulness and sustains a church.
PRAYER: Father, grant to our preachers faithful and wise hearts.