WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:04.040 So this evening we're in the dungeon. I'm not sure if you can even see there's a picture on that screen. 00:00:04.139 --> 00:00:05.879 It's certainly dark and it is meant to be. 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:13.720 The dungeon is a place that is dark and is dangerous and is out of control and is full of rats. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:17.519 And I think that's quite a good description of the last few chapters of Judges, 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:19.500 perhaps particularly the bit about the rats. 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:23.620 You will find lots of characters here who are pretty awful. 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:29.060 And I struggle to find anyone in the two chapters I've got who you could say anything good about him 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:33.019 may have more success when he looks at the last three chapters in a few weeks' time. 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:36.899 This is really God's people hitting rock bottom. 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:41.159 And it is materially different from the rest of Proverbs. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:43.079 The rest of Proverbs, the rest of Judges. 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.539 Most of Judges, we have Judges, not surprisingly. 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:51.599 We don't have any Judges in the next couple of passages. 00:00:52.519 --> 00:00:56.820 Most of the book, there's a cycle that you go through and we become quite familiar with it, 00:00:56.820 --> 00:01:00.740 where God's people sin, God judges them through their enemies, 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:05.460 people cry out to God, and God delivers them through one of the judges. 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.700 Nothing of that in these chapters. 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.640 Indeed, there's nothing in the chapters that show God working. 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:18.420 It is all a record of the sins of the people. 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:22.379 And it is pretty awful, as you'll discover. 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:26.620 So we're going to look at the two chapters consecutively, 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:31.180 and then at the end I'll bring together some thoughts that talk about them together. 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:36.879 So Judges chapter 7 are called Micah's religion. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.399 And as you listen to this chapter being read, 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:44.399 think about what was the basis for Micah's religion. 00:01:44.399 --> 00:01:50.359 What drove this character Micah in the passage in his religious practices? 00:01:51.039 --> 00:01:53.039 Doing something slightly different this evening in your readings, 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.959 we're going to have a recording by David Soushey of the chapters. 00:01:56.379 --> 00:01:59.759 And let's just listen now to chapter 17, and it will also appear on the screen. 00:02:01.919 --> 00:02:03.479 What's driving Micah's religion? 00:02:03.979 --> 00:02:06.579 Almost entirely superstition, I suggest. 00:02:07.179 --> 00:02:09.519 He has a curse on him at the start of the chapter, 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:15.259 and he spends the rest of the chapter trying to make sure that he's well rid of that curse. 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:20.579 No real love of God, no real concern for sin. 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:23.859 So let's just walk through the chapter and see the main points. 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:25.699 So we start with Micah's crime. 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.000 Micah has stolen money from his mother. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:30.240 That is pretty despicable in itself, 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:33.159 particularly when you realize how much money he's stolen. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.659 So later in the chapter when Micah hires this priest, 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.299 he offers him 10 shekels of silver a year. 00:02:39.359 --> 00:02:43.259 So let's take 10 shekels of silver as being a decent year's wage for someone 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:44.900 that would entice them to work for you. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:49.819 Micah has stolen 1,100 shekels of silver from his mother, 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:53.180 110 years worth of wages for someone. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.079 It's a huge amount of money that he's stolen from his mother. 00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:02.680 And perhaps not surprising that she should then curse the person who's taken it. 00:03:03.740 --> 00:03:05.700 Micah confesses to the sin, it appears, 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.740 not so much because he feels any particular guilt about it, 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:12.540 but because he's really worried about the curse that his mother's placed on him. 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:16.780 He wants that to be reversed, and it is very quickly by his mother. 00:03:17.260 --> 00:03:19.720 So the mother having cursed the person who took the money, 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:21.400 she then says, 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:22.960 the Lord bless you, my son, 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.840 in an attempt to reverse the curse she's put on him. 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:27.939 And she goes a bit further, 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:29.000 and she says, 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:32.079 well, I'm going to consecrate my silver to the Lord. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:33.539 Again, perhaps, 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.079 trying to make sure that the curse that had come on Micah 00:03:37.079 --> 00:03:39.680 wouldn't actually happen in practice. 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:40.939 Interesting, 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.939 she had 1,100 shekels of silver taken by Micah. 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:47.539 She gave him back 200 shekels of silver for the Lord. 00:03:47.859 --> 00:03:52.439 So she actually didn't consecrate everything that he had taken for the Lord. 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:54.659 But she gives the money back to, 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:58.180 or she gives some of the money and silver back to Micah 00:03:58.180 --> 00:04:02.759 to make this image of silver. 00:04:03.939 --> 00:04:05.659 So we then have Micah's shrine, 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.460 and Micah's not content just to make this image. 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:12.460 He has three key things in his shrine. 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:17.920 And all of them are out of disobedience to God's law. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:20.300 So he has the image. 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.500 A lot of people think it would be an image of a calf, 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:27.060 similar to what Aaron made while Moses was up the mountain. 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:31.340 Probably made basically from wood and overlaid with silver. 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:38.519 A clear breach of the commandment that says you not to make any graven images. 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:41.340 He has his household gods. 00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:43.919 Don't know exactly what these household gods were, 00:04:44.359 --> 00:04:46.479 but they certainly suggest that Micah wasn't, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.379 although he might claim to be a follower of the Lord, of Yahweh. 00:04:49.859 --> 00:04:51.899 He was maybe hedging his bets. 00:04:51.979 --> 00:04:53.939 He had lots of his own gods as well, 00:04:54.179 --> 00:04:56.679 and he was putting them alongside that. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:58.479 Gain a breach of the commandments, 00:04:58.679 --> 00:04:59.639 no other gods. 00:05:00.099 --> 00:05:02.639 And Micah totally ignores it. 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:04.859 And then the third thing is quite interesting, 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:05.659 it's an ephod. 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:10.640 Now the ephod was the kind of breastplate in the high priest's garments. 00:05:11.080 --> 00:05:15.800 It looked a bit maybe like the picture at the top right on the screen. 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:20.140 And one of the things that the ephod was used for was to determine God's will. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.260 There's the Urim and Thummim. 00:05:21.320 --> 00:05:24.000 We don't really know how they worked or how they operated, 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:29.199 but they were used by the high priest when they needed to determine God's will. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.699 And Micah saw fit to make one of these and to have it for himself. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.500 And to have the whole thing in a shrine, ostensibly for the Lord, 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:44.000 but actually a real mixture of different religious elements. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.360 And of course, that in itself was totally wrong. 00:05:48.019 --> 00:05:50.399 And the Ark of the Covenant in those days was in Shiloh, 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:53.279 and that was the place where the Jews should have gone 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:56.160 if they wanted to present themselves before God. 00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:02.620 There was nothing that justified them setting up their own household shrines to the Lord, 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:06.959 even if they had been a bit better constructed than Micah's. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.180 So Micah, although he and his mother might have said that they were true Jews 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:15.980 and that they were trying to obey Yahweh by what they did, 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:20.040 they clearly showed that their religion was pure superstition 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:24.100 and that they didn't have a real knowledge of the Lord. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.199 And then to make matters worse, Micah says, 00:06:27.280 --> 00:06:32.680 well, I've got this shrine, I've got this garment, this ephod, I've got this image. 00:06:32.960 --> 00:06:34.680 Well, I need someone to be a priest. 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.860 If you've got a shrine, you need to have a priest, says Micah. 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:39.740 Well, who's around you? You could be my priest. 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:41.740 Let's just make my son my priest. 00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:44.579 And again, total violation of God's law. 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:46.280 The priests were to come from the Levites. 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:48.180 They were to be the descendants of Aaron. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.500 This was a man from Ephraim, from a completely different tribe. 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:56.680 And he is, for his own convenience, making his son his priest. 00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:02.759 But again, trying to carry favor with God or the gods whom he worshipped 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.420 and just taking things into his own hands. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.720 And then something else interesting happens because a Levite comes along. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.640 A Levite who has come from Judah, from Bethlehem, up to Ephraim. 00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:17.280 It's not that big a distance from Judah to Ephraim. 00:07:17.340 --> 00:07:22.900 He's come possibly because he didn't have things to do in Judah. 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:26.780 And perhaps he wasn't being treated as the Levites should have been, 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:30.060 as being those who were kept by the others as they served God. 00:07:30.280 --> 00:07:32.680 He's come to try and find something else. 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:34.340 And he comes across Micah. 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:35.579 And Micah thinks, great. 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:37.800 Now I've got a real priest. 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:39.620 A Levite who can be my priest. 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:40.740 Let's get rid of my son. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:41.840 Don't need him anymore. 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:43.939 This man can be my priest. 00:07:44.280 --> 00:07:46.900 And then I'll be right with God. 00:07:46.960 --> 00:07:49.220 Now the Levite, as soon as he arrived, she looked at him and said, 00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:51.420 this has nothing to do with the worship of God. 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:53.939 This is pure superstition and idolatry. 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:55.759 I'm having nothing to do with it. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:02.259 But the Levite clearly had his price and the offer that Micah made to him was accepted. 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.939 And so Micah, at the end of the chapter, says, I'm fine. 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.659 I started off under a curse, really worried about that, what might happen to me, 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.099 because I stole from my mother. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.439 I've now given God, gods, all these things. 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:18.599 I've got my shrine. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.959 I've even got my own priest. 00:08:21.219 --> 00:08:25.699 And the Lord will definitely be good to me now. 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:27.680 What dreadful ignorance, isn't it? 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:31.719 If he had any basic knowledge of the commandments or of God's law, 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.039 he would realize just how far wrong he'd gone. 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:37.240 But because his religion was based on superstition 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.120 and on taking the religion of those round about 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.319 and adding it to the law of God, 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.559 Micah thinks, I'm okay. 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:49.759 So let's move on to chapter 18. 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.879 Chapter 18 continues the story, but it spreads it out wider, 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:56.399 not just to one individual, but to a whole tribe. 00:08:56.460 --> 00:08:59.100 So let's listen to that together and then we'll think about it. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:04.939 So poor Micah, everything he depended on, 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.700 his idol and his priest, they're gone in a flash 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:10.100 as the Danites take them away. 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:14.879 But Judges, he's seen, I think, is mainly about the sins of the Danites. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:19.100 It's not about one man who's a bit of a rogue character in the nation of Israel. 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:23.580 It's about a whole tribe that has gone against God's way 00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:26.600 and has become really sinful. 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:29.200 So on the map of the left of the screen there, 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:33.740 we have the key locations that are mentioned in chapter 18 of Judges. 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:37.600 And I've circled there the two cities which are within Dan. 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:40.580 And that's broadly where Dan's inheritance, 00:09:41.019 --> 00:09:43.960 as given through Joshua, was. 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:47.259 So slightly to the east of Judah, 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:49.299 not to the west of Judah. 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:55.060 And it was a mixture of hill country and coast. 00:09:55.720 --> 00:10:00.279 The problem the Danites had was that that country was occupied by the Amorites. 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:02.620 And the Amorites, we did in chapter 1 of Judges, 00:10:02.839 --> 00:10:05.439 had confined the Danites to the hill country. 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:11.059 And the tribes of Israel together hadn't yet managed to cast them out. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.220 The other problem the Danites had, 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:15.699 as we've learned in the story of Samson who was a Danite, 00:10:15.959 --> 00:10:19.079 was they also had the Philistines sitting just below them to the south of them. 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:22.519 And they were a constant thorn in their flesh as well. 00:10:23.079 --> 00:10:26.899 So the Danites clearly in this story had decided we've become a bit cramped here. 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.399 This isn't a very good place for us to live. 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.840 Let's go and find somewhere else. 00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:39.039 And so they sent these five spies out to look for that somewhere else. 00:10:39.699 --> 00:10:43.539 So I suggest the first sin of the Danite was faithlessness, 00:10:43.819 --> 00:10:45.699 lack of faith in God. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.819 God had given them a territory that was to be theirs. 00:10:49.179 --> 00:10:53.539 They only had to be obedient to God and work alongside their fellow Israelites. 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:55.860 And they could have cast out the Amorites. 00:10:56.059 --> 00:11:00.759 And they could have had a perfectly satisfactory place for their tribe to settle. 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:04.000 But they decided it was going to be a bit too difficult. 00:11:04.439 --> 00:11:09.860 They took things in their own hands and they ignored what God had given to them. 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:11.919 They were faithless. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.860 So the first thing they do is to send these five spies out. 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:23.360 And as these five spies go, they come to the hill country, which you see is just above Dan in that map. 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:26.360 They've not gone very far when they get to the hill country of Ephraim, 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:33.319 which is where they find the Levite, particularly in the home of Micah. 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:39.240 And the Danites ask him, is the Lord going to be with us? 00:11:40.340 --> 00:11:44.140 And I suggest that they are joining in the superstition of the Danite. 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:46.280 And at this stage, probably the Levite. 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:52.440 Perhaps the Levite took great pride in breaking out his ephod and putting it on and pronouncing to them, 00:11:52.780 --> 00:11:55.260 yes, the Lord is with you. 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:56.720 Your journey has the Lord's approval. 00:11:56.840 --> 00:11:59.680 Actually, in the original, it's not quite as precise as that. 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:01.860 The Levite slightly hedging his bets. 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:04.500 It says something like, the Lord is looking on you. 00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:09.039 And they certainly interpreted it as meaning that God was approving of what they were doing. 00:12:09.560 --> 00:12:11.659 I think the Danite was thinking, well, it doesn't work out. 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:17.899 I can take the other interpretation and say, yes, God was looking on you and he didn't agree with what you're doing. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:22.220 But they took it as this is a sign of God's will. 00:12:22.680 --> 00:12:27.940 Now, we are not to take it, I think, that the fact that they ended up in Leish and defeating that city 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:31.080 was a sign that God was with them as they went. 00:12:31.680 --> 00:12:32.860 It was fairly predictable. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.180 You come to an unprotected city without a real army and with no one to help it. 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.380 If you've got a big army going there, you are going to take it. 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:44.740 It wasn't anything to do with God being with them that that happened. 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:49.379 But they demonstrate a real superstition as they went out. 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:50.919 So the spies went up. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:52.299 They saw the city in Leish. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:53.680 You see, that's quite a long way away. 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:56.539 You're right at the north of the nation of Israel. 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:02.879 In fact, you're slightly outside the boundary of the nation of Israel when they come to that in the land of the Canaanites, 00:13:02.940 --> 00:13:08.180 well away from where they were supposed to be settling down in the south of the country. 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:08.939 But they go up there. 00:13:09.379 --> 00:13:10.539 They find the city. 00:13:10.659 --> 00:13:12.299 The spies think, yes, we can take this. 00:13:12.339 --> 00:13:12.939 This is easy. 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:15.959 And they go back with their report. 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.139 And so the Danites together, they come up. 00:13:19.439 --> 00:13:24.819 And again, as they come, one of the first places they come to is the house of Micah. 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:27.559 And again, they encounter the priest. 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.299 Interesting that the Danites seem to know the priest. 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:31.959 They recognize him by his voice. 00:13:32.319 --> 00:13:35.939 Might just be they recognize from his accent that he was from their kind of territory. 00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:40.200 But more likely, perhaps, it was someone they knew they had come across before. 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.420 And that was why they had this interaction with him. 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:46.180 But they didn't really care about the priest. 00:13:46.280 --> 00:13:48.060 And they certainly didn't care about Micah. 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:52.780 And they gathered all their 600 troops together in a force that's role of strength. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.200 Went and took the idol and all the other things from Micah's shrine. 00:13:57.680 --> 00:14:01.360 And when the priest challenged them, they said, well, look, there's all of us here. 00:14:01.780 --> 00:14:03.380 Why don't you just join us? 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:07.820 But rather than just be a priest for one person, for Micah, and a few people live round about him, 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:10.580 you come and you can be a priest for a whole tribe. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:15.519 And I'm sure alongside that, there might be a bit more money attached for the Levite. 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:19.919 And such was his corruptibility. 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:25.919 Such was his lack of regard for God or what was right, that he went with them. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:30.319 And he rejoiced that he was going on his way with them. 00:14:30.459 --> 00:14:33.240 So they stole everything that was Micah's. 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:35.079 Micah comes out after them. 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:40.759 Very quickly realises if he comes up against 600 with this motley crew, he's assembled from his neighbours. 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:42.399 He's not got much chance. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.579 And he has to retreat with his tail between his legs. 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:50.159 And so the Danites go on to Laish. 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.279 And then there's, I've called it murder, you call it genocide. 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:57.799 They totally destroy the city and everyone in it. 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:04.980 They have no compassion, no pity, no centre taking something that doesn't really belong to them. 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:09.300 Because they're stronger, because they're more powerful than the people of Laish, 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:13.220 they think they can go in and do what they want. 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:16.860 And then finally, we could list lots more sins of the Danites. 00:15:17.420 --> 00:15:22.680 The idolatry of Micah becomes the idolatry of a whole tribe. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:29.220 The things they've taken from Micah become the centre priest for the shrine that they set up in Laish. 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:35.300 Which, again in direct contravention to the house of God, which is now in Shiloh, 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:39.220 they set it up and they worship there. 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:41.860 Chapter says it's until the exile. 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:46.500 I think that's probably not the exile that we read about at the end of the time of the kings. 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:52.620 It is probably an exile where the Philistines came and took things away from the Israelites. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:56.399 So it's shorter term rather than in the very long term. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:02.199 But the key thing is, they've taken these idols and instead of worshipping God, 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.139 they're worshipping these idols. 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:06.919 They have fallen into idolatry. 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:10.759 We want a couple of hundred years or maybe a bit more. 00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:12.559 And we have a king called Jeroboam. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.480 Jeroboam was the first king of Israel after the divided kingdom. 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:19.120 And he set up a shrine in Dan. 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:22.179 And not with a silver idol there, he had a golden idol. 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:32.839 But perhaps it was the fact that this was sitting there to begin with that gave him the idea that this would be a good place to have as a centre of worship. 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:39.959 And Jeroboam became the benchmark against which the wickedness of the future kings of Israel was measured. 00:16:40.099 --> 00:16:44.179 So there's perhaps a hint here of what is to come later on through Jeroboam. 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:46.799 So a pretty sad story. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:53.819 A man who's gone wrong and who has tried to put things right in a very misguided way. 00:16:54.359 --> 00:17:00.659 And a whole tribe that's gone wrong and time and time again is disobedient to God. 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:03.919 But what relevance does it have to us? 00:17:03.959 --> 00:17:06.559 That's always the challenge when you come to a passage like this. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.919 It's a different time, different circumstances. 00:17:10.159 --> 00:17:13.339 We're not going to do exactly the things that these people did. 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:19.439 What relevance does this story have to us in Edinburgh in the 21st century? 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:23.699 Well, I've called it DIY religion. 00:17:24.419 --> 00:17:27.359 Because that's exactly what's happening here, particularly with Micah. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.299 He's kind of making it up as he goes along. 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:33.659 He's taking bits from the Jewish faith. 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:37.559 He's taking bits that God has commanded the people. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:40.199 And he's saying, I'm a follower of the Lord. 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.440 He keeps referring to the Lord in the passage. 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.000 So he's thinking, this is my religion. 00:17:46.120 --> 00:17:47.660 This is the religion of Yahweh. 00:17:48.340 --> 00:17:50.680 And yet he's added so much to it. 00:17:50.840 --> 00:17:56.660 And he's been disobedient to so much of it that actually it's his religion. 00:17:57.220 --> 00:18:04.380 It's a mixture of lots of different things and bears very little resemblance to true worship of the Lord. 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:07.500 And the same thing can be said of the Danites. 00:18:07.600 --> 00:18:14.760 As they take on what Mike has done, again they become guilty of this DIY religion. 00:18:15.620 --> 00:18:21.020 And I suggest that is perhaps one of the main applications of this passage for us today. 00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:26.800 That we don't get sucked into what we might call DIY religion. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:32.700 That we make sure that we remain true to the Lord and to his word. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.659 And that we don't add things or subtract things. 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:39.500 So what are the dangers? 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:42.619 First one I've called scripture Minas. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:45.740 And this in this case is Micah. 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:50.519 And he knows presumably the law, certainly parts of the law. 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.579 And there are bits of it he chooses to ignore. 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:56.819 Particularly the bits relating to the worship of God. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:58.119 No other gods. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:18:59.319 No idols. 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:02.980 Micah totally ignores them. 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:08.319 And there's a danger nowadays that we see bits of scripture that we find difficult. 00:19:08.879 --> 00:19:13.220 And we think, well, maybe they don't really matter. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.559 Or maybe they don't mean what they appear to mean. 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:19.400 Let's see if we can make them mean something different. 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:23.160 Something that is more acceptable to us. 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:27.320 And that certainly is something that happens in the church. 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:29.460 The big church, if you like, today. 00:19:29.620 --> 00:19:33.880 And there's a danger it could happen in churches like ours as well. 00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:37.340 That the bits of the Bible that we find really difficult. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:44.900 We tend to ignore or to think, well, maybe they mean something different from what they appear to say. 00:19:45.620 --> 00:19:48.980 So it might be what the Bible says about money and property, for instance. 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.180 It might be what the Bible says about social justice. 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:54.420 Or maybe about divine justice. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:55.940 About sexuality. 00:19:56.120 --> 00:19:56.820 About gender. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:08.500 There are lots of different things where people today might interpret the Bible in a way that is different from what if we take a plain reading, we might believe God is saying through it. 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:16.180 And in saying that, I don't think we should be looking out the way and talking about them and all the things that they do wrong in terms of Scripture. 00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:25.359 We should be looking at our own hearts and saying, are there things in the Bible that I find difficult and therefore that I ignore? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:40.619 Are there areas where I'm letting the values of society affect me and affect my judgment to the extent that I don't follow what God's word says and I don't obey it entirely? 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:45.239 And that brings us on to Scripture Plus. 00:20:45.679 --> 00:20:56.139 Now, there's in some ways not much difference between Scripture Minus and Scripture Plus because if you add something into what the Bible says, you're taking away from what you really should be obeying through the Bible. 00:20:56.140 --> 00:21:00.759 But again, we have Micah and he's adding things to Scripture. 00:21:01.560 --> 00:21:04.440 He thinks he needs more than just to worship God. 00:21:04.560 --> 00:21:07.600 He needs all his household idols as well. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:12.960 He needs more than to have the house of God in Shiloh where the Ark of the Covenant is. 00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:18.720 He wants something in his own backyard where he can say, that is my center of worship. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:28.039 Now, again, if we look around us today, there are dangers in Christian faith that some of the New Age thinking and practices can come in. 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:31.400 Some of the kind of Eastern mysticism can come into the church. 00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:35.920 Very easy to see things that can be added into Scripture. 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:42.500 And in doing so, as we say, they actually take away from Scripture because they are disobedient to God. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:45.720 I'm not thinking anyone here is involved in anything like that. 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.700 So let's try and bring it in a bit. 00:21:47.700 --> 00:21:55.120 And I think the danger for many of us is that we look at Scripture through the lens of our culture. 00:21:55.940 --> 00:22:01.340 And we try to add our culture into what the Bible says to us. 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:09.120 Now, there is an extent to which we do have to take our culture into account as we seek to apply the Bible in our lives. 00:22:09.500 --> 00:22:13.160 If you ignore culture completely, what's happening around about you, 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:18.519 you very quickly become irrelevant and don't have much to say to society. 00:22:19.620 --> 00:22:25.220 But what we mustn't do is let our view of culture color our view of Scripture, 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:32.500 rather than letting our view of Scripture and understanding of Scripture dictate how we view our culture. 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:33.500 We don't want to add the things of our culture. 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:38.480 We don't want to add the things of our society, things which have nothing to do with the Lord 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.700 and are not based on Christian principles or Christian values. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:47.299 We don't want to add them in and say they are part of what we do as Christians. 00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:56.399 Because we need wholly and entirely to focus what we believe and how we go about interpreting our culture 00:22:56.399 --> 00:23:01.159 on God's Word and on our commitment to Him. 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:04.559 So we mustn't take away from Scripture as Micah did. 00:23:04.899 --> 00:23:07.259 We mustn't add to Scripture as Micah did. 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:15.259 The Bible, the Word of God, is our ultimate authority for what we believe and for how we live our lives. 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:20.720 And then the challenge for all of us is to take what's in God's Word 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:27.200 and to apply it in our own situations to make sure that we're living faithfully for Him. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:31.819 No Scripture minus and no Scripture plus for us. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.900 Second application, you may have noticed a couple of times as we went through the passage, 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:42.339 you'll notice a couple of times when Tim speaks on other passages next, a couple of weeks' time, 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:46.419 that it says there was no king. 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.759 In those days, there was no king in Israel. 00:23:50.879 --> 00:23:53.759 And in one of the passages here, and again in one of the passages in 1921, 00:23:54.179 --> 00:23:58.899 it says everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:03.259 That's really the only direct comment that the writer here makes on what's happening. 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:05.000 The rest of it is factual. 00:24:05.179 --> 00:24:07.539 You can read some nuances into the way he expresses it, 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:10.519 to judge that he disapproves of what's going on. 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:13.400 But that's the only real commentary he makes here. 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:19.079 There was no king, so everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:23.859 So the question then is, what is the value of a king? 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:26.059 Who needs a king? 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:28.759 The Israelites, as you know, got a king. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.559 Initially Saul, and then lots of others afterwards. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.299 Between the United Kingdom and the divided kingdoms, 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:39.639 there were a total of 42 kings. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:45.379 Out of these 42, 32 were entirely bad. 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:49.319 All the ones in Israel, most of the ones in Judah. 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:52.799 The other 10, I'm being a little bit generous to Solomon here, 00:24:52.859 --> 00:24:56.279 but the other 10 you could say they at least had good points to them. 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:58.980 But they were very much the minority. 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:03.360 We look back on the kingdom, and once you get past David and a few others, 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:08.880 like Josiah and Hezekiah and maybe Asa, you don't see much to commend there. 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.059 And yet the writer here says, 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:14.200 the root cause, or one of the root causes of the problem, 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:17.400 was that there was no king. 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:18.779 So who needs a king? 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:19.940 What does a king give you? 00:25:20.620 --> 00:25:25.240 A king gives you authority, direction, and protection, I suggest. 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:30.079 But your problem is, a bad king leads everyone astray. 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:35.120 So if you get a Jeroboam or an Ahab or one of the other really evil kings of Israel, 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:38.559 they drag the whole nation down with them. 00:25:39.140 --> 00:25:41.940 But a good king, a David or a Josiah, 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:44.039 these are things that they offer the people. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.099 They offer authority, someone they can look up to and respect, 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:50.740 and who will rule over them. 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:52.460 They give them direction. 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.380 They set the pattern for the way the nation is, 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:59.819 and if they're a good king, should point people towards God. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:01.360 And they offer protection. 00:26:02.059 --> 00:26:05.440 They are there partly as warriors and as leaders of the army, 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:08.140 and they protect the people. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:10.920 I think this is a very interesting question. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:12.299 I'm not going to explore it in great detail this evening. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:16.100 This very interesting question comes out of this, what the writer says here, 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:20.360 which is, is a bad king better than no king at all? 00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:23.199 If you have a bad king, you still have authority, 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:26.539 you still have, to an extent, people giving direction and protection. 00:26:26.959 --> 00:26:29.539 Is that better than total lawlessness? 00:26:30.719 --> 00:26:35.379 In our world today, was Libya better off under Colonel Gaddafi, 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:42.339 or when Gaddafi was eliminated and it became a lawless anarchist state? 00:26:42.939 --> 00:26:45.399 Very difficult to say in many ways. 00:26:45.719 --> 00:26:48.959 I'm not going to explore that, but I'll leave you if you want to think about it. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:51.640 But of course, when we think of Israel today, 00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:54.299 we probably have more of an analogy with the church. 00:26:55.100 --> 00:26:57.620 And does the church need a king? 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:02.079 Or should we all be doing our own thing? 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:05.299 So quite a lot of churches have, not they wouldn't call them kings, 00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:07.600 they have an archbishop or a moderator, someone like that, 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:12.059 someone who is in charge, the figurehead of the church. 00:27:12.120 --> 00:27:15.340 And they don't have the kind of power that a king would have had. 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:16.579 There are lots of checks and balances. 00:27:16.579 --> 00:27:21.139 But a lot of Christian denominations would have someone who's a figurehead 00:27:21.139 --> 00:27:23.480 and would have a structure they look up to. 00:27:23.939 --> 00:27:24.740 We don't. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:26.179 We're independent. 00:27:26.439 --> 00:27:27.679 We call ourselves autonomous. 00:27:27.879 --> 00:27:28.839 It means the same thing. 00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:31.119 We look only to God. 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:35.740 I think there is a potential danger in that. 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:39.859 Because if things go wrong, then they can go very wrong. 00:27:40.700 --> 00:27:44.440 And there's no, in human terms, there's no control over it. 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:49.259 So it's not that different from the way the clans were and the tribes in Israel. 00:27:49.620 --> 00:27:50.700 There was no one in authority. 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:55.819 And each of them had to decide what to do and whether it was right. 00:27:55.819 --> 00:28:03.240 And how can we as a church make sure that without a king in this world, 00:28:03.679 --> 00:28:08.399 that we keep on the right track, that we remain obedient to God? 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:11.299 Well, of course, the answer is that we need to remain obedient to Scripture, 00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:14.579 that the elders and the members of the church, 00:28:14.679 --> 00:28:17.240 we need each of us to be examining God's Word and saying, 00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:19.720 is what we are doing, what we believe right? 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:24.620 And we need to be those who go away and when the preacher preached on his Sunday evening, 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:29.620 go away and think and say, yes, is that truly preaching God's Word and so on. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.960 But actually, the real answer is we do have a king. 00:28:35.539 --> 00:28:38.240 And actually, Israel had a king in those days. 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:40.140 They just didn't recognize him. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:44.799 And for us today, Jesus is king. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:51.099 He is the one whom we own as the king of kings and lord of lords. 00:28:52.619 --> 00:28:55.839 And so when we come to trust in Jesus and put our faith in him, 00:28:56.139 --> 00:28:57.559 we have someone in authority. 00:28:58.180 --> 00:29:00.720 We have someone who we have allegiance to. 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:04.019 Jesus is lord, we say. 00:29:04.419 --> 00:29:06.099 And that shouldn't just be words. 00:29:06.299 --> 00:29:07.779 It's not just a formula. 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:10.940 It should be a practice in our lives. 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:15.340 And everything we do, we recognize the authority of the Lord Jesus 00:29:15.340 --> 00:29:20.140 and that he is the one who we owe total allegiance to. 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:27.059 He's also the one who gives us direction and to set our priorities. 00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:30.380 And if we're following Jesus, if we're trusting in him, 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:32.259 if we're recognizing him as Lord, 00:29:32.600 --> 00:29:36.539 our priorities, our direction will be completely changed 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:41.440 and will be very different from how they were before we knew Jesus 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.440 or if we didn't now know him. 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:48.980 Jesus sets direction in our lives and again does it primarily through the scripture 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:51.899 as he guides us through that. 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:54.839 And of course, we have security. 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:57.119 We have the protection of Jesus. 00:29:57.879 --> 00:30:02.460 That the battle has been fought and has been won by the Lord Jesus. 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:04.960 And as we have our trust in him, 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:07.920 if we own him as our saviour, 00:30:08.100 --> 00:30:09.460 as well as our Lord, 00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:11.620 and our hope is holy in him, 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:13.500 we have complete security 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:19.380 because we know that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. 00:30:20.120 --> 00:30:21.920 He is the one who gives us security 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:24.880 as we look to him as the one who gives us direction 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:28.120 and as we recognize his authority. 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:31.620 Hope all of us this evening know him as saviour. 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:34.779 If not, just recognize that the only real security 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:37.679 comes through Jesus and through his death for us 00:30:37.679 --> 00:30:41.019 and forgiveness for sins through him. 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:43.939 And as individuals and as a church, 00:30:44.579 --> 00:30:46.799 let's make sure that we're looking to Jesus 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:49.359 as the one who is our king, 00:30:49.779 --> 00:30:51.079 the one whom we serve 00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:53.779 and the one whom we obey. 00:30:54.199 --> 00:30:55.719 That is the way to keep on track. 00:30:55.819 --> 00:30:57.099 That is the way to make sure 00:30:57.099 --> 00:31:00.039 that we don't fall into this DIY religion 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:02.599 or everyone doing what they feel is right. 00:31:02.879 --> 00:31:04.440 If we have Jesus as king, 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.319 if we have the scripture as our guidebook, 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:12.700 then we can know that we will be within the will of God. 00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:18.299 Let me just finish by going back to the dungeon. 00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:23.580 One of the most shocking news stories of the last 10 years 00:31:23.580 --> 00:31:26.779 was about a man called Joseph Fritzel. 00:31:27.360 --> 00:31:28.900 Joseph Fritzel was an Austrian 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:32.019 and it emerged that he has kept his daughter 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:34.620 in a cellar, in a dungeon if you like, 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:37.340 under his house for 24 years. 00:31:37.740 --> 00:31:39.720 He and his wife and other members of the family 00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:41.279 they were living quite happily above 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.400 and everyone but him was oblivious 00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:45.620 to what was happening down below. 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:48.799 When she was finally released, 00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:51.299 Fritzel's daughter had had seven children 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:52.440 all fathered by him 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.940 and there were three of them still with her. 00:31:56.019 --> 00:31:57.039 And these three children 00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.200 had spent their lives in the dungeon. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:02.240 They knew nothing else. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:04.640 And the dinginess and the darkness 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:07.140 and everything else that was down there in that cellar, 00:32:07.339 --> 00:32:08.500 that was the life they knew 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:09.539 and they accepted it. 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:12.640 That was in a sense what they thought was normal. 00:32:13.980 --> 00:32:15.720 Fritzel's daughter clearly knew better. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:18.779 She had had a life before she was imprisoned by her father 00:32:18.779 --> 00:32:21.220 and she knew what it was like to be out in daylight 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:23.079 and to have freedom. 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:26.480 And yet she too had accepted 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:30.099 the normality of the life down in that dungeon. 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:31.599 That was her lot in life 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.799 and she felt there was nothing she could do about it 00:32:33.799 --> 00:32:36.059 and she had accepted it. 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:39.059 Lesson for us. 00:32:39.859 --> 00:32:42.579 There are lots of people outside in the dungeon, 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:45.659 in the darkness that is our country today 00:32:45.659 --> 00:32:47.899 who don't know any better. 00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:50.339 Who think this is normal 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:51.859 and who don't understand 00:32:51.859 --> 00:32:54.319 that there is something that is much better, 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:55.440 much more fulfilling, 00:32:56.019 --> 00:32:57.339 much more worthwhile 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:00.480 than the lifestyle that they've been used to 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:01.839 through their lives. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:04.720 And we need to make sure they know about it. 00:33:05.399 --> 00:33:06.919 And we also need to make sure 00:33:06.919 --> 00:33:09.199 that we don't get dragged into the darkness 00:33:09.199 --> 00:33:12.519 and begin to accept that as inevitable. 00:33:13.220 --> 00:33:14.799 We are called to be those 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:16.379 who bring people to the light, 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:17.559 who show them the light 00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:21.019 and who live out the light in our lives. 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:23.619 Who recognize Jesus as our King 00:33:23.619 --> 00:33:25.919 and want others to come to know Him 00:33:25.919 --> 00:33:28.779 and to know the security that He offers. 00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:32.480 who recognize the power of Scripture, 00:33:33.099 --> 00:33:34.579 that it is God's Word, 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:36.839 that it is to bring salvation to us 00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:38.839 as we trust in the Lord Jesus. 00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:42.980 And we want to bring that to others as well. 00:33:44.339 --> 00:33:45.680 Our society, we may think, 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:47.119 is not quite as bad 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:49.799 as the society and judges who read about here. 00:33:49.879 --> 00:33:50.819 Not quite. 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:52.660 But it is very dark. 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:54.799 And as those who know the truth 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:57.200 and who are able to tell others the truth, 00:33:57.539 --> 00:33:59.519 our responsibility is to live it out 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:02.279 and to serve Jesus in our day, 00:34:02.659 --> 00:34:03.759 in our generation. 00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:05.799 Let's go and do that. 00:34:06.099 --> 00:34:07.500 And let's make sure as we do it, 00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:09.860 that we do it with a firm assurance of Jesus 00:34:09.860 --> 00:34:12.360 as our King and as our Lord. 00:34:12.739 --> 00:34:13.500 Let's pray together. 00:34:16.179 --> 00:34:17.659 Father, we thank You for Your Word to us. 00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:19.619 We thank You that even the difficult 00:34:19.619 --> 00:34:21.659 and dark passages of Scripture 00:34:21.659 --> 00:34:23.320 have much to teach us. 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:25.780 And we fear that we will learn lessons 00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:27.500 from this passage this evening, 00:34:28.300 --> 00:34:30.400 particularly that each of us may make sure 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:33.019 that Jesus is King in our lives, 00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:35.059 that we know Him as Saviour, 00:34:35.600 --> 00:34:38.220 and that we are obeying Him as Lord. 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.720 Help us, too, to take Scripture as our guide, 00:34:43.080 --> 00:34:44.140 as our lamp, 00:34:44.620 --> 00:34:48.220 as the thing which sets the direction of our lives. 00:34:48.940 --> 00:34:50.240 And not to add to it, 00:34:50.720 --> 00:34:52.220 not to subtract from it, 00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:55.599 but to obey it to Your glory. 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:58.019 Thank You for Your Word to us. 00:34:58.099 --> 00:34:59.639 Thank You for its relevance, 00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:02.259 even in these harder passages. 00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:04.439 And we pray that You'll help us to apply it 00:35:04.439 --> 00:35:05.319 in our hearts. 00:35:05.419 --> 00:35:06.659 Pray for Your presence this week. 00:35:06.959 --> 00:35:08.419 As we enter into a week of prayer, 00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:09.619 we pray that You'll be with us 00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:11.859 and help us really to lay hold on You 00:35:11.859 --> 00:35:14.199 and on Your goodness to us. 00:35:14.399 --> 00:35:15.839 Help us in our daily lives, too, 00:35:16.179 --> 00:35:18.199 to live as witnesses for the Lord Jesus 00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:21.239 and to represent Him before others. 00:35:21.699 --> 00:35:23.619 We give You thanks and commit ourselves to You 00:35:23.619 --> 00:35:24.679 in His name. 00:35:25.419 --> 00:35:25.719 Amen.