There is a great danger that comes from men playing God.
Last week, as we continued in our Judges study, we noticed that same repeated sentence: "every man was doing what seemed right in his own eyes."
WELCOME
Welcome to the COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY. We are all walking through the bible together. Today we are in The Book of Judges Chapter 18. Our lessons happen here at The IN SEASON Lifestyle website every Thursday. Thank you for joining in with us.
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YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Let's put these things into today's perspective.
How are we of today changing the world with our own ideas until it seems that God's creation isn't His creation at all anymore?
This often happens to people who chose to live in fear instead of living in faith.
Men fear so many strange things. Take population control for example; it is simply people living in irrational fear. This is a fear that creates a phobia that will eventually lead unstable people into thoughts of murdering their own in order for their own survival.
The irony of it all is the lack of true necessity. God made this world perfectly to hold those that He created. He built in cycles that work for just the right amount of people to be living at all times. Men who do not fear God; let fear lead them into false ideas and then they chose to act on them. That is because they put themselves in the place of God.
FEAR INSTED OF FAITH
The tribe of Dan, which we studied last week, did this very thing. They let fear keep them from conquering the evil, pagan people living within the lands God wanted them to inhabit in the Land of Canaan.
Instead they chose to harm good, innocent people who were simply minding their own business and not disturbing anyone or anything.
They chose this option because it was the easy way; the less fearful way. They knew that these kind, friendly people would be easy to destroy.
FALSE RELIGION AND FEAR LIVE TOGETHER
The priest who could be "bought" was still among The Tribe of Dan at the time. He hoped to set up a false church in the new place that would display a stolen idol, where he would wear a stolen, man-made ephod.
Here again we see the symbolism of the apostate church of the future generations. Priests who can be bought with money, success and fame do not belong to The One True God. They lead people in their false religious practices in vain.
BEGINS SMALL AND GROWS
How did all of this start anyway?
Remember; the mother who gave birth to Micah had encouraged her son to worship idols. She failed to punish him for theft and lies. Instead she actually rewarded his sins by giving him part of what he had stolen from her. It has been said that mothers shape nations. I believe that with all of my heart.
The true church (the Wilderness Tabernacle in those days) had been set up at Shiloh.
Instead of taking the land and making a good road to Shiloh; the tribe of Dan chose to create their own center of worship. The priest who had been bought with gold and the appearance of success and fame was put in charge of all worship.
WHEN FALSE WORSHIP PREVAILS EVIL FOLLOWS
How many people of today are hiding beneath the conveniences of false man-made worship which helps to mask and hide their own fears?
Instead of conquering the enemy and staying with what is real and true, we take the easy way and follow the current culture.
Why should we follow the long, hard road of truth? It would be such a hard journey. So we mask ourselves behind falsehoods and never find the One True God who could help us through anything.
THE TRUTH IS LIKE FIRE
Shiloh carried something the false church could never carry.
Inside the altar there burned the original fire from the flames that God had originated long ago. This was an eternal flame that would never burn out as long as God had people who were willing to tend to His worship.
The false church set up by Dan did not even realize this. Their sacrifices would not have been acceptable without the fire of God at the altar. They sacrificed in vain.
CAPTURING GENERATIONS OF YOUNG MINDS
Then Dan's people became intermingled with the pagans. Slowly they were taking on the ways and traditions around them instead of keeping God's family traditions they had been given long ago.
Generations grew up not knowing or understanding truth.
God's ways were lost on these people.
LACK OF SAFE BORDERS
Dan burned Laish and rebuilt it as their own city.
One interesting reason that Laish was destroyed was the fact that they had no protections at their borders.
The same thing happened with Laish that could happen to America's borders. They were too trusting of strangers wondering through their lands.
The men from Dan had evil intentions the moment they arrived in the land. However; the people of Laish simply welcomed them as if they were trusted old friends.
Hospitality is a wonderful trait and a very Christian trait.
So is wisdom.
Foolishness is not the same as hospitality.
The people of Laish learned this lesson the hard way.
THE LOST STORIES OF LAISH
The good people of Laish lost their lives because they neglected to discern the intentions of those who crossed their borders.
Not one of them is left to explain this to our present generations.
Every person was destroyed and the whole city was burned to the ground.
The stories of Laish were never told again.
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