Judges 17 Bible Study (Micah and the Levite) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you have your bibles, Judges chapter 17 is where we are taking off tonight in our Bible study. It's amazing to see how close we are coming to the end of this book. Some have mentioned that this next point, sentiment that this was a timely Bible study in what we're seeing in our nation and around the world, really. And it's only going to be more relevant as we explore these final chapters. You and I have been through this book long enough to realize that there is a predictable rhythm to this narrative.

What I mean by that is that, we have a certain expectation when a chapter ends before we even read the first verse of the next chapter. And what is that expectation? Well, based on what God has done in the past, whenever a judge dies, God tends to do what? Raise up another one to replace him. But not only is that not going to happen in this chapter, it is never going to happen for the rest of this book.

God is not going to raise up any particular man or woman to be a deliverer. That season is over. And if we reflect on our past studies of this book, what was it? It was really just a a series of studies on individual deliverers, and how God had used them and how they have failed God. But the focus is about to shift now.

You and I are gonna look beyond just individual saviors and their failures, and are going to now examine the common folk of Israel. In other words, up to this point you and I have had a helicopter view of this nation and their condition. We got hints here and there of the decay and the spiritual compromise, but we are now going to land, step out, and take a tour of the city, so to speak. We're gonna get a face to face evaluation of just how bad things are in society at this time. We're gonna explore homes.

We're gonna explore the city life. We're gonna see how scary and how frightening it really is when a people do what is right in their own eyes. And for the sake of focusing in this chapter, we're gonna have a specific theme. From time to time we come to a chapter and we recognize that there is a theme that we can pull out and it helps bring some structure to our study. And if there's a theme for this short chapter, it is this, signs of a declining society.

Signs of a declining society. Now what you're going to hear tonight is not the extent of those signs or the full measure of them, but they are nonetheless major components to a spiraling civilization. You and I are going to see the ingredients that don't just apply to Israel as a covenant people. This is not just going to be a narrative from the past. It's also going to be a prophetic declaration of what will happen to any nation, or any city, or any group of community that follows suit.

And so you're going to see just how accurate the bible is, even in a book like this, and how relevant it is to our day. And so, we're going to speak in this context but realize that it's applicable to 2021. It's applicable to Chicago, to Washington, to America, to Canada, to wherever. Because there is a law above all the laws of the land, that's God's law. There are principles that have been set by him, declared by him from the beginning of time, and they will stay in place until the end of time.

And no nation, no matter how advanced they are, no matter how much they try to reject God, can avoid these principles that are binding to them. So run all you want. The further you run, the faster you are headed toward destruction. It's as simple as that. For covenant people like Israel, for any person or people that choose to walk away from God.

So we read in verse one of Judges chapter 17. There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. Full stop. You and I are introduced to an individual, but not in the same way that we've read before. Micah is not going to be some super judge, he's not going to be some super anointed man that has some hope to bring to his people.

He's going to be an average Israelite. And Micah in this case is actually going to be a case study. He's going to demonstrate what was probably the norm in his day. And so as we come to this man, we realize that he is going to supply the sample of the spiritual condition of all the people. And from the first few verses, you and I are going to find out our first sign of a declining society.

And the first sign I would argue from these verses is that there is a lack. A lack. A growing lack. A concerning lack. A popular lack of godly sorrow.

Of godly sorrow. So let's read here after verse one. And he said to his mother, this is how we're introduced to this fellow, and he said to his mother, the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my ears, behold the silver is with me. I took it. And his mother said, blessed be my son by the Lord.

What do we notice here? Doesn't it seem noble? Doesn't it seem righteous? Doesn't it seem exemplary? Micah, who is the son of this wealthy woman stole from his mother, and remember 1,100 pieces of silver is not equivalent to $20 today.

It's a lot of money. You want to know how much money it is? It was the same amount that each ruler of the Philistines offered to Delilah to betray Samson. And so, what we see here is an amount that could pretty much set him up for the rest of his life. It could at least.

So this is not some small thing, it was enough for his mother to say, cursed be the man or the woman that stole this from me. And so he commits a great crime, and it seems like when we read about Micah that he has a tender conscience. Right? He comes up to his mother and says, mom, I know you've been looking for that money, I know you've been realizing and thinking, where could this have gone? I know that you're so frustrated, you uttered a curse, but I have to tell you it was me.

I'm the one who did it. What's the problem with his confession though? Examine it and you have the right to to speak up and say there is this issue. What do you see here that is making us question the sincerity of his repentance? Any idea?

He doesn't have it? No. He has it, but what what's going on? There's no contempt. There's no contempt?

Sure. Apology? It's even deeper than that. No sorrow. We're getting closer.

He doesn't wanna be cursed. He doesn't wanna be cursed. That's the reason. All those other answers were very close. But look at the reason behind his confession.

About which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my ears. Maybe the mother has suspicion that her son did it. And over dinner, she goes, ah, she pronounces this curse and he's sweating buckets thinking to himself, maybe under superstition, this can actually come to pass. And I'm about to cough it up because I have a fear regarding this curse. He doesn't have a fear of God.

He doesn't fear the Lord. He's not concerned about how his sin affected God. Let me put it this way, do you think Micah would be inclined to make such a move as this, had he not heard this curse? Probably not. And so what do we see here?

It's the first observation of a serious spiritual sickness that abides in many people's hearts and it is this, this man is a reflection of the nation of Israel in that they are self centered in their sorrow about their sin. It's not a godly sorrow. And there's a difference. Put it this way, Micah's conscience was not stirred because he stole. It was stirred because he realized there might be personal jeopardy because of my actions and I wanna escape the consequences of my sins.

Big difference. Big difference. And people today think the same. It's no different. Just like Micah's confession, notice that there's no mention of God.

Right? He could have said, I've sinned against the Lord. He could have said, I've broken his commandments. But there's no there's no sign here of sorrow that he that he misrepresented his God, that he fractured his fellowship with him. No.

There's nothing of the sort of him dishonoring his mother, disobeying one of the commandments, and he stole to make it two. No. He's completely self absorbed. He's concerned about one person in this scene and it's it's himself. He's the one that's scared about his own well-being.

And so, there's nothing noble about this because I wanna shock you with this truth. That even if a person confesses his sin, if his sin is only confessed, because he's concerned about his reputation in the eyes of other men, or because he's concerned about the greater fine that he will pay as a consequence to his actions, that is not the evidence of a godly or righteous person. It's not. You know why? Because the world feels the same motivations about their wrongdoings from time to time.

They do. You don't think the world sometimes feels bad about their actions? Think about when you were before coming to Christ, how you responded to some of your sins. The embarrassment. The shame that you brought to your family.

Perhaps you've severed a connection that would benefit you in the future because of your actions. That's not godly sorrow. And if you think this is personal opinion, then you're gonna have to argue with the Apostle Paul, because he made a distinction and I would encourage you to turn there so that it would mark your mind. Paul says in second Corinthians chapter seven, look what he says here in verse 10. Paul says, for godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Paul has two categories of sorrow and both are genuine sincere feelings in the soul. Godly sorrow isn't you feeling bad about your sin, there is a worldly sorrow that makes you feel bad about your sin as well. So my question is, what is the difference between godly grief and worldly grief? Bible study, question, answer. Any ideas?

It's very simple really. It's not complicated, it's not a trick question. What's the difference? How do you categorize godly grief in comparison to worldly grief? So that's pretty much it.

If you really want to answer the question to what is godly grief, and if I have it, all you have to do is ask yourself this. In my sorrow, does my grief include knowing that I've hurt my God? Worldly sorrow is a sorrow that has the absence of God in the equation. Godly sorrow has God as the main focus of the reason for your distress. That's the big difference.

So that's the simple answer, but there are symptoms, there are signs to help us indicate which one we are operating under. Because you'd be surprised to know how many professing Christians think that they are in godly sorrow, when in fact they are in worldly sorrow, and this might set some people free because we're told here that it's godly sorrow that leads to repentance. See, if you have a worldly sorrow and you're wondering why you keep going back to the very same sin that you are sorrowful for, it's maybe because it's not godly. It's worldly. Because worldly sorrow doesn't lead to a repentance that leads to life, it leads to death.

Whether it's immediate or soon coming. And so we have to understand the difference between this. And I would say that David is a wonderful example of what godly sorrow is. What does he say in Psalm 51 verse four? You need to see it.

Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Godly sorrow doesn't mean that you can't include in your pain and your meditation the fact that you've hurt somebody else, that you've harmed your reputation in Christ, that you do and will be disciplined for your sin. Doesn't mean that it excludes that. It includes it, but when the dynamics of your walk with God are not a part of that process, you should be concerned. What's amazing about Psalm fifty one four is that this is the famous well known Psalm that David penned after he had sinned with who?

Bathsheba. Sinned against who? Uriah. Not just Uriah, his family. His kingdom.

His army. And what's amazing about what he says here, to the natural eye, you think, David, you're completely wrong. Against you, speaking to God, you only? How are you saying you only? You sinned with a woman, you killed her husband, you shamed your family, your other wives, you misrepresented God to your people, you've thrown your army into confusion by submitting a soldier to death on purpose?

You only? What's happening here? Well, we have to understand what's the prophet Nathan said to the man. You don't have to turn there, but listen. When he was confronted, this is the result of a prophet who was not scared to confront somebody in their sin.

And he came with that bony finger and stuck it in David's face. In love, of course. Right? We have to clarify, it's in love. It's in love.

Because, oh, rebuke. It's No. If you rebuke, you're evil. He stuck that finger in his face as a mandate from God. And he said this in second Samuel twelve nine, why have you despised the word of the Lord?

Why have you despised the word of the Lord and done evil in his sight? Now listen, you have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed them with the sword of the Ammonites. Notice that there is no disconnect between his sin against Uriah and his sin against God. Notice that what he did in a horizontal relationship affected his vertical one. Notice that no matter what he had done, whether it was secret or public, it always and automatically affects the heart of God.

This is what Nathan is clarifying. You thought you did this in secret. You thought you did this by letter. You thought you did this in the darkness of your bedroom. It was in the sight of God.

And David, as a man of God who's been blinded by his lust for a season, was awakened by this spirit inspired revelation to the point where he was overcome with the realization that the central person, the preeminent person that is affected in all of this was his God. And so overwhelming was that when he penned Psalm 51, he goes, you only. It's as though it it paramounted over everything else. He realized that it comes down to this, I've sinned against God. That's a profound thought.

It's true that he realized that he had sinned against others, but this was the most important thing about it all. I've sinned against you Lord. I I failed you. I did not seek you in my temptation. I did not honor you as a king to go out into battle.

I was on my couch. I I fell short of being an ambassador for Yahweh as a king in a kingdom. I fell short and I'm broken over it. People don't confess like that much today. It's very absent in our confession.

But here's the thing, godly sorrow goes beyond just having stirring thoughts about God in your shame. Why? Because Paul says, godly grief which produces what? What does it produce? Repentance.

It produces something. It produces a change of ways. It produces a course of action in the right direction. So godly sorrow is not just you wallowing in the thoughts that I have wronged God. The holy heartache cannot be separated from a plan of action as a result of the stirring emotions.

It can't. That's why when you go back to second Corinthians seven, look at verse 11, not 10. We touched on 10. Look what he says in verse 11 right after this verse. He clarifies.

He says something quite amazing. Chapter 10 of verse 11, please. Thank you. He says in second Corinthians seven eleven, for see what this godly grief has produced in you. See what this godly grief has produced in you.

And then he goes on to list the very things that were produced as a result of this godly grief. Eagerness to clear yourselves. What indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point, you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. Do you see what he's saying?

He's saying that, see what? Meaning, there is an observable evidence to you having this holy pain in your soul. And it's actually shown in what? Action. These are passionate feelings, but these feelings actually produce the change in the Corinthians enough for Paul to say, as a leader, I'm aware that you're clear, that you are actually walking in repentance.

Do you know why that's important? You have really good sinners today. Really good sinners that know how to play the script. And what's the script? If I confess to my leaders, if I confess to my brothers and sisters, and I say, I truly repent, and I really hurt God, and I messed up my testimony, and think they can get away and continue just because they've said the right thing, Paul says, see what?

I can see it in you. I've tested it. It's observable, and you've proven yourself innocent. Don't just throw some words around to just try to trick and deceive some naive Christian. It's proven by action.

Ultimately, there's gonna be proof in that repentance. There's gonna be proof and the ultimate proof of a godly sorrow is a change of ways. Now that's important because we can't make the other extreme conclusion and say that they're gonna be instantly perfect, but all in all, there is an observable humility and brokenness. You can see that there is a dedication and and there are first steps to the saying, I truly want to clear myself in the sight of God. That's what godly sorrow is.

And it's important to understand godly sorrow for many things, for your own soul, for your relationship with others, for leadership in a church. A lack of godly sorrow and a lack of interpreting godly sorrow can add only more sorrow in a community and even for that person as an individual. Paul says, you've proven to God. You've proven to your leadership. You've proven to your church.

You actually are operating under this holy conviction, and you're not playing the fool with yourself or with us. It leads to something. So then what's a worldly sorrow? Give me examples of a worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is dominated by different motivation and there are various motivations under the category of worldly.

So give me some please. So that you can just get rid of the guilt for for the sake of your conscience, that could be true to some extent. What else? Avoid consequences, that's absolutely true. A selfish desire, so your confession to lead you to just satisfy other selfish desires, but let's get specific.

What are the selfish desires? Power, sure. We're gonna see that in a moment. Reputation. Reputation.

That's a big one. That's a big one. What are people gonna think of me now? What are people gonna say about me? What are the church members gonna think about me?

What are other Christians going to talk about me when I'm not there? That's not godly. That's not godly. If you're dominated by that feeling, that's not godly. It may include that, but if God if you're not concerned about God's reputation, sure, reputation.

Here's another one, self pity. Wallowing in your self pity. Oh, look what happened to me. I messed up my life. My future will never be the same again.

It sounds righteous, doesn't it? It sounds godly. It sounds like you're mournful. It's not. It's worldly.

What else? People have said it. Resources. I've lost connections. I've lost opportunities.

I'll never be able to advance in ministry the same way I could have before. I'll never have that promotion. No. It's Do you realize what worldly sorrow is? You've all touched on it.

It's self absorbed. It's about me. And just because there are tears, and just because there are times alone in the dark, it it comes off as being sincere and genuine. Listen, it can be sincere, but it could be the wrong type of sincerity. You can have a worldly sorrow that is very sincere in the feelings, but it cannot be the very sorrow you need to bring sincere change.

There's a big difference. Big difference. I can tell you when I was in the world, I was sorrowful for some of my actions. And and if we're not careful, there is a limit to worldly sorrow where you're even concerned about others, but it's not really concerned about others. It's concerned about how your relationship with them will never be the same.

It's not about who they are. It's about how you will never be able to be right with that person again. Not about them as a person. It's very tricky, but it's absolutely important to be able to identify because it's a matter of life and death according to Paul. And so if David is an example of godly sorrow, I believe Saul is example of worldly sorrow.

Because just like David, Saul sinned. Maybe not to the same degree in our own estimation, but he sinned and it's it's amazing to see how God gave him a very same confrontation because he sends his own prophet in his day. Wasn't Nathan? Nathan was for David. Who was for Saul?

Samuel. Samuel shows up on the scene after Saul was supposed to destroy all the Amalekites, and he comes on the scene to realize that he kept the king and some of the sheep, and Samuel came to give a word, you're no longer king. You blew it, Saul. You can still be right with God, you can obviously still have a relationship with him, but God's gonna put you on the shelf. And now look at how Saul responds.

Now listen to this. As you listen to this, you're gonna be like, this isn't even distinguishable between godly grief. It's almost How do you say that he had godly grief? Listen to his response. Saul says in first Samuel fifteen twenty five, now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.

And before that he says, Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Hold up. You you take that verse and you let it stand alone, you would think, how how is that a worldly sorrow? That sounds very much like godly grief. He says, I've sinned.

I've transgressed the commandment of the Lord. Right? And your words. I've sinned against God. I've sinned against my leadership.

And then he gives an honest reason, the honest explanation to why he did it. I feared the people and I obeyed their voice. And we say, this is noble. This is righteous. This is right.

But the more Saul speaks, the more he reveals the true motive behind it all. And we just read it in verse 25. Now therefore, like he's quick to get there. Now therefore, as I've just confessed my sin, please return with me that I may worship the Lord. Please return with me.

That's the phrase. That's the phrase that exposes what Saul was really after as he masks a confession. You think return with me, what's the big deal? What is he asking for? Doesn't he wanna go back and worship and confess before God, make reconciliation with God, with the prophet?

That's all he's asking for. Lord, just escort me back and let's get before the Lord and make this right. What's wrong with it? Well, you keep reading and you realize what return with me actually means. So in verse 30 of the same chapter, now you see what Saul has in mind.

Then he said, I have sinned, yet honor me now. Honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God. As Saul was being pressed by Samuel, the more he was being pressured, the more oozed out was the real reason for his confession. What was he after? What was he after?

Honor. Honor. That's what he was after. And he had realized that his sin could potentially cost him the praise and the recognition and the love of the people. And sensing that it is slipping out of his hands, it was so treasure to him, such a delight to him, such a value to his identity that when he realized it was it was escaping him, he couldn't help but cough out out and say, please don't walk away from me.

Because if I walk back without you, people will realize that there's a disconnect here, that something happened and I'm in trouble. I need you to honor me. Look, I sinned. I I did it wrong, but let's just go and play the facade. Let let's just play the scene out.

Walk with me. Let's let's look like we're in fellowship, so that people can still respect me. That's what he was after. This is worldly sorrow. But he said that he broke God's commandments, and he actually gave the reason why he sinned.

Doesn't matter. That doesn't mean Just because you know what to say, just because you know the script, just because you know verses like, well, Jesus says if if you repent, if a brother repents, every time he prents, you gotta forgive him. Oh, the devil uses verses like that. Be very careful of twisting scripture for your own personal agenda. And so, what we see here is a complete contrast.

Between two leaders who sinned against God, who sinned against others, but responded very differently. And there's a small distinction that differentiates between a godly sorrow and a worldly one. And let me tell you this, the worldly one, all you have to do is follow Saul's life and see what it ended up as. Oh yeah, he committed suicide, but he killed his calling. He killed his relationship with Samuel and David, he killed so many things.

We think worldly sorrow just means it produces actual death. It does, but it actually can kill other things while you're still alive. But there is another element to worldly sorrow that many people don't consider, and it is this, what I just said, actual death. Actual death. Because we think worldly sorrow is just the absence of God being in our grief, in our pain, in our anguish.

Sure. But it's also the absence of God in your source of hope. Worldly sorrow can be a self self absorbed guilt where you see and feel and sense no hope. We don't think about that side of it. Do we?

You can come to a place where you are so regretful, so filled with shame, to the point where you're convinced that you will always live with it. And guess what? That's not godly. That's not godly. That's worldly.

Because the world, in their grief, don't have hope because they don't have Christ. And many people are deceived in that sense where they like to be feel so trapped and so suffocated by the consequences of their sin. And as though it's like some kind of penance that they're paying to God to never feel that he is willing to forgive them ever again. Guess what? You're in sin.

That's I know this is shocking, but I want you to realize how Satan is very tricky. It is not a righteous feeling to think that God will never forgive you. You know what you're doing there? You ready? You're calling God a liar.

You are. And you think that you're trying to make up for your sin by convincing yourself and telling God and telling others that God will never forgive your sin? You think that's righteous? When he had paid a high price to forgive that sin, and he had told you that he is willing to forgive all your sin, that that blood has been shed to wipe every single sin? It's not a noble thing to rehearse that thought.

What you're telling God is, you can't forgive me. Be careful. Be careful. Do you see how Satan could take you there or take you there? And if there's an example of a worldly sorrow in that aspect, realize that a man demonstrated it perfectly by the name of what?

Judas. Judas. Judas had a worldly sorrow. Again, we might mistake it for godly sorrow because he comes with the money that he was paid for to betray Christ, and he was so overwhelmed with guilt that he tells him I've sinned against the man, take the money back, they wouldn't take it. He throws it down.

You think, wow. This looks like a man who has some godly grief. Until he does what? He hangs himself. And guess what?

He's in hell. And we think, oh, he he is so broken though. He he was so sorrowful. He was so ashamed. The man who saw Jesus forgive the worst.

The man who observed the mercy of Jesus Christ failed to believe that that mercy was available for him. And guess what? That's not righteous. That's ungodly. See, if you're in a sorrow that doesn't lead you to the feet of the forgiving love of Christ, it's not a godly sorrow.

A godly sorrow, yes, includes the realization that I've pained God, but it also includes the hope that you have in him still. There's a hope in that. And Judas proves to us that you can convince yourself that you're actually doing something right by flicking more pain and rejecting the grace of God when it was available to you. Peter on the other hand, I mean, Judas betrayed Christ, sure, but Peter denied him three times. Three times.

You know what's amazing to me? I mean, you and I think the worst sins, adultery, murder, robbing people, and the very sin that Jesus says, if you do this before men, I will do this before my father and his angels. You deny me, I'll deny you in glory. And Peter doesn't do it once, thrice. Three times he does the very thing that he says, I will deny you if you deny me.

And he wept bitterly. He was broken when he saw those laser piercing eyes of Jesus on trial, as he turned his wonderful face towards him in the midst of his denial. And what happens to this man Peter? Well, he had something Judas didn't. He had a realization that he's still willing to forgive me.

He did. Because when Jesus was on that shore as he was fishing, and guess what? It wasn't recreational, he was backsliding. He was fishing with his boys. And then John said, it's the Lord.

You know what Peter doesn't do? He doesn't jump in the water and drown himself. He didn't say, oh boy, here he has dunked my head in the water and let me just die here. He leaves everybody behind and he follows him. He chases after him.

So be careful now. Worldly sorrow can lead to death and things in your life, and it can actually lead to your own death. There's hope involved in this sorrow if it's godly. So we come back to judges. I forgot we're in judges.

Let's go back to judges 17. Things only get worse. Things only get worse with this first sign of declining society when we see the response of this mother when this son confesses his sin. In the second part of verse two, the mother said, blessed be my son by the Lord. What a confused woman.

Just moments ago, you were saying, cursed be anybody that took my retirement fund. And now that you found out that the person who did it was your son, oh, you change your tone. Blessed be my son by the Lord. And we laugh at it, but I challenge people today to think that that's happening in many people's homes as well. There are many professing Christians that are willing to condemn sin as long as it's not the part of their children's lives.

But the moment their children adopt a certain lifestyle or conviction, for love for the child, you see a bent in their stands for God. Here's a popular one today, the sin of homosexuality. Right? We can say that in church. Right?

Are they gonna come for us? The sin of homosexuality. Guess what? I say this in love, but people need to say it boldly. It's a sin.

It's not an alternate lifestyle. It's not something you were born with. Even if you were born with it, Jesus emphatically declared you must be born again, so you have no excuses. The sin of homosexuality is even creeping into the homes of professing believers, and now just because your teenage daughter professes to be gay, maybe now God did change his mind. And maybe we should embrace this.

And maybe God does love all people and maybe he did change his view on marriage. Blessed be my daughter by the Lord in the middle of your sin. See, this mother doesn't correct his son. She doesn't take the time. We look at this, we go, she's quick to forgive.

No. This is a concerning thing. Yes. There is room for quick and immediate forgiveness, but where is the teachable moment here? Where's the son?

Did you realize that this was a grievous thing that you did? You've broken the commandments that God has established on Mount Sinai. None of that. Bless you. And then she goes on to reward him.

She said, now I'm gonna give you a gift. And we're living in that day today. You can have a six year old say, I feel like a girl and he's a boy, and the parents will praise that little child and then give the medication to change his hormones. Blessed be my son. You're crazy.

So we look at this and we think, this is so strange and we're even more corrupt, I argue. We're even more corrupt. And so we see here that there is a lack of godly sorrow from the son, even from the mother, and it only connects to the second sign of a declining society. You ready? And that is this, a blurred concept of the true God.

A blurred concept of the true God. Do you realize the context of this whole scene? The context of this scene is taking place where? Where is it taking place? In the home.

In the home. Judges chapter 17, we are zooming into the living room of the average Israeli family. And here's what you and I know about the family. It is the foundational institution for any society to thrive and to survive. And the moment you have a poisoned root, you better believe that the fruit and the bitterness of that fruit will appear in different institutions in that society.

And so, what we see here is a corruption at the core of civilization. What we see here is a spiritual confusion in family life. And what you see from this woman is a traditional understanding of God, superstition. She has the right name. She has the wrong understanding of who he is.

And this is happening all over the place. And as a society, we're really smart, aren't we? We think we are. Look at the things that we're inventing. The newest and the latest.

We're making what's fake becoming more real and what's real is becoming more fake. And we have all these silly ideas. Right? And so instead of putting Bibles in the homes and putting Bibles in schools, and putting Bibles in workplaces, we put Bibles in prisons. How about you open the Bible in the home so that they don't go to prison in the first place?

Doesn't that help? We think backwards and we think we're smart. And so we see this woman here, she has a blurred concept of God, and I wanna show you how she had a blurred concept of God. Let's look here in verse three. And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother and his mother said, I dedicate this silver to the Lord from my hand, for my son.

Okay. Let's stop there. Say, wow. That's wonderful. You're gonna dedicate that amount of money to God.

Great. Until you realize what she's gonna actually do with it. Then it says here, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore, I will restore it to you. How is she gonna honor God with this money?

By making and breaking the second commandment. I'm gonna make an idol. I'm gonna make a carved image. This is what God wants. This is what's gonna honor God.

And if we think that it stops there, it doesn't because then she goes on to say that she's going to give the silver, implying the whole sum of it. Right? Did she say, I'm gonna give portion of my silver? Or did she say, the silver? She said this implying the total amount is going to be dedicated to the Lord.

And what did she do? Verse four. So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image, and it was in the house of Micah. So not only did you confess that you are going to honor God in a way that was false, because you're gonna do something that he is displeased with, you also have a false confession of your apparent devotion. This is like an old testament version of the Ananias and Sapphira situation.

When they were asked, when they brought the sum of their their property sale, they were asked, is it all of it? Yes. It is all of it. When they kept some for themselves. And here we see that she's doing the same.

I'm dedicating the silver and she gives less than one fifth of it to the silversmith and she keeps the rest for herself. You wonder where Micah learned about being a covetous person? His mother. So she keeps most of it, claiming that she's fully devoted to God. And even in her claim of honoring God, she's dishonoring God.

What a bizarre scene. What a bizarre family. The moral and spiritual confusion is baffling. But I argue that it's no different today. Who do you think the real God is in this family?

Money. The mother worships money, the son worships money. Oh, but blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be God. You have a lot of people today that worship mammon, parents and their children alike, and they know how to throw around the name of Jesus because they just know the name of Jesus.

Traditionally, with superstition, they like some of the worship music that they play in their house. But who do you really serve? You serve your wallet. That's your God. Right, American?

You serve money. You love stuff. And you'll declare your devotion with your mouth, but in your heart, you really want to keep as much of the world and its pleasures as possible. And we look at this and we say, what a crazy family, and I argue that it is a majority of the people in our day to day. They know the name of God.

They throw oh, they have a cross hanging from the rearview. Oh, how precious. You're superstitious. Rub that cross all you want before you drive. It doesn't mean a thing.

And how many people today have these own their own traditions and their own understandings of who Jesus is, but they have no grasp of what he requires of you. They have no understanding of his nature, of his word, of his commands. And don't forget that this pathetic scene is the result of a society that has decided to frame their convictions by this principle, we're going to do right in our own eyes. This is what it looks like. You and I are getting a commentary of what the average household of faith can come to when they determine to walk away from God's wisdom and his word and to operate in their own understanding.

It's sad, isn't it? It's sad. And it's not foreign. It's a commentary of what can happen to any person, any people, any church, any nation. A blurred concept of God leads to very strange decisions.

But I would say the last and final thing that we can make as a sign for a declining society is not just a lack of godly sorrow, it's not just a blur concept of the true God. It is this, a compromised spiritual leadership. So let's read here in verse five. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household gods and ordained one of his sons who became his priest. Hold on.

So the man gets this reward from his mother silver, he gets his own little pet god, he puts it in his living room, and on top of that, we know that he's sinning against God. We know one thing, this is for certain, What he's doing wrong here is that he's establishing his own place of worship when God declared there's only one place where you meet with me and that's in the tabernacle at Shiloh. Micah changes the address of where God is supposed to be sought and says, it's in my house actually. It's actually gonna be in my house. This is where I'm going to worship.

I'm not gonna go and travel all the way down there to meet where God is. I'm gonna make it happen here. And not only that, but he goes beyond. He goes beyond disregarding the location and the place of worship. He actually ordains one of his own to be a priest.

Now tell me why is that concerning? What did God say about the priesthood of Israel? Which tribe were they supposed to come from? The Levites. And only the descendants of Levi were supposed to be priests.

It was set, it was ordained, it was established. There's no if, ands or buts about it. That's it. And so what do we see? We see a man who completely goes beyond just changing the address of God's house and he actually does what?

He says, my own kindred, my own son is going to be a priest. And here's what I wanna say to you tonight, that when you have any society who ordains men into the ministry based on men's initiative not God's, you're in trouble. When men based on their own initiative, set men in the place of spiritual leadership without God's qualifications or God's inspiration by the spirit, you're in trouble. You're in trouble. And Micah doesn't care about those requirements.

Micah doesn't care what God thinks. He wants a personal priest and he's going to get it. And a lot of us today are being bombarded with repetitive news of falling leadership from every corner of the evangelical world. And I would say there's many reasons for that and you've heard those reasons on a Sunday morning, but let me add this point. Perhaps one of the reasons why we're seeing such a plethora of people falling on their faces because they weren't even qualified to begin with.

The emergent church has a different set of standards of who should be behind the pulpit and steering the direction of a local body. Because first Timothy three and Titus doesn't seem very attractive, does it? It seems kind of plain. We need more. We need somebody to be attractive and we need somebody to be in step with the culture, and we need somebody to have the latest fashion strength, and then now we have a different evaluation of who is truly worthy of leadership and we wonder why so many things crash and burn.

Micah says, I'm going to have my son as a priest. You're gonna realize next week that that didn't end very well. And so, Micah seems happy, but he's gonna get happier. You know why? Because we're still in the third sign of a declining society.

It says here, in verse six, in those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Again, why is this being introduced here? We've heard of this, but why here? Why couldn't this been said at the end? It's going to be said at the end, but why at this point?

It's because the Holy Spirit, after all the mess that you just read, wants to pause and explain the reason for the mess. This is the result of what happens when you do things in your own wisdom. When you reject God as your king. When you reject his word. And here's what I think is so interesting.

We think that when a society does what is right in their own eyes, you're gonna have the absence of God and religion. No. It can include that. It can include this idea that God doesn't exist, and we don't want his laws, and we don't But I argue that oftentimes, you will have the presence of spirituality under this banner of false wisdom. You will have religious activity.

Do you think in China and in Russia there aren't church buildings? No, there are. Do you think there are people that are going into places of worship in those in those governments that are so tyrannical and abusive? No, there are. Do you think America is headed towards a church of society?

Are are you no? You're gonna have churches. You're gonna have buildings with crosses on them, but you're gonna have compliant compromising churches. That's what you're gonna have. You're gonna have leadership that will bow their knee to Caesar.

Whenever he says bow, and they will jump as high as he says you need to jump. That's what's coming down the pike. And those that will not comply and those that will not surrender, those that will not bow will be chased, persecuted and even killed. That's what's happening overseas. You have buildings that have government run churches and the real Christians are meeting in barns and in caves at four in the morning.

So just because the society is doing right in their own eyes, doesn't mean that there's gonna be an absence of religion and spirituality and handbooks. No. No. No. No.

No. It's all gonna be false ones. False ideas mingled with truth, and there's gonna be a great falling away. That's not a prophecy. In my estimation, that's what Paul said in the spirit.

There is a great falling away coming. And so after that, the Bible says now. Look at this. Bear with me here. We're almost done.

We're at the final sign. Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he sojourned, rather, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. So what's happening here?

We zoom out of the scene now from Micah's house, and we zoom into another scene, and all you see is this Levite, who's called to be a minister, who's called to either be a priest in the tabernacle, or to be somebody assisting the priest in the tabernacle. And where is he not? Either serving the tabernacle or the designated city where he's supposed to live as a Levi. He's wandering around. He's journeying, and he's trying to find a place.

Can you give me a reason why this is a concerning commentary? Give me an idea. Why is this something that should be concerning to us? What was that place? Shiloh, which is the tabernacle and you got it right, that he was supposed to be at a certain place, and if he was not there, then he was supposed to be in one of the designated cities where he was supposed to be taken care of.

Here's what I think is going on here at least in part. What we see is this young man, this priest, who's out looking for a job, who is out looking for a place to say, because there is no activity at the tabernacle anymore. Church is out of business. Either he is walking away from the tabernacle, or it's it's not clear, or it is so compromised, the tabernacle has gathered so many cobwebs because you have so many people like Micah establishing their own shrines in their living room, that the Levites are hanging over They're not just hanging up their clothes and they're saying, well, we we can't survive like this. We survive off the sacrifice of the people.

So, I'm out of here. And he goes and he wanders telling you the spiritual condition of this nation that they're not even coming to the house of God anymore. That they're not here to to to worship God anymore. They're putting the priest out of work. But I say that there's something even deeper than that, which is tied into it and you have to turn to Deuteronomy to see it.

In Deuteronomy fourteen twenty eight to 29, you remember this when we studied Deuteronomy. God gave a law concerning the Levites and he said, because the Levites have no inheritance in the land, the only inheritance that they have is me. You, as the tribes, have to take care of the Levites. You're the ones who supposed to cater to their practical needs. And so he says in Deuteronomy fourteen twenty eight, At the end of every three years, you shall bring out of the tide of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.

And the Levite, because he has no portion of inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, who are within your town, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. So the rest of the tribes were supposed to help the Levites. Why is this guy wandering around looking for help? Why? Because the people are failing in their responsibility.

Not only have they become so careless in their worship toward God, they become so negligent of God's servants. They didn't value them, they didn't consider them, they didn't even they they kept to themselves. They wanted to provide for themselves. Every three years gift something. No.

It's for me. It's for my family. And so you have this poor man walking around searching and looking and Israel is showing zero interest. Not just in God, but in the things of God, in the people of God, and his servants. So what happens?

As he wanders around, verse nine says, Micah said to him, where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said to him, stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you 10 pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living. And the Levite went in. This man was looking for a place.

Micah saw this opportunity to actually have a Levite as a priest. Like, my son is special, but a Levite? I can hire Levite. Hey, come here. What are you looking for?

Oh, you know, I'm looking for a place. I'll hire you. 10 pieces of silver a year. I'll give you change of clothes, and I'll give you a living place. Guys I sold.

And this Levite is a picture of a hireling pastor. You know what that means? A pastor that sets himself up for hire. And what do you read here? Verse 11, the Levite was content to dwell with the man and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

How in the world is that possible? This man is comfortable in the atmosphere of idolatry. This man who was supposed to teach the word of God and stand for God and represent God to the people and the people to God was willing to take a check, a few suits and a parsonage to sell out on God. And I'll tell you this, and I say it in the fear of God, There are people today that if the price is right, they'll change their message. If the giving is right, if the payoff is right, they'll say what you want them to say.

We have very few prophets and pulpits today. We have many puppets. Many parrots. And it's because of men like this Levi, the same kind of attitude. They have elevated their comfort and their needs above honoring God.

I say, starve to death, Levite, if it means that you'll hold on to your integrity. What should have this Levite have done? You know, it's true that God didn't raise up a judge after this moment, after Samson, but that doesn't mean that he could have been a potential voice in his day. That doesn't mean that the Levi couldn't have said, Micah, how dare you even make such an offer? You need to clean up your own house.

I rebuke you for such a thing. This is the reason why our society is in a mess as it is, and you need to change your ways. I will never ever submit to such a request. I'd rather starve to death. That would have changed the whole chapter.

And as a priest, as a Levi, he had every right to do so and he didn't. Because he elevated his own needs above the name of God. And I think that this man could have been something. If he didn't change a thing in his day, at least he would have been an inspiration in scripture for all generations. Because I see a man in the bible who was also a priest and he was one person.

He wasn't a prophet, he wasn't a miracle worker, he was a priest. That when he stood up against idolatry in his own generation, it actually brought about a revival. Can you think of that man in the old testament? What's his name? Think.

Starts with the letter e. Different man, he was a priest. Turn with me to the book of Ezra and go to chapter nine. And just to get an understanding of the context, we're ending here in Ezra nine verse one. This is a man who was a priest.

Now, before we read verse one, I want you to understand. If you're familiar with the book of Ezra, ask yourself this, who was in a more dangerous condition? Ezra or this nameless priest? Let me give you the context. This is happening early in Israel's history in Judges.

Right? Where there's a cycle of idolatry. But what's happening in Ezra? Who's Ezra? Why is he back in Israel?

What what's going on here? Where did they come out of? Israel came out of what in this book? Exile. So listen very carefully here.

I want you to understand the gravity of this. In Judges 17, you have a man where the nation had never seen a threat to be exiled yet. But in Ezra, the people have been catapulted out of their land because of their idolatry and they're brought back into their land for a second chance after a minimum of seventy years. Now listen, if you've been kicked out, your house is burned down, the temple burned down, I'm sure you're gonna treat your walk with God much differently than you did prior. So in Ezra's time, he is one of those who have come back to Israel with a remnant from Babylon to restore their reputation and their relationship with God.

Now remember, what got you kicked out was disobedience. And when he comes back and things look right, something begins to shift. And this is what happens in verse one. After these things have been done, the officials approached me, Ezra said, and said, the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands with their abominations. From the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites, and every other it you can think of.

Verse two. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness, the hand of the officials and chief men have been foremost. I argue that this is worse than this. God has given you a second chance and you are so quick to go back to the very same patterns of decisions that got you kicked out.

Have you lost your mind? And I'll show you who loses his mind in a holy way. Look at verse three. This is Ezra's reaction. As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled my hair from my head and beard.

That hurts. But you know what that's saying? That there is a grief in his heart that he clips the pain of even plucking his own hair, and he sat appalled. Here's my question. Hey, Levite.

Why didn't you do the same thing? I see two different caliber of men in the same position. I see a man here, oh, you're gonna give me some suits and a check and some place to live? He's sold man, I'm in. And I see another man, absolutely shattered and broken by the sight of his people being so compromising.

And so what happens? Well, you look here in verse five of the same chapter in Ezra nine. And he says, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my fasting with my garment and my cloak torn and I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, and he prays. Where was that Levi? All it took was a was a sweet little package that would keep you safe for the next few years.

Where are men like that? Broken by the brokenness of his own. You know what's amazing is that, when this one priest chose to respond this way, and you can't fake that. That's something that you have as a result of your walk with God. This genuine response of affliction because of the lack of concern with his own people did something in his day.

When you go to Ezra 10 verse one, this is what you see as a result of this man's response. While Ezra prayed and made confession weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women and children gathered to him out of Israel for the people wept bitterly. So you have this one singular man who hears the news from his fellow leaders, falls on his knees, cries out to God and it wasn't a momentary thing. He sits there, he fasts and he stays broken and it became a spectacle. It became a sight.

A sight so foreign then and I believe it is now, I read that and I get convicted. God protect us from becoming numb to the lack of spirituality in our generation. This man becomes so shattered at the sight and the news of what's happening with his own, that he begins to weep. And what was in his heart was so real and profound that it was contagious, and those who perhaps were even compromising themselves saw this sight and were shook. They were shook.

Why could the people weep over their sins? Because they had a leaper weep over their sins. That's why. And I tell you today that if you have a people that are not concerned about their disobedience, it could be connected to the fact that there's a leadership, there's a clergy that don't care either. This man was broken, and his brokenness was an example.

And it was so contagious that it broke them. I wonder what would have happened if this Levite in Judges 17 stood up the way Ezra did. I wonder what happened would have happened to Micah and his household. Instead, you know what you have? Let's look at the final verse of Judges chapter 17 and verse 13.

In verse 12, brother, it says, Micah ordained the Levite and the young man became his priest and he was in the house of Micah. So he's ordained, it's set, he has a job. Then Micah said, now I know that the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite as priest. I don't know who's more confused, him or his mother? This man actually thinks that on the path of disobedience that he was genuinely going to be blessed by God, and you know what?

I don't blame Micah. I blame the priest. That's who I blame. Because this man could have had his wrong thinking corrected by somebody who had some bone in his spine. But he didn't.

And this lack of confrontation, this lack of example, this lack of standing for God gave a misinterpretation towards one who was supposed to be taught and receiving clarification. So it has all it's a it's a web really. These signs stand alone, but they're actually connected somehow. But let me repeat them to you for the sake of remembering what this chapter teaches us. Some signs of a declining society.

Number one, a lack of godly sorrow. And I'm not concerned about the world having worldly sorrow because that is that is what it's supposed to be. But within the community of faith, a lack of godly sorrow. Secondly, a blurred concept of the true God. And lastly, spiritual compromise in spiritual leadership.

You and I just read 13 verses and we might think to ourselves, that is a terrifying sight. Welcome to America. Unless God comes and rescues us from our foolishness. Let's pray and ask God to help us. Father, we thank you for the wisdom that is in this chapter.

Thank you that you can speak to us in our day with something that is so ancient. And Lord, we see that your voice speaks when we honor how you want it to be declared. And Lord, in our day, we ask and pray that we would be an example of the fruit that comes from honoring you. Protect us from worldly sorrow. Protect us from a blurred understanding of who you are in your nature.

Protect us, Lord, from a spiritual leadership that would see more value and personal advancement and comfort over the name of Christ. Protect us Lord. And we ask Father tonight at this bible study that you would give us a degree of what Ezra had. Lord, a brokenness. Lord, help us not be numb to when people blaspheme the name of Jesus.

That when we go to events and we watch things on TV and we hear the name of Christ being dragged through the mud, let it shake us in our soul. Let it cause us to be grieved. Lord, we pray that we would never settle and think that just because everybody's doing something that it should be normal. We ask Lord that like Ezra, we would be willing to look like a fool. We would be willing to look like a spectacle because we are so in tune with you.

And so we ask that your spirit would inspire that Lord. And lastly, we pray God, if there's anyone in this place that has a worldly sorrow over their sin, whether it's excluding you in their grief or not seeing you as the hope in their grief, Lord, by your spirit, inspire what is godly. Inspire what is holy and true and that leads to repentance, that leads to life. Lord, we submit to the authority of your word today. Enjoy because it is our food.

It is our life. It is the lamp to our feet. We thank you for the wonderful wisdom that you've bestowed upon us tonight, and we worship you. May this place be an example to a declining society by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Amen. Can we stand and worship the Lord together, please?