Judges 18 Bible Study (Danites Take the Levite and the Idol) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Good evening. If you can meet me in the eighteenth chapter of the book of Judges as we continue our bible study another week. Another night, but new faith to believe that God has something fresh to say to us. Fresh manna tonight. Last week, we spent much time looking into a case study of an individual Israelite by the name of Micah.

Micah was a sample to display the extent of the moral and spiritual confusion that plagued the nation of Israel. But as we come to this chapter now, if there's any doubt in us that Micah wasn't that kind of a sample, we should have full confidence that he was. Because now here, we zoom out from one man in his household to see an entire tribe. And now this tribe was also infected with this this this illusionment and this misunderstanding of who God is and what his word demanded of them. And now we are going to see what happens when a tribe chooses to walk away from God.

We looked at a man, we looked at his household, now we go to an entire group of people. And so we read from verse one. In those days, there was no king in Israel. And in those days, the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in. For until then, no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.

Immediately, we are being reminded of a phrase that we are so familiar with in our study in this book and we are being told that what is about to transpire is due to the foundational failure of failing to have the right spiritual leadership. But we understand that there was no monarchy at this time. We understand that the King of Israel was who? God. God was supposed to rule over this people.

They were supposed to take direct orders from heaven. And so we can say that this is what happens. What is about to take place is the result of failing to make God the ruler and the authority of your life. And it's true for an individual or for a nation that they are headed towards the same direction. It says though this first verse is telling us, do you want to see what happens when you try to dethrone God?

Look to the people of Dan. And that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to see what direction and what decisions are made when someone or some people forsake God. That's been a repetitive theme but it's supposed to be drilled in our hearts. That's why the Holy Spirit keeps bringing up this phrase and examples.

And this is quite alarming. You and I just read that Dan had no inheritance to occupy. Now you were with us, were you not, throughout the book of Joshua? That can't be the case. Every single tribe receiving a lot portion of the land.

So for Dan not to receive it, almost seems like we're being told here that God didn't provide it. That's kind of the language here. Right? It says that they were seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in. For until then, no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.

So we look at this and we think, God, did you forget Dan? What happened here? Within that part of that process. And all we have to do is have our rearview mirrors up and realize that in chapter one, we have the answer to why this was the case. So you have to go to chapter one of the same book, and look at verse 34 to understand why in chapter 18, up to this point in Israel's history, Dan is still roaming around.

They're not settled where they're supposed to be. How can that be? Judges one thirty four. The Amorites press the people of Dan. Remember, this is the beginning.

This is the transition from Joshua to the book of Judges and we realized that when Joshua died, there were still things to be taken care of. That there were still tribes that needed to go ahead beyond Joshua's leadership to take over what God had given them. So we are told in chapter one of Judges, the Amorites in verse 34, press the people of Dan back into the hill country for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. That's what happened. They were being resisted, they were being rejected, and they found it too difficult to overcome the Amorites, and so they decided to say, as sojourners in the land of promise, it wasn't God's fault.

You remember, don't you? That in every case, when there is a tribe or a clan within a tribe that did not receive that inheritance, it was largely due because of one reality. What was that? A lack of what? Say the word, please.

Faith. They didn't believe God because God promised it. They were supposed to take their faith to that promise and then walk out and trust that God was gonna intervene. And so in this case, we realized that Dan did not believe God. They did not believe God.

They saw it too difficult. They saw it too challenging, and they thought that God could not fulfill his promise. And so they step back, and now they're here after all these years, still not where God wants them to be. And this is the premise. This is going to show us where everything is gonna go wrong because everything goes wrong when you stop trusting God.

Everything goes wrong. It'll go wrong with you emotionally, physically, relationally. When you stop failing, when you rather fail to believe him on a certain issue, this is when trouble begins. And troubles about to begin for this for this tribe. Why?

Verse two. So the people of Dan sent five able men, so they're sending their own spies, from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshto, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, go and explore the land. And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah and lodged there. Here's the problem.

Joshua already did all the exploring and the spies were already sent. What's happening here? Well, they're looking for a portion of the land by dismissing what God had already given them. And because they couldn't overtake the Amorites, and that it wasn't because of God, but because of their own unbelief. They said, let's go find something else.

Now whether their motive was to find something that was less challenging, or because they looked at the territory of Ephraim and they said, that's something that we want. No matter what the reason, it was wrong. It was wrong. They're going to take what belonged to Ephraim, at least a portion of it. Or they are at least going to a place that is not designated for them, if it's not necessarily in this territory of Ephraim.

And what they are declaring is that, we want something else that doesn't belong to us. And when you want something that is illegal, something that is not in the boundaries to which God has provided for you, trouble begins in your own life. And you can almost say that what Dan is doing here is displaying an attitude that cripples many people spiritually. I heard the story of a priest who shared his experience in that booth that men come in day after day to confess their sins. Right?

Let me remind you, you can go directly to God, but stick with me for the sake of illustration. And he expressed that after so many years, he has heard almost every sin that you can think of, and every careless imagination can conjure up with its vileness and disgrace and horror. But after those decades of being a priest and hearing men come in and out confessing their sins, he cannot recall one moment where one single person confessed one particular sin. Do you know what that sin was? The tenth commandment.

Do you know what the tenth commandment is? Well, Exodus twenty seventeen will remind us. You shall not covet. He never heard it once. He never heard it once.

Adultery, sure. Robbery, sure. Blasphemy, sure. Perversion, sure. But this priest said I never heard one person say, I'm coveting.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. Do you know why that priest never experienced somebody confessing this sin? It's because people don't see it as a sin. What's unique about the tenth commandment in comparison to the nine is that the nine can be observed by action, whereas the tenth is a hidden sensation.

It's within. It occupies the emotions in the heart and is not seen by men at least immediately. And so something that is harbored, to covet is to yearn for something with great desire and passion. You can almost say it's to pant after someone or something. And it's not that passion or strong desire is wrong.

If you read this verse carefully, this tenth commandment, you realize that it's the object of your desire that is wrong. Because everything that is listed here shows us that it belonged to somebody else. Whether it was a wife, a husband, or somebody's possession, it already had somebody else's name on it. And to come to a place where you begin to crave it, though it's off limits, is a dangerous thing and it's a part of the big 10. It's part of the big 10.

And coveting is not limited to that, because it's also an illegal affection in the sense that you might desire it and not desire what they have to be yours specifically, but that you begin to be discontent. And then you drive yourself to the place where you compare yourself to someone or some others, and it makes you do certain things that God doesn't want you to do. And we know that a sin like to covet is dangerous on a horizontal level for many reasons, but like any other sin, we also realize that it does damage to our view of God. Now, can can I ask you, why does the sin of coveting do damage to God in in light of our view of him? You have any ideas?

You don't think God is enough? Sure. Overall in gratitude. In gratitude to what he's already given you. Absolutely.

Anything else? You're not content with your portion in your lot. If I could say that the greatest crime out of the sin of coveting, it's found in a verse found in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 13. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse five, this will only be found if you have the King James or the New King James. And the NASB and the ESV are more specific in the description of covetousness.

Hebrews thirteen five, I'm gonna read it from the New King James. It is read, let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. ESV and NAS people say, do not have a love for money.

If you look at the original word, it is that specific. It talks about a a longing for more material wealth. But covetousness is the language to describe the banner of all discontentment. It's to describe the family of wanting something that doesn't belong to you. And so both words work.

There's no contradiction here. But do you notice why this is such a crime? To covet, to crave something that does not belong to you or to want it with such eagerness that you begin to be discontent? It's because it says here, for he himself has said Ultimately, covetousness is evidence that you don't trust him. When you find your heart restless, when you live in the realm of comparison, when you begin to see your lack to the point where it creates a dark cloud over your mind, The root issue is, you don't believe what he said.

For he himself said, and then he goes on to promise provision and protection. I will never leave you nor forsake you. That's what it's ultimately all about. It's to say, Lord, I I don't really trust that what you have extended in my life and allowed me to have the boundaries of my dwelling place, the boundaries of the things within my dwelling place, the boundaries of my relationships, and who's in and who's out. I don't trust that what you've allowed here is really for my pleasure and your glory, and so I'm discontent.

And covetousness manifests when our hearts do not trust God. But if we're not careful, that discontentment can actually turn into action. And our actually can produce something in our life that can be quite dangerous. And that's what we see what James says in James four verse two. James says, you desire and you do not have, so you murder.

You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and you quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. So now this goes beyond just feeling something and now this feeling creating friction in your relationship with others. Now you look at somebody or you look at something, and because you can't have it, and you can't reach out to it and claim it, you begin to see, he's talking to Christians, your brothers and sisters as enemies. Now this covetousness is a key to opening up to other ugly things such as jealousy and envy and hatred.

See, James says, you murder. I highly doubt that there were murder cases in the churches that he was writing to. But But you know what he's doing? What he does throughout this letter is that he alludes to the Sermon of the Mount. And when Jesus says, if you hate your brother in your heart, you've already committed murder.

And he's highlighting the fact that in their hearts, they're so against one another because they they're comparing and they're and they're striving and they're all these things happening because of covetousness. He's saying, it's like as though you're slaughtering one another in your hearts. In your hearts. And And we look at the old testament example in the tenth commandment, we say, I don't want somebody's donkey, I don't want somebody's slave. Yeah, but you might want somebody's ministry position.

You might compare the person that you're with and saying, I want that person. That that looks like a better wife for me than what I have. And if we're not going to kill each other because of covetousness, here's one thing you can guarantee, it will destroy you. It will destroy you. Think about the amount of debt that people are in, even in the church because of covetousness.

Think about it. I can guarantee you that there is much misery in the American church today, and perhaps even in this room tonight because of one thing. You spend more time on Instagram than your Bible. And what do you see on Instagram? A fake museum of people trying to showcase their happiness.

That's what you see. That's what that social media platform has become more than anything else. But brother, we can use it to preach the gospel. Absolutely. That's wonderful.

But let's talk about the majority of it. What is it? It's a fake museum of people showing you the best of what they are, when in reality there's something else. And so you scroll every day, right? From morning till night, and you see the amazing highlight reel of that person with her boyfriend, and you look at yourself, and I don't have a boyfriend.

I can't travel anywhere with my boyfriend. I can't have these dates and I can't write posts about how awesome they are. And you you look and you you see the places that people go and the the traveling that groups of friends experience, and they didn't invite you. And you see people's outfits and their clothes, and you see their bodies and how they're transforming themselves, and you're saying brother, but these are these are motivating things. Are they?

Do you leave happier when you sign off of Instagram? And if we're not careful what happened to the people of James can happen to us too. What happens? You stop seeking God. You do not have because you do not ask.

Do you realize that their discontentment was so severe that they even forsook the joy and the trust of seeking God? Your eyes are on so many other people that you forgot to look to heaven and to sit at God's feet. And he reminds them, hey, if you're so disturbed, why don't you just go back and seek the Lord again? Come back to him. You're so caught up with everything else and everyone else that you forsook God.

No wonder you're miserable. No wonder you're filled with anger and hatred and bitterness and depression. And that's why Jesus warned to Christians, to believers. In Luke twelve fifteen, he said to them, take care. When Jesus says, take care, you better listen.

Take care and be on your guard. Oh, wow. Not just take care, be on your guard. If you guard something, what does that mean? That if you fall asleep, you're failing at your job.

Be on your guard. Don't fall asleep. Don't lose your sense of urgency and alertness against all covetousness. All kinds of it. Not just after somebody's money and their income, any kind of covetousness.

Be on your guard. What does that teach me? I read that, I realize that I am capable of inviting covetousness in my heart. You and I better be careful because if we're not careful, we can end up like the tribe of Dan. Where our steps are leading us to a place where we're not supposed to go.

We're stepping out of bounds. Whether in our emotional state, our mental state, or spiritual condition. Things get kind of crazy when you allow covetousness to abide in your bosom. Dan wanted something that didn't belong to him. And so what happens after that?

We'll read in verse three. When they were by the house of Micah, remember Micah, right? Judges chapter 17? They recognized the voice of the young Levite and they they turned aside and said to him, who who brought you here? What are you doing in this place?

What is your business here? So they're they're going towards where they want to explore and investigate. On their way, they they pass by Micah's neighborhood. And this Levite that we learned about last week, who was not supposed to be there because a Levite had a designated place to live, was perhaps doing some kind of ritual or praying or something. He was doing something where he was audible and and these spies recognized his voice and they said, that's not somebody from Ephraim.

And maybe they knew this priest personally, we don't know. But they knew one thing, even these men said, you're not supposed to be here, so what are you doing here? And the Levite is honest at least because he answers them. And he says here, in verse four, he said to them, this is how Micah dealt with me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.

Now, everything about that is wrong. We learned that. If you're a priest, you don't become a personal minister to anybody. You're at the tabernacle, you're serving God directly or you're serving the priests who are serving God. You're not supposed to be in this place, Levite.

Now if the Danites had any kind of righteous bone in their body, they would say, you're wrong brother. You're not supposed to be here. But instead, they realize we have a priest in front of us. We have somebody who has a special connection with God. And so let's take advantage of this moment and ask this Levite if what we're going to do is gonna be blessed by God.

That's what they do. In verse five, they said to them, Inquire of God, please, That we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed. What a confusing scene. What a mess. You know why this is a mess?

You have a tribe that's going out and seeking a place that they're not supposed to be seeking. You have a priest who's supposed to be at the Tabernacle, and is instead a personal minister to somebody else. And you have this tribe asking this priest for a thrice Holy God to bless their journey on the path of disobedience. Like you're watching and saying, are you serious? And they don't think anything's wrong with it.

That's in how much darkness they're in. And this priest is not even hesitant because the way he answers is quite startling. Verse six, and the priest said to him, go in peace. The journey in which you go is under the eye of the Lord. Wow.

So you have a tribe that's on their way to prove that God is not able to provide what they should have. You have a priest who also turned his back on God and the house of worship to serve himself. And then on top of that, they're pronouncing blessing. You're blessed. You're fine.

Go in peace. God's eyes on you. Oh, his eyes on them for sure, but it's not an eye of blessing. But this is the essence of false teachers and false teaching. They assure people who are in rebellion against God of peace when there is no peace.

Do you wanna know what a lot of false teaching produces of false assurance? That God is in fact pleased with you when you are in deliberate disobedience to His word. They didn't need to ask this priest or God. All they need to do is realize what God had said in His word and had recorded what belonged to them. These are the boundaries of your dwelling place.

But I'm sure that this tribe had an idea. If they really wanted God's guidance, where would they have gone? The house of God. They would have gone to Shiloh and spoke with the high priest. Hey, high priest.

We wanna do this. Is this right? But they realized that they found a compromising priest. And perhaps to soothe their own conscience, they decide to go through this authoritative figure just because he had the title, but knowing also that he would say what they wanted to hear. This priest doesn't seek God.

Do you see that? He immediately says, go in peace. There's no inquiring of God, but they wanted some kind of assurance from somebody who had the title of priest. Doesn't that remind you of something that Paul said? That in the last days, there will be what?

There will be those who will forsake the truth, true doctrine and will accumulate for themselves teachers to itch theirs their to scratch their itching ears rather. It didn't say that Satan is gonna send out false teachers. He does that. It says that there are gonna be people who are not going to wanna hear Bible anymore. They don't wanna hear truth anymore and they will actively seek out, promote, produce people with the title of minister gifted men for sure, that will just tell them exactly what they wanna hear so that they can continue on in their sin with a comforted conscience.

And this priest is really just a precursor of what's gonna happen in Israel. In Jeremiah's day, he tells us that all these false prophets will occupy the land and all they're gonna say is what? Peace. Peace. When there is no peace.

So this Levi here is an example of what's to come for this nation and is also an example of what we are experiencing today. When's the last time you heard a message on hell? I'm not saying anybody who preaches on that should do so with a smile. They should weep before they get up on that pulpit and preach on such a subject. But I'm saying, when's the last time you heard such a heavy message of the coming judgment of God?

Repentance, that's become a cuss word in the church today. Peace. Peace. It's all about no matter what you do in life, God will fulfill your dreams and he will allow you to have what you want if you just that's what it is. It's not a new spirit.

It's a it's a something that's familiar. That's why the Bible says there's a familiar spirit, something that's ancient, and it was here and it's here today. So he says, go in peace. The journey in which you go is under the eye of the Lord. Verse seven.

After these words, it says that the men, the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there. How they live in security after the matter of Sidonians. Quiet and unsuspecting. Lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. And and what happens here is, so they find this place and they realize that they're not heavily armed.

There's no defense system. It looks very promising. And so they head back to their tribe as you read on up to verse 10. And they said, Well, what's the report? And they said, Well, we found a place.

We found a place. And look what they say here In verse nine, They said, Arise and let us go up against them for we have seen the land and behold it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go to enter and possess the land. Do you see the energy, the excitement, the anticipation, the the trust that this is actually something that's gonna happen?

And I read that tonight and I thought to myself, if only you had the same excitement about what God had given you. Danites? What God had given to you originally, why don't you show that same kind of faith? Why aren't you showing that same kind of thrill? But when it comes to disobeying, you are so much more eager, so much more excited.

This enthusiasm they have for something that's not God's will. Compare it to their lack of faith with God, and realize that we are capable of the same kind of attitude. Our idea of what's best for us seems more exciting than what God has for us. That's what's happening here. All of this is their own idea.

All of this is what they're conjuring up. And because it's what they want, they're excited. When it comes to what God wants, I don't know about that. I tell you many professing Christians feel the same way today about the will of God for their lives. Come on.

How many people have you talked to have confessed that if they give up or they surrender to God, that they're they're gonna receive less than what they actually want. I've heard it so many times. Brother, I'm scared to pray and ask God for his will in this area for my life because I'm afraid that he's gonna give me much less than what I believe I can make up for myself. And so God in obeying him becomes this ball around your ankle. This chain that you have to drag along just because you think it's the right thing to do instead of believing really it's for ultimate joy.

They're more excited about their plan than God's plan. How many today actually believe the same? You have your whole life figured out, and you think that if God comes in, he's gonna interrupt your plans. He's gonna change things around and you're gonna become less happy and less joyful. And there are wasted callings because of that lie from the devil that people are believing.

You can imagine what's running through their minds. When we try to do it originally, it was so much more difficult. The Amorites overtook us. But look at us. Look how much easier this is.

Look how much more is available to us. People believe the same about the will of God today. So these men get fired up, they get excited. We scroll down here in this long chapter, and they're on their way. And when they head on their way, we read here in verse 13.

600 of these men from the tribe of Dan says that they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. So they make a detour, or rather they stop where they originally stopped. And these five men who were with these 600 said, you gotta see something here. This is quite amazing. When we came here last time, says here in verse 14, the five men who had gone to scout out of the country of Laish said to their brothers, do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image and a metal image?

Now therefore, consider what you will do. So as they're traveling toward Laish, these five men say, guys stop. We're in a specific neighborhood and we got to tell you about it. If you look at these houses, it's actually household gods in there. There's shrines.

There's carved images. He says, think about it. That's what they're saying. Think about what we can do now. Well, look, in our new land, we can have all these gods join us.

We can invite these shrines. We can create something here, so let's consider it. And so these men park, they stop, and we read here in verse 15. They turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and asked him about his welfare. So maybe at this point in this conversation, they said, oh, by the way, a Levite was here and he told us about this blessing we received from God.

So let's just ask how he's doing. So they call this young Levite out. We're told that 600 men are there at the gate. And while they're conversing with this priest, something happens. All for a sudden, verse 15 rather 16.

Now the 600 men of the Danites armed with their weapons of war stood by the entrance of the gate. And the five men who had gone out to scout out of the land went up and entered and took the carved image. The ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men with weapons of war. They just ransacked the place. They went into every single house.

They pulled out every god from every shelf, every living room. And they even come to the house of Micah and they strip it clean. And I think that's funny, because when you and I introduced to Micah in Judges 17, what is he caught doing? What was his sin? Stealing.

Right? He stole from his mother 1,100 pieces of shekels. Right? And now, he's being robbed. You reap what you sow.

You reap what you sow. And so they they wipe that place clean, and then all for sudden this priest turns from the 600 men, he looks at the place that he's living with Micah, and they're just taking all his furniture, taking all his possessions, taking his shrines, his work, his welfare, and he is stunned. And as he's watching this happen, he he finally coughs up the courage to ask, in verse 18, the last part, what are you doing? Do you think he was concerned about the sin of stealing? Or do you think he was concerned that everything that he had built for himself concerning comfort and leisure was being taken from him?

I think the latter. He's disturbed that he finally found a place where he can be comforted and all of a sudden that was being taken from him. And instead of an explanation from this tribe, they give him an invitation. That's what they say. Right?

Verse 19. They said to them, Keep quiet. Shut up. Don't ask what we're doing. Instead, consider this.

Put your hand on your mouth and come with us. And be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man or to be a priest to a tribe and clan in Israel? Wow. You're just this one priest for this one family.

Why don't you join us and you can be in charge spiritually for our tribe. And here's my question. If this Levi turned his back on God for a man like Micah, do you think that there'll be any hesitation that he'll turn his back on Micah for a greater opportunity? Absolutely. That's a hireling.

When somebody does something for money, for their own comfort and leisure and pleasure, they will drop you like nothing. And that's exactly what this man does. He's not concerned about God. He's not concerned about Micah. He's concerned about one man and that's him.

That's all he's concerned about and here's an opportunity for more prestige, more position, more power, I'll take it. And the sad thing about all of this is that this false leadership is only going to infect from a neighborhood to an entire tribe. That's what's sad, but here's the reality of it. False teachers and teachings can quickly gain a platform. You know why?

Because it satisfies the itch of carnal men and there's a high demand for them. High demand for them. And so you see these places, and you see these people that have international outreach, and platforms, and stadiums filled, and you wonder how. It's because men really want this, And they'll pay anything for it because they know that God has given them a conscience and they need to be told week after week after week, it's okay. Peace, when there's no peace.

But in reality, listen, when it's spiritual leadership is self absorbed, and is only concerned about self advancement, the people of God will be hurt in the end. What this one priest is gonna do is gonna have generational effects, and you're gonna see how generational it gets. Let me put it this way, it's gonna reach the book of Revelation. It's not gonna stay in Judges. It's not gonna stay in the Old Testament.

What's about to take place here? It's gonna reach the end times. That's why you can't leave early because you're gonna miss that part. So this priest says, no problem. Verse 20.

The priest's heart was glad. Really? A bigger check, a bigger platform, more people to listen to what I have to say? You got it. He took the ephod and household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

So the Danites knew what they were doing were wrong. So they set their children and their possessions before them. They turned their back on this neighborhood and they head towards Laish. And who finds out? Micah and the neighbors.

Where's all our stuff? Micah is saying, where's my priest? And so he calls them out. He calls his own people and he says, we have to find who did this. And we come to verse 23.

When Micah approaches the Danites, he overtakes him with his friends. In verse 23, we read, and they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, what is the matter with you that you come with such a company? So imagine, Micah and his friends are coming up saying, hey, where are you going with our stuff? Where are you going with our gods? Where are you going with my priests?

And Danites turn around and say, what are you talking about? What's your problem? Verse 24, and he said, you take my gods that I made Like, Micah, do you realize what you're saying? I just heard somebody. Let me just stop here and say this.

I just heard from somebody recently. A video went viral of some progressive Christian minister who's pro gay, trying to convince people that Jesus was a racist. I'm not even getting into the details of the poor argument that he used and what scripture, the pathetic attempt to say that Christ sinned. If that's not of the devil, I don't know what is. But But the same person So I decided to explore who this person was because apparently, he's getting some attention.

So I went on one of his clips and he was over somewhere overseas. And when he was overseas, he was promoting his book of how pro LGBTI, you know, the the shtick. But he said something in the beginning of his sermon or whatever it was called. He said, this is the result of much studying and much looking into the bible, and then he said this, he slipped. He said, and this is how I created this theo Discovered this theology.

Like, it came out of his mouth where he said, he made this up. In the first ten seconds of your sermon. In the first fifteen seconds of what you're trying to convince people of, you just admitted that you created it. Oh, discovered it. Oh, discovered it.

Here's Micah, you taking the gods that I made, You don't even realizing the foolishness that's spewing out of your mouth. And he says here, you did this. How then do you ask me what is the matter with you? Let me say there's something matter with all of you. And the people of Dan said to him, do not let your voice be heard among us, less angry fellows fall upon you and you lose your life with the lies of your household.

Then Dan goes his own way, Micah realized they're too strong for me, and he turns back home. There's an interesting phrase in this dialogue that is so powerful. Look back at verse 24. You take my gods that I made and the priests and go away, and what have I left? What have I left?

He had realized in this moment, obviously, that the very thing that he lived for, that he worshipped was one, able to be taken from him. One person said it this way, Micah served gods that can be carried away, but we serve a God that carries us. And here's this man complaining that he was being robbed of his very essence and purpose and satisfaction in life. He went from the last verse of chapter 17. Remember that verse?

Verse 13, then Micah said, now I know that the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite as priest. He went from that to what have I left? I have nothing left. The apparent comfort, guidance, and pleasure that these gods apparently provided him, and maybe they did for a season. Ultimately, at the end of the road failed him.

If you worship anything else in this room tonight, if it's not Christ, the road of self religion will always lead to disappointment. I promise you. I don't care how happy or popular you are tonight. I don't care how much you can get at the snap of your finger. One day it will be taken from you, whether it's in this lifetime or not, and you will realize the utter foolishness of self made self religion and spending your entire life walking on that road.

There is an act of grace here in that, what? His gods proved powerless. If there was any good thing that came out of this, is that these men took away these false gods. But Micah didn't see it that way. He had realized everything that I put my money into, my energy into, my focus into is failing me.

It's not here to rescue me and I can't rescue it. Live for anything else but Christ. Set your affections on anything but Christ. Whether it's your own beauty, whether it's your business dream, I don't care what it is, God's come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, It will disappoint you. Even if at one point like Micah, you think you're being blessed, God doesn't bless idolatry.

And this man had a rude awakening. And I can't help but contrast the words of Micah to the words of the Apostle Paul. Micah says, what have I left? You stripped me of everything that I thought my identity was in, my sense of security was in, and Paul says in Philippians three eight, indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. What a difference when you have Jesus.

Not religion, not church service, not Christian friends, when you have Christ. I know a lot of people that go to church and have Christian friends and even go to church and sing songs with their hands up, but they don't have Christ. They have a theology. They have a creedal statement. They have a religious home.

You don't have Christ, because you don't have Christ unless you can say I count everything as loss. Until you come to this, you have not really encountered Christ. The idea maybe, a great sermon perhaps, some nice people in a church, sure. But this, if you can't confidently say this, I question if you've met the real Jesus. I count everything as loss.

So here's Micah saying, you took it all from me. I have nothing left. And here's what Paul says, take everything from me. I have Christ. What a difference of the Christian.

Strip it all away. All I have is Christ. And guess what? He's all I need. How many believers can say that today?

I myself included, can admit that the flesh is so deceiving and powerful, that if you really wanna see where you stand on this conviction, let God and his providence allow things to be stripped from you and see if you squeal. See if you squirm. This man was a true saint because not only was he called to be an apostle, he lived it. And he as a human can say, follow me as I follow Christ. If he was in some superhero category, the Holy Spirit wouldn't have inspired the word to say, follow him as he follows Christ.

So this is available whether you're an apostle or you're a janitor. I count everything as lost because because. Why can I look at everything and say it's dung, it's rubbish, you can give it to me, I'll be content, you can take it from me, I'll be equally content? Why? Because I have Christ, and I really know him.

See, if you question experiential theology and relationship with Jesus, then you have a problem with a verse like this. Why? Because he goes on to say that, I want to experience the power of his resurrection, And I want to know the fellowship of his suffering. That's not blackboard theology. That's experiential.

That's real. That's something that you can feel, something in your heart, something that you can observe and sense. I I wanna know his power. Is power just ideas? Or is it tangible?

Is it observable? Is it measured? I may share in his sufferings, like this guy won Christ so much that even if he got close to him through sufferings, he says bring on the suffering. Becoming like him in his death. Micah could not say anything close to that.

And you have people today who are living under the banner of Micah sentiment. What do I have left? I love Peter. When Jesus says, you wanna go too? And you know what he said.

Right? Where can we go? You want us to go back fishing after everything we've seen? You want us to go back to our normal way of life after we've spent these past few months with you? We have nowhere else to go.

Micah said, I have nothing left. Paul said, take it from me. I have Christ and he's all I need. And so what happens? Well, they had their own way.

Micah heads his own way. They come to the people of Laish, and they take over. They burn it to the ground. That's what verse 27 down to verse 28 is describing. But look at verse 29.

And they named the city Dan after the name of Dan, their ancestor, who was born to Israel, but the name of the city was Laish at the first. I love that. Extra effort to call this place Dan, and the Holy Spirit interrupts and says, you know, it's actually Laish at the first. You know what he's trying to say? Like, their attempt to try to make this seem like it's God's will, no matter if they renamed it, no matter how much they got Levites to bless it, the Holy Spirit says, but it didn't belong to them.

It's not theirs. This is not according to my will. This is something that they have conjured up in their own minds. And worse than this false confidence that they're trying to produce, we come here to verse 31. So they set up Micah's carved image that he made as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

You know what that's saying? That the tabernacle, the place of worship, was still standing during this entire ordeal. And the Danites come into this territory and they set up a rival worship center. They take the household gods that they took from that neighborhood, they establish their own place of worship and you think how long did this last for? Why argue that when David came on the scene, perhaps he would not allow such a thing to remain standing because of his zeal for the house of the Lord.

But even if what Dan set up here, which was an assault to what God had instituted with the Shiloh Tabernacle, it resurrected again. It came up again. Where did it come up again? When David died, who is David's son who took his throne? When Solomon died, who was his son?

Rehoboam. And what happened under Rehoboam's reign? There was a split in the kingdom. You had Jeroboam who took the northern part of Israel, you had Rehoboam taking the southern part of Israel. And Jeroboam was so concerned that the people a part of his area would come down to the southern part to worship God in the temple, that he establishes a plan.

And here's the plan, just to show you how this idolatry continued in first Kings chapter 12. Look at verse 28 in first Kings chapter 12, and you'll see this and this is quite profound. So the king took counsel, made two calves of gold. Sound familiar? And he said to the people, he's thinking to himself, it worked back in Exodus 32, surely it will work again, because we're just suckers for idols.

He said to the people, you have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, oh Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And look at verse 29. And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put where? In Dan.

And Bethel and Dan became a very serious problem for the nation of Israel until their captivity. Finally, until Babylon came in as an act of judgment and swallowed up the people from their land and brought them into a foreign place. And what's interesting is, when you go now as we close in a moment to the book of Revelation, go to chapter seven with me please of Revelation. Perhaps, what we just spent in this few moments together is the reason and the explanation for what we see here in Revelation chapter seven. When you come to Revelation chapter seven, there's a description of a 144,000 Jews during the tribulation period.

Let's do a crash course here. There is going to be in history a seven year tribulation period on the earth that will be horrific. And they will be a series of events that will lead up to the second coming of Jesus Christ to return physically and bodily on the earth, and when he sets his feet on the earth, he will establish a thousand year millennial reign of real physical kingdom on the earth. We have this idea, Jesus comes back, heaven and hell, that's it. No.

There's something in between that. Jesus comes back and and he's not taking us to heaven, he's establishing a kingdom on earth. And when he comes to establish that kingdom, he is going to prove that his promises to the nation of Israel have come to pass, and that he is the true king that can bring true peace and true justice on the earth. And so, during this seven year tribulation period, God is going to raise up a 144,000 ethnic Jews to be evangelists on the earth to bring about one of the, if not the greatest revival that this world has ever seen. So when you come to Revelation chapter seven, some people argue is this literal number or not.

Whatever the case, I believe it's literal and I believe that it is actually this number of people that God will elect. Look at verse four of Revelation seven. And I heard the number of this sealed, a 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed. 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben.

12,000 from the tribe of Gad. I'm just I'm not gonna read the number. It's all the same. Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin. Who's missing?

Dan and Ephraim. Dan and Ephraim are not in this list. Why? No explanation given, but we have a solid case to provide a possible answer. When we come to what we just read in Judges 18, it is much more serious than we can imagine.

Why? Because Ephraim and Dan were the two groups that work together to introduce an institutionalized form of idolatry. They actually, mainly Dan leading it, set up a system, a rival system in their area to assault and attack the worship that belonged to God alone. Yes, and judges people messed up, they turned their back on God, they had false worship and they looked to this and they looked to that, but Dan came and he actually set up he established something to be permanent. And to say, we are going against God's house and God's laws.

It shows up again in first Kings. The golden calf there in dance, set up and drawing so many into idolatry. So what's the point? Well, when you come here to Revelation seven, you realize that because of the seriousness of this crime, God excluded these two from having the privilege of preparing Israel and the world for the second coming of Christ. In other words, these two tribes plunged the nation of Israel.

They introduced Israel into a serious form of idolatry. And because of that, God said, when you chose not to do what I said as a king, and you chose to do what was right in your own eyes, then I will not let you have the privilege and the honor to introduce the King of Kings at the end of age. Here's the practicality of it. Here's the application. You can't be a witness for God and serve idols at the same time.

This can't happen. That's a simple truth. And some would say, well, no, because Manasseh is mentioned and then Joseph is mentioned. Joseph is not a tribe. Remember, Jacob told Joseph, your sons will become my sons.

I'm adopting them. So Joseph kind of disappears and he becomes two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. So some would say, Ephraim is hiding under the name of Joseph. So really the only person that is not included here is actually Dan. Even if you go with that, it's still a serious issue.

And it still doesn't negate that possible argument that Dan was held accountable even up to this point to say, you will not have the chance to witness of the gospel as an ethnic Jew, but your brothers will be able to. That's serious. We look to how God deals with Israel and we almost have this holy envy. Oh, to be Israel in that time, to be an Israelite, to see Mount Sinai, and to see the miracles, and those are wonderful privileges but with great privileges came great responsibility. That's what he says in one of the prophetic books.

He says, because I've loved you, meaning because I've given you special attention and I've elected you for a service on the earth, in comparison to all the other nations. Yes, you have a wonderful honor, but with that honor comes a severe punishment when you walk away from my standard. And this is one of them. During that tribulation period, nobody from the tribe of Dan would have that opportunity. But do you want to hear an end on the grace of God tonight?

Because that's during the tribulation period. But remember, a tribulation period will begin. During that tribulation period, God is going to raise up a 144,000 ethnic Jews from different tribes to evangelize the world. And at the end of that seven year period, Jesus is gonna return, and he's gonna establish a thousand year reign on the earth, and after that thousand years, he's gonna set up the eternal age, heaven and earth. But during that thousand year reign, you thought that God was just gonna give a portion of the land of Israel in the Old Testament.

Right? No. He's gonna resurrect that reality in the millennial reign. Are you keeping track with me now? There's gonna be God coming down on earth in Christ and setting up his throne in Jerusalem.

K? When he does that, he's going to reinforce the promise that he gave to Abraham that there will be land given to the nation of Israel. Do you feel a little disturbed with that? Deal with the Bible. I'm not being political here, I'm being theological.

So deal with the author of this book, and it's not about him favoring one people over the other. It's about a promise he made and proving to a world that I keep my word when I say it. I said to Abraham that there will be land for this nation, and so I'm going to prove to this world that when I say something, whether it's a small promise or a big promise, that it shall come to pass. That's what the millennial reign is about. And when he does come, and he does set that up, he's going to actually divide the land to the different tribes.

Again, if you've ever read the book of Ezekiel, you'll notice that at the latter portion of that book, but I want you to notice something in the first verse of Ezekiel 48. Go there to see something quite wonderful because this deals with the millennial reign. He's not reintroducing the allotment of the land from the Old Testament. He's he's speaking about what's gonna happen in the millennial age. And when you go to Ezekiel forty eight one, this is the first tribe mentioned when God says what he's gonna do.

These are the names of the tribes beginning at the northern extreme beside the way of Heflon, Telebo Hamath, as far as Hazar Inan, which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath, and extending from the East to the West. Damn. One portion. Damn. The first tribe that God mentions that he's going to dish out a portion of the land is the very one that he did not allow to testify of the gospel during the tribulation.

Why? Because he's gracious. He's extremely gracious. The same Dan that didn't trust God for a portion of their land in Joshua's time is the same tribe that by God's grace will give the first piece to when he rules and reigns in his physical state. Why?

Because God is merciful, extremely merciful. And God is merciful with Dan, but he's also merciful with us today. You could have lived up to this point just like how you heard Dan's attitude was like. Continually rejecting God's will, his word, his purposes for your life, thinking that you can control and you can determine your own future, and thinking that you're gonna receive more joy and more happiness and fulfillment from that, be reminded like Micah, that if everything was stripped from you, and one day it will be, you will sense an emptiness and a nothingness that will almost be a horrible dream in your mind coming to reality. And some people in here have come to Christ because of that reality.

You realize this is not satisfying me. This is not bringing me the fulfillment that I thought that I can have from it. And some of you, perhaps this is true. You've heard this. You've heard me say this over and over, and you're not convinced yet.

You're not convinced that this is actually true. When it does happen, realize that God is ready to restore and forgive you, but realize also that sometimes in your pursuit of what Dan sought after and what Micah sought after, there are lifelong consequences. There are things that are irreversible and sometimes in that pursuit I've seen men lose their lives. So don't entertain that thought and saying that Jesus is waiting for you. Whenever you're ready, he's gonna take you in.

No. Today. You make that choice today. God is extremely gracious. He can rewrite your story like he did with Dan.

But you have to give him the pen and stop writing your own life out and surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Not just because you'll have a happier life, but because he's worthy of your life. He is worthy of your life. And so I just ask you tonight in this bible study, if you've not surrendered to Jesus Christ, if you've not given your heart to him, if you not realized that you've sinned against him, that you have household gods of your own, that you have set up a shrine in your life with different things that you've set your affections on more than Christ, God is giving you an invitation today to smash those idols because we pray this sometimes, and I understand what we're saying when we pray it, but it's not biblical. God smash my idols.

He's not gonna smash them for you. God destroy my idols. He'll never do that. You have to destroy them. He gives you the grace.

Did he tell Gideon, hey, Gideon. I'll destroy that idol in front of your father's house, and you can go and be a judge? He says, no. Go and tear down that altar to bail, and then we can move forward. God could have done it, but he says, you need to do it.

You need to do it. You need to come to the foot of the cross and say, Lord, I don't want my sin. I don't want my own will. I don't wanna wear the crown and I don't wanna sit the throne on the throne of my life. I surrender to your lordship.

And I realize that you've forgiven me for my rebellion and sin. And because of your forgiveness and grace, not only do I have eternal life, but I can experience something of your promises today. Give your life to Jesus Christ. He is alive and well. And if you believe it or not, one day you will see him coming to this earth and he will be king.

Whether you make him king or not doesn't matter, he's already king. He is. You not making Jesus king of your life will not make him less of a king than any other person. You just get the privilege of being on his side and in his kingdom when you acknowledge him as Lord of all. So he's coming as king.

And the only difference between you and the next person is that if you accept Christ, you will joyfully bow the knee. And if you don't accept Christ, you will not but help to fall because of the weight of the glory before you and to roll out your tongue and to say, he is Lord, Lord of all. You can do that now, though. Save yourself from much heartache, not just in this life, but eternally. Let's pray.

Father, in Jesus name, we thank you for the wonders of your book. We thank you for the the gems and the hidden truths that are not hidden, but in a sense are veiled until we seek them out for for our sake and for your glory. Lord, when you see a people desperate for truth and for revelation, you set out a feast. And Lord, tonight we have feasted on your word. And we pray, Lord, that these truths we would not forget.

Thank you for reminding us again that you can speak in any chapter of any book of this Bible. Thank you that you've proven to us again that from cover to cover you are consistent and that the Bible interprets the Bible. Lord, we believe that your word is supernatural, Not just because of the truths that complement one another, but because they are able to change men. They're able to change the hearts of sinners. And Lord we pray that as your sword was driven into our hearts today, that Lord, it would only be for healing.

It would only be for recovery. Lord, thank you that you are a God of grace. That even if we failed with consequences that will last a lifetime in the age to come, you will give rewards that don't make sense. You will crown us in a way that does not measure up to the way the world esteems another. And so, Lord, we realize that with Dan, who is the cause of a nation bowing their knees to false images, even that even that sin was redeemable.

And Lord, we realize that when you come as king, not only will you come Lord in power, not only will you come in justice and unrighteousness, but as we've seen with Dan, you will come with even a greater manifestation of your grace and how you will raise up some who don't deserve to be raised up and you will forgive those that we believe should be damned. Thank you for your love. Lord, tonight if anybody doesn't know you, let them realize that if they have Christ, they don't need anything else. And that to give up everything for Christ is no loss, only gain. Only gain.

And so, Lord, you know the person in here whose feels in their soul, I have nothing. I have nothing left. I've tried it. I've explored it. I've entertained it, but I'm left empty and wanting.

Lord, what we say and do cannot help the souls of men unless your spirit helps. Let your Holy Spirit touch the souls that need you most. Lord, we ask you in your power and Your grace, don't let the sinner go. Grip their hearts. In Your name we ask these things.

Amen.