Study the Word

Guest (Male): With a timely observation on our culture today, here's Pastor Thom Keller.

Pastor Thom Keller: Moral relativism, where moral truth is defined or decided by individuals or a group. Have it your way. Have it your way. Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly where we are today as a nation.

You see, we really don't care about his laws anymore as a culture. We really don't. We now write our own laws. If there's something we're not comfortable with that's in the Word, we just disregard it.

Guest (Male): Can you really change what's true? If you do, it'll be a lie. What will be the consequences of living a lie? Have we been lulled into being concerned more for our present comfort than our future?

We'll explore that on today's study of the Word with Tom Keller. Tom is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Lebanon and is about to continue his study of Judges. We've come to chapter 17. It's a transition point in the history of God's people as they turn from God's law to making their own laws, which in effect is idolatry. It's a timely word for our culture today. Let's begin with a clear definition of idolatry. Here's Pastor Tom with that.

Pastor Thom Keller: Augustine said idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used or using anything that ought to be worshipped. Read that again. Augustine said idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used or using anything that ought to be worshipped.

The great theologian Dylan said it another way: "You gotta serve somebody." Great theologian Bob Dylan, "Everybody's gotta serve somebody." You are all too young to know that.

Oh, there's one little aside I want to share. This is from our own theologian Boo Carpenter on Sunday night. This is too good not to share. Remember Samson? You know, that little guy that did big things? Sunday night, Boo said, and it's true, that the Old Testament, whenever we read a passage in the Old Testament, we should ask ourselves, what does this tell us about Jesus? How does that relate to Jesus? Listen to this. This is what Boo said.

He said for Samson, more people died as a result of Samson's death than he had killed during his entire lifetime. Remember that? When he pushed the pillars out, more people died as a result of Samson's death than he had killed during his entire lifetime. For Jesus, more people received life as a result of his death than those that he had given life to during his entire lifetime. Isn't that a beautiful parallel? But very similar point.

All right, Judges, chapter 17. A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, "I heard you curse the thief who stole 1100 pieces of silver from you. Well, here they are. I was the one who took them." Her own son. "The Lord bless you for admitting it," his mother replied.

He returned the money to her and she said, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord in honor of my son. I will have an image carved and an idol cast." So his mother took 200 of the silver coins to a silversmith who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah's home.

Micah set up a shrine and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as the priest. And this is a key line in all the book of Judges and, in fact, in the whole Old Testament. In those days, Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. Hang on to that sentence. In those days, Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Now, where we are today is down here. This is Ephraim. We're down here at this bottom section. That's where this scene takes place today, in the hill country of Ephraim. This is a man living with his mother. In verse 5, it says that he installs one of his sons as priest. So this man would have to be, what, maybe 35, 40 years old, still living at home and he stole money from his mother because he himself has a son that he installs as a priest. You wouldn't install a two-year-old as a priest. So it's an older... if you think this was a 20-year-old boy, not the case. He had a son.

Now, this chapter 17 opens a whole new chapter in the life of Israel and it hinges around this point that there was no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. It's the key. Prior to this, the often-repeated phrase was that the Israelites did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Do you remember hearing that over and over? The Israelites did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. We saw that in the first 16 chapters over and over.

The Israelites did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. It is now replaced by this sentence: In those days, Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. What's the difference? Prior to this, we see the Israelites breaking God's laws. They did evil in the sight of the Lord. They broke his laws. Now we see them making their own laws. That transition happens between 16 and 17 and it is a huge distinction and one that we want to spend time looking at today.

The difference between breaking God's laws and then going on to the next step, which is deciding we're going to write our own laws. And where are we individually in that? Where are we as a culture in that? It really is moral relativism where moral truth is defined by the individual or by groups themselves. Moral relativism where moral truth is defined or decided by individuals or a group. Have it your way. Have it your way.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly where we are today as a nation. We are not the parallel to the first 16 chapters of Judges. You see, we really don't care about his laws anymore as a culture. We really don't. We now write our own laws. If there's something we're not comfortable with that's in the Word, we just disregard it. Let out that commandment, let out that commandment, let out that. Take this, I like that, I like this. And the world is filled with this.

When Sue and I were in Russia, we were working with schoolteachers. A teacher came up to us and said, "Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian." She spoke decent English. I said, "Wonderful, praise God." She said, "Praise God. I'm a Christian." She said, "Yes, I believe in Jesus, I believe in reincarnation, I believe in..." and she goes right down the line. And I thought, wow, what Jesus are you talking about?

There's a song on the radio, Christian radio, and it says, "I want to be like my Jesus." How many have heard that song before? "I want to be like my Jesus." I've no problem with that song, but I want you to think about it. A lot depends where you put the emphasis. See, what's his Jesus like? I've a funny feeling that none of us would be completely comfortable with the real Jesus. There'd be things he'd say, things that he'd want to talk to us about. You know, we'd walk away from the drive-through window. I don't want that. I'll go to another place where I can get a different opinion.

This is where we are. You know, prior to the '70s—and I went through the '70s, I was just a mere child, but I went through the '70s—in the '70s we broke the laws, but for the most part, culture around us agreed with the laws. That was true up until the '70s. When people broke the law—God's law, the moral law, the code that the Bible defines—for the most part culture agreed that they were wrong in breaking those.

The '70s, to a large degree, redefined all that. We then started making the rules. It was a time of rebellion and a time of "I'm not getting under anybody's authority." How many remember that period? Why do we do that? Why do we change the laws to suit ourselves? Because we want to be comfortable. It's all about comfort. We want to be comfortable.

When I was about 15 years old, maybe 14, I was the only boy around my age at my church that went to Elco High School. The rest of my friends, the boys there from Sunday school, went to Cedar Crest. And these guys, most of them were older than me, a year or two older than me, and they would talk about this girl and that girl, and they took this girl out and they had a relationship with this girl. Well, I had no girlfriend. And I got sick and tired of hearing them talk about all these girls.

So I made one up. They went to different schools, they'd never find out. I made one up. I told the other guys that there was this girl I liked, she liked me. That was key to this story, of course. She was a blonde cheerleader from Lebanon High School by the name of Susan Miller. Now, there might have been a Susan Miller, and she might have even gone to Lebanon High School, but if there was, she knew nothing of me.

I fabricated the name, the identity. It was probably the first identity theft ever and I pulled the whole thing out of thin air. I don't know if my friends ever believed me, but it was fun to say it anyway. It was a sheer lie. You say how ridiculous to create a girlfriend out of thin air. Yes, maybe. But you see, I did it to make my life more comfortable.

Some of you have done the same thing. Some of you have created a god out of thin air, a moral code out of thin air, to be comfortable. You say to some people, "You know, Jesus is coming soon. Are you ready?" They say, "For what?" You say, "For heaven." They say, "Oh, I don't believe in heaven." Where'd you get that from? "I just believe it." Why do you believe that? Because it makes me comfortable.

I don't want to have to believe in a hell because that's not comfortable. I don't want to believe in the Ten Commandments, not all of them. The ones that protect me, yes, but the ones that get in my way, no. Because they don't make me comfortable. Say to someone, "Are you having sex outside of marriage?" They say, "Yeah, but we really love each other, so it's okay." Why do you say that? Because, see, I want to be comfortable in my lifestyle. I don't want conviction. Did you hear anybody order conviction up there except that lady who wanted to self-flagellate herself? Did you hear that? No.

See, we create to make up. We stopped breaking the rules in the '70s. Now we make the rules. Well, let's look at what happens in this story because really, in the first seven verses, this mother and her son rewrite the Word of God. Let's look at what happened. First of all, there are 1100 pieces of silver. You say, "Well, how much is that?" Well, first of all, it's the same amount, exact same amount, that Delilah was given by the leaders to get Samson caught. They promised her 1100 pieces of silver.

Well, how much is that? Well, we find out in verse 10 that Micah hired a priest for a salary of 10 silver pieces a year. So this priest agrees to work for 10 silver pieces a year. That's his yearly salary. Well, let's say that's $10,000. In our economy, let's say he agrees to work for $10,000. If 10 pieces of silver represent $10,000 a year's wage, that would make this $1,100,000.

If this man agreed to work for $1,000 a year, which is possible, maybe—you know, room and board and a little stipend besides—it would make this $110,000. This is a huge sum of money he stole from his mother. So let's look at all the laws that were broken here. First of all, she cursed, which means she put a curse on the thief who stole her money. First thing she did. Where'd she get that from? Scriptures? Do you see any place in the Scripture where it says that you have the ability to put a curse on someone to bring call upon retribution against someone? Where'd she get that? Thin air.

Secondly, her son obviously lied. Don't you think him living in the house and the fact that he stole it, she probably had some indication that he had those kind of tendencies and we're going to see he came by them naturally? Don't you think she would have said to him, "Hey, did you see my 1100 pieces of silver?" at some point? Don't you think that conversation would have taken place prior to this event? Of course. And he lied. Where'd he get that from? See, it wasn't comfortable to tell the truth.

Third, the mother blesses him for being a thief. She said, "The Lord bless you for telling me the truth, my son." There's no consequences to the sins. There's no price to be paid. That could have saved my nephew, maybe. Number 5, she says in verse 3, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord." I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. Well, that's okay. That sounds fine. But what does she mean by that? We're going to see what she meant. It's not good.

Number 6, she honors her son for stealing. She honors her son for stealing. Number 7, she has an image carved and an idol cast. This is what she means by dedicating this money to the Lord. You know, she's a Jewess. She's so far out of touch with who God is and God's commands that to honor the Lord, she creates an idol. She has an idol carved and an idol cast. One was probably carved out of wood, the other one was cast out of metal. The making of graven images was strictly forbidden. This was a big no-no.

8, she's rewriting. Boy, did they rewrite this as they go. Number 8, remember she says she's going to dedicate the whole 1100 pieces of silver to the Lord? Remember that? Well, you can see in verse 4, after further thought, she reduces that to 200. So she steals from this Lord that she wants to honor. She promises 1100, gives 200 instead. Doesn't that have echoes of Ananias and Sapphira stealing the money from saying they give it?

But then isn't it interesting that the same thing the son did, the mother did? We find it out in reverse order, but the mother promises 1100 pieces of silver to the Lord and then ends up only giving 200. Where do you think the son learned it? She stole from the Lord, he stole from her. And you know, we've said this before, but what sins parents excuse in moderation, children abuse to excess. What sins parents allow in moderation, children abuse to excess.

And I've said this before: Alcohol won't keep you out of heaven. Just like cigarettes. Both of them might get you there sooner, as a matter of fact. They won't keep you out of heaven, but they destroy lives. And my parents didn't drink at all, not at all, never. And I was a black and white kind of guy. And some of your kids are black and white kind of kids.

And I'll tell you, if my parents would have ever had any alcohol at all, when I went away to college, I would have been one wild guy, I'm telling you. Because see, it's right, it's right. It's wrong, it's wrong. Don't give me this stuff about there's some middle ground, there's some moderation point. That would never have worked with me. And I know where the alcohol would have taken me: right into that back room where all the drugs were. I know that.

See, so we dismiss these things as well, you know, I can handle it. Yeah, you can. But what you will tolerate and handle in moderation, your children will abuse to excess. You can count on it. I could give you story after story. Not that it has to be, but boy, I tell you, the way your child is bent, the nature that he has is going to really determine what he does with that. I know what I would have done with it. I can guarantee you, I was at the parties, I had to make the decision, and I didn't, I did not. But I would have.

Number 9, he then sets up a shrine in his house. A shrine! A little place to worship God and worship idols. It was strictly prohibited. And number 10, the crème de la crème, he installs his own son as a priest. A non-Levite. Every law is broken because they're rewriting the code. They're rewriting the law.

Interestingly, Micah means in Hebrew, "Who is like God?" Who is like God? And you know, where you put the emphasis in that makes a big difference. I think the way it's intended to be said is "Who is like God?" meaning there is no one like God. But listen to this: "Who is like God? Who is like God?" These idols are. My son is. This is. Who is like God? Interesting name.

It says in verse 5 he set up a shrine, he made a sacred ephod and some household instruments. This ephod is what the high priest wore. These are 12 stones, precious stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. And they would consult that to get God's answer. It was something that was used specifically to consult the Lord. Worn only by the high priest. Micah wants this for purposes of divination. He wants to know what the future holds.

And as I was reading this, I was studying this, I was thinking, you know, if you had a choice between knowing the future or knowing the one who can change the future, which one would you prefer to be a part of? Would you prefer to tap into that world that tells you what the future holds or would you rather tap into the light side where you can talk to the one who can change the future?

You know, on this point just quickly, the Bible is very, very clear: No one knows the future but God. You will never find the true future out by consulting a fortune teller. Not ever, not ever. Now, they may get it right and, you know, the story's told—back again I don't want to spend a lot of time on this—but Jeane Dixon predicted John F. Kennedy's assassination.

But the point is this: If there was a plot underway, if there was a plot underway to assassinate him, that was known. The demons knew that. The demons could communicate that through the supernatural to their agents, their human workers, and parlay that into a lot of credibility. But it wasn't something that was unknown because there was a plot. Again, the Bible is clear: No one knows the future but God. It says that all of those predictions are a bunch of silly lies.

And the problem with consulting someone to tell the future is Satan knows your fears and he will give you an answer that is going to drive you to exactly where you don't want to go. And again, the case in point is Saul. When Saul consulted the Witch of Endor, the Witch of Endor said, "By the end of the day, you and your sons and your entire army will be dead." That's what the Witch of Endor predicted and that happened. It happened.

Some people say, "Oh, she was right." Oh no, she wasn't right. No. Saul went back, if you read the in-between part, Saul went back like an already dead man. He was so depressed, his army officers looked at him and thought, "This man can't lead us," and he didn't. They were terrified. He was terrified. They were beaten before they got into the battle by him believing that lie that was impregnated in that future event that was a lie designed to take him down. There's a huge danger in consulting. Don't play with that stuff. It's the dark side and it's never going to be right anyway.

Well, thirdly, he sets up this little shrine and these little gods. There's 6.5 billion people in the world and if you think this is just a small deal that we're talking about today, 33% of the world would label themselves Christianity. And you know, this would be a lot of nominal people in this category. South America, a lot of parts of the world where Catholicism in particular is very nominal and mixed with other strange things.

So 33% of the world consider themselves a Christian. This is 34%. All of this area here that would really be into idol worship. So there are as many people in the world that are still worshipping shrines and idols and have their own little shrine set up as there are Christians. If you can believe that. And then, of course, this is the number to be concerned about right here. And you know that one's going to be growing apart from a miraculous intervention by God. That's going to be growing. The Hindus believe that there are 333 million gods. 333 million gods.

The key verse is verse 6. It says they had no king, they had no authority. When it says that there was no king in Israel, remember there had been no kings to this point, had there? They'd only had judges. They had Moses, Joshua, judges. No king yet. So what they're really saying is there's no authority in the land and what they're really saying is the Word of God is no longer accepted as authority. Again, prior to this, the law was broken, but now the foundational system of authority is rejected and each one decides individually what they're to do.

Guest (Male): Pastor Thom Keller with a history of God's people in the days of the judges that is repeating itself in our day. We pray it's not your history, and if it is, may it not be your future. It's time to come under the rule of our loving and gracious King Jesus.

This has been Study the Word. You can hear this study again by going to ccleb.com. Visit ccleb.com and have a look under resources. There you'll find our teaching archives or call and request a CD copy at 717-507-7862. That's 717-507-7862.

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And download our free Android app when you have the opportunity. Do a search for Calvary Chapel Lebanon in the Google Play Store. Our study of Judges continues next time on Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. And until then, let's keep studying the Word.