Another election....?
This morning I was reading the atrocities that happened in Israel
in the last chapters of Judges... Chapters 19-21
- gang rape and murder,
- complete disregard for personhood of,care of, marriage to, women
- dismemberment of the dead
- civil war and annihilation of almost the whole tribe of Israel - the Benjamites....
- murder of an entire clan and villiage just to kidnap their girls
to be 'brides' for members of the gang .....tribe who wasn't killed ....
- more care about an oath than kidnapping girls
and somehow....
because God's name was used
- He was 'consulted' in the middle of all of it
it seemed sort-of like
He somehow approved of it all... :P
.... NOT.
Interesting phrase that was repeated during this time period....
"In those days Israel had no king." Judges 17:6, 19:1, 21:25
and in 2 of the quotes the statement was followed by an observation
'and everyone did what was right in their own eyes'... or 'as they saw fit'....
No King
No leader
No one to set the bar for what was right or wrong
and everyone
didn't choose what was wrong in their own eyes
didn't choose what was 'UNFIT'
They didn't overtly choose evil
or
a dastardly conspiracy to wreck society
and wreak havoc
They were just
'good hearted' people doing
bad things...
very bad things
.....and they actually thought these were
the best possibilities..... for that situation...
because there was no king....?
Hmm...
sooooo wrong.....
No king.
and God had said He would be their King.
He would give them what they needed
He would be their moral compass....
and somehow
through disobedience
through looking at the corrupt immoral behaviour of the nations
they were to displace
it went
horribly
sideways...
.....I look at my society
and I wonder.....
where are we on this continuum?
AND
We have a 'king'
but yet....
it's not going so well... :(
oh yeah...
I haven't read Kings for a while
but I seem to remember
for Israel
a King
didn't 'fix' their problems.
Even a 'good' king
just slowed down the
creep, slide, free fall
into moral decay.
doing what everyone thought was
a good idea..... :P
And so...
Jesus came
to put his Laws
the standards of His Kingdom
into my heart
He came
to radically change my
'operating system'
to re-become the Core
that He designed me to have....
....all the way back in the Garden.
Christ in me....
the hope of Glory Colossians 1:27
The only possibility for change
No set of rules
Not another 'election' or new government
No external controls
will ever be enough.
to make me a new creation...
Lord, Jesus
Thank You for Your Spirit
who
lives in me
I NEED You to
radically replace my
heart of rebellion
and destruction
because if You don't...
Somehow I fool myself into thinking
I know what is right....
in my own eyes.... :P
You know I need
Your Life
in me
I acknowledge that.
You want to give me what I need.
Your Spirit's
full reign...
- Your Kingdom
in me.
Today
right
in Your eyes....
Yeah.
PJ