The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 20:18, 23, 28,
"The Lord replied...", "The Lord answered...", "The Lord responded..."
In both Judges 17:6 and 21:25 we read, "In those days Israel had no
king; everyone did as he saw fit." Using those two verses as bookends,
the last four chapters in Judges contain nothing of God save the three
statements referred to above. (There is potentially a fourth in Judges
18:5-6, but I find it questionable as an oddball Levite hired himself
out as a "priest" and claimed to have had word from God.) What we do
find between the two comments of "everyone did as he saw fit" is
theft, idol worship, rejection of the appropriate worship of God in
favor of "rolling your own", total apostasy, genocide against "a
peaceful and unsuspecting people" in Laish, adultery, homosexuality,
offering helpless young women to escape danger and the total disregard
of the welfare of a helpless victim of a gang rape, murder, the
destruction of one of the tribes of Israel and a sleazy maneuver that
provided for the abduction of young girls to avoid the consequences of
failure to fulfill an oath. This is what happens when a people do as
they see fit. And, don't be deceived, it isn't just Israel, it is all
mankind. The Gentile peoples in Palestine at the time were no better.
However, in the three verses above I find something remarkable. In the
midst of depravity, when Israel sought God, they found him. When they
sought his direction, he responded. Right in the midst of this
horrific depravity God answered when they called. Three times (not
counting the occasion in Judges 18:27) we see men inquiring the Lord,
and in one of them weeping before the Lord: Judges 20:18, "The
Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, 'Who of
us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?' The Lord replied,
'Judah shall go first.'" Judges 20:23, "The Israelites went up and
wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord.
They said, 'Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our
brothers?' The Lord answered, 'Go up against them.'" Judges 20:27-28,
"The Israelites inquired of the Lord... They asked, 'Shall we go up
again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?' The Lord
responded, 'Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.'"
What do I make of this? Did the Israelites deserve to hear from God,
to have him answer them during this dark time of moral and spiritual
decay and depravity? Yet when they called out to God from the
darkness, there was God, he responded. What we find in God is mercy,
kindness and compassion such that the most wicked can call out to him.
And, although God is equally terrifying in his judgment, he
responds... for now.
Why is this? In Romans 3:23-26 we read, "All have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as
a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the
sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his
justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who
justifies those who have faith in Jesus." Here is why it is possible
for wicked men to call out to God and find him: Jesus Christ has paid
the penalty for the sins of all mankind for all time. In the days of
the judges it was something in the future looked forward to in the
court of God, and in our day it is something we look back to.
I am not saying these men were "saved" because they looked to God for
direction, but when they did, God responded. Certainly the Lord used
the occasions and events of these dark days in Israel's history to
accomplish his purposes. Additionally, what I find in the Scriptures
is that due to God's love for sinful man and the atonement of Jesus
Christ on that miserable cross due to that love, when wicked men look
to God, they find him.
How thankful I am that the worst of sinners can call out to God and
find him. Were that not so, there would be no hope for me!
As we all are aware, there is a point in time when it will no longer
be so. There will remain only a dreaded certainty of that fiery lake
of burning sulfur for all who have not availed themselves of God's
invitation in the gospel. I am reminded of what Paul told his
listeners at the Areopagus in Acts 17:30-31, "In the past God
overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere
to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with
justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all
men by raising him from the dead."
Now is the time the wicked can call out to God and find him. Tomorrow
may lie beyond this opportunity.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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