I am confounded by the love of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

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 18:24,

"You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do
I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'"

Here is Micah's complaint after the six hundred fighting men of Dan
relieved him of his idols and his hired "priest". Micah and his men
confronted the Danites over bogus idols Micah himself had made and the
Danites thieved.

The whole of it is just a sad scene. The Danites felt it important to
have some kind of access to the divine as they pursued their goal of
attacking the helpless people of Laish. Apparently they felt it just
fine if that access was gained through felony grand theft. That is bad
enough, but the scene of Micah decrying the theft of his stuff is
pretty sad when it is considered that he made these "gods" himself, as
if they might hold any significant religious value. I'm sure there was
value in the silver and whatever else was used in the making of these
idols, but to think one can make up his own "gods" and that these
"gods" hold any significance in the outcomes of things certainly
demonstrates a deplorable low Micah and his fellow countrymen had sunk
to.

These were God's people! People who had been given genuine access to
God through a priesthood God himself had established! God had provided
them all the access to himself the Israelites needed. What was it
about God's provision that it was not good enough for these folks?
What was it about the tabernacle worship, the Aaronic priesthood, the
law, the special access this nation had to the Creator of the universe
that inspired so little in these people that they felt they needed to
"roll their own" when it came to access to the divine?

I'm afraid this kind of drift is not unique to Israel. All mankind has
gone astray and rejects the things of God in favor of those of his own
making. All the world's religions, all the cults and -isms within and
without the church all point to a drift people take from God himself.
Such is the deplorable condition of the human heart.

How is it God loves us, given this disposition to turn from him in
favor of our own devices? It really is an astonishing thought to think
that God so loves us he sent his Son to die that miserable death on
that cross to make a way for us into his family. I accept it, I
embrace it, I celebrate it, but I certainly do not understand it.

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