Of fools and half wits - 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 20:48,

"The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the
sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the
towns they came across they set on fire."

The other tribes of Israel turned on the tribe of Benjamin and
destroyed it almost completely. I read in the census of Benjamin just
prior to their crossing the Jordan, they had 45,600 men that were
twenty years old or older, Numbers 26:41. In the aftermath of the
murder of a Levite's concubine by homosexuals in Gibeah, one of the
towns of Benjamin, Israel slaughtered all the men, women, children,
animals of Benjamin - everyone save 600 men who fled into the desert.

It started off with the rape and murder of a Levite's concubine in
Gibeah. When the tribe of Gibeah refused to hand over the culprits to
the whole nation for justice, and decided to defend them, they wound
up being slaughtered as a tribe. Certainly a poor and foolish decision
on their part. Only 600 were left.

It really is an astonishing account. Sin by a few wicked homosexual
men in Gibeah ultimately resulted in the deaths of probably 250,000
boys and girls, men and women. All their towns destroyed by fire, even
the animals all put to death. All these other folks who knew nothing
of what happened on that fateful night in Gibeah when these men
gathered at an old man's door to have their way with a man traveling
through with his concubine and his servant.

What happened in Gibeah, in Benjamin? These homosexuals felt entitled
to rape a man, rape a woman to the point she died. How did it all
start? One thing is certain, they had turned their backs on God. They
had rejected what the Lord had commanded and took upon themselves
whatever they felt entitled to. Drifting from God brought them right
into homosexuality and an aggressive predatory disposition.

When these men started turning up with the perverted desires of
homosexuality (having rejected God and his law) did they demand
acceptance in Gibeah, in the tribe of Benjamin? When the first ones
came forward to demand a change in the cultural acceptance of
homosexuality, how did they approach the rest of the folks? Apparently
Benjamin acquiesced to this newly "evolving" position from the one
they held when Joshua was still among them. If so, that acquiescence
eventually turned into a felt need to protect these predatory perverts
as they refused to hand them over to the other tribes of Israel for
justice. They must have felt it was their moral duty to protect this
"alternative lifestyle." I wonder if Benjamin's desire to protect
these murderous perverts was based in a misguided moral imperative to
protect the inclusion of all "sexual orientations" in the society of
the day.

What these Benjamites learned the hard way was that perversion always
spirals downward, and the drift into homosexuality led to the
acceptance of murder and other violations of innocents. There is
possibly a lesson here for the fools and half-wits of our society, a
cautionary lesson, that abandoning God in favor of what he finds as an
abomination will ultimately bring consequences for all kinds of
people, including those not even involved with the atrocities that
perversion inevitably brings. Just ask the folks of Benjamin of that
day what they now think of their "broad-minded" outlook.

One thing is certain, when sin is embraced in a society, all people
suffer, including everyone sitting in their pews on Sunday morning...
everybody.

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

Will that ant move that rubber tree plant? - 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 20:18-28,

"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.'... The Benjamites came out of Gibeah
and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that
day... 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.'... This time, when the Benjamites came out from
Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand
Israelites, all of them armed with swords... Then the Israelites, all
the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the
Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings to 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.'"

When the depravity of the tribe of Benjamin in Gibeah was reported to
the nation of Israel as a whole, they gathered against Benjamin to
"give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel." At
first they asked the tribe of Benjamin to hand over the men of Gibeah
who had raped and murdered a Levite's concubine. When Benjamin refused
they assembled together to fight against the entire tribe.

Three times the Israelites sought out the Lord prior to attacking the
Benjamites. They failed on the first two attempts and suffered losses.
Finally the nation achieved the victory on the third campaign. Why did
the tribes of Israel fail on the first two attempts? They got God's
direction on all three occasions. Why did the first two fail?

This is a question that goes unanswered in the text and it appears to
me there could be several answers to it. Possibly the Lord wanted to
show Israel that in spite of the other tribes superior strength to
Benjamin, a four hundred thousand to twenty six thousand troop
difference, it wouldn't be their own strength that would eventually
bring victory. The tribes lost forty thousand troops in the first two
incursions. More than all Benjamin was able to field. Possibly a
lesson such as what Gideon would later learn. Maybe the Lord was
testing their faith in him. The Lord gave them direction to go on all
three campaigns, but held back the victory for only the last. How many
times would Israel come back to the Lord to seek his direction? The
whole national decline in depravity was a result of Israel not seeking
the Lord's direction, possibly this was a practical lesson for them.

I'm sure there are many possibilities as to why the tribes experienced
defeat twice before achieving the victory over Benjamin. What catches
my eye today is that just because something fails the first time or
two, even after looking to the Lord for direction does not necessarily
mean its over. Victory may come at the next attempt, on the next
occasion. We are told the Lord tests our faith, he may also be doing
other things we will never be aware of. In any event, from this
account I learn that just because I face failure, it is no indication
that it isn't the Lord's will, that it is not what the Lord wants from
me.

Just something to think about when the occasion should rise...

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

Where there is no revelation, it all goes to hell in a handbag - 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 19:30,

"Everyone who saw it said, 'Such a thing has never been seen or done,
not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it!
Consider it! Tell us what to do!'"

This was the reaction among the Jews when the "master" of a raped and
murdered concubine cut her up in twelve pieces and sent them "into all
the areas of Israel."

This sordid account in Judges 19 is sickening. It seems as though
every character in the narrative represents the depravity the nation
had sunk to just following the passing of Joshua, with the possible
exception of the Levite's servant, his father-in-law and his two
donkeys. It is difficult not to face the account with disgust, nausea
and just simple sadness.

What catches my eye is that the Israelites claimed to know their
history, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day
the Israelites came up out of Egypt." They knew all about the bad
stuff. Did they know about the accounts of Moses, about the tabernacle
worship, about the law given Moses from God, about God's revelation of
himself? I think they did, they rejected it and determined for
themselves to embrace the idol worship and the ways of the wicked
inhabitants of the land they were given from God.

They rejected God's revelation of himself and displaced it with the
mainstream culture of the day, what it taught, what it's expectations
were, what it claimed was "moral" and "good" and "just" and "fair".
The Israelites exchanged what God found to be an abomination for the
"evolving" perspectives and diversity of opinion the culture and
society felt need be embraced.

Just like our day!

Here is what Proverbs says happens in this context, "Where there is no
revelation [the Bible], the people cast off restraint; but blessed is
he who keeps the law."

Had the Israelites rejected the mainstream culture of the day and what
it taught, if they had kept to the Scriptures, if they had remained
faithful to their God, the depravity evidenced in Israel during these
days would never have taken place. Hopefully the church today will
reflect a different outlook, keep its nose in the Bible and reject the
passing fancies of the pop culture of our day.

While many churches are filled to the walls with
"low-information-church-goers", embracing homosexuality, same sex
marriage, abortion and all the world deems important, I nevertheless
remain very optimistic and positive about the true church. The true
church is filled with God's Spirit, the true church has a hunger and
thirst for righteousness, the true church has a passion for the Lord
who loves them so much and has blessed them with the riches of his
grace. The true church seeks her Savior, what he has to say in the
Scriptures, and desires to partner with him, hand-in-hand, to
accomplish the building of his kingdom.

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

Emulating Jesus Christ: Love - 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 19:11-12,

"When they were near Jebus [Jerusalem] and the day was almost gone,
the servant said to his master, 'Come, let's stop at this city of the
Jebusites and spend the night.' His master replied, 'No. We won't go
into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites.'"

The master in this account was a Levite who had an unfaithful
concubine that deserted him and went to her father's house, where he
went to retrieve her after four months. The apparent joy of this
father is evident to me with the way he regaled the Levite when he
arrived, extending his stay almost a week. I can't help but think this
conveys how excited this concubine's father was that the Levite came
to take her away, out of his home. I could be wrong about that... just
musing here.

The father lived in Bethlehem and on the trip back to the Levite's
home in a "remote area in the hill country of Ephraim" is where this
suggestion by the Levite's servant took place.

This Levite rejected the suggestion of the servant. He was not going
to spend the night in the non-Israelite city of Jerusalem. (This
episode took place prior to Israel taking Jerusalem and was inhabited
by the Jebusites.) Far better to take their chances of getting to a
Jewish town, a town with "God's people" than spend the night in a town
of non-Jews!

After arriving in the Benjamite town of Gibeah, what did they find
there? A town filled with inhospitable people who refused to take them
in for the night, save one old man. This town of Benjamin was filled
with "wicked men", predatory homosexuals that demanded the old man
send the Levite out so they could have their way with them. Apparently
these men missed the memo that homosexuality is a perfectly legitimate
and normal lifestyle that doesn't harm anyone... In any event, these
wonderful specimens of humanity raped the Levite's concubine all
night, murdering her.

The story does not place the Levite and the old man in much better
light either. They offered up the concubine and the old man's virgin
daughter all too willingly in an effort to save their own skins.

As I think of the servant's suggestion that they spend the night in
non-Jewish Jerusalem, possibly the Levite should have listened to him.
Instead, he opted for the comfort and safety of his own people, "God's
people."

Do you ever wonder why it is that the people of the world at times
seem more inviting, more comforting, more "safe" to be around than
those who claim to be God's people? I don't know about you, but it
seems the biggest challenges I have faced in my life have been with
those who would represent themselves as "God's people". In every case,
and it seems there have been many, there has always been a common
theme - a lack of love.

Just because some think of themselves as God's people, it doesn't
necessarily make it so. The one determining factor of whether or not a
people really are God's is love, "This is how we know who the children
of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not
do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not
love his brother." 1 John 3:10. It is just that simple.

I have been around those who are truly God's people and there is no
better place to be. One of the many wonderful blessings God provides
us are sisters and brothers who emulate the qualities of Jesus Christ
himself. These are the ones who truly love. These are the ones who are
a joy and blessing to be around. Better than the people of this world
and better than those who claim to be God's yet lack the
authenticating love that evidences such, the true people of God - the
ones who truly love are wonderful.

Why are they so wonderful? Filled with God's Holy Spirit, they begin
to manifest God's very nature, exposing the beauty of God with their
own lives. They don't make themselves wonderful, God makes them
wonderful. I am reminded of Paul's comment, "For those God foreknew he
also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:29. God himself
conforms us to the beauty of Jesus' own character and nature. No
wonder God's people are such a joy to be around!

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

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

"Who you gonna call?" Reliance upon 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: 9-10,

"Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good.
Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take
it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and
a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks
nothing whatever."

Here is the report of the five spies from Dan when they returned after
spying on Laish. They had been sent out to find a land to call their
own among the inheritance of the other tribes of Israel. After being
assured the city was defenseless and had no peoples nearby to help
defend them and that the land was prosperous, six hundred Danites were
dispatched to take the city, which they did.

Although I see the five spies present the point to their tribe, "that
God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever", I
can't help but notice their pursuit of God was through a carved image,
an ephod, other household gods and a cast idol... all sham religious
accouterments of Micah and the sham Levite of a priest that Micah had
installed in his household.

Perhaps I have become somewhat jaded as I have spent time in the book
of Judges, but I also have to note that these Danites picked a land
where they would not have to rely on God for their prosperity - they
were simply going to take the prosperity produced by the hard work of
others. I also note the Danites picked a land where they would not
need God's help in the conquering of it, as they made sure it was a
helpless place. No need to rely on God, in fact no need for God at
all, other than to provide lip-service to.

Previously in the book, I see that when God does get involved, as in
the account of Gideon (perhaps chronologically later than this account
of the Danites) reliance upon God is a key dimension as others faced
their challenges in the promised land. God wanted the Israelites to
know he was the One who could provide the victory, he was the One who
fulfilled the promises he had made to Abraham, he is the One who the
nation can look to for help in danger, he is the One who can bring
prosperity to the land. Such is not going to be the case with these
Danites. They are missing out entirely on the lessons learned by other
Israellites, lessons often learned with a short shelf-life.

Reliance upon God is a lesson he has for us all. Paul speaks to this
in a wonderful passage in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, "We do not want you to
be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the
province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability
to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we
felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely
on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from
such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our
hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your
prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious
favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

God wants us to rely on him. He wants us anxious for nothing but to
place our faith and complete confidence in him, that when we face
challenges, when we face uncertainty and when we all face the
inevitability of our own passing, he can be relied on to provide for
us and will bring us safely into his wonderful family, without any
cause for concern.

I am reminded that whatever challenges I face, we all face, we need to
rely on our God and be assured that in his great love for us, he will
be there and bring about the very best good for each of us, "And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he
predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those
he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response
to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare
his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along
with him, graciously give us all things?"

How wonderful is that?!

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

What "good" are we seeking from the Lord? - 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 17:13,

"Now I [Micah] know that the Lord will be good to me, since this
Levite has become my priest."

A misguided man, Micah felt his hiring of a Levite to be his personal
priest would bring him "good" from the Lord. Only Aaron's descendants
(Aaron was a Levite himself) were acceptable as priests to serve
before God. This wandering Levite Micah hired was not a priest, else
he would have been referred to as such, rather than as a Levite.

What was the nature of this "good" Micah was seeking from the Lord?

What most of us, those who have embraced the Lord in faith, seek from
the Lord, is a standing of righteousness before him. This is the
burning passion and the great need we all have. If we leave this life
without a righteous standing before the Lord, we face the inevitable
judgment of that lake of burning sulfur we read about in Revelation 20
and 21. If we have a standing of righteous before him we are enabled
to join the Lord's kingdom, his family, to have a place at his table.
We will have an eternity to enjoy the Lord, to live our lives to the
fullest in a manner that reflects the purposefulness and meaning for
our lives our Creator has always intended and designed us for. All
this he gives us, guaranteed in a righteous standing before him
provided us if we embrace Jesus Christ in faith.

It is my personal persuasion that this is not the "good" Micah sought
from the Lord. What we know of Micah is that he was not a savory
individual. He was a thief and a deceiver. The kind of thief that felt
no compunction about stealing from his own mother and hiding her
silver. It was only the perceived threat of a curse upon himself that
he returned what he had stolen from her. I wonder what else he had
been stealing from the neighbors, business associates, etc.?

I think it more likely that what Micah sought from the Lord in hiring
a "priest" was something more along the lines of what kinds of goodies
the Lord might give him in this life. I could be wrong about this
because we really don't know much of Micah's background. What is
provided us does not place him in good light. I can't help but think
that Micah was busy looking for what he could get for himself in the
way of riches and pleasures in this life and attempting to tap the
Lord to acquire it was a natural move on his part.

I think we have all been exposed to those who emulate Micah today and
provide for us a sense of what Micah was all about. Today in the
church, we have those whose primary interests in the Lord appear to be
what the Lord might provide them. Things such as (putting it politely)
"financial security", a nice sounding phrase to mask avarice. Possibly
a congregation full of church-goers that represent "business contacts"
or a new source of dating contacts for the lonely. I'm quite sure you
can add your own observations to the list of those who appear to "seek
the Lord" for what might benefit them in a self-serving way in this
life. These folks are just as misguided as Micah was.

The Lord loves us and sent his Son to die a miserable death to pay for
our sins. He offers us a righteous standing with him through faith
that makes it possible for us to enter into his kingdom, his family,
have a place at his table. I am quite certain he desires to bless us,
not only in the life to come, the resurrection, but this life as well.
However, it is when we displace the Lord for those goodies in our
desires in seeking him, we find ourselves as misguided as Micah.

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