Archive for month: August, 2023

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 17:1-13.  Let’s go!

Judges 17:1-6 (NIV)
1  Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
2  said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse–I have that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The LORD bless you, my son!”
3  When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you.”
4  So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the idol. And they were put in Micah’s house.
5  Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.
6  In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

On verses 1-6:  Verses 1-5 describe a man called Micah and his mother and how spiritually confused they were.  Here Micah’s mother says that she is consecrating silver to the LORD by making idols with the silver? (v3)  Apparently at this time in Israel’s history, spiritual confusion and religious syncretism were rampant throughout Israel (v6) and the worship of the LORD as the LORD had commanded has all but disappeared.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 16:1-17.  Let’s go!

Judges 16:1-3 (NIV)
1  One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.
2  The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”
3  But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

On verses 1-3:  It’s a sad situation when a person as obviously talented as Samson has no heart for God or God’s purposes, is so calloused to the immorality of his actions and thinks he can get away with anything just by his own strength and intimidation.  Such a leader will not last. They never do.  Samson picking up and destroying Gaza’s city gates was not so much impressive as it was reflective of Samson’s own moral self-destruction and the lack of boundaries in Samson’s own life.  As Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 15:1-20.  Let’s go!

Judges 15:1-3 (NIV)
1  Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.
2  “I was so sure you thoroughly hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your friend. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”
3  Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.”

On verses 1-3:  Samson’s sense of justice is warped.  First, he thinks that he can abandon his bride on their wedding day and can come back a season later to pick her up again without much issue.  Then, when the bride’s father tells Samson that he gave her away to someone else, Samson treats this as a reason to exact revenge on all the Philistines generally.  But whose fault was it that Samson lost his wife?  No one but Samson’s alone.  When a person lives with themselves at the centre, their sense of what is just and right will be warped.