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13 June 2008
Word on the Web
Judges 21 v 15-24
The elders of the Israelites said, "We cannot allow our daughters to marry the men of Benjamin, because we swore, 'Anyone who gives a wife to a man of Benjamin is cursed.' We have an idea! There is a yearly festival of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of the city of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of the city of Lebonah."
So the elders told the men of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards and take one of the young Shiloh women and return to the land of Benjamin. If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain, we will say: 'Be kind to the men of Benjamin. We did not get wives for Benjamin during the war, and you did not give the women to the men from Benjamin. So you are not guilty.' "
So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them, took her away, and married her. Then they went back to the land God had given them and rebuilt their cities and lived there.
Then the Israelites went home to their own tribes and family groups, to their own land that God had given them.
Action replay! Some people never learn from their own mistakes. The massacre at Jabesh Gilead hadn't provided enough women for the Benjaminites, so the Israelites found another way of getting round their oaths. This was state-sponsored mass kidnap - the unleashing of terror during the festival to the Lord. What did they think God would make of this abuse of those who had come to worship him?
Jesus reserved his most severe criticism for hypocrisy - he accused the Pharisees of breaking the law of God for the sake of complying with their vows. James warns Christians to avoid making solemn oaths, urging them instead just to be truthful and modest in their promises. A recurring theme of the Old Testament prophets was summed up by Isaiah: "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
As we reach the end of this ghastly story, a fitting climax to a dreadful book which illustrates what humankind - even those who try to do what they think is right - will tend towards when it abandons the law of God, let us learn its key lesson.
God isn't impressed by fine words or ceremonies or by our own home-made morality. He wants us to have clean hearts, and he offers to wash us from the inside out, so that his Holy Spirit can live in us and guide us into all truth.
"It is the cry of my heart to follow Jesus all of the days of my life." Holy Spirit, teach me to live each day in a way which is honouring and pleasing to you, and guide me into all truth. Amen
Written by James Archer
Word on the Web
Judges 21 v 15-24
The elders of the Israelites said, "We cannot allow our daughters to marry the men of Benjamin, because we swore, 'Anyone who gives a wife to a man of Benjamin is cursed.' We have an idea! There is a yearly festival of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of the city of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of the city of Lebonah."
So the elders told the men of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards and take one of the young Shiloh women and return to the land of Benjamin. If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain, we will say: 'Be kind to the men of Benjamin. We did not get wives for Benjamin during the war, and you did not give the women to the men from Benjamin. So you are not guilty.' "
So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them, took her away, and married her. Then they went back to the land God had given them and rebuilt their cities and lived there.
Then the Israelites went home to their own tribes and family groups, to their own land that God had given them.
Action replay! Some people never learn from their own mistakes. The massacre at Jabesh Gilead hadn't provided enough women for the Benjaminites, so the Israelites found another way of getting round their oaths. This was state-sponsored mass kidnap - the unleashing of terror during the festival to the Lord. What did they think God would make of this abuse of those who had come to worship him?
Jesus reserved his most severe criticism for hypocrisy - he accused the Pharisees of breaking the law of God for the sake of complying with their vows. James warns Christians to avoid making solemn oaths, urging them instead just to be truthful and modest in their promises. A recurring theme of the Old Testament prophets was summed up by Isaiah: "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
As we reach the end of this ghastly story, a fitting climax to a dreadful book which illustrates what humankind - even those who try to do what they think is right - will tend towards when it abandons the law of God, let us learn its key lesson.
God isn't impressed by fine words or ceremonies or by our own home-made morality. He wants us to have clean hearts, and he offers to wash us from the inside out, so that his Holy Spirit can live in us and guide us into all truth.
"It is the cry of my heart to follow Jesus all of the days of my life." Holy Spirit, teach me to live each day in a way which is honouring and pleasing to you, and guide me into all truth. Amen
Written by James Archer
