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Lesson Passages:Lesson Passages:

Judges 17: 1-8, 12-13; 18: 30-31Judges 17: 1-8, 12-13; 18: 30-31

Background:Background:

Judges 17 – 21 (end)Judges 17 – 21 (end)

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:4 What commandments were broken (5+ occasions), and by whom?“Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, ‘This is no sin’ — he is in the same class as a destroyer.” – Proverbs 28:24

What kind of spiritual leader was Mom, to her family?How responsible should parents be for their family’s spiritual lives? When should this start? How about adolescents?:6 Prov.12:15, 3:7, 21:2 - A fool follows his own deceived sin nature.

Disintegration of a Family (Judges 17:1-6)

:13 Did Micah want to do God’s will, or to ‘improve’ his own life? What idols do we encounter, and how do they ‘work’ to deceive us? Is God pleased by our actions (even those that seem ‘good’), if

they’re not His will (Desires)? How do His desires differ from man’s? A priest (Levite) with no relationship with God is dangerous. Why? Do ‘Churchians’ ever “pay” ministers for “spiritual insurance”? Can ministers (or we) trade off God’s callings for life- or job-stability?

Corruption of a High Calling (Judg. 17:7-8,12-13)

17 And the five men who had spied out the land…entered the house & took the graven image, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image, while the priest stood by the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18 And when these went into Micah’s house and took the objects, the priest said to them, What are you doing? 19 And they said to him, Be still, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel? 20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people….27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and feeling secure, and they smote them with the sword and burned the city.… 30 And the Danites set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set them up Micah’s graven image which he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. Jesus taught His generation that the Kingdom was not to be taken by force, but that God’s Spirit is given to those who repent & follow God!

Degeneration of an Entire Society (Judg. 18:30-31)

5 Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature’s attitude. But those who live by the spiritual nature have the spiritual nature’s attitude. 6 The corrupt nature’s attitude leads to death. But the spiritual nature’s attitude leads to life and peace. 7 This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God’s standards because it can’t. 8 Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can’t please God. 9 But if God’s Spirit lives in you, you are under the control of your spiritual nature, not your corrupt nature. Whoever doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ doesn’t belong to him. 10 However, if Christ lives in you, your bodies are dead because of sin, but your spirits are alive because you have God’s approval. 11 Does the Spirit of the one who brought Jesus back to life live in you? Then the one who brought Christ back to life will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.

Galatians 5: 16 Let me explain further. Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants! (Also see Galatians 6:8, Matthew 26:41)

The Spirit’s Deliverance from the ‘Life of Death’ (Rom. 8: 5-11) [God’s Word]

More mayhem followed, in Judges 19-21.

A Levite’s concubine was raped and killed by men seeking perverted sex; he dismembered her and sent her body parts to the rest of Israel. Civil war was declared on the tribe of Benjamin, and many Israelites were killed.

“In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.” – Judges 21:25

Closing Statements in the ‘Trials’ of the Book of Judges

(Backups)

• For everything created by God is good, and nothing should be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving. -- 1 Timothy 4:4

• Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light – James 1:17

• About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” – 1 Corinthians 8:4

• For everything that belongs to the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle — is not from the Father, but is from the world. -- 1 John 2:16

• But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. – 1 Timothy 6:9

• Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be). – 1 John 5:21

• So put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. – Col 3:5

Some of God’s Words On Idols