When God's Authority is Rejected

Romans 1:28 - "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper."

In Romans chapter 1 we see the immediate consequences that result from rejecting God. While it's true that the ultimate consequence is eternal separation from God, it's also true that there are immediate effects here and now for rejecting our Creator. In verse 19 of Romans 1 we're told that God has given human beings a knowledge of Him. He has put within us a conscience to distinguish right from wrong and a spirit that has a general knowledge of who He is. Verse 20 of the same chapter tells us that God has shown His invisible attributes, His eternal power and His divine nature through creation. The heavens declare the glory of God. This is a testimony about God that goes out into all the earth. It doesn't matter what language someone speaks, it doesn't matter what remote part of the world they live in, it doesn't matter if they've ever seen a Bible or heard a sermon, God has revealed Himself within us in our spirit and without us in creation.

However, when a society chooses to ignore their conscience and deny their Creator, when they choose to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, God gives them over to the lusts of their hearts, to impurity (Romans 1:24), He gives them over to degrading passions and homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27), and the definition of marriage is thrown away. He gives them over to a depraved mind, (Romans 1:28), which results in us doing things which are not proper and being filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, being gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents (Romans 1:28-31). And not only do they do these things that they shouldn't, they also fail to do the things that they should like, verse 31 says, they are without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving and unmerciful. And not only do they revel in their own sin, but they stand back and applaud the sinful lifestyles of others (Verse 32). When a culture, when a society, when a nation rejects God He takes His hands off and lets them reap the consequences of their actions.

This is a bleak picture, but it's not only true in our day. We can look back through history and see the truth of this passage worked out throughout time. And there's probably no clearer demonstration of this than back in the Old Testament book of Judges. The book of Judges is famous for its highlights, the stories of Gideon and Sampson and others who were used in miraculous ways by the Lord. But the reason these highlights stand out the way they do is because they’re surrounded by a bunch of low points in the history of Israel. The book of Judges spans hundreds of years, and what happens is you see over and over the decline of a society. The people start to understand that God is in charge, His Word matters, we need to obey it, and then they forget it in no time. And by the end of the chapter they're doing their own thing, doing whatever they want and getting themselves into trouble. And that's why we have these heroes, because every now and then when it gets dark enough in the hearts and lives of the people they cry out to God as God is disciplining them and God sends them a deliverer. So we have all these judges, these military leaders, who help them out of the hole. The problem is they keep getting back into the hole. If you read through the book of Judges in one sitting you realize that there's is a depressing cycle running through the book. The Lord used Joshua to bring His people into the promised land, and yet once they were there the people continuously rejected God and did things their own way. So God would raise up a pagan nation to discipline His people for their disobedience. The people would cry out to God and God would raise up a judge in order to deliver His people out of the hands of their enemies. And what would happen is, the people would cry out to God, He would send a deliverer, they would be saved, the judge would grow old and die and then the people would turn away from God again and go back into idolatry and other disobedience. That is the pattern of chapters 1-16 of the book of Judges.

However, in the final five chapters the focus seems to change entirely. Chapters 1-16 deal with oppression from the outside, chapters 17-21 deal with corruption on the inside. There is no mention of foreign armies in these last five chapters. Chapters 1-16 introduce us to men and women who were used by God to deliver Israel from the hand of her oppressors, in chapters 17-21 there are no more deliverers.

And this final section of Judges is bookended with this statement that is found in chapter 17 verse 6 and chapter in 21 verse 25 - "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." That's the commentary for this period, everyone just did it their own way, and when they did it their own way it was disastrous, it was chaos. You want some examples of this? Well, all we have to do is read through these chapters, because they're replete with examples of everyone doing what was right in their own eyes.

These final five chapters focus in on two stories. The first, in chapters 17 and 18, zooms in on one man and his family, and their decision to disregard God's written revelation, a choice which ended up having an effect on one entire tribe of Israel. And the second, in chapters 19-21, begins with a man but before the book ends the scope just keeps getting wider and wider until the whole nation comes into view, and we learn here how messed up the nation was morally. 

Chapter 17 begins this way - "Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.” So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." This is a rather odd story. Micah decides that when it comes to worship he can worship God however he wants. He sets up his own backyard religion, complete with pagan shrine, graven images, idols, an ephod, and he sets up one of his sons as his priest. This is only temporary of course, because later on in the chapter we find out that he invites a Levite into his home in order to serve as his priest. And what's the commentary? "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." So what's so bad about this? At least Micah is worshiping God, right? At least he's trying to be a religious person. I'm sure God knows his heart and accepts his worship, right? Wrong. It may seem narrow and harsh in our inclusive culture, but God had already set up some rules through Moses, and Micah, whether he realized it or not, was rebelling against God's written revelation.

We can think back to some things that God has said that are being broken in this chapter. Even in just thinking back to the ten commandments we realize that several of these were being broken. The worship of God was not something that the Lord allowed the people to figure out on their own. In Exodus chapter 20 verses 4-6 the Lord said - "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Micah thought that he was doing something really great by making these idols. And I'm sure that if you had asked him about it he would have said, "Oh, I'm not worshiping these idols. I'm worshiping God. I just thought that these idols would be a great visual aid to help me worship God better." Much like the children of Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, as God was giving Moses the ten commandments, Aaron and the people were busy making a golden calf and celebrating a feast to the Lord. They thought it might help them in worshiping God, but God said, "Don't do it."

We can think through some of the other commandments that are being broken in this chapter, such as commandment number 5, "Honor your father and mother." And number 8, "You shall not steal." Micah broke both of these at the same time when he stole from his mother.

God had already set up some rules about the place of worship. Back in Deuteronomy chapter 12 the Lord gave very specific commands concerning the place of worship. This passage talks about going to the place where the Lord chooses to set His name. That's where you're supposed to travel to offer your sacrifices and conduct your worship. But Micah decided that it was okay for him to set up his own worship center in his backyard.

The Lord had already set up some rules about the priesthood and the ephod back in Exodus 28. There were very exacting regulations on who was allowed to be a priest. Yeah, it had to be a Levite, but that alone wasn't enough. And yet look at Micah's rationale after he hires a Levite to be his own personal priest, "Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”" Micah thought that this was a great thing. And this is the commentary, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes." He thought that it was right, but in reality he was going against what God had said.

When we come into chapter 18 a group of Danites are going up to a certain city in order to kill its inhabitants and take possession of it. And when they come by the house of Micah, those who had gone out before to spy out the land said to the rest of the army, "Do you not know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do." The way they put that is so revealing. They basically laid out the facts, this is the way it is, these are the things that this guy has, now what do you think is the right thing to do? They turn aside and steal all of this that belongs to Micah. Why? Because in their minds this was the right thing to do. When Micah's priest began to question them about what they were doing, they turned to him and began to use more of their logic on him. They asked, "Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?" They ask, which do you think is better? And we're told in the next verse, "And the priests heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the household idols and the graven image, and went among the people." When people turn a deaf ear to God's instruction everyone just begins to live by their own logic. What's the commentary? "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

After the Danites left, Micah pursued them to try and get his stuff back. He goes out to try and get his gods back. Now, the fact that his gods couldn't defend themselves should've given him a clue that they weren't worth anything. But after he realizes that the Danites are too strong for him he returns home empty handed.

And after they settled into their territory we're told, "And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land." One whole tribe decided that they could set up worship however they wanted. They disregarded the Word of the Lord, they said, "This seems good to me." And then they did it. "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

Well, the rules of worship, these were specific things that the Lord had revealed. Yeah, they should have known them, but they didn't. Or if they did they simply chose to do things their own way rather than God's way. But when we come into chapter 19 we find them rebelling, not only against God's written revelation but also against the order of creation itself.

When we come to chapter 19 the scene opens with an unnamed Levite traveling to the town of Bethlehem in order to retrieve his concubine who played the harlot against him. And as he retrieves her and they begin to travel back together to the hill country of Ephraim the sun begins to set and they start to look for a place to stay the night. And the man was careful not to enter a town of foreigners, but wanted to make sure that they stayed among the people of Israel. So they traveled until they came to a town named Gibeah. And as they entered, a man of the town was coming in from the field, he saw them in the open square and he invited them to stay with him. And then we have flashback to the story of Lot in the book of Genesis. You'll remember that when angels came into the city of Sodom in order to warn Lot about the impending judgment, the men of the city stormed the door of his house and demanded that they be brought out to them. And that's what happens here in Gibeah. Only this time it's not the pagan nation of Sodom, these are Israelites. These Benjamites gather at the door of the house and demand that the man be brought out to them in order that they might have relations with him. And this time all the people at the door are not struck with blindness while the family is led out safely, as in the case of Lot. No, this time the man takes his concubine, casts her out to them and then goes to bed. And they abused her all night long and ended up killing her. So when the man got up in the morning, he took her body, cut it up into twelve pieces and sent it out to each of the tribes of Israel.

How could things get this bad? Well, remember, "In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." When they decided that they could determine right and wrong, when everyone did what was right in his own eyes, God gave them over to it. As Romans 1 says, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them...God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts." When a society rejects God and suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, God gives them over to it and allows them to reap the consequences.

Well, after seeing what happened the nation of Israel gathered together as one man and determined to punish the tribe of Benjamin for their wickedness. And they ended up wiping out almost the entire tribe, including women and children. Only 600 men were left. And then they had a problem, because they had all taken a vow not to give any of their daughters to Benjamin as a wife. So what could they do? Judges 21:16-23 - "Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. But we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” So they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.” And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them." Wow. So, the nation as a whole decides that each man of Benjamin should go up to this feast, pick out whichever girl he fancy, toss her over his shoulder and carry her home to be his wife. This is not God's design for marriage. And yet they're doing it with the consent of the entire nation. The men of Benjamin are mistreating these girls with the consent of the entire nation. And yet why did they find themselves in this situation in the first place? Because some of the men of Benjamin mistreated and wound up killing one woman. Was that wrong? Absolutely. And the eleven other tribes punished them for it. But then what? The eleven tribes instruct them to go up and carry of other women to be their wives. Is that wrong? Absolutely. But this time they have the majority approves. This is complete chaos. These chapters do not feel good. If you're looking to get a warm feeling inside from reading your Bible then stay away from the last five chapters of Judges. But what is the commentary on all of this? The last verse of the book of Judges, 21:25, rounds out this bad chapter of Israel's history by saying - "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

Does this sound contemporary? God has given us a standard but it seems like everyone just wants to make their own. And when people choose to reject God’s standard and create their own, society just falls apart. Proverbs 14:12 says - “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Any time we rebel against the Lords standards it leads ultimately to death. It may seem good to us, but it leads to death.

God gave His people so much instruction and they chose simply to ignore it. They decided they wanted to do things their own way. They decided that they knew what was best and it just kept going from bad to worse. "In those days there was no king in Israel; Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." But this isn't too far off from what we see around us today, is it? God has given us so much instruction, and we've decided that we have a better idea on how to live life. You want to talk about roads to God, the definition of marriage, the issue of abortion, you want to talk about a good work ethic, how to run your business, how to manage your family, how to respond to government? It's all right here. God has given us so much instruction. He has provided, as Second Peter 1 says, everything we need for life and godliness. But in so many areas our culture has decided that we have a better idea. The Bible is antiquated. In our advanced culture, we have a better way to do it. And in a culture that has lost its moorings, where everyone is doing what's right in their own eyes, where the standard of truth has been tossed out the window, we need to reaffirm our commitment to the Word of God.

Even when the rest of the world is using a skewed standard, we need to determine that our decisions are going to be based on what God says, because that is the ultimate standard.

Judges 21:25 - "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."