SYNOPSIS: Our culture increasingly rejects transcendent authority. That’s why people do whatever seems right in their own eyes. Even Christians have unthinkingly drifted into life without a controlling moral authority. They are more focused on what they prefer, insisting on their rights, and seeking what is best for them rather than discerning and doing God’s will! But “doing what seems right in your own eyes” never results in a good outcome. It might sound philosophically enlightened, but in the end, it is disastrous. Whenever there is no “king in Israel”—no transcendent authority—personal piety will decline, social chaos will rise, and spiritual anarchy will result. Now we could rage against the cultural forces that reject God in America, and insist that we get back to the Bible as the governing standard for our society, but perhaps the best cure for the loss of personal piety, social chaos, and spiritual anarchy in America would be for you and me to make sure that God’s Word is king in our lives.
The Journey // Focus: Judges 17:1-3
There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” His mother replied, “The Lord bless you for admitting it,” He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” … In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
If we were to hold a vote on the weirdest stories in the Bible, this one would be in my top ten—maybe even in my top five. You read this story and it leaves you scratching your head. A man named Micah has admitted to his mother that he stole money from her, she praises the Lord for his “honesty” in returning the loot, then turns around and celebrates by commissioning a family idol and declaring that it is in honor of her wonderful son and of the Lord.
What…wait…what? She somehow twists stealing into honoring God by carving an image and casting an idol! What in the name of sanity is going on here? Simple explanation: this is spiritual anarchy, plain and simple. Anarchy is defined as “a state of disorder due to non-recognition of authority.” That is exactly what Judges 17: 6 describes:
In those days Israel had no king, so everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Israel had no controlling moral authority—or at least they chose not to follow a controlling moral authority. They had the law of God, which should have been their constant guide, but over time, they moved God to the margins, ignored his word, and devolved into spiritual anarchy. As a result, a lot of really weird stuff happened in a nation that God had called to be his own holy people; stuff that the people actually justified as acceptable and pleasing to God.
Twisted, right? Yet is it all that different than what we see today among people who claim to follow God? When the rate of divorce is as high among so-called Christians as it is in the secular society, you have spiritual anarchy. When you have so-called Christians celebrating lifestyles and philosophies that are clearly opposed to what they are called to in God’s Word, you have spiritual anarchy. When you have so-called Christians whose way of living is clearly rooted in this present world and not in the kingdom to come—“believers” who are addicted to money, pleasure, and power—there you have spiritual anarchy. Where you find spiritual communities who make their worship about what they prefer, who employ entertainment techniques to attract new members, who move the Holy Spirit to the edge of their services in order to employ more relevant styles, who focus more on a cool café in the lobby rather than the call to seek God at the altar, there you find an inexorable rush toward spiritual anarchy—a state of disorder due to non-recognition of authority.
In our day, too many, believers and unbelievers alike, have set aside any controlling moral authority, so they do whatever seems right in their own eyes. The problem with that kind of personal and societal philosophy is that it never results in a good outcome. It might sound like it’s a fair and enlightened way to do life—as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else—but it always hurts somebody else. Whenever there is no “king in Israel”—no controlling moral authority—personal piety will decline and social chaos will rise, which is exactly what we’re witnessing in our society today.
It would be easy for me at this point to rage against any number of cultural forces that are presently at work in America, and insist that we get back to the Bible as the standard by which our society must be governed. And of course, I would be right and you would agree, but perhaps the best cure for the social chaos and loss of piety in America would be for you and me to make sure that God’s Word is king in our lives on a personal basis.
Great post. Thanks for sharing!