CURSED BY LAWLESSNESS
"Why is this come
to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"
Judges 21:3
This is a very sad chapter, and gives us the last of the
illustrations of the conditions obtaining when there was no king in Israel, and
I’m not talking about Trump or any other earthly head. We have thrown out God
from all portions of our government and country. We have allowed false religion
to enter in His place. As we have seen,
more than once the writer drew attention to the fact, and, so traced the LAWLESSNESS
TO THE LACK OF AUTHORITY. The truth is that Israel had lost its living relation
to its one and only King. Uninstructed zeal, even in the cause of
righteousness, often goes beyond its proper limits, and does harm rather than
good. The terrible slaughter of the men of Benjamin continued until not more
than six hundred of the tribe was left. Then another of those sudden
revulsions which characterize the action of inflamed peoples occurred. Israel
is seen suddenly filled with pity for the tribe so nearly exterminated. They
realized that the unity and completeness of the family of Jacob was threatened
by their action. The sad part of the story is that, to remedy the threatened
evil, they resorted to means which were utterly unrighteous. Wives were
provided for the men of Benjamin by further unholy slaughter at Jabesh-Gilead,
and by the vilest iniquity at Shiloh. It is impossible to read these last five
chapters without realizing how perilous is THE CONDITION OF ANY PEOPLE WHO ACT
WITHOUT SOME CLEARLY DEFINED PRINCIPLE. Passion moves to high purpose only as
it is governed by principle. If it lacks that, at one moment it will march in
heroic determination to establish high ideals; and purity of life; and almost
immediately, by some change of mood, will act in brutality and all manner of
evil. HUMANITY WITHOUT ITS ONE KING IS CURSED BY LAWLESSNESS.
No comments:
Post a Comment