The Enemy Will Take Advantage Of Those Who Are Careless And Idle

From: September 13 – 19, 2011

TOPIC: “The Enemy Will Take Advantage Of Those Who Are Careless And Idle” Judges 18:7-10 When disorder reigns in our lives there are only great losses. In this modern society where we live there is great disorder. Everyone does what they want and walk at ease. Everything is neglected; the small children are left in the care of any person. At the State University the students want to rule, although this is the place where they receive the service to study and become Professionals. They are taught there, but not satisfied with that, they also want to manage and govern the university. The children tell the parents how things must be done. Regrettable, this is how the world is, every man lives as he pleases and at ease, no matter the price they have to pay. Everything moves based on what people think. We know that what we think is not always ideal or convenient. Let us see what happened in Israel in a time where disorder also reigned. It was after the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, many years has passed, and one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Dan, had not yet established territory as the other tribes did (Judges 18:1). The tribe of Dan had been threatened by the neighbors of that land and for that reason could not take possession of their inheritance. That was the reason given for not having already the territory, there were perhaps many other excuses, but the truth was: they had all abandoned God! There was idolatry in their homes, one of these houses belonged to someone named Micah (Judges 18: 13-14). In those times there was no king (vs. 1). Since there was no king everyone did as they saw fit. Because of these oversights and missteps the tribe of Dan could not possess their inheritance. What prevailed was disorder. It is with the king and the rulers and people do not want to do things, you can imagine without a king! Five of Dan’s men came to acknowledge the land and entered the house of Micah. There they spoke with a Levite whom Micah himself had hired as his personal priest; this was contrary to Moses’ law. Considering the way the five men spoke to the Levite, it seemed as if they knew him; maybe he had wandered through their region (Judges 18: 3). Let us not forget that the Levites already had their inheritance, they officiated at the sacrifices that the people wanted to bring to God, for this reason it was God who paid the Levites. But here was a Levite officiating or ministering in disarray, hired by Micah as a priest (v. 4). Thus we see that everyone did what they saw fit, even the Levites. Those men asked the Levite if God would be with them in what they intended to do (v. 5). But the Levites worked with idols (Judges 18:14). It didn’t matter to Dan’s men how it would be done, they just wanted to know if it would go well for them. This is the way most people act nowadays. Unfortunately, to seek and do what is right and prudent before the God who blesses them does not interest them! They wanted that mediocre Levite to serve as an oracle, as a prophet, even with the idols of Micah. The Levite gave them what they wanted; he made them believe he had an encouraging message of God for them and assured their success (v. 6). This is a picture of all that disorder; that's how wrong and neglected were the people that God had raised thru Moses and Joshua.

Dan’s men came to the Canaanite city of Laish (Vs. 7). Laish was also a town wrongfully governed, and for such reason was also neglected. Because of their great carelessness Laish would soon be the prey of those men of Dan. In those times everyone could be as evil as they wanted; there was no one who could slow them down. Perhaps they were prosperous, but God was not with them, as it happens today. They were lazy, confident and secure in their debauchery. They were provoking God with their sins, full of vices doing what they wanted. There was no one to put a stop to such evilness. He who leads a nation is given the authority and command to stop evilness. The purpose of giving authority and restraint is to obtain justice, to instill fear to the criminals. But, we already read that there was no king nor was there order. In the grace repentance is available for the sinner, but those who govern and direct, whether in the secular or the church, are the only ones who can stop the vicious practices and tie the criminal hands so that there won’t be so much evilness. When the evil is detained the wrongdoers are ashamed. Since they do not want to convert under good terms, then they’ll be restrained by shame. Unfortunately, sin has silenced the voice of conscience. It is necessary to uncover the sin before the public eye and cover it with shame and despise. This way people will understand in their shame, their idleness, drunkenness, fraud, deceit and other vices. The people of Laish were careless, lazy, happy and confident. The doors were unlocked, the walls were not repaired, and everything was "turned upside down." Nobody saw any danger coming. Besides, for the Canaanites the Israelites were seen as low risk, as when they arrived to that country. But the Israelites were as lazy and coward as they were. But, these lands had been assigned to the Israelites, so Laish shouldn’t have been so confident. The people of Laish did not negotiate with anyone; they were completely idle; they did not depend economically on anyone. They were scornful of submission to a government; they lived in world made only for them; they no longer saw themselves as simple people who needed from other people. They felt no interest for others, so no one felt interest for them. That town was overconfident when they had a nation behind them ready to destroy them. There was no government among the Canaanites, or priests in the tribe of Dan. There were signs of separation from God everywhere. Everything was a failure without God. We must take care of being careless and idle in our lives. Let us be grateful to God and subjected to His government and His laws. Let us honor our pastors and leaders and be obedient doing what should be done and doing it right. This way the enemy will never have the advantage. God will be with you and you will lack nothing. Amen.