I Have Decided to…
By Brother Michael Klikas
23
April 2006
Lord's Day Evening
Judges 21:25
(with an overview of chapters 19-21)
Introduction: Have you ever heard someone say, “Well I’ll be the judge of that?” Or may be you have heard the other great quote that even many Christians today use, and that is this: “just because that’s good for you doesn’t mean that it’s good for me.” Now we are not talking about preferences but rather the difference between right and wrong according to the word of God. So many times Christians want the word of God to mean what they want it to mean instead subjecting their life to its commandments and principles. Obviously we have to be careful here because we could say well what about is Christian liberty as referenced by Paul and the meat that was being eaten by some Christians while used in idol worship. That’s not where we are going to go with this tonight. What we are going to do is we are going to ask how do we determine what is right and what is not right? We are going to do that by turning to the book of Judges. I know you thought you were done with sermons out of the book of Judges, but we’re not. So please look in chapter 21 of the book of Judges.
Life is about decisions. Everyday every one of us will make several decisions. Some of those decisions we won’t even think about, while other decisions will take much thought and consideration. We think about things like what to eat and what to wear, should we get gas now or on the way home. Then there will be other things like, do I want to study my Bible tonight or just relax, do I really have time to pray, and I really need so will I have time to make up my devotions tomorrow? If there has been a Christian discussion in the house we will think about that and of course we think about how nice it will be when the other person asks us for forgiveness when we get home. We even make decisions on what we will think about, because that is what we do all day, we think. But so many times our thoughts that turn into actions are done before we pray and before we study the word of God. How many times have we thought about what we should do or what we should say and then acted upon those thoughts only to regret not thinking about going to the Lord first?
When we do that what we are saying is that we are trusting in what we believe to be right and that we are comfortable in that decision. The other thing that plays a big role in our decision making process is our comfort zone. No one likes to make a decision unless they are “comfortable” with that decision. There is comfort zone that we can have in making decisions but in order to get to that comfort zone, we must be uncomfortable with making a decision ourselves. So many times we embrace that comfort zone of self and ignore the true comfort of the Lord by not going to him but instead decide to do what we think is right. When we first start to make our decisions based on prayer and study, we are not that comfortable because before it has always been what you and I have thought is right, but now we turning control of our life over to the Lord, and in reality that can be scary because the answer we get may not be the one we want. So the only reason we are not comfortable is because we think that we have no control over what will happen. The truth of the matter is that even when we do make decisions, we still do not have control over the situation. But our flesh and ungodly thoughts deceive us into thinking the opposite. So let's look at Judges Chapter 21 in verse 25.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Now we just can’t look at this verse without giving you the meaning behind it and what had happened up this point. You could consider this part two of the introduction. But I promise you that this won’t just be a history lesson. We will make application along the way so that we can apply truth to our lives in order to grow and change. Back in chapter nineteen we see that a Levite had a concubine who played the whore against him. We’ll say more about that in just a minute, but the most interesting part is what verse one of chapter nineteen says at the very beginning.
Judges 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah.
What is so interesting about this is that the Bible clearly says that as it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, as if Israel needed a king to hold them accountable. In verse twenty five of chapter twenty one, the Bible basically says the same thing as it concludes the book of Judges.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
This is evident by the fact that this Levite took a concubine, or another wife. A concubine was a secondary wife, taken without espousals and a dowry.
What is the point that we are trying to make here? Do we need someone to make decisions for us and do we need for someone to hold us accountable? Accountability partners are only good if both parties involved are committed to living a holy life before the Lord. But if we do not want to be accountable, then it doesn’t matter how many accountability partners we have, we are still going to do what we want. Also, if there was a king in Israel, Israel could blame him for every thing bad that happened saying that is was because of his decisions. Or, like Adam in the garden, we could just be direct about it and blame God for what went wrong. We want God to bless our decisions and we want to be praised for the decisions that make when they turn out right. But when they are wrong, sinful, or don’t go according to our plans, we want to find anyone we can to blame.
We also think that we are restricted if someone has authority over us, but if there is no authority we can do what we want. You hear this from teenagers who say when I am eighteen, I’m out of here and I’m going to do what I want. You hear this from adults who say that they have to discover who they are and that they are going to be their own person. What does that mean? What they thought and what some Christians think today is that no one is going to tell them what to do. There is no authority in my life higher then my self. I am going to do what is best for me.
You see the problem with this kind of thinking is that it creates idols of self rule in our hearts by saying that we do not want the Lord to have sovereign rule of our lives. Since there is no king, I will decide what is right for me. The Levite did this by taking a concubine. Then as the Bible says, she played the whore. Let me ask you this. Why are we surprised when the sin that we that think will bring pleasure and enjoyment comes back and bites us with a vengeance? Before Pastor Black came we still had a responsibility to live an upright holy life before the Lord. That has never changed because it is in not the Pastor that we will give an account to but the King himself. Since the time the Lord saved us we have had a responsibility to live an upright holy life before God regardless of who the Pastor is and whether or not there is a Pastor leading the church!
But going back to Israel, even if there was a king nothing would have changed because it is the heart that guides our actions and motives. If someone doesn’t do right when there is no one around, they are not going to do right when there is someone around them because even if their actions look right, their heart is saying I have to do this to keep up the appearance.
So let me ask you this, who rules your life? What do you base your decisions on? Even if what you do is right, is it done for the right reason? This whole story across these three chapters speaks about just how wicked our hearts are and how the one that we wish to please the most is ourselves. The story starts out with sin because of this Levite having a concubine. This Levite should have never become involved with her in the first place. How many times do we come to regret the sin that we became involved with when we knew that from the beginning we should have never even considered it? We made that decision. But sin presents itself in such a way as that we only see the part that appeals to us and we never look at or consider the consequences of our actions.
So this Levite goes after her and after spending some time at her father’s house they leave to go back to his home. Now understand that because of the context of verse 25 in chapter 21 we have to try and cover three chapters of overview so we can really see the purpose of this verse and why it was preserved by the Holy Spirit. So after they left, they traveled until it became dark. The Levite’s servant asks why don’t we lodge in Jebus for the night. But the Levite says no. The reason he gives is because the town is controlled by the Jebusites, of whom the Israelites were supposed to have driven them out, but didn’t. Instead the Levite chooses the city of Gibeah because the tribe of Benjamin dwells there. All this goes back to the decisions that were made. If the Israelites would have obeyed from the beginning, there would have been no Jebusites there. If this Levite would have lived a holly life before the Lord then he wouldn’t have been put in this situation of going after his concubine and having to decide on a city based on whether it was controlled by one of the tribes of Israel or not.
What decisions have you made that on the outside looked good but if we got right down to it, they were made for all the wrong reasons. They were made out selfishness and no one would need to know your motives, they only thing that they would see it the outside appearance of your decision.
So they decide to stop in Gibeah because after all they are Benjamites there and everything should be okay. Well, what was the result? First, they try to find a place to bed down for the night and no one will even give them a place to sleep. So here they are, out in the street in the middle of the night and this old man sees them and offers them lodging. He wants to get them off the street as soon as possible. Why, this city is one that is controlled by the Benjamites who are a tribe of Israel. What could possibly go wrong? Let's find out.
Judges 19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
Judges 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
Sound familiar? When you do not drive sin out of your life, then eventually you come to not only tolerate it but accept in your life. Why weren’t theses men destroyed when the tribe of Benjamin took possession of the city. Or did these men become like the ones they were supposed to destroy? One of the reasons that we do not drive out the sin that is in our life is because it is easier to become acclimated to it and not rock the boat then it is to take a stand against it and do what is right. We will cry out against abortion, sodomites, alcohol, and many other sins, yet how many times do we go with out lifting a finger to remove the sin that is in our own life. My sin is not as deplorable as that of the abortionist, or sodomite! Yes it is, and yeah it is even worse. Because in 2 Peter 2:22 the Bible says this:
2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
How many times have we been repulsed by a sin, but not enough to do anything about it, and then later find ourselves actually involved in that same sin?
I know better and I know the price that was paid for my salvation and every time I feed the flesh what I am saying is that this is what’s best for me, it’s what’s important to me. I then go from trying to please the Lord to pleasing myself. The lost person cannot live a life that pleases the Lord. We whom the Lord has saved have no excuse in why we can’t! Yet we come up with excuses on why we can’t live godly all the time and we make things worse by compounding sin upon sin. That is what happened here. You have the Levite, committing sin, the Benjamites committing sin and living like sodomites and then the Levite fuels the fire by cutting his concubine up into twelve pieces and sending each tribe a piece of her after the men of Gibeah know her and kill her. You see in his mind there was no court of law there was no authority other then what each tribe decided, because once again Israel looked at the physical instead of the spiritual. So he had to take matters into his own hands. Isn’t that what gets us into trouble more often then not?
As we head into chapter twenty the Levite meets with other tribes of Israel and tells them what happened and why he cut his concubine into pieces. Then in verses seven through ten of chapter twenty the Bible says this.
Judges 20:7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
Judges 20:8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.
Judges 20:9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
Judges 20:10 And we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
Now I think all of us would agree that when there is sin in the camp that it needs to be dealt with. But I think we would also agree that before any sin is dealt with, there needs to be a time where we go before the Lord in prayer and look to his word so that we can deal with the sin in a way that pleases God, and we do that by dealing with our sin first. Too many times we hear something and make a snap decision based on emotion. Am I saying that Israel should have excused the sin committed, not at all! But a couple of things I noticed here is that they were ready to go up against the tribe of Benjamin, but were willing to excuse the sin of this Levite. And how many times do we look at sin and categorize it according to what we think is really awful sin and what isn’t all that bad. And how quick are we to dismiss one person’s sin and yet we quickly and harshly judge another person’s sin. The sin we usually are quick to dismiss is our own. The Lord dismisses no sin. As far as I know 1 John 1:9 doesn’t read this way. If we confess our really bad sin he is faithful and just to forgive us for those sins and even the little ones that we didn’t think we needed to confess.
All the sin involved here should have been dealt with. When we make the decision to only deal with a certain sin or certain people who have sinned and excuse others and their sin then what we have done is we have elevated ourselves to an authority that we have no right to. If I sin against you and come and ask your forgiveness, then you must grant it. By the same token, I have the responsibility of coming to you to seek forgiveness. Of course long before I ever come to you I must seek forgiveness from the Lord. None of these things were done here. The only thing that was done was the Levite said to the rest of Israel look at what they have done. Which leads me to this point and that is how often do we make the decision to point out others sin and say how terrible it is and yet we act as if our sin really isn’t sin, it’s only a preference. I mean, what’s good for you may not necessarily be good for me. At least that is the attitude when we want to live the way we want instead of living to please the Lord.
Then, when we go by “how we feel” we usually worry about the consequences of our actions after it is too late. Even if our intentions are good, if they are not what the Lord wants for us, then it doesn’t matter how right something may look. Should the men in Gibeah have been punished for their sin, yes! And it was right to go to the Lord, but they only went with the intention of punishing the tribe of Benjamin and not with the intention of dealing with this wicked Levite. What they did was they went to the Lord looking for the answer that they wanted instead of looking for the answer that would be right before the Lord. How many times do we do that? We will be in a situation that we need to get an answer for and we will go to everyone we can before we get the right answer, that is, the right answer according to us. We can’t decide what is right by what we want or that type of thinking will spill over into the rest of our life. In chapter twenty all of Israel confronts the tribe of Benjamin about their evil acts, yet we never hear about them confronting this Levite who was just as evil.
Judges 20:12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
Judges 20:13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
What is so interesting is what happens next. They go before the Lord assuming they are right in their decision to fight against Benjamin, and ask who shall go up for us first. Isn’t that like us today? There’s a problem, who’s going to fix that problem for me? How quick we are to point out what is wrong, and how quick are we to ask who is going to make things right? There has to be someone else who can take care of this. That is our mind set because we have already decided in our heart that we will only get involved if we absolutely have to. How presumptuous we are when we come before the Lord, not willing to be used to help others, but willing to point out other people’s sin. Again this goes back to what we said about what is right for you isn’t necessarily right for me. May I say this if you are saved, what is right for me in the word of God is just as right for you and vise versa! Living holy, before the Lord is just as right for you as it is for me. Studying the word of God is just as right for you as it is for me. Praying, preaching, yes preaching, to your family to help them grow in the word of God, and being a gospel witness is just as right you as it is for me.
But what can happen is we can take those differences that we have and use them as an excuse on why we can’t wholly serve the Lord. We do that by placing more emphasis on how we are different rather then on how we can please God and bring glory to his name. That is exactly what Israel did here. Sure they eventually won the battle against Benjamin but when it was all said and done, Israel suffered a great lose in wiping out most of Benjamin and they never confronted the sin of the Levite. Notice verse twenty five again of chapter twenty one. This verse tells a lot about their heart and the fact that God was not the center of their life. God was only there to help them they were in trouble but besides that, they didn’t need his help or so they thought. Don’t rule my life just let me do what I want. The only thing I ask is that you make yourself available when I need you.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
There was a King and he is still King. He will always be the King of kings and Lord of lords. You can refuse to acknowledge his lordship, but that will not change the fact that he is the Lord. How many times in a day do we make decisions without any regard to whether our decisions are pleasing to the Lord? By doing that what we are doing is we are acting no different then the children of Israel. We are denying the fact, and it is a fact that the Lord is our King. When we go about making decisions without thinking about what would please the Lord then this verse will describe our life: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
I am incapable of making the right decision if I am left with deciding what is right, because I will always be biased by what I think is best for me, regardless of who it affects. That is why the Lord must rule my life, because all I will do, and all you will do is mess it up if we are left to ourselves. So the question that I will leave you with is who influences your decisions, the Lord, yourself, or others around you. If your decisions are not based on what will please the Lord, then most likely they will be selfish decisions that do not honor the Lord. Even the decisions in what we would consider the smallest inconsequential decisions, if they are made because we want our own way will have dramatic affects on us. Will you continue to make decisions without going to the Lord first and will you open your heart to how the Lord wants you to decide or will you continue to live life your own way?