in a world of conflicting values, when questions are more common than answers. God's Word provides everything we need to live a God-centered, truth-driven life. Now, here's the Word for Life broadcast, brought to you by Brookside Baptist Church. Well, good morning. I trust you're getting all ready for Christmas as it's coming up this next week, and I look forward to times that we have with our family, our church family, and thank you for joining us today on The Word for Life. My name's Kent Kelder, pastor at Brookside Baptist Church, and joined in studio with Scott Sander. You've been with us the last week. You've gotten to pick up on Scott and hear a little bit about Scott. He gave his testimony and a little bit about his family in our first broadcast last Monday. But Scott is on pastoral staff here at Brookside. He is a teaching pastor and he's a great counselor, he and his wife Diane. We're so excited to be here, Ken. We can't wait to serve the Lord at Brookside. Well, we appreciate you. You came here, you were a member for a couple of years, you started teaching a Sunday school class, and God's just kept working and leading your life to full-time ministry. And Scripture says, when you desire the office of a bishop, you desire a good thing. Amen. And so we're happy to have you and Diane here with us. Look forward to what God's going to continue to do here at Brookside, and how He's going to use you in our lives, you and Diane Scott. Well, Christmas Eve's coming up this Sunday and morning is nine o'clock, 1015 here at Brookside, no Bible study hours, no kids programs or activities there, but four o'clock will be our Christmas Eve service. It will be, it ends in a candlelight service. uh... about an hour long but we we trust you'll be able to join us for that and then on the following sunday new year's eve day uh... in the morning uh... typical services nine ten fifteen and then at eight p m uh... will be some food fellowship activities uh... followed by a film godly film and then we'll bring in the New Year with Communion, so I hope that you can join us for that. Well, we are continuing on in this study of judges, and our theme has been hearts of stone, feet of clay. One generation to the next generation, and they're not following as Joshua left them. God's given us the land, go in and possess the land, and they have found themselves in a cycle that has not been broken, it keeps repeating itself, they sin, usually, idolatry and immorality, then their inservitude, that God brings a country of people that just really puts them under their control, and it gets ugly at times, and they want out of it, and then their supplication, they cry out to God, deliver us, And then God brings a Savior, He brings a judge, and that judge is going to be the one that God's going to use. And that cycle repeats itself seven times in this book. And part of the problem that we've studied and looked at and that we're looking at in these last five chapters, it's mentioned twice, is there was no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And so, as we've mentioned, chapter 17 to 21 does not chronologically follow after Samson. These five chapters are two narratives for us to see exactly what was happening at the very beginning after the death of Joshua. And so, we left off in verses 18 to 20, and if you've been with us, this tribe of Dan is kind of out of line here as far as in God's prophetic plan of taking the land that He wanted to give them. They've shunned that, they're going off. they see some land that they believe, well, look what God's giving to us. And they're going to go into an unsuspecting group of Sidonians who are peaceful and are not causing any problems, and they're going to go in and they're going to massacre the whole lot of them, and they're going to take the land. But in order to do that, These five spies, and we're told quite a bit of these five spies seem to be the ones that are kind of the leaders of the tribe, and they come and they go, hey, look, we probably need to take some of this man's spiritual paraphernalia, Micah, take some of his, take his priest, take the ephod, take some things that he had, which that was a disaster that Micah even did this in the first place. but they take it from Micah and notice in verses 18 and 20, what took place here and what's going to happen. When it's talking about these are the five spies, okay? You want to read that for us, Scott? Sure. When these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, what are you doing? And they said to him, be quiet, put your hand over your mouth and come with us. Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? So the priest's heart was glad. And he took the ephod, the household idols and the carved image and took his place among the people. I mean, once again, they are so rationalizing that Hey, would you rather just serve one person which that wasn't right either? Mm-hmm, or you want to minister to a whole tribe of Israel? I think on our last broadcast you use the term thugs What that sounds like the the spiritual intimidators, right, you know Listen, even if it's just idols The priest is a thief also how unfortunate that this priest decision are driven entirely by self-interest. Yet, each one takes him further from the Lord. Let's go back to this priest for a second. So, to be a priest, you had to be from the tribe of Levi. So, he's a Levite, and they, you know, they were really around the town of Bethlehem there of Judah, and Judah being the foremost tribe, and of course, it was the town which was the center of God's plan for his people that Jesus would be born. And then this priest, he moves to the hill country of Ephraim and to an idolatrous shrine. He ends up in Laish, outside the land God had given to his people, working for a tribe who would not reach heaven. In his own life and in his own terms, he had achieved these bewildering heights, running the worship for an entire tribe of God's chosen people. You have to think, you have to be thinking, look at this. I'm out of just one home, and look, I'm ministering to thousands. Yeah, promotion. Yeah, it's a promotion. Yet it's very hollow worship, which knows only the God of self-promotion. And the Danites, again, are just going to mimic what Micah was doing in regard to his own made-man religion. As the Danite soldiers move on toward the land in which they've decided to settle in, verses 22 and 23 tells us that Micah and his neighbors actually catch up to them And they're ready to fight. Why? Because the Danites have taken everything Micah has. And Micah said there in verse 24, you have taken away my gods, which I made, and the priests, and you've gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, what ails you? Pete I love that. Not only are they thugs, they're mocking him. What's your problem here? Randy I mean, Micah had built up his own religious life, added to his shrine and idol and ephod, even a Levite priest. and had looked to it for blessing, but all that he had trusted in was now gone. This is going back to Micah. And he could not get them back unless he could whip 600 day-night soldiers, and so we're told that they were turned back. In fact, we read they were too strong for him, and he turned and he went back to his house. I mean, you could just see him putting his head down going, okay, I guess you have it. The stronger wins here, and my friends, in the end, self-made religion will always disappoint. He had to be disappointed, but the sad part is it was totally man-contrived in the very beginning with Micah. Whatever we make into our God, whether it be money, power, relationships, or even a reduced man-made version of the biblical God, it will not deliver for us, friends. Listen, you make your career your God, and I'm afraid that you will eventually find your way to the top. You'll get to the top, possibly, but you're going to be blocked by someone who is too strong, too able, too well-connected, too smart, too sharp for you. You make your looks and your image your God, you'll eventually find an enemy called Father Time, too strong to be able to hang on to your good looks and your youthful vitality. Ultimately, death removes all the false gods we look to for blessing. I mean, it's a great reminder, I believe, for us, because what is the thing about which, if it were taken away from us, we would say, you took my God. What else do I have? I mean, now where can I go in my life? I have nothing left. Some people will say that when they lose a loved one, like their life is totally destroyed. I mean, and it's difficult. It's hard. but they totally give up. Can I tell you, my friend, there is only one God who will never be taken away from us, and he is the one of whom we can say with Peter, to whom shall we go? He said it to Christ, you have the words of eternal life. When we come to Jesus for our salvation, we find blessing and he is eternally all that we could ever need. Pete There's a saying that says when all you have is Jesus, you have all you need. Great point. Let's skip down to verse 30 where the writer tells us something very interesting about this priest. Why don't you read verse 34, Scott? Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, or the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of captivity of the land." So, the shocking fact is that this false priest who goes to the highest bidder is actually Moses' grandson. Gershom was a son of Moses. As I read that, I thought, how low can you go? Look at finally there in verse 31. So, they set up for themselves Micah's carved image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. A few broadcasts ago, we mentioned this, but I want to close with this. I think this is important. This last phrase reemphasizes that they have been rejecting true worship. They've set up their own gods. Why? Because, number one, they know they need direction from somewhere and they believe that they can receive it from another source, not from God, though. Are we surprised that millions of calls today come to the dial of horoscope lines? I mean, is it any surprise that people still are consulting palm readers and checking their horoscopes? I mean, from our political leaders to the common people, this nation is looking elsewhere for guidance. This will preach in Washington, friends, because people, we as a nation, have rejected the authority of God in His Word and it has led to spiritual confusion. People no longer deny the spirit world, they just do not understand the reality and the danger of it. Shirley MacLaine, that actress of long ago, whose journey into the New Age world led her to believe she was a god. On television one time, she was promoting Hinduism or New Ageism, and she asked her audience this question, Well, what do you have to lose? Well, the answer is everything, Ms. McClain. Everything. You want to know how to live, my friend? Look in the Bible. Do you want to know God? You will find Him in the Bible. Do you want direction and wise counsel? Look in the Bible. There is safety and security and counsel and wisdom for there's only one God revealed and He has given us His precious Word. you'll have to throw away your homemade gods if you want to know anything about the God, the sovereign God of creation. So my friends, we have everything to gain by following Him. Everything. When all you have is Jesus, you have all you need. And that's where we'll leave it today. Thank you so much for being with us. We hope you enjoyed today's program. If you have a question we can answer, or would like information on the Word for Life, would like to donate to continue to produce this broadcast, or need resources for your Christian walk, contact us at Brookside Baptist Church, 4470 North Pilgrim Road, Brookfield, Wisconsin, 53005. You can also visit us at brooksidebc.org. That's brooksidebc.org. or call us at 262-783-6180. That's 262-783-6180. Thanks for listening today, and please tune in again as we bring the Word of God to your life.