Judges chapter 19. I'm going to read verses 1 to 10 for our scripture this morning. Be careful how you listen for this is God's word. Now it came about in those days when there was no king in Israel. that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah and was there for a period of four months. Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father's house, and when the girl's father saw him, he was glad to meet him. And his father-in-law, the girl's father, detained him, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. Now it came about on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning and he prepared to go. And the girl's father said to his son-in-law, sustain yourself with a piece of bread and afterward you may go. So both of them sat down and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, please be willing to spend the night and let your heart be merry. Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. And on the fifth day, he arose to go early in the morning. And the girl's father said, please sustain yourself and wait until afternoon. So both of them ate. When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, behold, now the day has drawn to a close. Please spend the night. Lo, the day is coming to an end. Spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go home. But the man was not willing to spend the night. So he arose and departed and came to a place opposite Jabez, that is Jerusalem. And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys. His concubine also was with him. And then also just listen to these two verses from Genesis chapter 49, verses nine and 10. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. As you know, my daughter is a kindergarten teacher in Pennsylvania. And as such, she is always coming home with funny stories. This past week, one of her little students came to her, and right out of the blue, he says to her, Mrs. Samuelson, we don't have to worry about Satan. And my daughter replied, why is that? And her little student said, because he lives in Pennsylvania. My daughter replied, but we live in Pennsylvania. He answered, yeah, but he doesn't live around here. All kidding aside, we know that Satan isn't just somewhere in Pennsylvania. Always remember to keep Satan in perspective and in the place that he has. Always remember that Satan can only be in one place at one time, though we can't be sure that he can get around very quickly. Satan is not God, and therefore he is not omnipresent, but he does have plenty of help. His power and influence are everywhere, and we must never, ever have the idea that he is far off from us. that he is far removed from us, that we are in some way escaping his notice and his attention. Even as redeemed people, we battle him. We battle him within our own hearts and within our own lives. At the same time, we must also remember and be comforted in the knowledge that our Savior has defeated him. So don't ever forget that. And always confess your Savior and stick close to him. Stick close to him. Don't go wandering away or far off Stick close to him. Make faithful use of the means of grace. The Savior has defeated Satan. You are safe if you stick close to him. The death blow has been dealt to him by our Savior at the cross. And Satan knows that his days are numbered. Doesn't make him less ferocious, it makes him more ferocious. It is important for us also to be warned, however, that while Satan is defeated, as I often put it to you, he is not yet harmless to us. He continues to menace us, and that is why our Lord in the Lord's Prayer, one of those petitions says, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. If God is pleased to try us, We are aware, our Lord is aware in the prayer, that Satan will take that same circumstance and use it as a temptation against us. We are not anxious to be tried, for we know that temptation is always there. We have no confidence in ourselves that we can withstand the trial and the temptation. Lord, we pray, deliver us from the menace of Satan. Deliver us from the evil one. Satan is a defeated foe. Stick close to Jesus. Don't forget, though, he's still a menace. To this world, Satan is only a joke. But Satan's work is everywhere around us in the idolatry and the immorality of this world. It is evident in our world where man deifies himself and as part of his deifying of himself, his bragging on himself. Man in sin, fond of seeing himself as righteous in his own eyes and by the standard of his own making. He can see himself that way and maintain that position in regard to himself because, of course, he judges himself and all things by what he sees in his own eyes. But the way that God sees men stands out in stark contrast. Remember Romans 3, 10 to 18. There is none righteous, Paul writes, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths. And the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. And if you want proof of it, just listen to the daily news and read the paper. sinful man tries to forget and erase this declaration of God, he dismisses the whole Bible. And at the heart of that desire to dismiss the whole Bible is the particular intent of dismissing the divine assessment of our human nature. But it stands. And it stands written. It stands written and is the indictment from God against man in the court of God's holiness and righteousness by the standard of what is right in his sight, by the standard of what is right in his eyes. And the redeemed of this world are known and are marked by the fact that they agree. They confess their sins. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The mark of a Christian, we can talk about many of them, but of first order, the mark of a Christian, being taken out of this sin-blinded world that denies sin, the mark of a Christian, is that we own up to it and admit it and confess it and agree with God's assessment and look to him for that remedy that he and he alone provides. Judges 17 to 21 shows us what man is really like in his sin. And these chapters are about what the life of man becomes when everyone does what is right in his own eyes. It is also a warning. It is also a warning to us. It is a warning to the covenant people. It is a warning to the church about what our life will become. what the life of the church will become, what the life of the covenant people will become, when we start to live like the world lives, and when we start to hold to the mantra of the world that claims they are the ones who decide everything. They are the ones who decide right and wrong. They are the ones who decide truth, true and false. They are the ones who decide good and evil. These chapters in the book of Judges, indeed the whole book, warns us what the church will become when we adopt the attitude of this world. And in the church, when we begin to do the same thing, everybody deciding for themselves what is right in their own eyes. These chapters are emphasizing also how quickly things degenerate and disintegrate and decay when we live that way and when God does not intervene in the story of chapters 17 and 18 of Micah and Jonathan the Levite. That story takes place after the death of Joshua and the elders who served with him. Jonathan was the grandson or great grandson, the near descendant of Moses. The story that follows next, chapters 19 to 21, takes place in the time when Phineas, the son of Eleazar, Aaron's son was the high priest. Again, we are but a few generations removed from the days of Moses and Aaron. These stories are emphasizing how quickly things fall apart, how quickly things disintegrate when the people of God rebel and they won't listen. and every man does what is right in his own eyes. If we think the stories in chapters 17 and 18 were a shocking display of religious and moral corruption, you haven't seen anything yet. Chapters 19 to 21 will shock you and disgust you even more. And again, remember, we're reading about the people of God, the covenant people. As we read Judges 19, it is really just verse one that I want to call your attention to this morning. Now you're saying, he said we're not going to spend a lot of time in these chapters and he's only going to do one verse today. As we read Judges 19, did verse one, give you pause. Have you noticed certain details keep appearing in these stories? Now it came about in those days when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. One of the details that I want you to notice is this continual reference in these chapters to the hill country of Ephraim. Why in the world is it this location and this place that keeps coming to the forefront of these stories? In the first story, in chapter 17, verse 1, Micah lives in the hill country of Ephraim. His shrine is there. And Jonathan the Levite comes there and assumes the role of the illegitimate priest there in the hill country of Ephraim. Now also in the second story, chapters 19 to 21, at the center of the story is the hill country of Ephraim again. Why this location? Why this location? In the first place, this location is the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim. And this location and the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim was in the heart and the center of Israelite territory. Therefore, the abominations described in these chapters don't happen on the outskirts of the nation. These events don't happen in the remote areas of the nation, in the areas bordering the pagan world where such evil could creep in and go undetected. These evils happen in the heart of the nation, in the center and heart of the country. It is as though the text is declaring, look at what the nation of God in her heart has become. Right smack dab in the center of the nation and people of God. Furthermore, Ephraim, you remember, was one of two sons of Joseph, who when Joseph brought his two sons to Jacob, his father, to bless them, Jacob crossed his hands. You remember that story. And as a result of the crossing of hands, the greater blessing was given to Ephraim, the right-handed blessing. The Ephraimites have appeared before in the Book of Judges, and they are a divisive and troublesome tribe and nation among the tribes of Israel. Earlier in Judges, Gideon has to deal with their overinflated view of themselves. Jephthah has to defeat them in battle when they go to war against their own brothers. Because they received this greater blessing from Jacob, the Ephraimites are proud and arrogant and assume to themselves greatness in the sight of God. But look at what is happening within their borders. Look at what is happening in their midst. You are reminded of verses in the scriptures like this, pride goes before the fall. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. The grave wickedness and rebellion portrayed in these stories happen in one of the tribes of Israel from whom the most and the best is expected. There is warning there as well. The church that becomes puffed up in itself and in its own moral superiority soon becomes a place where the greatest perversions of true religion and true morality are manifest. We live in a day of the modern church that boasts in its moral superiority and at the same time is a church that denies deity of Christ, denies authority of scripture, entertains and protects and encourages homosexuality. Where the church is puffed up and proud in its own moral superiority, it soon becomes the place of greatest perversion. This is all true regarding the travesty of American Presbyterianism. American Presbyterianism years ago identified itself with American culture. And when American culture departed from the biblical message, the American Presbyterian Church went with it. And when the American culture was boasting in its moral superiority, The Presbyterian Church in this country boasted of its moral superiority as well. And it has become a place of great doctrinal and moral abomination. Another detail about the hill country of Ephraim is that it was not far from Shiloh where the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant resided. Now, you folks are always good at catching me in things, and for sure somebody's gonna come up to me after worship and say, well, wait a minute, Pastor, Judges 20, 27 says that the ark was at Bethel in those days. Well, what is meant there is, in chapter 20, there's a preparation for a battle to take place, and what is happening is the ark, as was the custom in Israel, has been taken from Shiloh and is in Bethel for that battle. It's only there temporarily. I reminded you last week that the ark is in Shiloh, the tabernacle is in Shiloh, from the days of Joshua until the days of Saul and David. A further detail that might jump out at us as we get into chapter 19. Another detail is that these stories keep before us, they always concern Levites. Why? Why are they all about Levites? Jonathan is a Levite who takes the job to be Micah's priest at his ungodly shrine in the hill country of Ephraim. And next, in Judges 19.1, we are told that a certain Levite, staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, at the center of this terrible, disgusting story, is a Levite. Why? Why are these horrendous stories always about Levites, always about priests who live near in location to the very house of God in Shiloh? Now in order to make the case, give you the answer to that question, let me remind you about what the tabernacle was all about and what the priesthood was all about. The tabernacle is the meeting place between God and his people. It's what I have referred to you before as the vertical axis or intermediate link between heaven and earth. It's the special places that God appoints to meet with his people in a special way. The Garden of Eden was the first intermediate link where God met with Adam and Eve. You remember the Genesis account, don't you? God would come and he would visit. and he would meet with them in the garden. And when God did that, when God met with Adam and Eve, he would give himself to them for them to enjoy. And it was there that they offered themselves to God and to glorify him by obeying his command. Later on, This is not coincidental. Later on, the tabernacle becomes that vertical axis. The tabernacle becomes that intermediate link between heaven and earth. The tabernacle is reminiscent of the original Garden of Eden. The ark is adorned with cherubim at either end, guarding the way to God's throne, Exodus 25. The veil and the curtains are embroidered with cherubim as well, Exodus 36. The lampstand resembles a tree with branches and with almond-shaped cups to hold the oil and the wicks, Exodus 37. The tabernacle. is reminiscent of the garden. The tabernacle in the days of the judges is the vertical axis, an intermediate link between God and his people, between heaven and earth. And just this note at this point, the church today is the new vertical axis point, the new intermediate link between heaven and earth. That's why the writer of Hebrews will describe the worship of the church as our coming to Mount Zion and to heaven. You're not going to understand when I say to you that when you are here in worship, you are in the presence of God in his heavenly sanctuary. Because the church in her worship, when we meet with him in this special way, it's the vertical axis. It's the intermediate link. And heaven and earth are in a very real spiritual way joined. And in this event of worship, the covenant exchange takes place. God gives himself to us for us to enjoy. And we give ourselves to him in worship to glorify him. The church is the new garden sanctuary of God, where Christ is the vine and we are the branches, and it's the place from which fruit bearing to God will come. Also, in the tabernacle, like in the garden, the two-way movement of covenant exchange that I just described takes place in worship again is the focus. In Eden, God gives himself to Adam and Eve to enjoy, And in Eden, Adam, in priestly service to God, was to consecrate his life in fruitful service to God. Adam was the first priest. Adam was the first priest. In the garden, he consecrates his life to God. He gives himself to God in fruitful service to God. And the result of that for Adam would be that he would make the whole world, this creation, into a replica or a form of the heavenly kingdom of God. Now in Judges, now in the book of Judges, the tabernacle is that garden sanctuary, is that link between heaven and earth, and the priests who minister in that tabernacle are to lead the nation in the consecration of the nation in fruitful service to God, so that from that meeting place and from that exchange and from that tabernacle, the land of Canaan will be made into a replica of God's heavenly kingdom, where all that is done will be right in the sight of the Lord. The priests are central to this process. The priests are central to the process. If Canaan is going to be transformed into a replica of God's kingdom, The priests have to be faithful. If the priests falter and they are not faithful, then it works in the reverse order. Instead of Canaan being transformed into a form of the kingdom, if the priests are unfaithful, Israel will be made in the likeness of Canaan. God's purpose is through his tabernacle and through the priesthood. Canaan will be transformed into his kingdom. If the priests falter, the opposite occurs. Israel, who is supposed to be the form of God's kingdom will become Canaan and become like the world. So leading, you see, the nation in the consecration and in priestly service to God were the priests. The office of the priest was to lead the people in their approach to God. Adam was the first priest in the first garden sanctuary. His job was to communicate the word of God revealed to him to others. He also declares that word to Eve. Later in the history of Israel, one of the duties of the priest was to read the law to the people, to lead the people positively, to know God through his word, and to take heed to that word. The prophets are instruments of the revelation of the word, but the priests read it. communicated it, declared it, and were the guardians over the people's lives to adhere to it and to obey and to follow. On the negative side, as priest, Adam was also to defend the sanctuary of God against the incursion of the enemy. Satan, in the form of the serpent, enters the garden sanctuary and presumes to sit there and oppose God and exalt himself as God. should have raised up and refuted the serpent. The serpent was a creature. Where are all the creatures placed by God? Under the foot, under the dominion of man. Adam should have defeated the serpent, driven him from the garden. Adam was able to crush him under his feet. That was his responsibility, too, as a priest, to defend the sanctuary and people of God against the enemy. In the same way, therefore, included in the duties of the later priesthood in Israel is the defense of the sanctuary and nation against all intrusion of evil and all attempts to attack and destroy the nation as a replica of God's kingdom. The priests are the guardians of law keeping holiness and purity. So again, central to the land of Canaan being turned into the kingdom of God is the office of the priest. If he proves unfaithful, then Israel, the people of God will become like Canaan. Instead of them transforming Canaan, Canaan will transform them. If the church of our day is a debacle and its religion is compromised by new theology and its ethics compromised by new morality, It's because its ministers and theologians, the modern priests, have led the way. The church as a people will never rise above the level of its leaders. In this sense, then, the pastors and elders and deacons of the church are held to a higher standard as example before the people. The nation of Israel would never rise above the level of its leaders. We talked in Sunday school this morning that as the king goes, so goes the nation. The scriptures are saying as the priest goes, so goes the nation. Jonathan the Levite loved his life in this world far more than he loved God. So for the sake of job, money, security, he happily led Micah and later the Danites in apostate, religion, and life. And the Levite in chapters 19 to 21 is as foul and corrupt as any individual we see in the whole of the scriptures. Is it any wonder that we see the things depicted in these chapters that are there? As the priest goes, so goes the nation. And in these chapters, you are being given a very clear example. What has happened with an apostate and wicked and corrupt priesthood is that Israel has been transformed into Canaan. They act like the Canaanites. They're even worse than the Canaanites in these chapters. So these chapters begin in verse 1 again with the ominous statement, now it came about in those days there was no king. in Israel. The priests of the day of the judges are corrupt. Under their corrupt leadership, Canaan will not be made into a replica of God's heavenly kingdom, but instead Israel is transformed by Canaan and becomes like Canaan. Instead of leading the nation to God, to know him and enjoy him and to present their lives in priestly service to him and make Canaan a replica of the heavenly kingdom of God, the kingdom of Israel has taken on the form of the world around them. At the heart of it is the unfaithfulness and the disobedience of the priesthood. That is exemplified for you throughout scripture. You remember the story in Exodus about the worship of the golden calf. You remember the people come to Aaron And they say to Aaron, well, Moses has been gone 40 days, must be dead. We need a new, we need a God to lead us. And Aaron takes their jewelry, their gold jewelry, remember? And later on when he's describing his terrible actions before Moses and the Lord, he says, I just threw it into the fire and out came this gold calf, you know, just appeared. And then as a result of that false worship, As a result of that golden calf, you read about the people who are dancing, who are eating, drinking, their worship of an Egyptian god. That's what that golden calf was, leads them to celebrate an Egyptian like feast. And in that feast, the demonstration of their wickedness and their rebellion. And the scriptures say about Aaron, the priest. The people got out of control because Aaron let them get out of control. The people got out of control because Aaron let them get out of control. Do you see how important church discipline is? I want to tell you that it is not pleasant, it is not fun, and it is exhausting work. And that's why most of the church these days doesn't do it. But do you see how important it is? Ministers and elders must not, by the grace of God, let the church get out of control. but it must address and correct departures from true doctrine and true Christian living. Aaron allowed the people to get out of control. He corrupted the worship of God and the result was the corruption of the nation so that they became Egyptian again. They became like the Egyptians. There are other stories that we could talk about, but in the interest of time, we will not. The priesthood is central to the consecration and the holiness of the nation and the nation being a replica of the kingdom of God. The problem is that the priesthood is flawed by sinful men. Why is Israel in the time of the judges so perverse? In 1 Samuel 2.35, Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are the priests. This is towards the end of the period of the judges. The tabernacle is still in Shiloh. Why is Israel so wicked? Why has Israel become like Canaan? It is because, again, of the wickedness of Eli's two sons. And you can read for yourself in those early chapters of 1 Samuel about their wickedness, what they were doing with the sacrifices of the Lord, how they were committing immorality in the tabernacle precinct with the women who would come there to worship. As the priest goes, so goes the nation. Why is Israel such a mess in the period of the judges? Because the Levites are a mess. and it stands as a warning and a testimony to the Church of Jesus Christ in this year of our Lord, 2006. If ministers and elders are a mess, then the church will be a mess. Ministers and elders, by the grace of God, are not faithful in their offices. The church will not be transformed into a form of the kingdom of God. The church will instead become like the world. In 1 Samuel 2, 35, in light of all of this, God promises the coming of a new priest, but I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in my heart and in my soul, and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before my anointed ways." Who is this new priest who is promised? Well, as usual, there are a couple of layers of fulfillment to this promise. But to begin with, it certainly applies to the birth of Samuel and to Samuel's becoming the priest in Israel in place of Eli and his sons. And I just draw your attention quickly to the fact, notice in 1 Samuel 1.1 that Elkanah, Samuel's father, where is he from? the hill country of Ephraim. And it is said in chapter 1 of 1 Samuel, verse 1, that Elkanah is an Ephraimite. But the genealogies and chronicles tell us that Elkanah is a descendant of Kohath, who was the second son of Levi, the head of one of the three divisions of the Levites. Elkanah is a Levite. And Samuel, his son, who will become priest. is a Levite. And the books of Samuel are then going to take you from this beginning, this remedy of the terrible things in Judges, it will take you to a true priest from that hill country of Ephraim, who ministers again in that tabernacle, in Shiloh, that vertical axis, that intermediate link. And from a faithful priest there will arise the King. and the kingdom from a faithful priest, Israel will be transformed from that priesthood and tabernacle into the form of the kingdom of God, the earthly representation of it in this world. You see what these verses are telling us, why these details are there, focusing us upon the sanctuary, what goes on in the sanctuary, focusing upon the central office of priest and directing us, oh my, how we need a better priest, not flawed, like all the priests who arise from men, but a priest who is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. That promise in 1 Samuel 2.35, several layers, Samuel's there. Beyond Samuel is none other than our Savior. Samuel is only a preview of Christ. One of our Savior's names from the Old Testament, that's why I read Genesis 49, one of our Savior's names is Shiloh. The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Shiloh here is held by Jewish expositors and by the church throughout its history. to be a prophecy and a name for Jesus. Christ will come and he will be Shiloh. He will be the righteous priest. and his sacrifice will cleanse and take away the sin of his people. And he will be the new tabernacle in which God and his people meet. Jesus himself becomes the new vertical axis, the new intermediate link where God gives himself to us to enjoy and where we give ourselves to him in fruitful priestly service. And as a result, our lives, the life of the church takes on the form of the kingdom of God. Is Christ your Shiloh? Is he your priest who takes away your sin? Is he your priest who defeats the enemy for you? Is he your priest who teaches you the word and the will of God? Are you in Christ? Are you in Shiloh, that place where God meets with his people? gives Himself to us for us to enjoy and where we in Christ meet with Him and give ourselves to be God's possession and show it by glorifying Him. Are you in Christ? Are you in His church? In Christ and His priesthood. The result of that will be a church that is a faithful earthly representation of the heavenly kingdom of God, and people, people who are faithful replicas, representatives of the heavenly kingdom of God as well. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you