Based on Judges 17 (New King James Version)
“Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.’ And his mother said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!’ So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, ‘I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.’ Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah. The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. And Micah said to him, ‘Where do you come from?’ So he said to him, ‘I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.’ Micah said to him, ‘Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.’ So the Levite went in. Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!’”
We can see in this passage many things that were done wrong, not because divine instruction was missing, (and yes, it had something to do with there being no king then), but rather, because we see people doing simply however they saw fit. We see a son that stole from his mother, but we see that he is not reprimanded for that. Instead, he is blessed. We see this same woman dedicating her money to making idols. We see this Micah that made himself a house for his gods, and that he even made one of his sons follow and serve the same deviation. And we see that the madness does not stop with that, but also, he temps a Levite to become his very own priest to serve his purposes. And to top things off, we see the Levite follow along with the idea and also sins against the Lord because they paid him well. These are the evils that can be seen at plain sight, as we compare them to the commandments. In summary, we see nothing good coming out of any of this and all because a group of people dedicate themselves to just do as they see fit.
So then, what commandments do we see broken here? Well, many. “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Exodus 20:3-5. “You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4:9. All of this was already written, but despite God’s law being present, they decided to follow their own ideas.
Today, not much has changed. Many still look to fulfill their own desires, whims, and create their own morality, even within the people of God. The only difference between then and now is that our civilization has created laws where many of them are consistent with the law we received from God (because man did not invent the Ten Commandments, but rather, God wrote them with His finger). For example, back then, since there was no king, no social authorities established, people could steal and there weren’t any big consequences. Today, that can’t be done because the law of not stealing exists in practically every place on the planet, and there are penalties if a person is found guilty. That’s why the Word says this: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.” Romans 13:1-6. And let’s leave something very clear, because many justify their disobedience to the authorities because they may have been unfair in certain instances. God inspired Paul to write the book of Romans in 57AD while he was in Corinth. Caesar Nero, the most vile and ruthless of the Caesars persecuted and killed many Christians during his reign (37-68AD). God commanded through Paul to submit to the authorities, and to even pay taxes while such an evil person as Caesar Nero reigned and did all the evil he did. So then, if God commanded this during such a time with such an authority, there is then no excuse now to do contrary because there is no comparison. If a person has a problem with that, I am just a spokesman for the One that commands it, but I am His spokesman because I desire to agree with the Supreme Authority of the Universe: God.
Many, especially, many so called believers in Christ like to do things as they please, and they see God’s grace as a license to fulfill their own will, and not God’s will. And many denote as legalism teaching what God clearly commands in His Word. But there is something that must be kept in mind, especially if liberty in Christ is used for sinning: “But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” John 6:68. God is not the one that comes out losing if He is not obeyed. God has nothing to lose. Man has everything to lose if they dismiss God’s counsel through His Word because God’s Word is the only thing that can produce life here and now, but even more importantly, for eternity. So then, it is convenient for us to seek doing God’s will in our lives, and to take advantage of the privilege of having His Word and His Holy Spirit. God does not cease being God nor does He cease to exist if man is lost in their sin, in their disobedience. It is simply not convenient for us to just do whatever we want. So then, are you living your life however you want, or how God says to for your own good? Lord bless! John