JUDGES 18

Judges 18 begins with a mantra that will repeat through the last several chapters of the book: "In those days Israel had no king." As you will discover (if you don’t already know what’s ahead in the next few chapters), this isn’t a good declaration. This isn’t a statement of freedom. Rather, it’s a statement of spiritual slavery. Israel had no king, no spiritual leadership, no direction, no moral compass. Everybody just did whatever they saw fit... and that always makes for a very scary scene.

How interesting, then, to discover that God was in Israel the entire time. At the end of this chapter, it says, "There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan... and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh." (vs 30-31)

Wow. While all the idol worship and wickedness was going on, the house of God was in Shiloh. God was right where He said He would be, right in the midst of His people. Yet the historians recorded that "in those days Israel had no king."

What does this tell us about God? He does not overpower us. He leaves us free to make our own choice—even the choice to reject Him to His face. Even with His presence in our midst, we are not overwhelmed into choosing for Him. We are not compelled to listen to Him; we are not compelled to behave. This is borne out by the fact that sin itself began in God’s very presence. Being in a perfect environment in the presence of a holy God did not deprive Lucifer of the freedom to make an evil choice.

To me, this is one of the most incredible things about God. With Him, we really are free! And this freedom can’t be found outside of Him. The further we travel from Him, the more enslaved we become. (Do we not see this principle at work in our own society?) But the closer we come to Him, the more we will experience what it means to be free. For God does not overpower us; He empowers us with freedom!