“And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first. And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.” Judges 18:29-31
Devotional Thought For The Day
This account is a miserable and dismal explanation of the origin of the city of Dan in northern Israel. That a relatively short time after the conquest of the promised land of Canaan one of the tribes of Israel established a full blown idolatry is astonishing. That a descendent of Moses, his grandson, was instrumental in this and at the center of this dreadful darkness is even more shocking. Yet all of this both describes the fallen nature of mankind, our inherent rebellion against God and His revelation of Himself, and also portends what the future of the “churchly” institutions would be like, what true believers will have to contend with until the end of time. The rest of the Old Testament continues to chronicle the same type of ignorance of God, rebellion against God, and the invention of and infatuation with false gods. With the coming of Christ and the advent of the New Testament church a new beginning was made – purer than the other arrangements, but still populated by human beings with the same dreadful sinful nature. So the apostles often warn us about the corrupting influences that will infiltrate the church – denial of the faith, perversion of love [the moral standards of God’s Word], and all manner of apostasy, idolatry, and immorality.
The history of the institutional Christian church is little different than the history of Israel, in this matter of idolatry, apostasy, and immorality. It is a constant challenge to remain faithful to God’s Word, to keep the faith purely, and to not be influenced by others to just capitulate to our fallen sinful nature. At times we may find institutions [visible church] that are helpful in keeping us firm in Christ’s Word. These are miracles of God, oases in this wilderness of darkness and rebellion against God, and we should treasure them highly! We will also experience and hear of churchly institutions that are corrupt beyond our imagination – which inexcusably pervert God’s Word, distort and even deny the faith, and endorse moral perversion. And there will always be “Christians” around us who have capitulated to such idolatry and are eager for us to join them. All of this has been fertile ground for demons to invent and plant new cults and idolatries which are even worse than the corrupt churches – and these “pious” idolatries have captured many in the web of darkness and ignorance of God, the only True and Living God. Lord, have mercy!
The antidote back then was the same as it is today – and that is clinging to the Word of God, the written and objective Word of God, Holy Scripture, the Bible. Only through this Word of truth is the Spirit of God at work to humble us in repentance and to bring us to the knowledge of God’s gracious love, mercy, forgiveness and salvation in Christ Jesus. There was no excuse for the Danites to forsake God’s Word, and so to forsake God Himself, even though they likely did not have written copies of the books of Moses. There is much less excuse for people living today – who have full access to the Word of God, the Bible, and who also have full access to the dreadful history both of Israel and the Christian Church and information regarding all of the ancient and modern cultic idolatries through which the devil has corrupted and perverted mankind. If you have been delivered from all of this, so that you have been granted the gift of a true and pure faith, knowing and believing God’s great love for you in Christ Jesus, His gift of salvation in Christ Jesus, what a wondrous and blessed miracle you have received. Cherish this faith and knowledge of God, and give Him full thanks and praise, glory and honor, now and forever. But let us also take caution that we never allow ourselves to be lured away from Christ, from the LORD God, and into the idolatries abounding around us.
Scripture warns that the in the latter days these things will grow worse and worse. It is certain that it is so. Thanks and praise be to God for His gifts to us, His Word which has brought us to faith and which keeps us in the true faith in His gracious mercy and love. God grant that we continue in His Word, and keep His Word, that we remain in the peace, joy, and blessedness of His salvation.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You have delivered us from the darkness of this fallen world by bringing us into the light of Your gracious love – enabling us to clearly see our sin and to repent of it, and providing us with assurance of Your full and complete forgiveness and redemption. Keep us focused upon Your Word as the light of our lives, that we never succumb to the miserable darkness all around us and fall away from You. Amen.