“The Spirit of Adonai began to stir him
when he was in the Camp of Dan,
between Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol.”
-Judges 13:25
You’d have to be blind if you can’t see how the era of the Judges perfectly reflects our modern world today.
First, we’ve developed a tolerance for the things of this world.
This tolerance has turned into acceptance…which has turned into a full-blown preference for the secular over the sacred.
This spiritual blindness has led both Jewish and gentile believers to set aside the one of the most important commands in all of Scripture…
The command to separate ourselves from the unclean and the unholy.
Instead we have adopted religious syncretism (mixing).
Why?
Because it’s politically correct and we figure life will be easier if we don’t go around ruffling anyone’s feathers.
How else can we explain all of the of inter-faith congregations in in existence who say anyway to God is okay?
Or churches who embrace same-sex marriage?
But you know what makes matters even worse?
The fact we are in utter denial that this tragic descent into pagan idolatry is even happening.
Recall what I said earlier the Israelites would have never risen up against the Philistines without God’s intervention.
They would have much preferred to “peacefully” co-exist and live a nice and cozy life with their maple syrup and buttery Canaanite pancakes.
And the same goes for Samson.
Left to his own devices, I doubt Samson would have picked up on God’s plans and purposes for him and Israel.
That’s why God had to go out of his way to start shaking things up.
Everything began in verse 25 where we’re told the Holy Spirit began to stir Samson.
There’s an important takeaway here I want you to catch.
Notice how it was something OUTSIDE of Samson (the Holy Spirit), an EXTERNAL variable, that had to start stirring him up to do God’s Will.
I bring this up because in this crazy New Agey pagan world we’re living in today, the focus is the complete opposite.
We’re told to look inside inside ourselves for wisdom and direction.
New Agers will use phrases like you’ve got to “trust your gut” or “tap into your intuition”.
They’ll even quote Scripture to support their unscriptural views.
They’ll say Yeshua said “The Kingdom of Heaven is inside of you”.
Or say since the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you, you have to go inside yourself in order to tap into divine wisdom.
But one key point they’re overlooking is that even if the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us, it’s only there because an OUTSIDE entity, namely God, put it there.
Sure, tapping into our gut or hunches is all fine and dandy.
But that still has to be tempered with what’s written in Holy Scripture…which is also an objective authority that lies OUTSIDE of us.
If our feelings and hunches don’t line up with what’s written in Scripture, we’ve got to bow down to God’s Word instead of fuzzy feelings that change from moment to moment.
Ya hear me?
Another accurate observation from this site. For some time now the observable church, the churches established by men, goes along to get along. It is evident that it is felt by many that it is better to have a church full of compromising, marginal believers (if believers at all) than a handful (if even that many) of committed disciples of Christ. Quanity over quality — a mantra of the 21ist century, consumer culture. (Culture, root word being “Cult!”
The root word of culture being “cult”? Is that really true? Wow! Didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Be blessed.
It doesn’t exactly work that way. Both words cone from cult(us), which is a habitation or a tilling, and culture, being from cultura, is the result of such a tilling.
So, it makes sense only loosely. Culture shouldn’t take the connotations of the English word cult.
Makes sense. Thanks for sharing.