In Those Days...

There is a haunting phrase used repeatedly in the book of Judges as the Downward Spiral of Morality is described within. Four times the phrase toward the end it repeats, "In those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did as they saw fit." The simple context is below.

1. Judges 17:6
   In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
   
2. Judges 18:1
   [ Danites Seek Territory ] In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.
   
3. Judges 19:1
   [ A Levite's Concubine Degraded ] 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.    
4. Judges 21:25
   In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

I was checking an email I get about the Youth Culture and it reminded us as Youth Leaders and Parents that we need to be at least taking the pulse of the culture so that we can see the cultural slide and warn others not to step into the lubricant goo that can make us fall. We need to prepare our Gospel Boots, Belt and Shield, Ephesians 6. The example used was the Top Ten songs on the Pop Charts and the lack of explicit warnings for content. Examining the content and more importantly the definition used by iTunes and the board that determines warning, you start to feel your morality sliding as you read. Here is the link to the article and some of the content:  http://tinyurl.com/4bb7qb6 - note on reading the very slippery definition of explicit

Standards have been laid down by God, Man has continually pushed and broken those standards, and God being a loving, merciful God has honored the choices of His creation and allowed us to pay the consequences of those actions. Here is where I want to tie in the picture to the left.

As a leader and a parent, I am attempting to slow the fall, to laid lightly in culture - held up by God's Grace and Love. I know I'm sinful, but I trust God to hold me up and guide me as I float through the world's atmosphere. Those around me sometimes don't see the need for God in their lives. They have chosen to jump without a 'chute. It's ironic that you can't share a parachute unless two people start out strapped to the same harness, but in God's Kingdom I can hand them out before we jump.

"Listen! Do you realize what we are getting ready to do? You need this. Out of love and respect for you a created being like me - take this! Put it on, and be saved." Grace is individual and Jesus died for the sin of the world. I believe it is sufficient for all. Everyone could have a parachute.

The irony is thick in the time of the Judges, because sometimes even the Leaders, The Judges were doing their own thing - going against the standard and the God that raised them up. Gideon, and Samson being major examples of compromise under pressure. The list is long and sometimes distinguished with names of those who have fallen due to compromise in our day.  To quote Steve Farrar, I want to "Finish Strong."
In these days, we have a King. His name is Jesus and we cannot do what is right in our own eyes.