MIKAH (JUDGES 17-18)
THE DEATH OF SAMSON CLOSES THE OFFICIAL `AGE OF THE JUDGES', SO AS WE FINISH UP THE BOOK OF JUDGES IN THE NEXT FEW VIDEOS (5 CHAPTERS), LET'S POINT OUT A COUPLE OF IMPORTANT FEATURES.
FIRST: JUDGES CHAPTERS 17 THROUGH 21 (THE END OF THE BOOK) ARE USUALLY CALLED “APPENDICES” BY MANY AND THERE'S GOOD REASON FOR THAT BECAUSE THESE CHAPTERS DON’T EVEN DEAL WITH ANY JUDGES AT ALL; RATHER IT'S JUST GENERAL INFORMATION THAT IS MEANT TO ADD TO OUR OVERALL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ERA OF THE JUDGES.
SECOND: AS OFTEN HAPPENS IN THE SCRIPTURE THESE FINAL CHAPTERS ARE NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. SO EVEN THOUGH SAMSON WAS THE LAST JUDGE (SAMUEL IS OFTEN CALLED A JUDGE AS WELL AS A PROPHET, BUT HE WAS MORE OF A TRANSITORY FIGURE USHERING YISHARAL FROM THE ERA OF THE JUDGES INTO THE ERA OF THE KINGS) . . . ANYWAY THE POINT IS THAT THIS ACCOUNT OF MIKAH PROBABLY OCCURRED AT LEAST 200 YEARS BEFORE SAMSON, AROUND THE TIME OF OTHNIEL (THE FIRST JUDGE).
SO WHY ISN'T THE TEXT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER? BECAUSE THE HEBREWS WERE LESS CONCERNED WITH TIME AND MORE CONCERNED WITH THE SUBJECT MATTER. IN OTHER WORDS, WHILE MODERN WRITERS AND TEACHERS GENERALLY HAVE A GREATER CONCERN TO PRESENT A STORY BASED ON THE ORDER THAT THINGS HAPPENED, THE ANCIENT HEBREWS HELD A GREATER CONCERN TO PRESENT A STORY BASED ON CONNECTING THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF THE STORY EVEN IF IT TOOK PLACE IN DIFFERENT ERAS. SO SINCE SAMSON WAS FROM THE TRIBE OF DAN, THESE SO-CALLED APPENDICES DEAL WITH THE TRIBE OF DAN AND THE HISTORY OF THE TRIBE OF DAN ESPECIALLY IN HOW THEY HAD FALLEN SO FAR AWAY FROM YAHUSHA AND WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY ABANDONED THEIR TERRITORIAL ALLOTMENT TO MOVE FURTHER NORTH TO AN EASIER LIFE (THEY THOUGHT).
THIRD: THE ENTIRE PURPOSE AND TONE OF THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES (AND THE SCRIPTURAL RECORD OF THAT PERIOD) IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT YISHARAL IN PARTICULAR, AND ALL MANKIND IN GENERAL, NEEDED A KING. THE VERY WORDS OF THIS BOOK, THE PATTERN YAHUSHA LAYS DOWN FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION SHOWS THAT MANKIND (AND PERHAPS ALL BEINGS, PHYSICAL OR SPIRITUAL) MUST HAVE A KING TO GUIDE THEM, AND THEN THE FACT THAT THROUGHOUT THE LATTER TEXTS YAHUSHA IS CALLED A “KING” AND “A KING FOREVER” (IN FULFILMENT OF EARLIER PROPHECY) SAYS THAT IT CANNOT POSSIBLY BE THAT YAHUSHA DOESN’T WANT MAN TO HAVE A KING. THE ISSUE IS WHICH EARTHLY KING, NOT WHETHER THERE SHOULD BE ONE OR NOT.
WE WILL FIND SEVERAL PLACES IN THESE APPENDICES THE WORDS, “AT THAT TIME THERE WAS NO KING IN YISHARAL SO EVERY MAN DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES”. IN OTHER WORDS ONE CAUSED THE OTHER; THE LACK OF A KING LED TO EACH MAN CHOOSING HIS OWN WAY. YISHARAL’S REFUSAL TO HAVE A KING CAUSED A KIND OF SPIRITUAL ANARCHY TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE TRIBES. WHAT WE MUST SEE IS THAT SINCE CHRONOLOGICALLY SPEAKING THESE FINAL CHAPTERS SHOULD (FROM THE MODERN PERSPECTIVE) ACTUALLY BE PLACED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES AS A PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES RATHER THAN AS AN APPENDIX AT THE END, THE ENTIRE PREMISE FOR WHAT GOES ON IN JUDGES AND THE DETERIORATING CONDITION OF THE TRIBES OF YISHARAL THAT WE OBSERVE AS WE READ THE BOOK CAN BE SUMMED UP IN THOSE WORDS: “AT THAT TIME THERE WAS NO KING IN YISHARAL AND SO EVERY MAN DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES”.
YISHARAL NEEDED A KING AND YISHARAL IS GOING TO HAVE A KING (AS WILL ALL MANKIND) IN THE FORM OF YAHUSHA THE MESSIAH FOR ALL ETERNITY.
17
Mikah belonged to the Ephraim Tribe and lived in the hill country. One day he told his mother, “Do you remember those eleven hundred pieces of silver that were stolen from you? I was there when you put a curse on whoever stole them. Well, I’m the one who did it.”
His mother answered, “Well I hope that Yahuah will bless you instead, my son.” WHY THIS SUDDEN BOUT OF CONSCIENCE? BECAUSE HE OVERHEARD HIS MOTHER PRONOUNCING A CURSE ON THE THIEF. MANY SAY IT WAS NO ACCIDENT THAT MIKAH’S MOTHER SPOKE THIS CURSE WITHIN HIS HEARING BECAUSE SHE KNEW FULL WELL THAT HER SON WAS THE THIEF AND THIS OVERHEARD CURSE (SHE HOPED) WOULD PROVIDE THE INCENTIVE FOR HIM TO COME FORWARD AND RETURN THE STOLEN FUNDS. IN THE SCRIPTURAL DAYS CURSES WERE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY. WE CAN CALL THEM SUPERSTITIOUS IF WE LIKE, BUT TO THE PEOPLE OF THAT DAY IT WAS UNDERSTOOD THAT BEING THE SUBJECT OF A PROPERLY WORDED CURSE FROM ANYBODY PUT YOU UNDER THE DARKEST OF DARK CLOUDS.
Mikah returned the silver to his mother, and she said, “I give this silver to Yahuah, so my son can use it to make an idol.”
Then turning to her son, she said, “Mikah, the silver now belongs to you.” THIS SORT OF PERVERTED PRACTICE MUST HAVE BEEN REPEATED A THOUSAND TIMES OVER IN THE TRIBES OF YISHARAL DURING THE TIME NOT LONG AFTER JOSHUA AND HIS DIVINELY LED LEADERSHIP ENDED WITH HIS DEATH. THE MOTHER DEDICATES THE MONEY TO YAHUSHA, AND THEN KEEPS THE VAST BULK OF IT FOR HERSELF. THE MONEY SHE DOES GIVE IS USED TO MAKE A TURAH-FORBIDDEN IMAGE OF YAHUSHA. AND EVEN THAT IS SELFISH BECAUSE SHE WILL USE IT ONLY IN HER OWN HOUSEHOLD. IT’S ABOUT TO GET WORSE, THOUGH.
Mikah handed the silver back to his mother, so she took two hundred pieces of the silver and gave them to a silver worker, who made them into an idol, which they kept in Mikah’s house. He had a shrine for worshiping Yahusha there at his home, and he also had made some idols and a sacred priestly vest. Then Mikah chose one of his own sons to be the priest for his shrine.
This was before Kings ruled Yisharal, so all the Yisharalites did whatever they thought was right in their own opinion. IT SEEMS THAT MIKAH OWNED A “HOUSE OF ALAHIM”, OR IN HEBREW A BEIT-ALAHIM. IN OTHER WORDS MIKAH’S FAMILY HAD SET-APART AN AREA OF THEIR HOUSE, OR PERHAPS BUILT A SMALL SANCTUARY, WHERE THEY PERFORMED THEIR OWN RITUALS AND OBSERVANCES. THE MOLTEN IMAGE OF SILVER WOULD BE THE CENTREPIECE OF THE SANCTUARY AS THE SANCTUARY WAS TO BE IN HONOUR OF YAHUSHA, THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL. EVEN MORE, MIKAH HAD A PRIESTLY EPHOD MANUFACTURED TO BE USED IN THE SERVICES AND CONSECRATED ONE OF HIS SONS TO BE THE PRIEST WHO OFFICIATED THE SERVICES. WOW; WHERE DO WE START WITH THIS ABOMINATION?
I’M SURE MOST OF YOU ARE SHAKING YOUR HEADS AT SUCH A REBELLIOUS PERVERSION OF THE TURAH INSTRUCTIONS BY THE YAHUSHA’S OWN PEOPLE, AND THIS ONLY A FEW DECADES (IF THAT) AFTER JOSHUA’S DEATH. BUT DOES ANYONE THINK THAT MIKAH AND HIS MOTHER AND HOUSEHOLD WERE DOING THIS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTING AN EVIL? DID THEY GO INTO THIS ENDEAVOUR THINKING, “LET’S GO AGAINST YAHUSHA?” WERE THEY BOUND AND DETERMINED TO BE WICKED? OF COURSE NOT. THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING SOMETHING GOOD. THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE BEING OBEDIENT. THEIR INTENTION WAS TO BE SEEN BY YAHUSHA AND MAN AS ESPECIALLY PIOUS, SET-APART PEOPLE.
THEY CERTAINLY HAD SOME KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE LAWS GIVEN TO MOSES BECAUSE THEY CREATED AN EPHOD (MANDATED IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS TO BE WORN BY THE HIGH PRIEST), AND THEY DEDICATED EVERYTHING TO YAHUSHA BY NAME (YAHUAH). BUT WHAT THEY DID IS WHAT IT SEEMS THAT YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE GLOBALLY TEND TO DO BEFORE THEY MATURE: THEY OBEY THE PARTS OF THE WORD THEY LIKE AND DO THEM, AND IGNORE THE REST.
One day a young Levite (ACTUALLY MOSES' GRANDSON) came to Mikah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. He had been staying with one of the clans of Judah in Bethlehem, but he had left Bethlehem to find a new place to live where he could be a priest. “Where are you from?” Mikah asked.
“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man answered, “And I’m on my way to find a new place to live.”
THIS YOUNG LEVITE WAS BUT A TEMPORARY RESIDENT OF BETHLEHEM AND THIS INDICATES THE SAD STATE OF THE PRIESTLY TRIBE AT THIS TIME. THEY WERE NOT BEING SUPPORTED BY THE 12 TRIBES, AS THEY SHOULD AND SO MANY OF THEM LEFT THEIR DESIGNATED CITIES AND SOUGHT TO MAKE A LIVING ELSEWHERE. BUT THE LEVITES WERE EQUALLY AT FAULT BEING FILLED WITH APOSTASY AND SELF-INTEREST THAT TRUMPED THEIR CALLING AND DUTY TO SERVE ONLY THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL. WHILE IT CAN’T BE STATED WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, THERE IS REALLY ONLY ONE COMPELLING REASON FOR THIS YOUNG LEVITE TO LEAVE BETHLEHEM, BECAUSE HE COULDN’T PRACTICE AN IDOLATROUS FORM OF THE HEBREW BELIEF SYSTEM THERE AND SOUGHT A PLACE WHERE HE COULD. JUDAH WAS PERHAPS THE ONE TERRITORY AND TRIBE WHO AT LEAST GAVE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO STAY NEAR TO THE WAYS OF THE YAHUSHA. WHILE BY NO MEANS PERFECT IN THIS, NOR DID EVERY JUDEAN CLAN OR FAMILY FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT IT, WE WILL SEE THROUGHOUT THE NEXT SEVERAL BOOKS OF THE SCRIPTURE THAT OF THE 12 TRIBES JUDAH WAS THE LEAST TO BE TEMPTED INTO SYNCRETISM AND THE LAST TO BE CONQUERED BY FOREIGNERS AS A DIVINE CONSEQUENCE FOR THEIR REBELLION AGAINST YAHUSHA.
THE DIVISION OF LOYALTIES WITHIN YISHARAL BETWEEN JUDAH AND EPHRAIM (AS THE LEAD AND DOMINANT TRIBES) BEGAN VERY EARLY ON, ALMOST AS SOON AS THE TERRITORY WAS DIVIDED UP AND ALLOTTED. WE DON’T SEE A FINAL FALLING OUT BETWEEN THE TWO UNTIL SHORTLY AFTER KING SOLOMON’S DEATH (AROUND 925 B.C, ABOUT 400 YEARS AFTER JOSHUA), BUT IT WAS ALWAYS INEVITABLE THAT THIS HOSTILE SEPARATION OCCUR. THUS WE SEE THAT THIS YOUNG LEVITE LEAVES JUDAH AND GOES TO THE HILLS OF EPHRAIM; A PLACE THAT HE KNEW WAS MORE RECEPTIVE TO HIS PERSONAL AGENDA AND BELIEFS.
THIS TRAVELER WOULD HAVE STAYED IN SEVERAL HOMES DURING HIS JOURNEY, AND UNDOUBTEDLY SOME FAMILY OR ANOTHER FINALLY DIRECTED HIM TO MIKAH’S. STAYING IN PEOPLE’S HOMES WAS A CUSTOMARY HOSPITALITY OPENED TO TRAVELLERS IN THAT DAY, AS ONLY IN THE LARGEST CITIES WERE THERE ROOMS FOR HIRE.
Mikah said, “Why don’t you stay here with me? You can be my priest and tell me what Yahuah wants me to do. Every year I’ll give you ten pieces of silver and one complete set of clothes, and I’ll provide all your food.”
So the young man went for a walk, then he agreed to stay with Mikah and be his priest. He lived in Mikah’s house, and Mikah treated him like one of his own sons, saying, “I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that Yahuah will be kind to me.”
THIS WAS NOT DIVINE REALITY; IT WAS BUT ANCIENT SUPERSTITION. MIKAH HONESTLY THOUGHT THAT YAHUSHA WAS NOW OBLIGATED TO BLESS HIM AND HIS HOUSEHOLD MERELY BECAUSE HE HAD HIRED A LEVITE TO BECOME A PRIVATE PRIEST FOR HIS FAMILY SANCTUARY.
MIKAH CONSECRATED THE LEVITE TO BECOME A PRIEST! MIKAH CARRIED NO SUCH AUTHORITY OF COURSE, EXCEPT THAT OF AGE-OLD MIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS.
LET’S REMEMBER THAT WHILE IN EGYPT, YISHARAL GENERALLY OPERATED IN THE WAY THAT WE READ ABOUT HERE CONCERNING MIKAH. IT WAS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR THE FATHER TO MORE OR LESS BE THE FAMILY PRIEST, A DUTY THAT HE USUALLY PASSED ALONG TO HIS FIRSTBORN SON AT SOME POINT. BEFORE MT. SINAI DURING THEIR EXODUS, YISHARAL HAD NO PRIESTHOOD, BUT ALL ORDINANCES OF THAT DAY REVOLVED AROUND PRIESTS AND RITUALS. SO EVERY HEBREW FAMILY HAD THEIR OWN PRIVATE FAMILY PRIEST (SO TO SPEAK), AND THE RITUALS THEY PERFORMED TOOK PLACE IN THE HOME AND CONSISTED OF WHATEVER THEY PREFERRED (WITHIN THE SOME HAZILY DEFINED SET OF CULTURAL TRADITIONS).
WE MUST ALSO REMEMBER THAT SCRIPTURE IS FULL OF FALSE STATEMENTS AND LIES MADE BY MEN. NOW BEFORE YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK, LET ME EXPLAIN. WE FIND MANY SITUATIONS AND CHARACTERS IN THE SCRIPTURE STORIES THAT ARE TELLING LIES, OPERATING ON FALSE ASSUMPTIONS, OR RATIONALISING THEIR POOR BEHAVIOUR. A CLASSIC ONE IS THE STORY OF BALAAM THE SORCERER, WHO SAYS ALL KINDS OF THINGS ABOUT HOW THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL MUST OPERATE, BUT HE’S WRONG. KING DAVID WAS INFAMOUS FOR RATIONALISING AWAY SOME OF HIS DARKEST MOMENTS. THESE WORDS OF MIKAH ABOUT HOW YAHUSHA WOULD NOW ESPECIALLY BLESS HIM ARE ANOTHER. YAHUSHA DOES NOT BLESS US FOR BREAKING HIS COMMANDMENTS OR PERVERTING HIS RITUALS AND OBSERVANCES DESPITE OUR SINCERITY. THUS RECORDED SCRIPTURAL WORDS UTTERED BY YAHUSHA OR HIS DESIGNATED PROPHETS AND MESSENGERS ARE FACTUAL AND ACCURATE AND REPRESENT TRUTH, BUT MANY OF THE WORDS AS SPOKEN BY ORDINARY MEN (ALTHOUGH RECORDED ACCURATELY IN THE SCRIPTURE) ARE WORDS THAT DO NOT REFLECT DIVINE TRUTH OR RIGHT, OBEDIENT PRINCIPLE. MOST OF THESE CASES ARE OBVIOUS, BUT SOME FLY OVER OUR HEADS IF WE DON’T DILIGENTLY STUDY THE WORDS OF YAHUSHA TO ESTABLISH A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING. I HOPE THIS IS CLEAR TO YOU AND YOU DO NOT THINK I’M TELLING YOU THE SCRIPTURE IS FULL OF ERROR, WHICH IT IS NOT. BUT IT IS FULL OF THE STATEMENTS AND ACTIONS OF MEN WHO ARE IN ERROR.
18
About this time, the Tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live, for the other Tribes had land, but the people of Dan did not really have any to call their own (BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T TAKE WHAT THEY’D BEEN GIVEN BY JOSHUA AND DRIVE OUT THE ENEMY FROM IT).
IN OTHER WORDS, EACH TRIBE WAS GIVEN A PORTION OF CANAAN AND THEY WERE DUTY BOUND TO EJECT THE CANAANITES FROM IT. THE CONSEQUENCE FOR NOT DOING THAT WAS THAT YOU LOST SOME OR ALL OF YOUR TERRITORY (OR BETTER, YOU SIMPLY NEVER GAINED THAT TERRITORY). DAN WAS UP AGAINST THE PHILISTINES, WHO PROVED TO BE THE TOUGHEST ENEMY YISHARAL WOULD FACE OVER THE LONG HAUL. AND DAN FINALLY THREW IN THE TOWEL AND MOVED AWAY TO TERRITORY NOT ALLOTTED TO ANY OF THE OTHER YISHARALITE TRIBES. DAN’S VIEW OF IT WAS THAT THEY “HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN” TERRITORY, AND TO THEM THAT PROBABLY MEANT THAT FROM A SPIRITUAL VIEWPOINT YAHUSHA HAD NOT VANQUISHED THE PHILISTINES AHEAD OF DAN’S ARMY AND THUS THE CONCLUSION THAT YAHUSHA HAD NOT GIVEN THE TERRITORY OVER TO THEM (THAT WAS THE VERY TYPICAL ANCIENT THOUGHT PATTERN REGARDLESS OF WHAT CULTURE WAS INVOLVED OR WHICH DEITY WAS WORSHIPPED).
So the Tribe chose five warriors to represent their clans and told them, “Go and find some land where we can live.” So the warriors left the area of Zorah and Eshtaol and went into the hill country of Ephraim. One night they stayed at Mikah’s house, because they heard the young Levite talking, and they knew from his accent that he was from the South. They asked him, “What are you doing here? Who brought you here?”
The Levite replied, “Mikah hired me as his priest.” Then he told them how well Mikah had treated him. “Please talk to Yahuah for us,” the men said. “Ask Him if we will be successful in what we are trying to do.”
“Don’t worry,” answered the priest. “Yahuah is pleased with what you’re doing.”
So the five men left and went to the town of Laish, whose people were from Sidon, but Sidon was too far away to protect them. Even though their town had no walls, the people thought they were safe from attack. So they had not asked anyone else for protection, which meant that the Tribe of Dan could easily take over Laish.
The five men went back to Zorah and Eshtaol, where their relatives asked, “Did you find any land?”
“Let’s go!” the five men said. “We saw some very good land with enough room for all of us, and it has everything we will ever need. What are you waiting for? Let’s attack and take it. You’ll find that the people think they’re safe, but Yahuah is giving the land to us.”
Six hundred men from the Tribe of Dan strapped on their weapons and left Zorah and Eshtaol with their families.
One night they camped near Kiriath-Jearim in the territory of Judah, and that’s why the place just West of Kiriath-Jearim is still known as Dan’s Camp. Then they went into the hill country of Ephraim. When they came close to Mikah’s house, the five men who had been spies asked the other warriors, “Did you know that someone in this village has several idols and a sacred priestly vest? What do you think we should do about it?”
So the six hundred warriors left the road and went to the house on Mikah’s property where the young Levite priest lived. They stood at the gate and greeted the priest. Meanwhile, the five men who had been there before went into Mikah’s house and took the sacred priestly vest and the idols. “Hey!” the priest shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Be Quiet!” the men said. “Keep your mouth shut and listen. Why don’t you come with us and be our priest, so you can tell us what Yahuah wants us to do? You could stay here and be a priest for one man’s family, but wouldn’t you rather be the priest for a clan or even a whole Tribe of Yisharal?”
And the priest really liked that idea. So he took the vest and the idols and joined the others from the Tribe of Dan. Then they turned and left, after putting their children, their cattle, and the rest of their other possessions in front.
But they had only traveled for a short time, before Mikah asked his neighbours to help him get all his things back. So he and his men caught up with the people of Dan and shouted for them to stop. They turned to face him and asked, “WHAT THE HELL?? WHY DID YOU BRING ALL THESE MEN?”
Mikah answered, “YOU KNOW WHAT’S WRONG. YOU STOLE THE IDOLS I MADE, AND YOU TOOK MY PRIEST. NOW DON’T HAVE ANYTHING LEFT.”
“DO WE LOOK LIKE WE’RE INTERESTED IN YOUR SOB-STORY??” the people of Dan said. “NOW GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE BEFORE YOU MAKE US ANGRY AND YOU GET YOUR SELF AND YOUR FAMILY ALL KILLED . . . GO ON!!”
And after saying this, they turned and left, and Mikah realised there was no way he could win a fight with them, and so he went back home.
So the Tribe of Dan took Mikah’s priest and the things Mikah had made, and headed for Laish, which was located in a valley controlled by the town of Beth-Rehob. Laish was defenceless because it had no walls and was too far from Sidon for the Sidonians to help defend it. The leaders of Laish had not even asked nearby towns to help them in case of any attack.
The warriors from Dan made a surprise attack on Laish, killing everyone and burning it down. Then they rebuilt the town and settled there themselves. But they named it Dan, after one of Yisharal’s sons, who was the ancestor of their Tribe.
Even though the Tabernacle (or sorts) was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Mikah had made and worshiped the idol, and the Levite (MOSES` GRANDSON) was their priest (HOW SAD !!) His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom, the son of Moses. His descendants served as priests for the Tribe of Dan, until the people of Yisharal were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.
THIS CHAPTER ENDS WITH AN INTERESTING REFERENCE TO MIKAH’S IDOL BEING USED BY THE TRIBE OF DAN WHILE THE HOUSE OF YAHUSHA (TABERNACLE) WAS IN SHILOH. SHILOH WAS WHERE THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE WAS ERECTED AND SEMI- PERMANENTLY LOCATED WHEN YISHARAL ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND. IT WAS THERE WHERE THE OFFICIAL PRIESTHOOD OPERATED. IT WOULD LATER BE TRANSFERRED TO BETHAL, AND WE’LL EVEN FIND THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT WITNESS GETS MOVED AROUND QUITE A BIT MORE THAN THE TABERNACLE ITSELF. THE POINT BEING THAT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER JOSHUA WASN’T AROUND TO RUN THINGS WITH AN IRON ROD, EVERY ELEMENT OF HEBREW SOCIETY BEGAN BACKSLIDING AT AN ALARMING RATE. SO THE RESOUNDING AND REPEATED UNDERLYING PREMISE FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK OF JUDGES: “THERE WAS NO KING IN YISHARAL SO EVERY MAN DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”
VENOM
I (Victoria) had a dream about a month ago about being trapped in a caravan full of snakes, having to fight my way out of it, which was quite terrifying. And Ive been meaning to write about the spiritual implication of the experience.
"VENOM": bitterness; a bitter thing; specifically bile; also venom (of a serpent):--bitter (thing), gall, a poisonous plant, probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents):--gall, hemlock, poison, venom. bitterness sharpness of taste; lack of sweetness. Sharpness acidity harshness resentment antagonism anger spitefulness ferocity hatred loathing, detestation venom poison bile. anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment.
This venom can seep into us so easily by just a hint of resentment to cause us such harmful damage to our being and to those around us. This behaviour can cause us to get sick and have physical repercussions while we continue in this state. As believers we don’t have the rights to think we can vent our anger about anything and get away with it. Yahusha will not stand for it and will send pressure and suffering to us until we give in to His way. Even though Yahusha has forgiven us while we were still full of rage and is wooing us over to His way of life by the prods and goading…. He will not stop until we give in and His truth always wins! The truth of the Scripture is our guide and power to disperse this evil tormenting spirit that sneaks into our being by way of bad attitudes.
EPH 4:29-32 (BYNV) "Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for the use of building-up, so as to impart what is pleasant to the hearers. And do not grieve the Ruach ha’Qodesh of Yahuah, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath, and displeasure and uproar, and slander be put away from you, along with all evil. And be kind towards one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as Yahuah also forgave you in Mashiak".