March 25

Nightmare in the Book of Judges

"Nightmare on Elm Street" is a horror movie about a serial killer named Freddy. I have never seen the movie nor do I intend to in the future but I am aware of some pop culture. This movie is of the genre called “slasher.” This particular genre of movies enjoys death and gruesome forms of violence. Well, here is our “slasher” chapter in the Bible. This chapter makes the lawlessness of the Wild West look like a Baptist Sunday School picnic. The levels of depravity reached in these chapters are staggering even to “slasher” fans. How the people of God could fall to these lows should cause all of us to consider that subtle and dangerous slide of sin. “Think about it,” is the reminder from the author. No one starts out at this level. It is a slow gradual slide into hell. Here is the commentary on why Israel sank to this level of depravity.

Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

This is the recipe for moral anarchy. We are told no less than five times that the idolatry, debauchery, and atrocities recorded here happened during a time when Israel had no king. The implication is that because there was no king, everyone did whatever they wished. But wasn’t the Lord their king? Didn’t the Lord give them the 10 commandments to live by? Whenever there is an absence of moral authority (God), a vacuum is created in which nothing but chaos can reign. For either a higher moral authority is in charge, or we are. There is no moral middle ground.

Dostoevsky realized this in his novel “The Brothers Karamazov.” He has Ivan say, "If God does not exist, everything is permitted"

We in the USA in 2010 actually believe that we can live without a King. We can just throw the king out and live life according to our own plans. We have thrown God out of our schools, our families, our hospitals, our courts, our bedrooms and we have even thrown him out of the church in recent days.

A society is little more than the sum of its parts. If you want to know the future of America without a king just turns on Jerry Springer. As you watch Jerry Springer you get to see a nation where everyone did as he saw fit. And for us in Stamford we are now the proud host city for the Jerry Springer show. Think about it!!

I hate to sound like a prophet of doom and gloom but the way we are refusing to follow God and his ways only leads to a horrible ending. Think about it!!

Thought for today: Everyday we need to bow our knees before the King and follow his paths of righteousness; otherwise all that will be left for us is a Nightmare on Elm Street.