Men behaving badly (Judges 19-21, Acts 2)

Judges 19-21 is no laughing matter. It is men behaving badly in some of the worst ways. They were dark days. The beginning and end of the reading tell us what the problem was – Israel had no king, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes, (19:1, 21:25). Doing right in their own eyes involved taking God’s good gift of sex and abusing it. God gave sex to be enjoyed in marriage between one man and one woman. Doing right in their own eyes involved men taking concubines in addition to their wives, homosexual intentions, (19:22) and awful rape and abuse (19:25).

Israel needed a king to teach them how to live God’s way, sadly when those kings came, they often were not much better and all of them fell short until King Jesus came.

Our reading from Acts 2 tells us what they did to Jesus, they abused him and crucified him (2:23, 36). They didn’t want this servant king to rule over them. And yet, Peter tells us this was all God’s plan (2:23).

We all have lived like we don’t want Jesus to rule over us, we’ve all done what is right in our own eyes, but wonderfully Peter promises forgiveness for those who repent and receive the covenant sign of baptism. Forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit who changes our desires so that we want to live with Jesus as king. At the end of Acts 2 we see the beautiful community created when people want to live under the rule of King Jesus.

Here is what church should look like, a group of believers devoted to the Apostles teaching (2:42). What does that mean? It means the believers were hungry for God’s Word and desired to do what it said. It’s so different to the end of Judges when everyone was doing what they thought was right in their own eyes. Here is a group of people who recognise the mess they got into when they did that, and now desire to go God’s way. They are devoted to this new community, the fellowship, that word means partnership. They were committed to serving each other and reaching out with the gospel message. They were devoted to eating together, sharing lives, helping each other out. And they were devoted to prayer. What a blessing to be a part of church that takes God’s Word seriously, to see the beautiful community the Holy Spirit creates. It’s no wonder the Lord was pleased to add to their number day by day.

Let me encourage you today to commit yourself to a church that takes God’s Word seriously, commit to the people there, share your life with them and pray for them.