'THE CANADIAN PROBLEM'

Rev. Canon George Sinclair

by Rev. Canon George Sinclair                           

 Pastor of the Church of the Messiah, Ottawa, ON.
  www.messiahchurch.ca

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Podcast of CFRA broadcast on Sunday,   

November 1^st, 2020

http://accm.ncf.ca/images/20.11.01.mp3

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This week's broadcast is the sermon I gave at Church of the Messiah. 

The sermon was called "The Canadian Problem" 

 It is part of my series, "Judges: Messy People, Faithful God"

"The Canadian Problem"

  

Today’s Reading: Judges 17:1-18:31  (ESV)

Micah and the Levite

17 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained[a] one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Danites Take the Levite and the Idol

18 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. 2 So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” 4 And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5 And they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.”

7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking[b] nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8 And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. 10 As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

11 So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, 12 and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan[c] to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” 15 And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare. 16 Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18 And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” 20 And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

21 So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them. 22 When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. 23 And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” 24 And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25 And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” 26 Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

27 But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29 And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses,[d] and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

Footnotes

1. Judges 17:5 Hebrew filled the hand of; also verse 12
2. Judges 18:7 Compare 18:10; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
3. Judges 18:12 Mahaneh-dan means camp of Dan
4. Judges 18:30 Or Manasseh

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George Sinclair George is the Lead Pastor at Church of the Messiah. 

More about George Sinclair

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://accm.ncf.ca/images/20.11.01.mp3

'ELIJAH: GOD'S HEROES ARE ONLY HUMAN'

Rev. Juliet Schimpf By Rev. Juliet Schimpf     ___________________________ Broadcast Notes

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LINK to CFRA broadcast of Sunday, August 2^nd, 2015)

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/34361/good_news_168_aug02.mp3

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THANKS for the generosity of Rockland Christian Church, 

  that made today’s broadcast possible.

 

"Elijah: God's Heroes Are Only Human"

·       God’s heroes are ordinary people who rely upon an extraordinary God.

·       The heroes of the Bible are people just like us:  “Elijah was a human, even as we are.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”  (italics added; James 5:17)

·       Heroes go through 3 main phases:

1.      The Preparation

2.     The Exhilaration

3.     The Restoration

1.      THE PREPATION (THE BROOK) 

·                 Howard Hendricks:  “”Man chooses an individual on the basis of what he is.  God chooses an individual on the basis of what he is to become.” 

·                 Elijah was probably born sometime in the decade before 900BC

·                 Elijah was a Tishbite of Gilead, an area in the north of Palestine east of the Jordan—so far from the center of Israelite life and so undistinguished that it is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible

·                 Gilead was a rough, mountainous area known for its high peaks and deep valleys. The very name "Gilead" in its Hebrew form means "raw or rugged." This tells us that Elijah was a backwoods man.

·                 When he stepped onto the scene and began his ministry, his methods, his mannerisms and his message were as rough and rugged as the place he called home.  2 Kings 1:8. “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

·                 God’s heroes are not like the world’s heroes:  ^“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.²⁸ (1 Cor. 1:26-27) 

·                 God called him to be a prophet at a time of crisis in Israel during the reign of King Ahab.

·                 This weak and vacillating king had married a foreigner, Jezebel of Tyre.

·                 She brought with her the priests and worship of Baal and goddess Asherah—she supported them financially at the royal court

·                 Her passion in life became the obliteration of the worship of Yahweh and the establishment of Baal worship as the national religion.

·                 The queen did not foster a blending of religions, but the exclusive worship of Baal as god in Israel and goddess Asherah.

·                 The prophet’s name spelled out his mission:  “Yas is El” (“Yahweh is God”).

·                 Elijah shocked Ahab to attention with a grim judgement:  “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my words.” (1 Kings 17:1)

·                 And a long drought began as Elijah had predicted.

·                 During the months that followed, the Lord prepared Elijah for a decisive battle.

·                 God sent Elijah east of the Jordan where he discovered that the Lord could meet all his needs.

·                 He was fed by the ravens which brought him bread and meat.

·                 Then he was led north to Zarephath, a city of Sidon, where he was cared for by a widow (whose son Elijah brought back to life).

·                 The meager resources of the woman were miraculously multiplied by the Lord so that she could feed the prophet. 

·                 The Lord was teaching Elijah to trust the Lord for the impossible.  Elijah was learning complete dependence. 

2.     THE EXILIRATION (THE MOUNTAIN) 

·                 God had ministered to Elijah.  Now God would minister through Elijah. 

 

·                 Elijah on Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18: ¹⁹ Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”  ²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”  ….²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.  ³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³² With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”  ³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.  “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.  ³⁶ At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me,Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

3.     THE RESTORATION (THE VALLEY)

Olgivie:  “There is no depletion as dangerous as that which comes from overextending ourselves for righteous causes.”

In contrast to generals like Napoleon and Washington who were never more dangerous than after defeat, Elijah and many of us are never more vulnerable than after a victory.

·                 At the end of the day, Elijah was exhausted….there was nothing left…..fire had descended on the altar, but Elijah was burned out.

·                 Jezebel was enraged when Ahab told her about what had happened on Carmel and about the slaying of her prophets.  She sent a bitter, threatening message to Elijah:  “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow ab out this time” (1 Kings 19:2)

·                 Elijah experienced an emotion he had never experienced before:  he was afraid.

·                 He ran for his life…..he ran south to Beersheba and then on into the wilderness.

Elijah made two key mistakes:

·                 perfectionism:  “O Lord, take my life.  For I am not better than my fathers.”  --comparison trap!

·                 isolation:  Mount Carmel:  “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord."--he forgot that 100 prophets had been hidden by Obadiah

God spoke to Elijah in a “still small voice”.  If the ashes of discouragement smolder in your heart, be sure of this:  God can and will cause a flame to be ignited.  He is not finished with us.  Listen for the wind.  Sense the quake of his power.  Feel the warmth of new fire. 

John Piper:  “All heroes are shadows of Christ.”  

Rev. Juliet Schimpf

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/34361/good_news_168_aug02.mp3