#judg

ju dg

"Magneto: Judgment Promo"

This a Preview for my next Xmen 97 fan fic comic titled "Magneto: Judgment." It's a sequel to my first comic "Magneto: First Blood". Which can be found in the link below

The David and Saul dynamic shows us the often challenging relationship the Church will have with the world. If we take David as a picture of those in Christ and Saul as a picture of the world we will gain an understanding of the good and bad of an often strained relationship. We see Saul swinging from one extreme to the next throughout chapter 19: 1 Samuel 19:1 (ESV) And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. Jonathan quickly intervenes for David bringing peace between him and Saul: 1 Samuel 19:6–7 (ESV) And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

Things will not stay peaceful for long... soon there's war and then more friction:

1 Samuel 19:8–10 (ESV) And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

1 Samuel 19:15 (ESV) Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” Back and forth, on and off the relationship goes for Saul and his attitude toward David. Now what we have here is a picture of what the Church can expect from the world. The world will play nice at times with the Church, then suddenly get nasty toward the Church when the pressure is on. What is more, David is given a wife from Saul's own family - his daughter Michal who we find out very quickly is not really for David as much as she is afraid of her father. At first, she helps him escape and when questioned she fights only for herself: 1 Samuel 19:17 (ESV) Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”

Michal represents the allegiances the world will try to impose upon the Church. Just as Michal's marriage to David was Saul's idea, these allegiances are always the world's idea to get the church to compromise for the sake of the world's protection and self-preservation - think Constantine or Henry the 8th or the current leadership of many Church-state nations. 

What we are being asked to see as well is that at times the Chruch MUST withdraw from this relationship. We may not be able to stop the world from trying to align with us as many of these relationship structures are deeply embedded into the society to which we were born, but we can vacate and get alone with God to hear from Him as David will do. 

The big point of this passage is to see the world for what it is - utterly and inescapably self-concerned. Do not make the mistake that the niceties are for the welfare of the Church. The kingdoms of this world have their own interest at heart - no matter what hemisphere they are from. 

Being people of the true David, Jesus Christ, our hearts must be discerning and aware of these relationship structures so that we can follow the leading of the Spirit and do what He asks. There is no other option and by God's grace and preservation, we will do well and ultimately inherit what God has promised.

Judges 17 turns the page on righteous although flawed judges raised up by God to deliver His people from bondage. Now the narrative will describe through tragic stories the corruption of Israel's heart as a result of them turning from God over the previous century. Note the first of four phrases to be repeated until the end of Judges six verses in: Judges 17:6 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The story begins with a man who stole money from his mother and then confesses upon hearing her curse over it. Judges 17:2 (ESV) 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.”

The mother then proceeds to hire a silversmith with part of the money to fashion an idol and put it in a makeshift shrine in the house. This she does, claiming to dedicate the money to Yahweh. Judges 17:4 (ESV) 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.

This is everyone deciding for themselves what is right. Yet there is a gloss of religiosity to it all. This is the first problem with idolatry. It usually looks a lot like devotion to God when in reality it is devotion to one's own interest. 

Not long after this, a Levite journeying through the area arrives at Micah's house. Micah invites him in and hires him as his personal priest for some money and clothes. The Levite accepts the offer: Judges 17:11–13 (ESV) 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.”

The picture we have here of Micah's house speaks to the shallow, self-serving worship resident in Israel at the time of the judges. The Israelites were supposed to worship at the fixed place where God dwelt among them in the Tabernacle. They were to go to His appointed priests for sacrifice and worship. Micah is looking for his own "personal" form of religion and believing for God's blessing over it. At the same time nothing here is THAT outlandish by modern estimations. This is the second problem with idolatry. It is only among the first steps into debauchery. The average American wants God to be with them in their personal ambitions but shows little interest in knowing what God has decreed for the world, for His body, and for each of us individually according to His will. Israel was not to worship God as they saw fit nor fashion idols representing God for anything they "imagined". The reason is anything they imagined would never fully encompass who He is and what He's like. Israel was not to have household priests for they were a community of people accountable to one another and not individuals who "followed their gut." The reality is we don't jump right into heinous sins and tragic departures from God. The path to our own demise is riddled with idolatry. Idolatry distorts our understanding of God in ways we do not fully comprehend. Instead of coming to know God for Who He actually is, we invariably project a version of Him we are more comfortable with, one that looks a lot like us. The problem then becomes we have fashioned a "god" with the same doubts, fears, and anxieties we already possess. A "god" that is powerless to save us. Christian, you are not called to idolatry and self-made religiosity. Instead, Christian, you are called to an endless discovery of the Divine. This is not simply our responsibility, it is our highest privilege. And most importantly, it saves us from ourselves.