Untrustworthy Steps for Discerning God's Will

In the excellent movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana must overcome three challenges or booby traps to get to the holy grail. The second challenge features a room of paved stones with letters engraved on them. Some of the stones are supported, while others have no support and give way to reveal an empty chasm beneath. Indiana must choose the right stones to walk across the room.

Sometimes, discerning the will of God can feel like this room of paved stones. We must choose the right steps for discerning God's will, or we can step confidently only to find ourselves dangling precariously before some peril. Ok, stretching the analogy a bit for dramatic effect. But seriously, how can we know which steps or which methods are trustworthy and which are untrustworthy for discerning the will of God?

In Judges 17, God reveals two seemingly trustworthy steps that turn out to give way if we place too much weight on them. In this sad story, a man named Micah steals silver from his mother, but is oddly praised for confessing his crime. He uses some of the stolen money to make an idol, something expressly forbidden when worshiping God. Next, there is a Levite who journeys to where Micah lives and Micah offers him a job as his personal priest. When the Levite accepts, Micah believes God must be blessing him, "Then Micah said, 'Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest,'" (Judges 17:13). There is a bitter irony to Micah's confidence. God is not blessing him, or his false religion at all. Instead, Micah is being setup for a fall. 

Coincidence Does Not Guarantee God's Will. Micah thought that because his mother just happened to ignore his theft, and that because the Levite just happened to come to his house, and that because the Levite agreed to be his personal priest, God MUST be revealing his will to Micah. But, here's the problem. God had already revealed His will in His Word. And, God never contradicts God. We should NEVER think that a coincidence can prove God's favor if the choice before us would God against God's stated will in Scripture. God had clearly told the Israelites not to worship Him with idols (Exodus 20:4-6). Further, the role of the Levite was to assist the priests, not to become a priest over an aberrant form of religion. So, despite the coincidences that appeared favorable, Micah had not discerned God's will. Today, we must beware of thinking that any coincidence points to God's clear blessing. First, we must be students of God's word. This gives us eyes to see past mere coincidences. God could be in the coincidence but it could as easily be warning as blessing.

Next, in Judges 18 some men from the tribe of Dan stay with Micah on their way to spy out a new land for them. Apparently, they did not like the plot of land God gave them when Joshua divided the land. Instead, they set their eyes on Laish. However, on their way to destroying Laish, the men from Dan returned to Micah's home. They planned to rob Micah of his idol and silver and they put forth an offer to the Levite, "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?" (Judges 18:19). Basically, the tribe of Dan offered this Levite a promotion in order to look past their thievery. Because of the promotion and the potential for wider ministry influence, the Levite thought that God was revealing His will, "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," (Judges 18:20). But, was it really God's will or had the Levite fallen for an untrustworthy step?

Material Wealth and Worldly Influence Do Not Guarantee God's Will. This Levite became morally complicit first in theft and then later in genocide (the people of Dan murdered the people of Laish to take their land). He did all of this because of the wealth and influence opportunity to be a "priest" to a whole tribe. The sad end to this story is when we learn the Levite's name: Jonathan, who was Moses's grandson. The famous leader who led God's people out of Egypt and through the wilderness had a son whose son thought that God wanted him to promote idolatry, theft, and murder. Here's the second lesson for today - just because a decision would result in more money or more prestige does not mean that God favors the choice. 

Imagine you go into work (or log into work) and as you have been worried about how to make ends meet you just happen to get an email from a boss you have only spoken to once in the past six months. This boss wants to meet with you over the phone today to talk with you about an exciting opportunity. Later on the phone, this boss offers you a promotion above your current supervisor. Your pay would be almost $20,000 more a year. And, you could really make the changes you have wanted to around the office. However, you would have to fire your current supervisor. Why? Because she's too much of a stickler for the rules. She impedes business growth and gets in the way of the bottom line. Is the promotion offer, the more money, and the coincidence of the email enough to discern God's will? In Judges 17:6 there is a sad refrain that hangs over the book and dark time in Israel, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 

Christians, if we do not treasure God's word and allow Scripture to guide us through the murky places of our own thoughts and emotions, we too are likely to repeat the mistakes of Micah and Jonathan. We too will think we are hearing God's voice in coincidences and fortunes when in fact we are only hearing our own desires. Let us learn from their failures and seek God's will first in God's word.