COMMUNION MEDITATION FROM THE BOOK OF JUDGES

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

I just finished reading the book of Judges for my own personal Bible study.  Judges is one of the books of Hebrew history in the Bible, but as I was reading it I found myself asking the Lord to help me make something of it--to make sense of what it means because the images of homosexual practice, rape, murder, a war that killed many thousands, etc., was not inspirational to me.  What follows is what the Lord helped me to understand.

About four times in the book of Judges the theme is repeated, 'there was no king in Israel.'  Why did they need a king?  They had the Law.  And, if they had the Law, they did have a king who was the Law-giver, Jehovah God.  When the Israelites were asking for a king to lead them, Samuel told them, "the Lord God was your king" (I Samuel 12:12b).  What is clear is that they did not want God for their king.  The Israelites disregarded the priesthood and the Law and, as a nation, sank to the lowest depths of depravity.  It is interesting to note that the people of Jesus' day did not want a king from Heaven either. Jesus told them, "My kingship is not of this world" (John 18:36). The Jews of Jesus' time were like those of the Judges, they wanted a king from earth, not of Heaven, and, as a result, crucified Jesus on a cross.

The Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, communion reminds us that Jesus is the King sent from Heaven, but rather than rejecting him, we renew our commitment to him.*

Our Father's Love,
Tom

*Often what I write needs some refinement in expression, but I think the broad outline is sound.  Communion is a time for recommitting our lives to King Jesus.