The Danites determine to settle themselves in Laish even
though this wasn’t their allotted portion.
It was an easy conquest, only 600 men were required to take the city
because the people there believed themselves to be secure. The Danites decided to take the idols of
Micah as well as the priest who oversaw whatever "worship" there was
at his home and set these up in their city as a talisman of protection. Surely they could have worked out the math
that these things hadn't protected Micah from them so how could they rely on
them for their own protection? Even
still, they were able to set up this priest, from the line of Moses, to handle
the religious duties. Does the final
verse imply that after the temple moved to Jerusalem this idolatry no longer
existed?
There are those who will say that what really happened here
is that when Jesus prayed and offered the meager amount of food to the
multitude the people who had been holding back their own supply shared freely
with all. That explanation does not fit
well with the idea that this proved He was the Prophet or that they wanted to
make Him king after this. The Prophet
would need to do the things Moses did, like arrange for miraculous provision
for a multitude of people in a place where there was no possibility of getting
it without a miracle, a la the manna in the wilderness. No one would make someone a king simply
because He was able to get people to share.
The first temptation placed before Jesus in the wilderness was to turn
rocks into bread to end His forty day fast and He refused. Here, because of His compassion for the
people who were seeking Him and coming to some belief, He is willing to produce
food for them. His kingdom, as He will
tell Pilate, is not of this world, no matter who wants to make Him their king.
Philip has preached and the Samaritans have believed and he
has, therefore, baptized them in the Name of Jesus. They have, however, not received the Holy Spirit
and Philip sent to the apostles that they might come out and lay on hands. We do this same thing in confirmation. In the Anglican world a local priest baptizes
and the bishop (apostle) comes to lay on hands in confirmation with the prayer
that the person will receive the Holy Spirit.
The apostles are then also encouraged to share the Gospel on their way
home in the villages of the Samaritans. They
joined the mission God had called and commissioned.
No comments:
Post a Comment