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What about in good times?

There are very definite patterns in the book of Judges in the Old Testament.

• Israel disobeys, or does not follow through on their promises or obligations,
• God delivers them into the hands of a more powerful local rival: Midianites, Philistines, etc.
• Israel cries out for help to the LORD in their misery
• God sends a rescuer, a “judge” to deliver them
• Israel enjoys peace for a period until the cycle begins again.

Last week in the Samson stories we saw a break in the cycle. Israel had become so lost that she had stopped crying out to God. Instead God intervened in the life of a barren woman to send Samson as a rescuer against the Philistines.

For many of us who have jobs, houses, relatively secure incomes, etc. this cycle often makes God look bad. The United States is increasingly “spiritual but not religions” and the baseline assumption about God, if he, ze or it exists is that God is love and is just always there to give good things to people who ask.

Religion is to Spirituality as Technology is to Science

When Oprah was on Stephen Colbert they talked about favorite Bible verses. Oprah embodies and champions western, secure, affluent spirituality. Her version of the universe basically says that karma rules and so if you want good things you should do good things. She believes that this rule and others like it are the spiritual truths that underlie all the world religions. In other words religions are applications of these spiritual truths kind of like various technologies are applications of scientific laws below.

While ancients didn’t share these modern assumptions, partially fueled by skepticism brought on by religious pluralism, how it works out looks surprising similar between moderns and ancients. The spiritual realm is like the physical world, a level of existence that has rules and properties that informed, motivated and clever people can take advantage of in order to achieve the lifestyle goals they set for themselves. Gods or spiritual forces are available for our interaction in order to make our lives the way we want them.

Micah Sets Up His Family Shrine
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