January 7, 2023
Passage Read: Judges 10-13
Meditation Verse: 13:16
Thought
The Lord had said that the people were to offer their sacrifices at that place he would choose. They were not to do as the Canaanites did or as they were doing in the wilderness, every man sacrificing as and where he wished. Yet multiple times the Lord has accepted offerings made at a person's home rather than at the Tabernacle. Gideon and Manoah are two examples. They both lived far from Shiloh, but the Lord could have told them to go offer their sacrifice at the Tabernacle. That would have taken several days and the moment would have been lost, but it would have been proper. But God clearly accepted their sacrifices. He made accommodation in these moments, even though what He had instructed was to sacrifice at one location.
Application
In the sense that the Tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, the Lord had chosen a place, and it was fairly central to all the tribes. Yet in the tone of the judges, things were not orderly, and as the author notes a couple of times, "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes." To get from there to where the Lord wanted would take some doing, so the Lord was willing to accept offerings outside the norm. Even Samuel offered sacrifices on high places, though trained as a priest! God extended mercy to His clueless people and accepted offerings even though not in the place He directed. In truth, what He desires is obedience rather than sacrifice, and these sacrifices were opportunities to show signs to the people involved to secure their faith and obedience. Better some form of obedience than none at all. But the goal is full obedience and an end to animal sacrifices. God desires mercy, not sacrifice; He desires perfect obedience from the start, but He'll accept what He can get as a move in the right direction. I too need to be encouraged by and encourage steps in the right direction, rather than expect perfect obedience from people who don't know the Lord well. And I need to help fill in that knowledge gap, so they can grow in better obedience.