The Temple of God
Today’s Focus: Local Church vs. City Church: The Spirit of Locality
Scripture: Judges 17:4-6; 2 Kings 16:17,18; 2 Chronicles 26:18-20
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
This concept of locality is not a new phenomena but rather a old one. Now in this set of scripture in Judges we see a young man named Micah. Micah goes and does some things that is not pleasing to the Lord but what I want to do is show you the reason for this sin and then show you the sin because the spirit of locality will always seek to separate us from unifying the Body of Christ and build the Temple, just as it separated Israel from coming together for the holy feasts.
Judges 17:6: In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Now just this scripture alone we can do an entire message. First, we know that the king is the head or leader of the nation. When you do not operate under authority there is bound to be chaos and confusion. This is clearly evident in this scripture because man’s imagination began to become out of control. So instead of keeping with God’s commandments the people began to do “WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS RIGHT IN THEIR EYES”. This can also be applied to leadership that is present but absent, let me explain. You can have a pastor, who allows the people to dictate everything. So whatever the people imagine in their hearts, the pastor will do to please the people. Hence in this example we have a leader, sitting in a place of a leader but not acting like a leader. Could this be no wonder why there is so much division and confusion to what Christianity really is? Because of a lack of sound leadership and doctrine, man’s doctrine and interpretation has become the dominating rule of many of our lives and when we are subject to their doctrine, then you cannot effectively follow the doctrine of Christ. Now let’s see what Micah does:
Judges 17:4,5: Yet he restored the money unto his mother, and his mother took two hundered shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
This is loaded. Now you may wonder what was Micah doing. He was trying to duplicate the Ark of the Covenant:
1. Molten Image represented the Mercy Seat
2. Carved Image represented the Ark itself
3. Teraphim represented the Cherubim
4. Ephod represented the priestly garments
5. Micah consecrated one of his sons to be a priest.
Micah was building from his imagination trying to access the blessings of God by copying. This type of locality is a picture of a household of faith that has disconnected itself from building the Temple. Let me show you some other examples;
King Ahaz (2 Kings 16:17,18)
King Ahaz removed the king’s outer entrance which was a passage way from the king’s house to the temple. He isolated his house from the temple. This is a picture of the head disconnecting itself from the temple or body.
King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:18-20)
Uzziah crossed boundaries within the temple by offering incense in the temple which was only ordained by God for the priest to do. Uzziah would be smitten with leprosy by God for his disobedience. The sin would isolate Uzziah from the temple.
Now in the next message we will look at two nations that are the types and shadows of nations that prevented the people of God from building the Temple and migrating in the things of God.
Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
