Really not sure where to begin with Judges 17, so much is wrong with it. The story telling is fine, it is just the behavior of the people, it is all wrong. Who are these people? We are told that they are of Ephraim and a Levite of Judah. Seriously, how could things be so wrong in Israel that they do not see their own folly?
Evidently some money went missing, of course a strong possibility exists that the son stole it from his mother and now is returning it. His mother had cursed the money but now blesses it and decides to have an idol made, problem number one. The son makes a shrine of it and begins worshiping it, problem number two. Along comes a Levite seeking more opportunities than Judah afforded, a status seeker per se, problem number three. The man and the Levite create their own cultic center, staffed by a priest, problem four.
So much wrong, but this is how far Israel has fallen, "all the people did what was right in their eyes."
Things stay weird. If you recall in the first chapter the tribe of Dan has failed in its attempt to push the people from the land that they had been given. Well, in Judges 18 they now move north, to the area around Lebanon and Syria and hearing a good report from spies, they take the land from a quiet people, killing them. This murder and death cannot be chalked up to God's holy war, this was an action taken by Dan, not blessed by God, but instead blessed by the fraud from Micah's shrine.
Of course, in its conquest, the Danites take over Micah's shrine, abscond with the idol and priest and establish their own temple. Did I mention that there is something wrong here? Well there is.
Mark 6
We have seen in other chapters that Jesus' own family has concerns about him, some thinking that Jesus is sick or not in his right might. In chapter 6, we hear that his own community has concerns about his as well. They hear his teaching and are astounded, but then when they consider where he came from, they begin to fall from belief. Not everyone, not even the church, will always hear and believe.
Jesus now seeks others to share in his ministry and so he calls and sends out the Twelve. They are given strict instructions to basically travel light, trusting along on God to provide. Their attention is to their message and truth of the message and not whether people listen or not. If people do not want to listen, move on, find a willing heart. And so they went.
The retelling of the death of John the Baptist is set in the context of the sending of the Twelve so that the reader understands the forces that are at work against the proclamation of the Gospel. Not everyone will welcome it, not everyone will sit by idly and watch. The status quo will respond. It is a dangerous thing, the Gospel. The author of Mark saw the times they lived in as be apocalyptic, where the battle between good and evil would be realized. This is the setting for the sending of the Twelve.
So much has been said about the feeding of the five thousand, so I think we can move on. But suffice it to say that the story demonstrates Jesus' care and compassion as well as the disciples inability to recognize the power of Jesus' authority.
The chapter closes with the story of Jesus walking on the water and the healings by the sea. The storm tossed boat, has come to symbolize the church. We live in a chaotic time, we cannot change that. But the presence of Jesus at least gives us stability and perspective to follow his ministry. Calmed to respond to the challenges of life, others in the world see our example and come for healing, just as those who witnessed to Jesus come to be healed.
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