In Judges, Chapters 17 to 21, we read about the idolatry, the immorality and the wars among the Israelites, which reveal the degraded state of a nation that God had chosen to be His representatives on earth. They had sunk as low as Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Judges 17:7-13, we see the first case of a paid professional preacher in the Bible, who was willing to go wherever he got the best salary and the best perquisites. Here was a Levite who agreed to serve as a priest to the highest bidder. A businessman came along and offered him a good salary, a new set of clothes every year, and free housing and boarding. The preacher signed the contract immediately! The businessman who paid him thought that God would now bless him because he had employed a preacher who had graduated from the school of the Levites!! How very like what we see happening today. One would almost think that that was a 21st-century story! The reason for this pathetic state of affairs is given in the verse immediately preceding the description of this incident: "Every man did what was right in his own eyes"(17:6).
And that verse sums up everything that happened in the days of the Judges. And so this statement is, very appropriately, repeated as the last verse of the book (Judges 21:25): "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
That was how the Israelites lived in those days. And that is how many Christians live today. Jesus is not King in their lives and so they do whatever they feel like. They spend their money as they feel like and they live as they feel like. The preachers go wherever they can get the largest salary. They all live without any reference to the will of God or the perfect plan of God for their lives.
God has given us Jesus Christ now as our Example. If we don't follow Him as our Lord and our King, we too can end up like those Israelites described in the book of Judges.
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Zac Poonen ( - Present)
God called brother Zac Poonen to a new work early on in his Christian experience. The movement is now called Christian Fellowship Churches where the New Covenant of New Testament Christianity is clearly preached.Brother Zac Poonen has written 25 books most of them being on the deeper Christian life. Many of these have been translated into a number of languages and have been circulated widely around the world. He clearly and passionately shares the narrow way of Christian discipleship that is neglected by so many modern preachers.
Recommends these books by Zac Poonen:
Through The Bible by Zac Poonen
The Final Triumph-A verse by verse study of the book of Revelation by Zac Poonen
Beauty for Ashes by Zac Poonen
Zac Poonen is a former Indian Naval Officer who has been in full time ministry in India for nearly 50 years as a Bible teacher and preacher. He holds responsibility for a number of churches in India and abroad. He currently pastors the Christian Fellowship Church in Bangalore, Karnataka.
He has written more than 25 books and numerous articles in English - which have been translated into many Indian and foreign languages. His messages are available on audio and video format.
Like the other elders in his church, Zac Poonen also supports himself and his family through what he describes as "tent-making" and does not receive any salary for his services. He does not receive any royalties for any of his books, CDs or DVDs, that are published by Christian Fellowship Centre, Bangalore.