TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT

Proclamation

“And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, ‘I had wholly dedicated the silver unto The Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it unto thee.”  Judges 17:3 (KJV)

 

Explanation

These are the words of God which were written by the prophet Samuel under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  There was a man from Ephraim whose name was Micah who stole eleven hundred shekels of silver from his mother. (Judges 17:1-2)  He later confessed and returned the silver to her.  She took the silver to a silversmith, had it made into an idol, and then gave the idol to Micah. (Judges 17:3-4)  In his house Micah had a shrine to many gods.  He even made one of his sons a priest. (Judges 17:5-6)  One day a young Levite came into town and was looking for a place to stay.  Micah invited the Levite to live with him and be his priest, offering to pay him and provide his clothes and food. (Judges 17:7-10)  The Levite agreed to stay with Micah who thought that The Lord would be pleased with him since he had a Levite as his priest. (Judges 17:11-13) 

 

Application

Micah did wrong when he stole the silver.  His mother did wrong when she made an idol with it.  The fact that she “wholly dedicated the silver unto The Lord” does not make it right since she used the silver to overlay an idol.  “Two wrongs do not add up to a right.”  Going to church for the wrong reason does not make it right.  Being active in service or worship activities when it is done for personal glory is not right.  All that we do should be done to the best of our ability for the glory of God. (Colossians 3:23)  All unrighteousness is sin. (1 John 5:17)  We cannot do that which is wrong in the eyes of God and think that He will be pleased with us.