Judges 17-18 Priest and Gods for the Taking
Psalm 38:1-22 This is a fine mess I've gotten myself into
Observations: The Psalmist follows what is good (38:20), and is being persecuted for it, yet doesn't retaliate (38:14), hoping and trusting in God, but is still experiencing the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of his sin.
38:11 His friends are far away, and his enemies are closing in.
38:15,18,22 However, he has three things going for him in his world of hurt:
- He is hoping and praying;
- He is honestly owning and confessing his sin;
- He doesn't stop trusting in the God of his salvation. Things will get better.
Application: When we're reaping the thorns we've sown, we shouldn't blame God, but ourselves, naming our sin and claiming God's forgiveness (1Jn 1:9). Don't stop trusting, for therein lies salvation/deliverance.
Prayer: God of just wrath, have mercy on me, forgive my sin which we both clearly see, and deliver me from my sin and those who hate me and You. For this I will praise you. Amen.
Proverbs 11:1-8 God Delights in and Delivers the Upright
Observations: Note the consequences and contrasts between the good and bad guys.
Application: If you don't purify your desires, they will pierce you in a spot that hurts.
Prayer: O God who delights in righteousness, show me how to delight You today. Amen.
Judges 17-18 The final chapters of the book consist of two epilogues that chronologically belong earlier in the book. Chapters 17-18 describe theological failure in the nation, and occur near the beginning of the book, since they mention a priest who was the grandson of Moses, and the tribe of Dan had not yet possessed its inheritance (cf. 1:34). Chapters 19-21 (next post) describe moral failure in the nation, and occurred earlier in the book as well, mentioning Phinehas. Both sections relate that there was no king in Israel, and describe how far God's people had departed from His revelation, because “every man did what was right in his own eyes.”
Judges 17 Two Priests, Too Many Gods
17:1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." His mother said, "Blessed be my son of Yahweh." 3 He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you." 4 When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. 5 The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. 8 The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he travelled. 9 Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live." 10 Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food." So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, "Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite to my priest."
Observations: 17:1-2 There is so much wrong in these chapters. “Micah” whose name means “Who is like Yahweh,” steals from his mother and returns the silver when he hears her pronounce a curse on the thief.
17:3-5 In her happiness at getting the money back, she reverses the curse with a blessing, and dedicates a portion of it Yahweh. However, she violates the second commandment in having a graven image made for her son, who sets up a shrine in violation of the first commandment. He then proceeds to violate the covenant in installing his son as a priest.
17:6 All this appears to be done in the name of Yahweh, by a people clueless about the covenant. Verse 6 gives the reason setting up the case for kingship in the next book. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
17:7-13 Rather than going to one of the cities God had specified and teaching people the law, a grandson of Moses (we find that out in the next chapter) wanders around as a priest for hire. Micah buys him, and now has two priests, one of whom is a real Levite, and a bunch of gods, none of which is real. Micah thinks that Yahweh will bless him and be good to him because he's got a Levite on staff, contrary to God's will. The scenario is so bad it's funny, and it gets worse (and becomes hysterical).
Application: If we don't know and live the truth, we will deceive ourselves into thinking that we merit God's blessing, when we are really setting ourselves up for cursing.
Prayer: God, protect me from the presumptuous folly of doing religious things instead of Your will. Amen.
Judges 18 Lost Priest and Lost Tribe
18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, explore the land!" They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?" 4 He said to them, "Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I am become his priest." 5 They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous." 6 The priest said to them, "Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Yahweh."
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. 8 They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, "What do you say?" 9 They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don’t be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 10 When you go, you shall come to a secure people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth." 11 There set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 12 They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim. 13 They passed there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do." 15 They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. 16 The six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 18 When these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?" 19 They said to him, "Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?" 20 The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the goods before them. 22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, "What ails you, that you come with such a company?" 24 He said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what more do I have? How then do you say to me, ‘What ails you?’" 25 The children of Dan said to him, "Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household." 26 The children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived therein. 29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set them up Micah’s engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Observations: 18:1-6 The tribe of Dan was having trouble possessing the inheritance God had assigned to them by lot, so they go looking for other options. They hear the voice of the Levite (maybe reciting something Levitish), and ask him to seek Yahweh's blessing on their endeavor. He gives it to them. Hmmm...
18:7-13 The Danites find an isolated pocket of Phoenicians, and get ready to conquer them.
18:14-26 The Danites steal the gods and the priest, who gladly changes allegiance. Micah loses his false gods and (v24) laments his loss.
18:27-31 The Danites take the land, and set up what becomes a center of false worship, in violation of what Yahweh had commanded. They think they're doing just fine.
Application: When people don't do what's right in Yahweh's eyes, they wind up losers.
Prayer: God may my loyalty to You prevent me from being a lamenting loser in life. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: God lets people do really dumb things, even in His name, and doesn't always disabuse them of their errors, but He does let them reap the consequences of their sin through loss and grief.
Us in a nutshell: We can think we're doing what is pleasing to God and be way off base if we don't base our actions on direct obedience to His word.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
Judges complete text
Judges 17
17:1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." His mother said, "Blessed be my son of Yahweh." 3 He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you." 4 When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. 5 The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. 8 The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he travelled. 9 Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live." 10 Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food." So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, "Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite to my priest."
Judges 18
18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, explore the land!" They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?" 4 He said to them, "Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I am become his priest." 5 They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous." 6 The priest said to them, "Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Yahweh."
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. 8 They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, "What do you say?" 9 They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don’t be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 10 When you go, you shall come to a secure people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth." 11 There set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 12 They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim. 13 They passed there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do." 15 They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. 16 The six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 18 When these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?" 19 They said to him, "Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?" 20 The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the goods before them. 22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, "What ails you, that you come with such a company?" 24 He said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what more do I have? How then do you say to me, ‘What ails you?’" 25 The children of Dan said to him, "Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household." 26 The children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived therein. 29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set them up Micah’s engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
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