JUDGES CHAPTER 17-18, “Micah Makes An Idol / Dan Moves Its Territory”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.      INTRODUCTION

 

1.1.                     In our last study, we looked at chapter 16 and Samson’s tragic demise as he continued down his spiral of spiritual decline and compromise and eventually had a tragic and early death.  We looked at the story of Samson and Delilah.

 

1.2.                     In our study today, we are going to look at chapters 17-18 and we will observe the tragedy that occurred in Israel when the nation had turned away from the Lord into apostasy and was experiencing some of its darkest days spiritually speaking.  These two chapters are out of order chronologically for the events in them occur not too long after the death of Joshua.

 

1.2.1.  The last five chapters of Judges portray how far the sons of Israel fell away from the Lord when they went through their cycles of serving the Lord, then falling away after the death of their latest judge, having another nation come and begin to oppress them, and then finally calling out to the Lord to deliver them as they would repent of their sins.

 

1.2.1.1.      Chapters 17 and 18, our study today, describe how far the nation fell away into apostasy when they turned away from the Lord and mass confusion ruled the day.

 

1.2.1.1.1.           We will look at what happens when God’s people fall away from Him.

 

1.2.1.1.2.           What a tragic thing it is when the people of God turn away from worshipping and serving the Lord to worshipping and serving the creation or the works of their own hands.

 

1.2.1.2.      Chapters 19-21, our study next week, describe how far the nation fell away morally from the Lord and His standard of righteousness in those times of their rebellion.

 

1.2.1.2.1.           We will see that spiritual apostasy is always followed by moral decline.

 

1.2.2.  Great nations and kingdoms have often imploded rather than being conquered by superior armies.  The nation first falls away from the Lord and serves all kinds and types of gods, then it lapses into moral corruption, finally apathy rules the day and the nation collapses internally and is over taken almost without a fight.

 

1.2.3.  In chapter 17 we see a man named Micah who builds an idol to worship the Lord and then hires to be his personal priest a Levite who happens to wander by the area.

 

1.2.4.  In chapter 18, the tribe of Dan decides to find new land for its inheritance since the tribe was unwilling to take possession of the land given them by the Lord by going up and conquering the enemy within their territory.  The tribe of Dan first steals Micah’s idols, then hires away from him his employed Levitical priest, and then the tribe goes and conquers a peaceful and isolated people among the Sidonians and moves into their city.

 

2.     VS 17:1-5  - “1 Now 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 which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.” 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.” -  A man named Micah from the hill country of the tribe of Ephraim makes an idol for worship

 

2.1.                     This story reveals just how far the sons of Israel had fallen into apostasy during this period of their existence that occurred not too long after the death of Joshua, their leader, who brought them into the promised land trusting in the Lord to conquer their enemies.

 

2.2.                     First of all, Micah man stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother which was an incredible fortune seeing as how the Levite who later comes along and is hired by Micah is promised a salary of just 10 pieces of silver a year.

 

2.3.                     Micah was evidently superstitious however, for after his mother places a curse upon the person who had stolen her silver pieces, he returns the money he stole to his mother.

 

2.3.1.  Isn’t it interesting how that when people turn away from the Lord how that they can sometimes become very superstitious.

 

2.4.                     When a nation falls away from the Lord the breakdown of the home is soon to follow, which is what we see here in this story.  Instead of the man’s mother disciplining Micah or having the authorities discipline him after she has found out that he stole this fortune from her, she instead blessed her son and vowed to give her son all of the money to build an idol for worship of the Lord.

 

2.5.                     Notice that the woman herself is not honest with her vows and commitments to the Lord for though she promised initially to give all 1,100 pieces of silver to Micah to make an idol to worship the Lord, she ends up only giving him 200 pieces of silver.

 

2.6.                     Micah here set up his own little shrine of worship at his home.  Not only did he have this new idol made by a local silversmith from the 200 pieces of silver from his mother, he also had in his shrine an ephod such as priests in Israel wore over their robes, and household idols.  Micah also decided to appoint his son to serve as priest in his house.

 

2.7.                     Just as Aaron had been talked into creating a golden calf so that the children of Israel could worship the Lord, these idols of Micah’s were to be used by him and his household (and perhaps neighbors also) in order to worship the Lord.

 

2.8.                     Notice that many commandments of the Lord were broken here by Micah:

 

2.8.1.  Of The Ten Commandments that were broken by Micah:

 

2.8.2.              The second commandment forbid the making of any graven image in heaven or upon earth.

 

2.8.2.1.                  No matter what likeness people may make of the Lord it will not suffice to accurately represent the Lord, therefore it would be a misrepresentation of the Lord and is wrong to make.

 

2.8.2.2.                  The using of any image to worship the Lord only takes a person away from the Lord and hinders true worship of Him.

 

2.8.3.              The third commandment forbid taking the Name of the Lord in vain.

 

2.8.3.1.                  Claiming to be one of the people of God and yet sinning and dishonoring the Lord is such a blatant way was certainly taking his name in vain.

 

2.8.4.              The fifth commandment forbid dishonoring your father or mother.

 

2.8.4.1.                  Micah had stolen money from his mother thus dishonoring her.

 

2.8.5.              The eighth commandment forbid stealing.

 

2.8.5.1.                  Micah had stolen the 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother.

 

2.8.6.  The Israelites were only to worship at the tabernacle (which was in Shiloh) and have no private shrines.

 

2.8.6.1.      Deut. 12:1-14 taught this, “1 “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. 2 “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 “You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. 4 “You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God. 5 “But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 “There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 “There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 “When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, 11 then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. 12 “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 “Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.”.

 

2.8.6.2.      Interestingly Micah lived only a very short distance from where Israel was to worship, the tabernacle at Shiloh, which was also in the hill country of Ephraim.  He could not use the excuse that he stayed at home instead of going to the tabernacle because to go there he had to travel a long distance to get there.

 

2.8.7.  If anyone served as a priest outside of Aaron’s descendants he was to be killed.

 

2.8.7.1.      Num. 3:10 taught this, “10 “So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.””.

 

3.     VS 17:6  - “6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” -  Since there was no king in Israel mass confusion reigned and everyone did what he thought was right

 

3.1.                     We saw at the beginning of our study of the book of Judges that this verse actually described the entire period of the Judges.  It was truly a dark period whenever the people would turn away from the Lord, as they did seven different times total in the book of Judges.

 

3.2.                     The Lord had established that He was to be the king of the people and thus Joshua had appointed no successor to take over after his death.  However, the people had rejected the Lord as their king, and thus there was no king in Israel. 

 

3.3.                     Having no king over them, the breakdown of the family unit and the nation as a whole was not far behind.

 

3.4.                     The people in Israel at this time had no true spiritual eyes and discernment.  Sadly, they actually thought that they were doing alright and serving the Lord, for they were truly doing what was right in their own eyes.

 

3.5.                     Our day in the 21st century is a period very similar to this period of apostasy in Israel.  The church in America has been heading towards apostasy for quite some time and leading the rest of the world to follow it.  There are so many examples of churches getting far away from their purpose and function that it is hard to know where to begin to show examples, but here is an example:

 

3.5.1.  World Magazine, June 21, 2003, in the 'Quick Takes' Section:

 

"Thorkild Grosboel doesn't believe in God or eternal life, but he does believe that he should remain a Lutheran Pastor in Taarbaek, Denmark. The pastor landed in hot--or at least  lukewarm--water when he said in a recent interview that "there is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection."  On June 3rd his bishop, Rev. Lise-Lotte Rebel, ordered him to retract those statements and apologize, and she suspended him from duties as the town pastor.  But the bishop can't fire the Rev. Grosboel.  Pastors are employed by the government in Denmark's state-church system;  government officials will have to decide whether to defrock him.  The atheist pastor has at least some influential friends in his corner:  Mogens Lindhardt, head of the country's Theological College of Education, who called his remarks, "refreshing." '

 

3.6.                     Most sound Bible teachers on the book of Revelation believe that in our 21st century world today that we are living in the period of church history that the Laodicean church symbolizes from Revelation chapter 3, and in Rev. 3:17 we read that the people in that church (or church age) really thought that they were doing well and didn’t realize that before the Lord that were far from doing well, “17 ‘ Because you say , “ I am rich , and have become wealthy , and have need of nothing ,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked”

 

3.6.1.  These words of Jesus, I believe, describe much of the mainstream church of today.

 

3.7.                     Because we as a nation have turned away from the Lord, we have also seen the breakdown of the home via promiscuity and an high divorce rate, and this has resulted in an unparalleled increase in the crime rate in our country in the last 30 some years.

 

4.     VS 17:7-13  - “7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. 8 Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.” 10 Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”” -  Micah hires a young Levite man to be his personal priest

 

4.1.                     Here we see a young man from the tribe of Levi.  In the law of Moses, the Levites were called by the Lord to assist the descendants of Aaron in the priesthood.  However, this young man had come from Bethlehem which was a city not even designated for the Levites to live in.  Plus, this man was just wandering around looking for work and a possible career.

 

4.2.                     It is probable that at this time the Levites were not receiving from the people’s tithes and offerings and that for that reason that as a matter of survival the Levites had to find work outside of their territory and the priesthood.

 

4.3.                     We see here that Micah was so skewed in his reasoning that he thought that if he were to hire a Levite to function as a priest at his house that the Lord would cause him to prosper, however in doing this Micah was breaking many commands of the Lord and living outside of the Lord’s favor.

 

4.4.                     Micah hires the Levite for 10 pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and promises to give him upkeep.  Evidently, Micah’s son stepped down from being priest when the Levite was hired.

 

4.5.                     Notice that this Levite was now made a hireling by Micah, a man sort of like a “preacher for hire.”  Instead of working for the Lord in the ministry, he was employed by man.

 

4.5.1.  Many churches will hire pastors today who are a “preacher for hire” (a hireling) and they then require their pastor to do whatever the board or congregation tells him he has to do.  However, in the ministry a pastor is to work for the Lord and not for man.  This is a unique calling by the Lord.

 

5.     VS 18:1-2  - “1 In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.” -  The tribe of Dan sent out spies to search for a new territory for their tribe to reside in

 

5.1.                         These verses would contradict the book of Joshua’s accounts in Joshua 19:40-48 if they taught that the tribe of Dan had not had an allotment of land given to them by the Lord.  The fact of the matter is that  Dan was given an allotment of land that resided between Ephraim and Judah .  However, Dan was not willing to go up and to attack the Amorites who resided in their allotted land nor trust the Lord to fight their battle for them, and therefore we see that this tribe eventually had to hide out in the hill country within their land.

 

5.2.                     The tribe of Dan was still not willing to go up and conquer the enemy within their allotted territory, still not willing to trust the Lord for the victory, and so they sent out these spies to find another land that they might be able to conquer and take possession of. 

 

5.3.                     For Dan to reject the very land that came as a result of an allotment made to them from the Lord was actually for them to rebel against the Lord’s calling and will for themselves.

 

5.3.1.  We Christians must never despise the lot that that the Lord chooses for our lives, whatever it may be.  We can serve the Lord and bring Him glory in that very place where He has called us to be if we will just be focused and obedient upon fulfilling the calling that He has given to us.

 

6.     VS 18:3-6  - “3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” 4 He said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.” 5 They said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous.” 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the Lord’s approval.”” -  The spies from the tribe of Dan meet the Levite hired by Micah as his priest

 

6.1.                     We see here that these spies from the tribe of Dan recognize the speech of this Levite as being that of a priest.  Then, they ask the Levite what he happens to be doing a Micah’s house.

 

6.2.                     The Levite tells the spies from Dan that he has been hired by Micah as his priest, and then the spies ask the Levite to inquire of the Lord and tell them if they will prosper in their current journey and task of finding a new territory for the tribe of Dan.

 

6.3.                     False prophets tickle the ears of their followers, telling them what they want to hear, instead of telling them the truth from the Lord.  Notice here that the Levite tells the men from the tribe of Dan just what they want to hear.  He tells them to go in peace because they have the Lord’s approval for what they are doing.  This is totally wrong, the tribe of Dan was out of the Lord’s will at this time and acting very recklessly.  They had already been given a land by the Lord. 

 

6.3.1.  In 1 Thess. 5:3 we read about that time in the future during the 7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation, after the Rapture of the church has occurred, when the apostasy of the remaining church is in full gear and the people on the earth are being told “peace peace” however it is not peace that is coming, but sudden destruction, “3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”

 

7.     VS 18:7-10  - “7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8 When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. 10 “When you enter, you will come to a secure people with a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”” -  The spies from the tribe of Dan come and spy on the land and the people of the city of Laish. 

 

7.1.                     Laish lies on the northern coast of Palestine in the territory of the Sidonians.

 

7.2.                     The people of the city of Laish were peaceful people living securely in their city, and they didn’t bother anyone and were a bother to no one.

 

7.3.                     The tribe of Dan were not led of the Lord to conquer this city and destroy this people so that they could take their land away.  They had their own land and just needed to get busy and look to the Lord for his help to go up and conquer the Amorites within their land.

 

7.4.                     The spies however rally the tribe of Dan to go up and conquer the peace loving people of the city of Laish so that the tribe can inhabit their land.

 

8.     VS 18:11-20  - “11 Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. 12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 They passed from 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 said to their kinsmen, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” 15 They turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and household idols and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18 When these went into Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod and household idols and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Be silent, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a 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 household idols and the graven image and went among the people.” -  The tribe of Dan go up to the city of Laish to conquer it

 

8.1.                     The people of the tribe of Dan decide to go up to Laish by way of the hill country of Ephraim and they end up coming again to the house of Micah, whom their spies had visited earlier.  The spies tell the people of the tribe of Dan about the idols that Micah had in his house, and the people of the tribe of Dan decide to steal Micah’s idols.

 

8.2.                     Notice that the Levite who was at Micah’s house at the time when the tribe of Dan came and stole Micah’s idols initially objected to their stealing Micah’s idols. 

 

8.3.                     When the Levite is asked if he would like a promotion and be the priest of a whole tribe or just the priest of one man, the Levite decided that since he was looking for a career and to better himself in the first place he would go with the tribe of Dan and be their priest.

 

9.     VS 18:21-26  - “21 Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the valuables in front of them. 22 When they had gone some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house assembled and overtook the sons of Dan. 23 They cried to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?” 24 He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ” 25 The sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will fall upon you and you will lose your life, with the lives of your household.” 26 So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.” -  Micah and his neighbors overtake the tribe of Dan and try to get them to give back Micah’s idols which the people of the tribe of Dan have stolen, but the tribe of Dan was too strong for Micah and his neighbors so they return to their houses

 

10.            VS 18:27-31  - “27 Then they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish. 30 The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, 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 up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.” -  The tribe of Dan goes up to Laish and conquers the city and sets up shrine for worship with Micah’s idols for worship, employing the Levite from Micah’s house

 

10.1.                We see here how the city of Dan was created after Dan captured Laish, killed its inhabitants, and renamed the city.

 

10.2.                So we see then how that Dan was the first tribe of Israel to formally and officially fall completely away from the Lord and establish a completely different form of worship than that which Moses had learned from the Lord and taught the children of Israel.  Our story shows just how far they had fallen.

 

10.3.                Apostasy has a great price.  We see later in the scriptures that the tribe of Dan disappears from the face of the earth: 

 

10.3.1.                     In the book of 1 Chronicles there is a listing of the tribes of Israel and the tribe of Dan is missing.

 

10.3.2.                     In Revelation chapter 7 the tribe of Dan is not listed as one of the tribes of Israel from which the 144,000 Jewish evangelists during the 7 Year Tribulation come from.

 

10.4.                We notice here that this Levite who had been Micah’s personal priest was named Jonathan, and it says here that he was the son of Gershom who was the son of Manasseh.  However, the name Manasseh used here was actually modified by a scribe, evidently because of the embarrassment to Israel of Jonathan.  The text really says that Jonathan was a descendant of Israel’s great patriarch, Moses.

 

11.            CONCLUSIONS:

 

11.1.                In this chapter it is such a tragedy to see the nation of Israel having fallen into apostasy, and such mass confusion and spiritual darkness having replaced the true worship of the Lord.  Likewise, it is so sad to see the state of the church today in so many of its quarters, for it is also true today that every man is doing just what seems right in his own eyes.

 

11.2.                May we the true church of Jesus Christ be bearers of the light of His truth, as we uphold the scriptures as the word of God, and may we walk as a both salt and light in this very dark place called 21st century earth.

 

11.3.                May we hold to the resurrected and ruling Lord Jesus as our head and serve and follow Him obedient to all of the commands in His word and the very desires of His heart for us as His people.

 

11.4.                In Luke 18:6-8 notice the probing question that the Lord asks concerning His people, “6 And the Lord said, “ Hear what the unrighteous judge said ; 7 now , will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night , and will He delay long over them? 8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly . However , when the Son of Man comes , will He find faith on the earth ?””

 

11.4.1.                     It is up to you and I to answer Jesus’ question, is it not?  Will we to fall away?

 

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