- The first thought is that the 1100 shekels are eerily similar to the money that Delilah gained by betraying Samson. Although in her case it was 1100 shekels from each of the 5 rulers of the Philistines
- Eleven hundred shekels is a large amount of money, some commentators have suggested that you could live a year with the money
- So, what is your first impression of Micah from this story
- He is a thief (and not even a petty thief)
- He is superstitious, since he only returns the money in fear of the curse
- He does not pay back the additional 20 percent which the law requires (220 shekels)
- What is the impression of the mother?
- She makes an oath but doesn't keep it
- She makes an idol out of the money in direct violation of God's command
- What is the overriding message of the story so far?
- The ten commandments are completely ignored
- Dishonoring of parents, coveting, stealing; idol worship; and lying
- APPLICATION: The word of God is completely ignored even though there is a resemblance of spirituality
- 2 Tim 3:1-5 (NIV) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
- Note that the people have "a form of godliness"
- Constable calls these verse the sin of self-styled worship
- He originally installs his son as a Priest but upgrades to a Levite
- The man is obviously well off--the wages he offers are a good wage for that time period
- The Levite's agreement to work with him reveals other issues
- First of all, the Levite is not called a priest and therefore probably a descendant of Aaron
- Secondly, he is living in Bethlehem, which is not one of the Levitical cities (so he is in violation of God's law)
- Third, the man has no sense of calling or direction. He is aimlessly looking for work
- Constable calls this the folly of self-determined service
- Micah's reasoning shows what about his thinking?
- Obviously, he does not understand or know the Word
- His religiosity is heavily based on superstition
- He would have been an easy target for the health and wealth gospel since he was looking for the formula to be blessed and not for God
- APPLICATION:
- Are we shiftless?
- Are we aimlessly looking for the place of service that feels right before we commit ourselves?
- How do you find your place of service?
- One, pray
- Two, you serve others biblically
- The Levite was not serving (he just wanted a job)
- The Levite was not following biblical practice
- There is no indication the Levite was praying
- Three, you evaluate your effectiveness and your heart
- This is not the entire tribe of Dan but rather some of the families
- Verse 18:1 is an important reminder, why?
- The people are running amok
- Nothing you read is anything other than a historical accounting of what happens when a people have no spiritual leadership, no knowledge of the word, an attitude of compromise with the world around them, no obedience to truth, and no real desire to know God
- So, knowing that, how do these Danites epitomize the times?
- They are selfish
- They are thieves--what is best for me trumps what is best for you
- They are ignorant of the word
- They have some knowledge because they recognize a Levite
- They lack any real knowledge because they continue the sin of Micah
- They settle things with violence and threats of violence
- The place they choose to live is isolated--they do not have to listen to anyone but can live as they choose
- They use religious terms
- "Possess the land"
- "God's will" from the ephod (wrong ephod)
- "God has given it into your hands"
- The use of spies is similar to the Exodus except these people are a pushover
- They were unable to conquer their land God gave them (all the cities were too big) so they move outside their land
- They murder innocent people
- Micah's attempt to recover the gods he made is pathetic. In the end, what does he say which reveals the problem with idolatry?
- He can't control the things he made
- "What else do I have?" Without his idols, he is left empty. The person whose life is surrounded by idols will feel empty when all the toys are take away
- The so-called priest, the one he treated as his son, turns against him--showing a lack of integrity
- The real shocker of this whole story is that this Levite is a direct descendant of Moses
- Dan is one of the two places that is used for idol worship in the northern kingdom
- Dan is left off the census of tribes by 2 Chronicles
- Dan is the only tribe that does not produce 12,000 godly witnesses during the tribulation period
- APPLICATION:
- Constable calls this section an example of self-seeking security
- Ignorance of the word, disobedience of the word, in the end destroys a whole tribe
- Idolatry is a subtle sin that leaves us empty. Idolatry is not dead today, it just has new images
Judges
17:1-6 (NIV) Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to
his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from
you and about which I heard you utter a curse — I have that silver with me; I
took it."
Then
his mother said, "The Lord bless you, my son!"
3 When
he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said,
"I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make a carved
image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you."
4 So
he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of
silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the
idol. And they were put in Micah's house.
5 Now
this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed
one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone
did as he saw fit.
Judges
17:7-13 (NIV) A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living
within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to
stay. On his way he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9
Micah asked him, "Where are you from?"
"I'm
a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a
place to stay."
10
Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest, and
I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food."
11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like
one of his sons. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became
his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, "Now I know that
the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest."
Judges
18:1-2, 14-19:1 (NIV) In those days Israel had no king.
And in
those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where
they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the
tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol
to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans.
They told them, "Go, explore the land."
. . .
14
Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers,
"Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods,
a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do." 15 So they
turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and
greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the
entrance to the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside
and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast
idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to
the gate.
18
When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod,
the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them,
"What are you doing?"
19
They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our
father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel
as priest rather than just one man's household?" 20 Then the priest was
glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and
went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock
and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
22
When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near
Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after
them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you
that you called out your men to fight?"
24 He
replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What
else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'"
25 The
Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will
attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives." 26 So the
Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,
turned around and went back home.
27
Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish,
against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword
and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they
lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city
was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The
Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their
forefather Dan, who was born to Israel — though the city used to be called
Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son
of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan
until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the
idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
19:1
In those days Israel had no king.
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