Judges part 7
Tonight we will continue in our study in the book of Judges.
Now I want to mention that the book of Judges is not in chronological order.
Now what happened in Ch 17 and 18 probably happened sometime early on because
according to 18:1 the tribe of Dan had not yet secured their inheritance. Also
as you look at the last 3 chapter of Judges we know that Phinhaus was still
alive when these events took place according to
Judges 17:1 Now
there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother,
"The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and
on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears -- here is the
silver with me; I took it." And his mother said, "May you be blessed
by the LORD, my son!" 3
So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his
mother, his mother said, "I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand
to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now
therefore, I will return it to you."
4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother
took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and
he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house
of Micah. 5 The man Micah had
a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his
sons, who became his priest. 6
In those days there was no king in
The name Micah literally
means “who is like God”. Obviously this man does not live up his name and
should not be confused with the prophet Micah who does live up to his name.
First of all we see that Micah is a thief and he was willing to steel from his
own mother. I find the very sad that a
child will steal from its parent but I
know of many people who have done this very thing. I know of one man who had
problems with drugs and he wanted them
so bad that he broke into his own mothers
home and stole what money he could find and he took their VCR and even
food from their freezer and then to top it off he stole their car. But the
apostle Paul tells us this.
Ephesians 6:2 "Honor your father and
mother," which is the first commandment with promise: This same command was
taught in the OT as well in Exodus 20:12.
To steal from your
parents is against God’s law and because it certainly is not honoring mother or
your father. This is lesson that needs to be learned today by all children
because many kids growing up today don’t the respect they should have of the
parents. Well in story we see that Micah does admit to his mom that he stole
the money but the only reason he did so was because he was scared of the curse
that his mom had made. Showing that he was very superstitious. Now you would
think you would see the mom get upset but no instead she says
he will be blessed by the lord and then she turns around and gives up 200 sheckels of silver so that it
can be made into idols. So Micah build a shrine and has the idols and even an ephod
which a priestly garment then has the audacity to make one of his sons a
priest. You see this is what you call a self-imposed religion. Paul talks about
this in,
Colossians 2:18 Let no one cheat you of your
reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into
those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the
Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and
ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore, if you died with
Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the
world, do you subject yourselves to regulations -- 21 "Do not touch, do not
taste, do not handle," 22
which all concern things which perish with the using -- according to the
commandments and doctrines of men? 23
These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion,
false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the
indulgence of the flesh.
Self-imposed religion
was happing in the OT and it is still happening today. The reason it was
happening in the book of Judges is found in verse 6 and is the key verse of the
entire book of Judges,
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no
king in
Basically this is the same reason this happening
today. When you don’t have people who are willing to stand up and lead people
by Gods truth then you are going to have people who will do what is right in
their own eyes. There are some people that are looking for the truth and they
want to be pleasing to God but it just seems to be out of their reach because
they don’t have someone pushing them in
the right direction. Then we have other people who don’t want hear the truth
instead they want to hear lies so that they don’t have to make any changes in
their lifestyles. Isaiah talks about this in,
Isaiah 30:8 Now go, write it before them on a
tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and
ever: 9 That this is a
rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of
the LORD; 10 Who say to the
seers, "Do not see," And to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us
right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way, Turn aside
from the path, Cause the Holy One of
We also know that Paul warned Timothy that people
would be like this,
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they
have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears
away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
We need to learn from
Micah and his mother that there are people out there who are just willing to
listen to the truth and they would rather follow after their own heart and
their own desires. How many times have heard of individual who decided to go to
denomination because they like the way it makes them feel. Several years back I
ran across a man that shopping for a church and he told me he wants a wild
church one that he can dance in and go
crazy. I told the man he was more and welcome to worship with us but that he
would not find a wild and crazy church but he would find people that were
coming to worship God in spirit and truth and I also told that if he us just looking to be entertained
that not what our worship is about. But, there are many people just like this
man who think that the purpose of worship is to entertain them and is nothing
more than social hour. Not many understand the purpose of worship is to worship
God almighty.
Judges 17:7 Now there was a young man from
Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was
staying there. 8 The man
departed from the city of
So here we have a Levite who should know Gods law
and who should uphold Gods law. But again these verse show us just how corrupt
the children of
Matthew
I believe that is what the Levite was doing
because he was agreeing to a priest for someone who worshiping Gods made by his
own hands. Micah apparently thought he had made now because he had is own
Levite priest and in his mind he thought
the Lord would be good to him. This describes a lot of people in the world
today. They think in their mind that just because they do things in the name of
God that they are safe even though they are adding and taking many things from
the Word of God and following after mans tradition. How sad it is that so many have a zeal for God but not according to
knowledge For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of
God.
Judges 18:1 In those days there was no
king in
Here we see the tribe of Dan enter the story and
surely you would think that they would be loyal to God. But that wasn’t the
case instead these 5 men stay with Micah and even find this Levite who was not
a priest for this man. You would think they would destroyed this man house and
destroyed them for having idols but they did not, instead they ask this priest
to inquire of the Lord if their journey will be prosperous. Now I personally I
do not believe this priest had any communication with God I think he was just
telling these men what they wanted to hear. It doesn’t make any sense to me
that God would have anything to do with this false priest who was in this house
of idols.
Judges 18:7 So the five men departed and went
to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in
the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in
the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far
from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone. 8 Then the spies came back
to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them,
"What is your report?"
9 So they said, "Arise, let us go up against them. For
we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do
nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. 10 "When you go, you will
come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands,
a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth."
Laish was a city that was just waiting to be
defeated because it didn’t have any rulers which means it would greatly
disorganized. Besides this they had the false assurance from this supposed
priest. Well 600 men make their way to the battle but the stop off at Micah’s
house.
Judges 18:14Then the five men who had gone to
spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, "Do you
know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image,
and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do."
Now you
think ok these 600 men are going to destroy the house of idol worship
right? Unfortunately that is not what happens.
Judges 18:15 So they turned aside there, and
came to the house of the young Levite man -- to the house of Micah -- and
greeted him. 16 The six
hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of
Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17
Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there,
they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded
image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who
were armed with weapons of war. 18
When these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the
household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, "What are
you doing?" 19 And they
said to him, "Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us;
be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to
the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in
Now we have this tribe of
Judges 18:22 When they were a good way from the
house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house
gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they called out to the
children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, "What ails you,
that you have gathered such a company?"
24 So he said, "You have taken away my gods which I
made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can
you say to me, 'What ails you?' " 25
And the children of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among
us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of
your household!" 26 Then
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.
Here we see Micah was desperate to get his idols
and his priest back and so he gathered up some men and went after these 600
men. Well when they caught them he tried to get them back but the tribe of Dan
threatened him and told him he better go his way unless he wants to lose his
life. How sad it is to see the children of God willing to destroy a household
over dumb useless idols. So Micah had no choice but to go back home empty
handed.
Judges 18: 27 So they took the
things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to
Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the
sword and burned the city with fire. 28
There was no deliverer, because it was far from
So they easily destroy
this city and make their own and then
they make their own priest and they setup these useless idols that Micah made
turning their back on God. Again these 2 chapters and the last 3 chapters teach
us just how far human will fall away from God when they do things there way and
what seems right in their own eyes. This is why it very important that we never
develop this attitude this is why its very important that we encourage our men
in the