READ: Judges
17 & 18
The remainder of the book describes truly horrific
events, revealing the deep-seated wickedness within the hearts of the people of
Israel. In four of the five remaining chapters we will read “In those days, there
was no king in Israel” making it abundantly clear that the nation is in dire
need of leadership.
We meet Micah: an idolatrous thief who builds a
shrine, outfitting it with idols and an ephod, and even ordaining one of his
own sons as priest. Micah has no regard for God’s ways; rather he enacts his
own way of worship. This act is in direct defiance of Yahweh, who called for
there to be one place for His people to gather for worship – that was at the
Tabernacle, which was in Shiloh during the years of the judges (Jo 18:1).
Micah’s shrine is a new level of apostasy – not only is he worshiping the gods
of the land, but he is essentially creating his own “house of worship” and his
own religion, a mixture of pagan and Yahweh worship.
Micah meets a Levite and invites him to take on the
role as priest. This is an example of the religion-mixing that was going on.
According to Mosaic Law, the Levites were set aside for service in the Temple.
In fact, they weren’t even allotted tribal territory, but were instead given 48
cities scattered among all the tribes of Israel. Micah is under the impression
that if he follows this part of God’s command – to have a Levite as a priest –
he will prosper. We are so easily deceived when living by half-truths! Micah is
not blessed by the presence of the
Levite; rather, the Danites end up robbing him of his priest, idols and ephod
(and consequently, his mother’s fortune which he used to craft these things)!
The tribe of Dan is also highlighted in these
chapters. Like Ephraim, Dan is excluded from the list of sealed tribes in
Revelation chapter 7. Dan had been allotted a small but fertile portion of land
nestled between Benjamin on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the left,
flanked also by Judah, Ephraim and West Manasseh (Jo 19:40-48). But they failed
to drive out the Canaanites who inhabited the land (Jg 1:34-35). Judges 18
finds the tribe of Dan wandering around Israel seeking new land for themselves.
Rather than obeying God’s original command and taking the land allotted them,
they go seeking land way up north in the allotment of East Manasseh. Laish – a
city of peaceful, unsuspecting people – appeals to them and they brutally
attack and conquer it, renaming it Dan and taking it as their own allotment and
setting up Micah’s shrine as a place of worship there. Dan was seeking a land
of safety and prosperity. Ironically, when the Assyrians moved in from the
north in the early 700s BC, Dan was one of the first cities to pass to Assyrian
control.
The chapter ends on a very sad note. The name of
the Levite is revealed – Jonathan – and is found to be from Moses own family
line! Idolatry seems to have infected every part of Israel. The final verse
juxtaposes the shrine at Dan with the house of God at Shiloh, showing the
temptation of idolatry as a very real contender to the truth of Yahweh. If
someone had told the Israelites when they were gathered before the Lord and
Joshua at Shechem (Jo 24) that they would be where we find them now in the book
of Judges – spiritually depraved and morally corrupt, in total disobedience and
rebellion to Yahweh – they would likely be shocked. They would probably deny
that such a thing could happen. But one compromise and act of disobedience lead
to another until the people found themselves far from God… and OK with it.
JOURNALING
AND PRAYER
1. Discontentment is a dangerous place to be in.
Through it we fall into all sorts of other sins – envy, jealousy, negativity,
impatience, anxiety, bitterness, anger, etc.
a. Ask God to reveal any spirit of discontent in
your heart. Has this caused you to sin in other ways? Take some time to repent
of sins you discover.
b. Spend some time in thanksgiving, thanking God
for some of the countless ways He has blessed you. Ask that a spirit of
thanksgiving would fill areas where you have been discontent.
2. Have you witnessed a slow fade in your life? Do
you lack passion and zeal where you once felt so passionate for the Lord? Ask
God to show you any areas of compromise in your life. When He shows you
something, repent for following your own ways and commit that you will follow His way in this. Ask Him to light a fire
in your heart.
3. Spend some time in quiet meditation, thinking
about who God is and how He has revealed Himself to you. How has He made
Himself real to you? Thank Him for these truths. If you are struggling with
doubt or apathy, ask Him to give you joy for the things He has shown you in the
past and ask Him to reveal Himself in a real, fresh way today.
