Okay, you can turn in your Bibles to Judges chapter 18. Judges chapter 18. Remember last week we introduced this entire section. Chapters 17 to 21 actually come before the Judges.
This just describes or it's a general view of what life in Israel looked like prior to the actual installation of the Judges. And specifically chapters 17 and 18 go together. They form a unit and highlight the religious apostasy of Israel. And then 19 to 21 are a unit as well and show the moral and ethical degeneracy that was going on in Israel at the time.
So last week, we looked at chapter 17, which serves as background for chapter 18. But I'll read 18, and then we'll just remind ourselves of what went on in chapter 17. Beginning in chapter 18, verse 1, in those days, there was no king in Israel. And in those days, the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in.
For until that day, their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtael, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, go search the land. So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?
He said to them, thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest. So they said to him, please inquire of God that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous. And the priest said to them, go in peace, the presence of the Lord be with you on your way.
So the five men departed and went to lay ash. 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.
Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtael, and their brethren said to them, what is your report? 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.
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. And 600 men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Ashtael, armed with weapons of war. Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath-Jerum in Judah.
Therefore, they called that place Mahana-Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath-Jerum. And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. Then 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. So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite man, to the house of Micah, and greeted him. The 600 men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 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 600 men who were armed with weapons of war. 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? 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 Israel? So the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people. Then they turned and departed and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them. When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the house near Micah's house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
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? 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? 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. 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.
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. There was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there, and 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 formerly was Laish. Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershon, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image, which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Amen. That's the marginal reading is Moses. We'll deal with that when we get there. If you look in the margin in your Bible, it's indicated there.
Introduction: Background from Judges 17
Okay, so in chapter 17, we're introduced to apostasy in a household, and then that apostasy is seen in the actual Levitical priesthood, and now the apostasy is widespread to the very tribe of Dan. In chapter 17, verses 1 to 5, as I mentioned, the focus is upon the household of a man who lives in the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. This man stole 1,100 shekels of silver from his mother, and then he does confess his sin, his transgression, and returns the money to her. She takes the money.
It had been apportioned for him in order to build idols. It seems that Micah had his own shrine. He had his own worship center set up. and he stocked it with his own idols. That's what verse 5 tells us.
The man Micah had a shrine and made an ephod and household idols and he consecrated one of his sons who became his priest. And the theological commentary of verse 6 is absolutely crucial to get. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
So having summarized that, now this Levite is introduced in verse 7. Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah of the family of Judah. He was a Levite and was staying there. Essentially what happens He comes to Micah's house and Micah hires him to be his own priest.
He gives him ten shekels, a suit of clothes, and sustenance per year. And so the priest liked that particular offer, he made the deal, so he then serves as Micah's private priest. And then notice at the end of verse 13, or at the end of the chapter, Micah believes that this indeed gains the favor of God, that this arrangement that he has set up will yield him blessing. We read that Micah said, Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as a priest.
So he has his household idols, he has a genuine Levite, and now he thinks because of this he will gain the favor and the blessing of Yahweh of Israel. So as I said, it's important to understand Chapter 17 because it makes no sense, or Chapter 18 doesn't make sense if we don't have the background of Chapter 17. So Micah, mountains of Ephraim. He's got a Levite.
He's got household idols. It seems that there's actually a compound there. There's other men that come alongside of Micah to try and chase off the Danites. So it seems as if this was a localized worship center, something that violated the command of God.
Deuteronomy 12 said that Israel was to have one central sanctuary. They were not to throw up places of worship wherever it pleased them. As well, Levitical priests were not to serve in this sort of a capacity. Certainly they could catechize families and instruct people, but in order to engage in sacrifice and in order to engage in the things that God had called them to, they needed to be in that central sanctuary.
Notice at the end of chapter 18 in verse 31. So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image, which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. So the house of God was standing. There was a central sanctuary.
It was in Shiloh. So what we see here in chapters 17 and 18, again, is a form of corrupt worship. It is a form of apostasy. And as I said at the outset, what chapters 17 to 21 are designed to do is to show us just how sinful and corrupt Israel had become very quickly after the death of Joshua.
It's interesting that these two men are mentioned very specifically. If in fact it is Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, this Jonathan is Moses' grandson. Later in chapter 20, Phineas is mentioned as the high priest at that particular time. So there wasn't a lot of time that transpired between the death of Joshua and this sort of corruption that had gone on. in Israel.
So again, to look at life in general in Israel at the time. Now notice in chapter 18 what we have is the corruption or the religious apostasy of the tribe of Dan. Now this is not to say that other tribes had their act together. Remember, these are specimens of or samples of what's going on.
In 19 to 21, the emphasis falls on or the illustration of the degeneracy in Israel falls on the tribe of Benjamin, but there is corruption through and through. So
Two Broad Categories in Chapter 18
here in chapter 18, we have two broad categories in the corruption of the tribe of Dan. First, the mission of the spies in verses 1 to 10. And secondly, the movement of the tribe in verses 11 to 31. So the Danites want more land.
The backdrop is Joshua chapter 19, where it speaks of the tribal allotments given to Dan. In Judges chapter 1, there's a statement in verses 36 to 39, or 34 to 36 rather, that indicates something about what Dan had inherited. And here they seem to possess this land called Zorah and Eshter, but they wanted more. Perhaps it wasn't enough for all of their people, and so they needed more property.
They needed more real estate. Notice in verse 1, in those days there was no king in Israel. It doesn't need to tell us everyone did what was right in his own eyes. because the rest of the chapter is going to illustrate that for us most vividly. We see a lot of corruption in and through chapter 18.
So in those days there was no king in Israel. This close to 17.6 which says in those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. We're probably supposed to make that same implication that what we're going to see with reference to the tribe of Dan is what they're doing that is right in their own eyes." So it says, "...and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in. For until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them." Again, they had a need for more land.
Mission of the Spies (vv. 1–10)
Notice now specifically the mission of the spies in verses 2 to 10. You see parallels with reference to Numbers 13 and 14. Remember that there were 12 spies sent out by Moses to investigate the promised land. You see a parallel or at least a rehearsal of that in the book of Deuteronomy when they talk about what had happened in Numbers 13 and 14.
We see spies sent out in Joshua chapter 2 when the spies go to investigate the city of Jericho. And I think that Samson functioned as a spy in Judges 16, 1 to 3. He wanted to test. He wanted to see the land.
He wanted to spy out the place. and so bring destruction upon that particular area. So verse 2 tells us that the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtael to spy out the land and search it. Now there is a difference between those previous missions and this particular mission. There's no mention of God up to this point.
There's no reference whatsoever that the Lord called them to go and investigate. The only time they pay any lip service to God is when we get down to verse 5. It's interesting because they say please inquire of God generically, not Yahweh specifically. They want to find sanction for their particular mission, but there was no sanction at the outset of this mission.
This truly is a mission that is done, that is right rather, that is done in their own eyes.
Providence at Micah's House
Notice their arrival at Micah's house. This is obviously God's providence. He is behind the scenes and while we see men functioning and operating in an autonomous manner, the Lord nevertheless overrules these things to do his particular will in the midst of the people. So at verses 3 to 6 we see them in Micah's house.
They recognize the voice of the Levite. Now this was a pretty decent sized piece of property and the fact that they bump into a Levite that they happen to know has God. all over it. Again, they're thinking autonomously, they are operating corruptly, they've engaged in religious apostasy, and nevertheless, to accomplish his will, God brings these parties together. Verse three, while they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite.
They turned aside and said to him, who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here? They are then advised of his particular situation.
He basically says, I got a job from Micah. He hired me. He gives me 10 shekels, a shirt, and my sustenance in order to do his bidding. Now, this man does not seem really legitimate to me.
And nevertheless, the tribe of Dan, these spies, say, will you please inquire of God whether or not our mission is going to be successful or not. Men will go a long way in trying to get divine approval for their self-initiated schemes. I suspect there are times when you and I make decisions, we start to carry out those particular decisions, and then down the road we say, God, would you please bless this particular decision. We ought to be in the habit of seeking God at the front end and proceeding through scripture, through prayer, through those means that he's ordained, rather than to get to this particular point and say, Lord, will you bless me in this particular instance?
So they are told by this priest, who's probably not any more trustworthy than anybody else you might meet, that sure, go in peace. The presence of the Lord will be with you on your way. Just like that. I mean, there's no deliberation.
How does he know this? Did he go fast? Did he go pray? Did he use his version of the Urim and the Thummim?
Did he go back to the idols? Did he ask them the specific questions? They simply say in verse 5, please inquire of God that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous. And the priest said to them, go in peace.
The presence of the Lord be with you on your way. Again, I'm not so sure that this would have been the best bet in terms of seeking divine sanction. on their particular venture.
Survey of Laish
Now notice the survey of the land, verse 7. It says, so the five men departed and went to Laish. This is quite a considerable distance away. They renamed the place Dan.
You've heard that term. We go from Dan to Beersheba. That represents Israel. Dan is up north.
Beersheba is down south. They are below the middle portion. of Israel at this particular venture. So they move all the way up to Laish according to verse 7. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely in the manner of the Sidonians.
This could mean they imbibed the customs of the Sidonians or they were under the governorship of the Sidonians. If it is the latter that they were under the governorship of the Sidonians, It was a very hands-off arrangement. In fact, the description given to us in verse 7 is crucial for what we find in the later part of the chapter because this is an easy get for the Danites. We have a people.
They dwell safely. They are in the manner of the Sidonians. They are 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. Certainly that would be a piece of strategy that you would want to get in your reconnaissance mission in order to launch a successful attack. If you have a group of people sitting safely and secure but not attached to anyone else, they don't have a large standing army, They don't have a lot of people around them. They don't have a lot of resources at their disposal.
That will certainly play into your battle plan. If it is a people that is a sitting duck sitting there in Laish, well then most certainly that's a piece of property. We can plant the flag of Dan. We'll take the city.
We'll raise it and we'll call it Dan or we'll rebuild it and we'll call it Dan. That's what's going on in this particular section. They're reconning the situation.
The Spies' Report
Verses 8 to 10, they make their report concerning the mission. It says, Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtoel, and their brethren said to them, What is your report? 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. Sounds like Caleb, remember Caleb, when he came back from the reconnaissance mission in Numbers 13 and 14, he says, let us go up at once. These men are hungry. These men want this particular property.
They've spied out the land. It's a good land. The people are safe. They're secure.
But they don't have a lot of resources in terms of assistance from outsiders. They're like sitting ducks. We'll be able to take it. Verse 10, when you go, you will come to a secure people in a large land, and then notice this, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.
Now, it is interesting that God ultimately does give them this. but not because of them, but rather in spite of them. These are arrogant, proud, autonomous men who nevertheless, in the scheme and plan of God, must relocate to the northern part of Israel. But they have the arrogance to say, God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth. Now as we move through the narrative, you'll see why I'm being a bit hard on these men of Dan.
They are wicked. They are engaged in the same sort of corruption as is Micah and his household. They even hire the same priest. They up the ante a little bit.
They give him a little more than 10 shekels and a shirt, and they draw him away so that they can then have their own paganized cultic center where they can so-called worship Yahweh.
Migration of the Tribe (vv. 11–31)
Now note the movement of the tribe in verses 11 to 31, or the migration of the tribe. 600 men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtael, armed with weapons of war. They also took their families, those little ones, with them as we move through the particular narrative. They want to relocate. They can taste it.
They realize, based on this particular report, it's going to be an easy win. We'll move our families now. We'll bring everything up there. So 600 men from Dan go to this particular place.
Tells us where they stop along the way. Verse 12, kirjath jirim, and then verse 13. And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. This house of Micah makes its appearance throughout these two chapters in a whole host of ways.
Now notice, they come with their weapons, they come with their families, they arrive specifically at the house of Micah, and they meet with this Levite.
Theft of Micah's Idols and Priest
First of all, the spies report the contents of Micah's house to the rest of them in verse 14. Then 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. What should they have done?
That's right. They should have destroyed it. They should have destroyed everything that was in that place. How do we know that? because the Bible tells us so.
In Deuteronomy chapter 13 there are specific rules for apostasy in Israel. And the idea is that you eliminate and you eradicate from Israel apostasy, idolatry, syncretism, anything that could be used by the enemy to draw more Israelites into that particular snare. If it is a false prophet, you kill him. If it is someone in your family, including your wife, kill her.
If it is a city given over to idolatry, which would probably be more of what's going on in Micah's particular instance, you kill them and you destroy everything that they have. You do not take any of the spoil, you do not take anything for your own possession, but rather you simply rid the land of this particular evil. So when the spies say, now therefore, consider what you should do they chose what was behind door number two, and they chose poorly. Instead of destroying the place, instead of executing the wrath and judgment of God upon these enemies of the covenant, they rather now show their hand for the corrupt idolaters that they themselves are.
Notice in verse 15, so they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite man, to the house of Micah, and greeted him. The 600 men armed with their weapons of war, who were the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. You see it right now, they're like thugs. They bribed the priest and they threatened to murder Micah.
Truly, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Proof positive is when they bribe a priest and they threaten to destroy Micah. Not in accordance with Deuteronomy 13, the way they should have. They want to kill him and his children because he's getting in the way, not of God's kingdom's progress, but of their wicked and corrupt hearts and their practice.
It says, 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 600 men who were armed with weapons of war. It's a scene right out of some mob movie.
I mean, it really is. They're there to do business. They're there to deal with Micah. They're there to take his stuff so that they can construct their own worship center because their hearts are a hankering after God.
Now notice verse 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? 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 Israel?
Opportunism. They are appealing to this man at the basest possible level. They already know that he took a job from Micah for 10 shekels and a shirt. They probably realize that they, if they simply sweetened the pot a little bit, will be able to get this guy on their particular side.
Note the coaxing. I mean this is church growth 101 in the 21st century in North America. 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 Israel? Go where the numbers are.
Go where the people are. Don't waste your time in those rural areas. Don't waste your time in the villages. Go to the cities where the population base is.
Now, I'm not suggesting we shouldn't go to the cities where the population base is, but we certainly ought not to neglect the rural areas. We ought not to neglect the villages. Where there are sinners, there needs to be gospel. Where there are sinners, there ought to be churches.
It ought not to simply be the places that have lots of money and lots of ability and lots of things that priests want. 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 Israel? How does the priest respond to this? Well, of course not.
I want to minister faithfully to Micah. I have become like a father to him. He brought me in. No, the priest is a traitor.
Remember that Micah sought him as a father figure. Micah then treats the man like he's one of his sons and now this priest, son, father figure has become traitor because something better has come along. He is in the language that is probably a little bit more base than we like to use, a whore with reference to ecclesiology. He is pouring out his services at the highest bidder.
And this is precisely what the author wants us to appreciate. So the priest's heart was glad. And he took the household idols and the carved image and took his place among the people. Absolutely disgusting.
I have a quote for the end, but I'll read it now. I thought Daniel Bloch really made a very excellent summary of the whole scenario and then made a very pointed application along the lines of what I'm saying here. He says, after chapter 18, the population in Canaan and Laish may be new, and the names of the occupants may be different after they destroy Laish and the Danites take occupation there in Dan. But at heart, nothing has changed.
Isn't it interesting that when we move through this passage, if we're thinking and we're considering, our hearts almost go out to the inhabitants of Laish? These are Canaanites, but at this point, they're not bothering anybody. Dan goes in and destroys them, which again, under the auspices of holy war, they had every right to do that. But the fact that they didn't do that to Micah and his household, the fact that they do it in order to establish a cultic shrine, in order to do this, in order to establish a place where they can bow to idols, really bespeaks ill of Israel at this particular venture.
He says, like the native Canaanites, the Israelites are observed reducing divinity to physical images, manipulating God for private ends, appropriating pagan cult installations, and brutalizing each other in the process. I mean, no one's nice to anybody in this particular section. I mean, as you move through it, everyone does what is right in his own eyes, not just at the level of Dan or in the Levitical priesthood or in the tribe or in the household of Micah, but when they join hands together, there's still a brutality among these persons toward one another. He says, even the Levites, including the descendants of Moses, have been corrupted.
The cult is syncretistic. Remember what syncretism is. It's not idolatry strictly. It is idolatry what's going on.
But it's idolatry alongside of Yahweh. Syncretism is when we take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and we put it together and hope that God will accept us as a result. Remember, Micah has household idols but he invokes the blessing of Yahweh. These Danites go under the auspices of having been blessed by Yahweh and yet they're setting up a cult shrine so that they can use these things to get to Yahweh.
Remember the first two commandments, however. Define for us the God who we worship, the first commandment, and define for us how we worship, the second commandment. We're not to use idols, we're not to use the own dictates of our heart, we're to do the things that God commands us as he states very clearly in scripture. So he says, the cult is syncretistic, the priesthood is mercenary, that means the priests operate for money, and the devotees are evil.
Instead of calling people to repentance, the professional spiritual leaders capitalize on the degeneracy of the times. I mean, it's so bad here. This Levite's watching them and says, what are you doing? You're stealing idols from my master.
Oh, well, why don't you come and be our priest over the whole tribe? You get to serve these same idols, but it will be over a tribe and not just a household. And his heart was glad. You see how bad it is?
You see how depraved it is? You see what the author is telling us? It didn't take long for Joshua and the elders to die, or after they died, for Israel to go like that. This is what a people left to themselves looks like.
When there is no king in Israel, a godly king, exercising godly rule, that's what's going to happen. When the church functions like there's no king in Israel and there's no Christ on his throne will function any old way whatsoever. So he says similarly the spiritual or he says similarly the spiritual service in air and quotes not air quotes. He actually used quotes.
I'm doing air quotes. Got to get my quotes right here. Can't do air quotes on paper. Similarly, the spiritual service of many current pastors is motivated not by the call of God, but by the opportunities for personal gain.
The question the Danites pose to him is asked every day by pastoral search committees, which is better, to be a pastor of a small family or to be the pastor of a megachurch? He says the contemporary problem of ambition and opportunism in the ministry has at least a 3,000 year history. I mean, this is the first, this is the forerunner of Betty Ann, right here. Here is a guy making dough off of religion.
This is why when we get to the pastoral epistles, elders are not to be greedy for money. This is why the Apostle Peter indicates in 1 Peter 5 that you serve willingly, not for money. Now there is this balance. Pastors can't live on love and fresh air.
You gotta give the ox its wage or give it some corn while it's threshing so it doesn't drop dead. But religion ought not to be a money-making venture. It ought not to be the case that this man says, yeah, a better gig. I want more than 10 shekels and a shirt.
I'd rather go serve Dan at their cultic shrine and do what they have for me. So it's a pretty wretched situation going on in Israel at the time. Now
Encounter with Micah (vv. 21–26)
notice, the encounter with Micah And this is just incredible too. 21 to 26. First of all, they depart. And note the strategic departure. Note the strategic departure.
These are men of war. These are soldiers. They know what they're doing. Notice verse 21.
Then they turned and departed and put the little ones, the livestock and the goods in front of them. What does that mean? That means if Micah and his household gives chase, who are they going to get? The soldiers.
They're not going to get the children, they're not going to get the livestock, and they're not going to get back their idols. They're going to meet armed men ready for battle. So the Danites aren't playing games. Now notice in verse 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.
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? I just wonder, as the author is writing this, how his face looks. What do you mean, what ails you?
What are you talking about? You just stole everything out of this man's house. You have idolaters stealing from idolaters, and then idolater number one saying, what's your problem? What's wrong with you?
We're idolaters. That's the way we operate. We don't have any Eighth Commandment as idolaters. We don't have any social justice as idolaters.
There's no honor among idolaters. When you partner with these kinds of people, this is what you get. You don't get legitimate business dealings from men who are absolutely corrupt. You need to understand and expect that reality.
But the fact that they say, what ails you that you have gathered such a company? Why don't you just let us wander into your place, take everything you own, and wander off without giving us any rebuff? These men of Dan aren't playing games, are they? Now notice verse 24.
So he said, and it's an interesting thing, he almost had her into Micah's plight. We don't, because we know Micah's a wretch. I mean, this is pretty brutal, isn't it? Here's an idolater minding his own idolatry business, and then these big goons come along and take everything he has.
Like a little kid who just got beat up out on the play yard or playground, and they took his lunch money. What are you doing? 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? Don't you get it? And I love the way that he speaks, the way that he says this. You've taken away my gods, which I made.
This is absolutely incredible. Now, if I were to construct gods, and I were to put gods into my home, I'd like to think that those gods not only have the power to bless me, but to protect my home from them being ripped off. Wouldn't that be legit? Dear gods, make sure that you secure the perimeter such that nobody steals you.
Because I don't want to operate in a life where there's no gods. It's pretty pathetic when your gods are stolen, isn't it? Isaiah makes a lot of this when he engages in the folly of idolatry in the prophet, when he begins in chapter 40 and continues on about the folly of idolatry. What's the big comparison?
The living and true God, Yahweh of Israel, and the idols of men. It's absolutely incredible. You have taken away my gods which I made. But it is interesting, if you were here last week, does Micah have a right to complain about theft?
Does Micah have a right to say, you took something away from me? No, the very beginning in chapter 17, 2 and 3, we see that Micah himself took 1,100 shekels from his mother. Well, let's just remind you, Micah, of what's going on. When you steal that kind of loot from somebody like your mother, do you actually think Danites aren't going to come along and strip you of everything that you prize and hold dear?
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? Now, notice the Danites' response in verse 25.
It's interesting what they say. You can see what they say, right? They say, shut up. That's what it says.
We don't want to hear your whining, Micah. Do not let your voice be heard among us. I mean, we may say it a little quicker, shut up, but that's essentially what they're saying. We don't want to hear you.
Take your whining somewhere else. You ever see that bumper sticker? Call 1-800-WAH. That's what they're doing.
We don't want to hear it from you, Micah. We've got guns, not really, but the equivalent of guns. We've got soldiers. We've got the ability to run you and your family right into the ground.
They bribe the priest. They threaten malice or violence upon Micah. 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." This is the equivalent of, you will be swimming with the fishes, Micah. You do not challenge us because we will destroy you.
You see what's happened in Israel? You see what's happened to the covenant people? This is Dan and Ephraim. This isn't Dan and Laish yet.
This is internal. These are Israelites conducting themselves this way toward one another. When we get to 19 to 21, it's not oppression from without. It's not barbarism imposed.
It's within. 17 to 21 shows us that at times something far more difficult than threats from without are threats from within. It's the people of Israel that have turned against themselves. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes and that means casualties both religiously and morally or ethically. Verse 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.
One does wonder what happened at that point. Does he repent? Does he rethink 1713? This wasn't supposed to happen.
Right? 1713, he's sure now that he's got his little shrine, now that he's got his Levitical priest, certainly Yahweh will bless me. Certainly good things will flow from on high. I've manipulated him such, I've put in the corner, I've pulled back the handle and out spits blessings. How in the world could he possibly conceive that thugs from Dan, taking everything that he held near and dear to him, could possibly be a blessing?
Hopefully he's rethinking his place before God, before the God of heaven and earth, and he's going to repent. We don't know, it never tells us what happened. Now
Settlement at Laish (vv. 27–31)
notice, the settlement in Laish, 27 to 31. They struck the people of Laish with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. Again, that's that harem principle where they did this in terms of holy war. It is a bit disingenuous at the way they're responding and everything else.
We would call this selective obedience. Lord, you've told us to dispossess the land from all these nasty Canaanites. Yes, and I've also told you not to make other gods before me. I've also told you not to bribe priests.
I've also told you not to steal idols. I mean, it's pretty bad when you're stealing idols from other people. This is a window into Israel at the time. The people of Laish were no match, verse 28b.
Remember how it was set up. It was told to us. There would be no Sidonians coming. There would be no close-knit marshal or military aid.
This place was easy for picking off for the Danites, and this is precisely what happens. There was no deliverer, verse 28, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. This is the area that we just saw in Matthew 15. Jesus goes up to Tyre and Sidon.
It's not far from Dan, all up in that northern region of the country. And 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 formerly was Laish. Now notice, the Danites set up their cultic center, verses 30 and 31.
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image. That's what the author's purpose is more so than the territory. Bloch says it this way. What concerns the author more than land is the erection of the pagan image at dam.
The narrator's special interest in religious rather than territorial issues is reflected in the amount of space devoted to the visit to Micah's house in the concluding two verses, which report the establishment of the pagan cult site, or which report the establishment of the pagan cult site at Dan. You see, the whole passage is about apostasy. It's not just Dan took this portion of land in the north, so that now we can say from Dan to Beersheba. The issue is on the apostasy going on in Israel at the time.
The name of the priest is given. Look at verse 30. Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of, in the text, Manasseh, in the margin, Moses. Davis makes this comment.
Moses is certainly correct in verse 30. It's not Manasseh. It's Moses. Some manuscripts, for instance, the King James and the New American Standard, what does NIV and ESV have?
Manasseh or Moses? Right in the text. Right in the text, good. And what do you have ESV?
Moses, okay. Have Manasseh. That's saying the King James New American Standard, have Manasseh. That is because a number of Hebrew manuscripts read Manasseh, but often with a suspended N.
It's the letter Nun, and the N was up in the text. I checked my Hebrew text and it was printed that way as well. I'm sure you get the BHS. You have the BHS?
Yeah, it'll have the N above in verse 30 there. It says, that is because a number of Hebrew manuscripts read Manasseh, but often with a suspended N that is a little above the normal writing line. The scribes wrote the N that way to show that it was inserted. The insertion then changed Moses into Manasseh.
Rashi, a Jewish exegete, 1040-1096, explained that the N was inserted to protect the honor of Moses. They didn't want to say how bad it was, that Moses' grandson would be connected to this kind of apostasy. He goes on to say, what a shame for Moses' memory to have a descendant officiating in this perverted worship. But it was suspended to show that Manasseh was not the real reading.
The Manasseh intended is the wicked king of 2 Kings 21. Such worship, the scribes suggested, would have been very compatible with Manasseh, but not with Moses. You see, it's an embarrassment to them that Moses is connected to this sort of bastardized worship.
Dan's Cultic Center and Judgment
Notice that the cultic center was staffed with priests. And his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. So the text ends with an emphasis on judgment. When you read, until the day of the captivity of the land, that does not bode well.
Probably what's in view is the Assyrian destruction of the northern tribes, which took place in the 8th century BC. So the text ends on that note of judgment, until the day of the captivity of the land. And just to make sure that we got the judgment, so they set up for themselves, verse 31, Micah's carved image which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. It's a bit of a theological commentary or summary to conclude the entire reality that though there was this house of Micah, or this house of God, rather, in Micah's house, and now taken up to Dan, there was, in existence, the house of God which was at Shiloh.
And this is where the Israelites should have been worshipping. There is where they should have been sacrificing. There is where they should have been addressing and coming to the living and the true God. God is not mocked when the Israelites conduct themselves as the Canaanites.
With idols and all, God will bring in foreign aggression such that there will be no deliverance. So as was noted, if these chapters, and I think they do, precede the judges, the judges live, they move, they have their being. We go into the monarchy, but then ultimately the northern tribe fall, or the northern tribes fall in 2 Kings chapter 17, and eventually the southern tribes fall as well. God is not mocked.
When Israel becomes like Canaan, God will bring in others to dispossess them from the land. So
Application: Departing from Commanded Worship
we've seen in the passage the religious apostasy of Israel. Hope that we've seen that, Micah, the Levitical priesthood, and the tribe of Dan, corporate apostasy throughout Israel. As well, I think we see the danger of departing from God's commandment with reference to worship. We are not to worship any old way that we choose.
We are not to throw up an altar in our home. We're not to hire our own Levite. We are to obey God. We are to come to scripture.
We believe that the scriptures are sufficient for all matters of faith and practice. We believe that the scriptures are that which informs our approach to God, how we worship him. Does anybody remember where in Deuteronomy specifically we read that statement concerning worship, that we're not to add to God's Word, we're not to take away from God's Word? Deuteronomy 12, 32, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it.
You shall not add to it nor take away from it. Certainly, adding to it would be Levitical priests in our homes, shrines, idols, syncretism, and the like. I just want to reread that quote from Davis from last week. He says, this false religion also appears in the form of what I shall call subjectivism.
The Danite sanctuary stands over against the legitimate house of God at Shiloh. No need to bother going to Shiloh now. Dan is its own little Israel. The Danites now have their own little convenience store shrine nearby where they can control it.
They can worship as they please. Does this not parallel the contemporary model, even in the church, that worship is actually a very individual affair, a matter of sheer personal preference, and, like your toothbrush, a very personal thing? To declare that faith, worship, and religion are rather regulated by royal revelation and subject to sovereign prescriptions sounds like a novel idea. Surely, contemporary Danites tell us God is not so picky.
I was thinking about that recently. You've heard me mention before how people sometimes phone and, you know, basically, what do you have for kids, and what do you have for this, and what do you have for that? You can almost hear the disdain when you say, well, we have a Wednesday night Bible study, we have Sunday morning, Sunday evening service. That's it?
You don't have this for kids? You don't have that for, you know, old people? You don't have all these certain programs. And yet we live in a day and age where some church, I'm not saying all, but some, won't even say most, some, will have all these different schemes and programs and different approaches and yet will think nothing of canceling a Lord's Day service on a Super Bowl Sunday.
You know, when they come to us and say, well, that's all you have? That's what we're supposed to have, Lord's Day worship, arguably morning and evening. I can't bind anybody's conscience, say everybody must be there on a Sunday night. But it is a blessed way to keep the Sabbath day holy.
It's not the Lord's morning. It is the Lord's day. And when we put a worship service in the evening, it certainly helps to sanctify or help us to sanctify the day. So if we have puppet shows and we have programs and we have ponies, but we're not in church on Sunday, what have we gained?
What have we benefited? How have we progressed? How have we prospered? I would much rather insist on what God commands than insist on a bunch of things that people want, at least for a time, but ultimately are not what God has given in terms of means that benefit the people of God.
So the departure from the commanded way, or God's commanded way, of how he ought to be worshipped. Judges 17 and 18 underscore this very, very powerfully.
Closing Prayer
So why don't we close in prayer, and if there's any questions we can ask. Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for its clarity on these matters. We know that you are a God who commands that we worship in a particular way. Help us to be obedient.
Help us to engage in these things by faith. Help us to know that you are a consuming fire, that you are glorious and holy, and that you are to be worshiped in a manner specified by yourself. We thank you that you illustrate these things for us. And in the book of Judges, we thank you that you've given us this in the church.
And God, help us to go forward, to proceed in a manner that is consistent with your word. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.