Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges, part 11

 

So our last four chapters of Judges might be named in the style of Earle Stanley Gardiner, "The Case of the Purloined Priest", and "The Case of the Cut-Up Concubine", but God has a better title for it, one that He sprinkles throughout the story:

"In those days, when there was no king in Israel..."

This makes us think of several key points.  First, if God was supposed to be their King, then they really didn't have God with them.  Second, this 4 chapter run is actually a lead into First Samuel- a lead in that explains how they got to a point that a man as corrupt and lazy as Eli would end up High Priest.  And third, that from the death of Samson to the calling of Samuel, God was refusing to speak to them- or, for the most part, hear them.  Instead of doing my usual, "Let's track down and see how long a period that was," let's get right to the first story and see what happens when you do God man's way (in other words, a definition of "religion").

We start out in chapter 17 being plunked right into the middle of an already sordid story:

 

 Jdg 17:1  There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
Jdg 17:2  And he said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD."
Jdg 17:3  And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."
Jdg 17:4  So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.
Jdg 17:5  And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.

Confused?  Let's break it down.  Micah stole the shekels from dear old Mom, who put a curse on "whoever did it" in Micah's hearing.  Because of the curse, he repented and brought it back.  So not only did Mom forgive him, but put the money back into his hands, excepting 200 shekels which she had made into idols, and basically told him to be the master of the family faith.  That this was far from right in God's eyes we can deduce from the fact that the first of the "no king in Israel" statements came directly after these verses.  So what did God find wrong?

-How about Mom knowing he was a thief, and letting him direct her faith anyway?  Put anyone in mind of the old days of giving money to Jim and Tammy Faye?

-How about going against the Second Commandment and making an idol, even if it was supposed to be a focus of worship for God?  We have already seen- and will see yet again- that any time people were presented with an "object" to focus faith on, they fell into idolatry; the object got between them and the God they were supposed to be worshiping.  The Bronze Serpent of Moses, the Ephod of Gideon... or, a more modern example, believing that you should go to Mary or the Saints before and between you and Jesus.

- How about naming your son a priest?  This is worship contained in one family, and bound to go wrong.

But wait, it gets worse.  Because here comes a Levite, wandering around, looking for a place to serve, because that's what Levites were supposed to do.  And this wasn't just any Levite, but (as we find out later) was a direct descendant of Moses through his son Gershom.  However, he was nothing like his ancestor- probably why we don't learn this until the end of the story.  So this Levite arrives from Bethlehem, looking for work, and Micah obliges...

Jdg 17:10  And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living." And the Levite went in.
Jdg 17:11  And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.
Jdg 17:12  And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
Jdg 17:13  Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."

 

Obviously, Micah's "home priesthood" wasn't working out so well, because he actually paid this guy (whose name, we find at the end, was Jonathan) to take up the job and figured that since he now was a "little closer" to doing things God's way, God would benefit him.  Jonathan, who we'll see was more interested in creature comforts than God,  was "content" to go along with it.  We soon find out that, first, "sprinkling a little God" on the situation doesn't equal acceptability by God, and second, there is a difference between "contentment" and "gladness", and in a day where man wasn't loyal to God, he wouldn't be loyal to man, either.

So next into our tale comes a band of Danites.  If you remember, Dan had struggled doing the clearing of Canaan the Lord's way...

Jdg 1:34  The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

So they sent out 5 "men of valor", relatively speaking, to find them some easy pickings.  These five happened upon the house church of Micah, and noted that he had a Levite...

Jdg 18:3  When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?"
Jdg 18:4  And he said to them, "This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest."
Jdg 18:5  And they said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed."
Jdg 18:6  And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD."

Considering the circumstances, it is notable that the "journey is under the eye of the Lord", though not exactly with His approval.  Was it God's will the Levite was directing idol worship with graven images? For a time, it might seem like God is blessing us in doing what we want, just because it seems to be going smoothly- but that don't make it God's WILL.  But thus it was, they found nearby a peaceful village of Sidonian merchants, neither warlike nor under the protection of a warlord- and they said, "perfect", since they were all about doing things the easy way.  Was it God's way?  NO, they were told to drive out the Amorites, but they didn't have enough faith in God to do so!  The 5 went back to tell their people- 600 armed men and their kinfolk- that they'd just hit the jackpot.  So onward they went, but then, the five came back past Micah's place...

Jdg 18:13  And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
Jdg 18:14  Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do."

And what they would do is the same thing Micah did- say, "things go better with a Levite"...

Jdg 18:18  And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
Jdg 18:19  And they said to him, "Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?"
Jdg 18:20  And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

Note that Jonathan goes from "content" to "glad":  Now he has more fame, more power, and is more than happy to say, the heck with Micah and his 10 shekels.  Of course, Micah isn't particularly happy...

Jdg 18:23  And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?"
Jdg 18:24  And he said, "You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, 'What is the matter with you?'"
Jdg 18:25  And the people of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household."

So now Micah, who thought he would be blessed by "sprinkling a little God on his way", is out his money, his idols, his Levite, and settles back into obscurity with dear old Mom.  The Danites, however, seem blessed as they roll on over and kill the Sidonians, name Jonathan their priest with charge of their stolen idols made from stolen money, and live happily ever after, right?

Not quite.  Because, we know from the Word that this town they conquered, that they named Dan in their own image, would become one of the seats of idolatry in Israel...

1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."
1Ki 12:28  So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
1Ki 12:29  And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1Ki 12:30  Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 

And that this idolatry would bring the curse on that money down on them...

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
Rev 7:5  12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
Rev 7:6  12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
Rev 7:7  12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
Rev 7:8  12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

Note that two tribes do not appear here:  One of them is Ephraim, the tribe of Jeroboam, where the first calf was staged; the other is Dan, where the other was placed.  Dan, who thought doing it their way, "with a sprinkling of God" was acceptable.  And in the end, just like Micah, they fade into obscurity.