Dan's Apostasy (Judges 18)

Did Micah’s hired priest lead the tribe of Dan into apostasy? Have we wandered from the faith taught by Jesus and the apostles, making idols of man-made doctrines? Let’s look at Judges 18.

Did the tribe of Dan fail to take their allotted inheritance in the land? Did they send out scouts to find other land?

In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day the land among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them as an inheritance. So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. (Judges 18:1-2 LSB)

Did they know the idolatrous priest that Micah had hired?

When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” He said to them, “Micah has done this and that for me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.” Then they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.” And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the Lord’s approval.” (Judges 18:3-6 NASB)

Did Danite scouts find a town in the north not allotted to them?

So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?” They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.” (Judges 18:7-10 NIV)

On their way, did they pass by the house of Micah and his hired, idolatrous priest?

And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. (Judges 1811-13 NKJV)

Did they take the hired priest’s idolatrous worship items?

The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish explained to the others, “These buildings contain a sacred ephod, as well as some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. What do you think you should do?” Then the five men turned off the road and went over to Micah’s house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly. As the 600 armed warriors from the tribe of Dan stood at the entrance of the gate, the five scouts entered the shrine and removed the carved image, the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the cast idol. Meanwhile, the priest was standing at the gate with the 600 armed warriors. (Judges 18:14-17 NLT)

Was the priest flattered by their offer of greater status?

When these went into Micah’s house, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” They said to him, “Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us. Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went with the people. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before them. 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. As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces, and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you come with such a company?” He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away! What more do I have? How can you ask me, ‘What ails you?’” The children of Dan said to him, “Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.” (Judges 18:18-25 WEB)