Modern Day Micah's

So, blessing in the name of Yahweh? The true God of Israel! And then...having idols made? These two things don’t mix. Yahweh revealed on Mount Sinai that he doesn’t want Israel to worship idols – whether they’re intended to represent him or not. He doesn’t want our worship to him to be filtered through or directed toward idols. Even though the Bible is littered with God’s command to not bow down to idols, it still blows my mind that the Israelites, whom Micah is one of cannot stop from doing it. Micah should know this all to well, being that it is the first two commands of the Ten Commandments, something that is drilled into the mind of Jewish people.

“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Exodus 20:3-6

So, something’s not right here. And you’ll be saying a lot to yourself throughout this message. And you ought to. The narrator is taking us on a strange journey through the times of the judges to show us the utterly desperate condition of Israel during this time, and guess what, it has not gotten any better. The modern-day Micah of the Jewish faith have replaced the wood and metal idols with that of traditions and extra laws. while the modern-day Micah of the gentiles still bow down to almost anything...some have wooded idols, some have metal idols, some have piles of sand, rocks, and dirt, some worship animals, and some worship other people.

Okay, so Micah and his mom are going down the road of idolatry, and here’s what happens at the next road marker.

The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 17:5-6

Like I said, the train of Micah has gone off the rails and skidded to the point where Micah takes those idols and puts them into his house of gods. You see, here is the problem with idol worship…you can never have enough idols to worship, because none are sufficient to the task. I need a god for money. I need a god for making babies. I need a good to help increase my harvest. I need a god to watch over my family…when will it end?!

Now, God demanded to be worshiped in one central location in Israel. The prophet Daniel, while in exile in Babylon could not get to Jerusalem to worship, so he worshipped the true living God from where he was, and God blessed him. But Micah set up his own place to worship in the hill country of Ephraim.

In the centralized house of God, God wanted Levites to take care of the property and worship of that sanctuary. Levites were the priestly line of the Children of Israel, and it was their job to mediate between you and Yahweh by handling your sacrifices, presenting them to the altar of God. Micah doesn’t have a Levite – not at this point at least. And so, he just takes his son and makes him a priest. Here we see another problem with idol worship…you begin to mimic that relationship with something material, other than a real relationship with the living God who loves you and wants to fellowship with you. So, to mimic that relationship…anyone will do…Micah used his son, but the modern-day Micah gets himself a person that tells them what they want to hear and will pay handsomely for the time, and that person may be a pastor that tells them everything is going to be okay, and you will prosper…as long as you keep giving money. It may be a shaman who will speak to your god and let you know what to do.