Judges 17: 1 – 13
The Hireling
Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!” 3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.” 4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah. 5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. 8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.” 10 Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”
Here is a question for you all to consider, ‘Is your Pastor a hireling? Well, if he has to be picked by a board of elders then he is one. Why, because he needs to be under their thumb, not Jehovah Elyon’s, The Lord Most High. How can one be answerable to Adoni Yahweh while he is answerable to a board. Now, I can already hear the comment about needing ‘accountability’. That is true and that is exactly what a board is suppose to do. If the board sees something sinful in a Pastor, then they should investigate and if true, remove that Pastor from leading the flock. It is plain and simple folks.
I bring this subject up because this in a way is what we are going to see in today’s Scripture. Our Precious Holy Spirit is going to identify an incident in order to demonstrate the sad state of Israel during this time. Its theme is ‘in those days there was no king in Israel’. It does not just mean that this was before the time when there was a king in Israel, it also makes clear that the situations came about because they ignored Yahweh their true King. They had neither the one nor the other. They ignored and refused to acknowledge He Who was King over them and that was why in the end Yahweh would reluctantly give them an earthly king.
The giving of this earthly king was in itself an indication of their failure. God’s ideal for them was that He should be King, and this principle continued and was recognized for some time in that the first kings were called ‘nagid’ (war leader). Thus the writer supported the kingship, but only on the basis that because of the failure of Israel to fully respond to their King they had to make do with second best. It was not God’s ideal. It resulted from men’s faithlessness. Judges was thus an apology for kings in both senses of the word.
This rejection of Yahweh as King is made very apparent in this section of the book of Judges. We will see that this incident and the incident following emphasize that The Great Holy God Yahweh’s commandments were being spurned and ignored. The first majors on the breaking of the sixth and ninth commandments, ‘you shall not steal’ and ‘you shall not covet’, the second on the seventh and eighth commandments ‘you shall not murder’ and ‘you shall not commit adultery’. Furthermore in the first incident the apostasy of Israel is emphasized in the setting up of a rival Sanctuary at Laish by the half-tribe of Dan, and that by a direct descendant of Moses!
This chapter illustrates the rise of idolatry and disobedience to Yahweh in Israel after the death of Joshua. It is illustrated from an incident which occurred in the hill country of Ephraim, where a man, who had stolen a large sum of money from his mother, returned it, on which part of it was sadly converted to an idolatrous use. Two images and a teraphim were made of it, and eventually a Levite appointed to be priest. In the following chapter this priest would then aid the half-tribe of Dan to steal the images from their owner. Thus theft is central to, and emphasized in, the account. The second sad final result is the setting up of a rival Sanctuary to that already in place, in Laish (Dan). It was contrary to the covenant with Yahweh, directly as a result of this theft.
Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
The Israelites were now settling down into the land and were prepared to coexist with the inhabitants of the land and imitate their ways, which we all know was against the Lord’s commands. And from this incident and what follows we can see why there was a necessity for our Father Yahweh’s activity.
The name Micah means ‘who is like Yah (Yahweh)?’ It was deliberately ironic that someone with a name like that should be presented as an example of those who turned from Yahweh to their own ways, bringing Him down to the level of other religions. The description of his whereabouts was deliberately vague although it would be some miles north of Jerusalem. He represented in general the behavior of many Israelites.
2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!”
His story begins with his admission that he was a thief. It would seem that he was moved to confess by the fact that she had put a curse on the silver, so that in order to avoid the curse he admitted his wrongdoing and returned the silver. His mother was clearly an old woman for Micah himself was a father of grown up sons. It speaks volumes of Micah that he felt able to steal from his aged mother. ‘Spoke to me’ may suggest that she had also convinced him under the curse to tell the truth. On his owning up his mother reversed the curse, turning it into a blessing.
3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.”
His mother was so pleased that he had owned up and returned the silver that she dedicated sufficient to Yahweh to make a graven image and a molten image. The graven image would be made of wood and covered with silver, while the molten image would be made totally of silver. We see here that there were two different ‘images’
The graven image was the central feature. It may be that this was therefore a miniature representation of the Ark of the Covenant as conceived in Micah’s mind, including the cherubim with their wings over the throne. Such would be considered a graven image by the writer as not being the true Ark, and he would not wish to describe it as anything but a forbidden thing, and ‘a graven image’. The molten image could then have been Micah’s representation of a further cherub as bearer of the Ark, the throne of Yahweh, possibly in the form of a base holding the Ark. This would be seen as supported by the fact that when the priest went forward with the tribe of Dan ‘in their midst’ he wore the ephod and carried the graven image and the teraphim, but not the molten image. As he was probably intended to picture Yahweh among His people, replacing the Tabernacle and the Ark, this demonstrated the secondary nature of the molten image and would support the idea that it was only a base.
4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.
At the mother’s request two hundred pieces of silver were turned into a graven image and a molten image. These were then placed in Micah’s house. It should be noted that she dedicated the silver to Yahweh for the purpose of making these two images. That did not necessarily involve the use of all of it, only what was required. Some further of it may however have been used to make the ephod and teraphim.
5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
The fact that he at this stage installed one of his own sons suggests that this house of God was new, prepared by him to receive the ‘images’. Both Micah and his mother appear to have been genuinely determined to please Yahweh, although in a way that contributed to their own prestige. But they were clearly not well taught in what was necessary, although having some general idea about such things. The fact that Israel had the Law of God at the central sanctuary did not mean that the knowledge of it was satisfactorily disseminated. And they were influenced by what went on around them.
It is very interesting to me that from now onwards the name of Micah (micyhu) is abbreviated (to micah) in the Hebrew text, dropping the name of Yahweh. It was our Wonderful Holy Spirit’s way of expressing his disapproval of what follows.
Micah and his mom are similar to the Israelites living throughout the land. They to did not recognize or understand the importance that to have their own house of God, their own ephod and their own throne of Yahweh and that doing these acts were contrary to Moses’ teaching, and that teraphim especially were frowned on as linked with divination and idolatry. Nor, seemingly did they recognize that to have their son as their own family priest was not acceptable, although the fact that when the opportunity came to appoint a Levite, he did so, demonstrates that he was aware of this defect which indicates that someone may have pointed it out to him. We must not necessarily assume that the son acted as a full sacrificing priest. His responsibilities might have been limited to using the ephod to discover the will of God and offerings not of a sacrificial kind.
Micah demonstrated how the Israelites were developing forbidden forms of worship contrary to the Law of Moses. They did what was right in their own eyes due to their failure to let Yahweh have His rightful place as King by honoring the covenant and the central sanctuary.
Micah and his mother would have been familiar with the idol shelves found in Canaanite houses, and which soon found their way into some Israelite houses. They were seeking to have something similar but dedicated to Yahweh. But such was the state of Yahwism, of the central sanctuary and of the teaching of the Law at the time, that they did not realize that they were doing wrong. Yahwism was at a low ebb.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Here is now the reason for their questionable behavior. It was because in Israel every man did what was right in his own eyes. The first stress here was that the people were lawless and acknowledged no one over them. They did what they wanted and they ignored their true King Who was Yahweh. They did not submit to His kingship or seek to know His laws. So it was their attitude of heart which was in question, not the lack of One to rule over them. Because of this they were not submissive to the central sanctuary and to the covenant and to the religious authorities appointed by Him. The theocracy was failing because of the unresponsiveness of the people. And this was seen as illustrated by Micah.
7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.
There were two Bethlehem’s, one in the tribe of Zebulon, and this in the tribe of Judah. The Levites were scattered throughout the whole of Israel and ‘adopted’ into their various tribes, but only as sojourners. Thus this man had become a member of the family of Judah while retaining his Levite identity. The fact that he ‘sojourned’, took up residence among them there, when it was not a Levitical city, was a further sign of the state of affairs in the country. ‘Sojourner’ strictly referred to a resident alien. Levites were seen as sojourners because they belonged to God, not as being one of the people.
Jehovah Elyon’s – The Lord Most High - theoretical blueprint as described in the Law of Moses would have produced a strong and fair nation, avoiding the excesses of kingship, satisfying its religious needs, always united and powerful, looking to Yahweh for guidance and deliverance, the perfect theocracy. But unfortunately human beings were involved. Thus the blueprint was in process of time adapted and altered to suit man’s convenience, desires and local customs, until it was only partially recognizable and very much distorted, with the result that it failed in its purpose due to the weakness of its participants. And this affected no one more than the Levites, men set aside for the service of the Tabernacle and to make the Law known, who retained respect and deference in the community as men of God, but who came far short of the ideal. Indeed, as with this man, many took advantage of their status to advance their own wealth and position and were not too particular about the legal requirements of the Law.
8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
The Levite went out on his travels as a religious adventurer, looking for opportunities, his first concern his own advancement and prospects. This may have been partly forced on him by the partial failure of the system of tithing. The priests were paid out of the treasury of tithes. If the people had remained faithful to this portion of our Lord’s directions then all this would not have taken place. Micah was of a wealthy family whose obvious wealth would attract men like this Levite, and he may well have heard on his travels about Micah’s religious innovations - thus the two came together.
9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”
Micah would be providing hospitality and thus politely enquired as to where the man had come from as a fellow Israelite. And when he learned that the man was a Levite, and was looking for an opportunity to exercise his ministry, he recognized that here was an opportunity to make his house of God more significant and more orthodox.
10 Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in.
This confirms that his religious aims were sought to conduct his worship in accordance with the Law as he saw it. Indeed he wanted further guidance from an expert who could direct him and guide him and fulfill priestly functions. Ten pieces of silver, a suit of clothing and keep each year was probably a very satisfactory wage for such a position. Certainly the Levite thought so. The Levite should have pointed out that he was not qualified to exercise priestly functions (unless of course he was of a priestly family) but he was not going to lose this opportunity over a mere trifle. His dishonesty and opportunism come out all the way through.
11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him.
The Levite accepted the offer and was welcomed into the household at the level of a son of the house. Thus he was well treated and shown due respect. He had no reason for showing anything other than loyalty in return.
12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.
The Levite was installed as priest in Micah’s house of God. Strictly of course he should have pointed out where Micah was going amiss, but instead he appears to have gone along with the arrangements, thus confirming to Micah’s satisfaction that Micah was on the right lines.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”
Micah was now even more satisfied with his house of God. He was sure that Yahweh would bless him now because he had a genuine Levite, one set aside as Yahweh’s, as his priest. He was a mixture of piety and self-opinion, but his basic idea was selfish, to make himself prosperous.
Micah comes over as someone wanting to please God, possibly out of worldly motives, but not concerned enough to visit the central sanctuary in order to find out how to go about it. He wanted convenience and prestige. He had not deserted Yahweh for Baalism, but did not want to become too involved with the central sanctuary, and was prepared to introduce idolatrous ideas which would in the end distort the pure religion of Yahweh. The writer of this book sees him as an illustration of what was going wrong with Israel in its downward slide.
Now, what application can you and I apply to this? Do you have any thoughts? Let me give you one of the biggest reasons for our sin – Compromise! We tend to bend the rules of God a little. When you do you are in the wrong. You cannot and will not get away with this from God. Please write this in the list of important things in our Christian walks.
