Twisted Truth
Series: Lessons from Judges #3
Judges 17:1-18:31[1]
7-31-05
Intro
What happens to God’s people when they loose sight of their God-given calling? What happens to God’s people when they fail to honor the word of God as their standard of lifestyle—when they mix worldly ideas with godly ideas and develop their world view and worship ship from that mixture? What happens when they compromise the essence of godliness and only retain a form of godliness in its place? We get some answers to those questions when we read the book of Judges.
As I mentioned last week, Daniel Block identifies the theme of Judges as the “Canaanization of Israel.”[2] Israel was actually called to wipe out the Canaanites and then evangelize the world. God had delivered Israel out of Egypt and made them His covenant people. He had given them a mission in life. They were to possess the Promise Land and be His channel for bringing truth to all the nations. Just as we have been given a Great Commission they too were given a job to do. Their first mistake was to loose that sense of purpose. Early in this book we find them not fulfilling their calling.[3] Instead they have found a way to cohabitate with the enemy. They were “sleeping with the enemy.” Judges 3:5-7 says “The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.” That is precisely what God had told them not to do in Deut. 7.
So when we come to our text in Judges 17 & 18 we see the result of their compromises. We see their spiritual lives in a state of confusion and disarray. They have lost their moral compass because they have forsaken the commandments of God. They have incorporated into their worship and world view all kinds of ideas from the ungodly Canaanites. As a result of this syncretism their sense of right and wrong is twisted and distorted. What they are doing is evil in the eyes of the Lord yet without honoring the standard of God’s word they don’t realize it. To compound the problem each one is doing what seems right to him or her. Now let’s see what all this looks like in the lives of three specific characters in our text.
1st we have Micah’s mother.
We learn a lot about her in the first few verses of Judges 17. She is a wealthy woman. Anyone with 1100 shekels[4] of silver would be considered quite wealthy in those times. And she is understandably upset when that silver shows up missing. What does she immediately do? Does she go to God and ask Him to help her find the missing money? No, in her anger she pronounces a curse on the perpetrator of the crime. It is an emotional response not unlike what we might see from any Canaanite in the area.
Her son apparently believes in the power of this curse and confesses to her that he is the one who took the money. He doesn’t do that out of true repentance but out of fear of the curse. The mother’s response to her son’s confession at the end of verse 2 speaks volumes about how she has raised this boy. As soon as she knows it’s her precious son who stole the money she completely changes her position, “The Lord bless you, my son.” Look closely at the consequences of his action. Instead of correction he receives a blessing. The Law required that he would go to the temple in Shiloh confessing his sin and paying restitution of an additional one fifth of the principle to his mother. He was also required to offer a guilt offering there for atonement (Lev. 6:1-6).[5] But none of that happens. Instead Mom extends some sloppy agape—sloppy grace which has probably been going on all his life.
We see in this woman some problems that get passed on and continue in her son’s life.
First, there is a real lack of respect for God’s word. In her response to her son she simply follows her emotions rather than God’s commandments. Then she also thinks she is honoring the Lord by giving silver back to her son so he can make an idol.[6] This is how confused she has become about the will of God—why? Because she either does not know God’s word or has little respect for it.[7] The second commandment of the Decalogue forbids making idols.
Second, there is a lack of integrity. She says one thing—even in the name of the Lord and does another. In verse 3 she consecrated the 1100 shekels to the Lord; but in verse 4 she followed through with only 200. When it got down to it she decided to keep most of it for herself.[8]
Third, she is empowering her son for the ministry that he is not called to do. They were supposed to be submitting to the God-ordained ministry in Shiloh.[9] But instead of giving her money there she finds a way to keep it in the family. Instead of submitting herself to the authority there she sets up her son with a shrine—a son that she seems to be able to maneuver and control.
Her influence is evident in her son’s decisions that follow in the text.
2. Look with me at this man Micah, her son.
His name means “Who is like Yahweh?”[10] A mother who would give her son a name like that must have had some knowledge of the Lord. But I want you to see this strange mixture of God-talk/spirituality with compromise and no integrity. This is the problem and it is not uncommon today. It’s not enough to talk spiritual. It’s not enough to superficially consecrate to the Lord. What must happen is that we actually do as the Lord commands. “Why do you call me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”[11]
I can see this woman living today with a fish symbol on her lapel, a shinny cross on her necklace, and wearing a “what would Jesus do” bracelet yet doing nothing that Jesus would do. Wear the symbols. Talk the talk. But if you’re going to do that then walk the walk.
Now what about this man Micah? What kind of “Christian” is he? Well, let’s begin here. What kind of man steals from his mother? In the very first verse we see that this man does not have much character. He has no qualms about cooperating with his mother in making the idols. He does not submit himself to the authority at Shiloh and inquire whether this is right. The amazing thing that we see throughout our text this morning is an utter lack of conviction for sin. These people have so compromised their understanding of God that they can be stealing, lying, making idols and talking about God’s blessings all at the same time. That is a troubling place for the people of God to be. It is a solemn warning of what syncretism does to one’s understanding of God. Syncretism in this context is the incorporation and merging of worldly concepts with God’s revelation to produce what one might conclude is the right course of action.[12] The only protection we have from doing the same thing ourselves it a very high regard and obedience to God’s word. The biblical revelation of how we should live is not subject to our personal revision. God commandments are not something we can take or leave at will.[13] We must invest the time to know what God how God has told us to live—and then live that way!
In Judges 17:5 we see that Micah has set up his own little worship center at his house. Look with me at that verse--Judges 17:5 “Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.” Every bit of that was contrary to the revelation they already had in the Pentateuch. Deut. 12 had commanded that they worship only at the place God designated for them. At that time the place was Shiloh and it was near to where they were. They had absolutely no excuse for setting up their own worship center. But he had a nice replica of the real thing. They even had their own priestly robe or ephod. The Hebrew word translated “idols” in that verse is teraphiym. In Zech. 10:2 these teraphiym are linked with prophesy through visions and dreams.[14] Prophesy is a powerful gift of God; but when it is misused and twisted it can be very destructive. Zech 10:2 “The idols speak deceit, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.” In Judges 18:5 the Danites come to Micah’s house and ask for a prophecy. All this seems very spiritual to these people.
Notice how Micah follows his mother’s example. He too installs one of his sons as his own personal priest. This is all very convenient and I wonder just how much accountability the man felt toward his own son. I suspect that Micah was the neck that turned the head just like his mother had been for him. This man has found a way to do spiritual things—even have his own church—keep his own tithe in the family—and stay in control of the situation. It all looked spiritual but in reality it was all a sham and contrary to the commandments of God.
In verse 6 the author of Judges helps us interpret all this with the thematic comment: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” That pretty well sums up what we’ve seen so far in this chapter and what we’re about to see. The tragedy is that these people do not even recognize the inconsistency of their actions. There is no sense of conviction—no thought of repentance. They have so compromised their understanding of what the Lord requires that they can be violating His word grossly and think they are serving God while they’re doing it.
In Judges 17:7 we are introduced to a new character in this narrative.
3. He is a Levite.
You will recall that the story in chapters 19-20 that we touched on last week was also a Levite. The moral and spiritual corruption of the people of God ran through the whole nation—the rank and file people like Micah and his mother were compromised in their understanding of God—the integrity of the judges especially toward the end of this book is very disappointing—and here in the epilogue we see that these Levites who should have been providing sound spiritual leadership have become callused hirelings.
Notice first that this Levite is young. In fact, he may have even been too young to be a priest.[15] But his age is most significant when we examine Micah’s relationship with him. In verse 10 we have Micah’s offer to the young man is “Live with me and be my father and priest...” That is a flattering offer—a title of respect and position—“...be my father and priest...” But notice in the next verse what the relationship really becomes. “So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons.” Micah has managed to retain control. But by putting a Levite in charge of his house church he has given it more legitimacy.[16] The Levites were to function as the priests. And when we learn this Levite’s linage toward the end of Chapter 18 we this increase in legitimacy even more clearly.
Before we talk further about this Levite—just a comment about what motivates Micah. Look at Judges 17:13 “And Micah said, ‘Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.’” Micah has one thing in mind—his own personal prosperity. He is not dedicated and sold out to God. He is intent on manipulating and using God for his own ends. This touches upon a very important issue. God has called us to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and being. Our relationship with God should be one of devotion—a debt of love and adoration—placing ourselves at His disposal as His servants. This is very different from the pagan, Canaanite view of God and worship. Pagans strive to manipulate the gods to their own ends. Baal was the fertility god so they sacrificed to him and tried to maneuver him to make their crops grow and prosper them. This is not even close to the relationship we are to have with God! Be very careful when you are finding ways to put God in box and make Him do what you want Him to do. He most likely will not fit in our religious boxes. He is not some pagan deity that can be manipulated. He is the Almighty Lord of all!
Now what’s going on with this Levite? He is a wandering opportunist—looking for a place to stay. How do I know that? I know it by the way he responds to Micah’s offer. He is being hired to be this wealthy man’s priest.[17] He has no problem selling out for the position and security at Micah’s house. What should he have done when the offer was made? He should have warned Micah about his idolatry. He should have reminded him of the Scriptural insistence that worship be only at God’s designated place—the place where the Ark of the Covenant was in Shiloh.
His character flaws are even more obvious in chapter 18. There the Danites come to Micah’s shrine and talk to this Levite. In Judges 18:3 he had a good opportunity to wake up when they asked him “What are you doing in this place?” “Why are you here?” That would have been a good time to admit that he shouldn’t even be there. He might have asked them the same question because they shouldn’t have been there either. But his answer is revealing. Instead of talking about God’s call on his life and the assignment God had given him his focus is on the money man. Judges 18:4 “He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, ‘He has hired me and I am his priest.’” There is a whole lot of truth in this hireling’s answer.
The kind of interaction we see in Judges 18:5-6 is all too common today. I can feel a grieving in the pit of my stomach when I read it. Here are the Danites set on doing their own will with virtually no regard for God’s will over their lives. They come to this Levite hireling who is totally messed up spiritually and ask him to prophesy to them. If someone actually gave these terrorists a true word from the Lord they would cut his head off. They don’t really want to hear from God. If they did they would be in His word and know that this idolatrous place was the wrong place to ask for a prophecy from God. “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” Sounds good on the surface but it’s really just a bunch of religious nonsense.
The Levite doesn’t need to inquire of the Lord. He knows what they want to hear and is very willing to give them a flattering prophecy. Judges 18:6 “The priest answered them, ‘Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.’” Oh really? Let’s talk about that for a moment. First, if these Danites had been obeying God they would have stoned the Levite and Micah rather than asked him to prophecy to them. That’s the instruction Deut. 13:6-11 had given. Secondly, they are scouting out a territory (that God hasn’t given them) instead of taking the land they were supposed to conquer. There is absolutely no way God’s favor could be on this venture. The people they will attack at Laish are not the people God has told them to attack.[18] Laish[19] is just an easier target. I might just mention at this point that even though they are completely out of God’s will—this Levite’s prophecy “seems” to have come true. Humanly speaking their expedition appears to be a big success.
These Danite spies go back to camp after finding their target and bring 600 warriors with them. On their way they go to Micah’s shrine and take all his idols and make an attractive offer to this very positive prophet, the Levite. Judges 18:19 “...Come wit us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and a clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” What a promotion! This guy is going from a small church to a mega church. He has no problem turning on Micah and going with these people when the opportunity presents itself. After all his ministry is not about obeying God—it’s about success and this is success big time. Verse 20 gives us a glimpse into his heart, “Then the priest was glad...”[20] So he takes all the idols and ephod and leaves with these Danites.
Micah later makes a feeble attempt to confront them but to no avail. His comment in verse 24 is pitiful “He replied, ‘You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have?” Everything he has done now backfires on him. His so called gods have not protected him or his house. His hireling has turned on him. But he has lost him the way he got him—to the highest bidder. This would have been an outstanding time for Micah to recognize the error of his ways. But there is no indication of him doing that. He seems to just feel sorry for himself.
Notice how the Levite’s decision to take the offer now leads him into more sin. Judges 18:27 “Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.” The blood that is shed in Laish is now on his hands as well because he has become a partaker of these Danite’s sin. But that’s not all that he becomes accountable for. This city is rebuilt and named Dan and guess who becomes the spiritual leader there? None other than this Levite—by all appearances he becomes a very successful minister.
Judges 18:30-31 “There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.” We finally learn this Levite’s name—Jonathan. And to our horror we also learn that he is a descendant of a great, godly man—Moses. What a tragedy that a descendant of Moses would end up with this kind of ungodly legacy. The next statement raises all kinds of images for those familiar with Israel’s history. At the end of verse 30 we read “...and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.” The city of Dan became one of the places where Jeroboam set up the abomination of the idolatrous calves for the northern kingdom’s worship.[21] That which began as a small seed of iniquity in Judges 17 where a mother and son make idols and set up their own shrine mushroomed into a national venue of apostasy. What this mother and son were doing in not submitting to God’s designated place of worship became the same thing all the northern tribes did with the calves of Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan instead of Jerusalem. A little leaven has leavened the whole lump. One ambitious priest has been instrumental in bringing down the judgment of God on the nation of Israel. I do not envy his appointment with Almighty God on the great Judgment Day.
One final comment before we close—did you notice how successful the Levite and the Danites seem to be. They are completely out of God’s will but it all “seems” to work. The Danites easily conquer Laish. This Levite started out as an unemployed preacher and became one of the most prominent men in the whole area. He went from no followers to thousands of followers. His name was no doubt famous in the Northern kingdom. He seems to have set high goals and reached them. But oh what a tragedy it really is. Beware of a pragmatism that equates external success with godliness. These people were far from successful in God’s eyes.
What goals are you pursuing in life? What standard of conduct do you live by? We have seen in these characters the kind of people we do not want to become. Their lives were a result of compromise and a disregard for God’s commandments. Perhaps it is a fresh call for God’s people to devote themselves like never before to know and live according to this word (holding up the Bible). Will you commit yourself to that?
Invitation
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Chapter 17 of text read at beginning of service. Congregation had been encouraged to read whole book of Judges during previous week. All quotes are from New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
[2] Daniel Block, Judges/Ruth, Volume 6 in The New American Commentary, ed. E.R. Clendenen, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2002) p. 58. I am indebted to Dr. Block for igniting a number of insights shared in this sermon. His commentary is an outstanding resource.
[3] See sermon dated 7-17-05 entitled “Living Below Provision” available at www.gracechapelchurch.org
[4] The New International Version published in 1978 by the New York International Bible Society through Zondervan estimates this to be 28 pounds of silver. This is the same amount rewarded to Delilah in 16:5 for the capture of Samson.
[5] K. Lawson Younger, Jr., Judges/Ruth volume 6, The New Application Commentary, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) p. 337.
[6] Ironically in her “kindness” to her son she is actually brings a curse on him according to Deut. 27:15.
[7] Exodus 20:4-5; Deut. 5:8-9. We must not forget these people had the commandments that had come through Moses and were therefore accountable to live accordingly. Of course, the revelation available to us is even greater. “To whom much is given much is required.”
[8] At least this is the most reasonable assumption we can make since we are not told she gave the other 900.
[9] For a detailed analysis of violations in Judges 17 & 18 to commandments given in Deut. 12 see page 335 of K. Lawson Younger Jr.-The NIV Application Commentary.
[10] Daniel Block, p. 478. On pp 41-44 Block give an informative summary of the religious activity of Israel during this time. While referring to what H. Donner calls “poly-Yahwism” Block says the worship of Yahweh at individual sanctuaries degenerated to a local differentiation of the Yahweh cult traditions and forms reflecting the ploy-Baalism of the Canaanites.
[11] Luke 6:46
[12] Proverbs 14:12; 16:25
[13] “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
[14] Block p. 481.
[15] Block p. 485 and Num 4:3, 30.
[16] This is not to say that having church in a home is illegitimate. But at that time God had designated Shiloh as the only legitimate worship center and Micah’s shrine violated that commandment. The underlying biblical principle is that God must authorize the establishment of a place of worship. It must not be built upon the questionable motives apparent in Micah. It must be with a proper respect toward established authority and in response to God’s call rather than personal ambition and self-interest.
[17] Pastors today must be careful to not become the hireling of wealthy people but the servant of the Lord (Gal. 1:10).
[18] Frank Gaebelein, Deuteronomy-2 Samuel Volume 3 in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992) p. 484 points out that Laish was approx. 100 miles north of any territory allotted to Israel.
[19] Leon Morris, Judges and Ruth in The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1968) p. 188 identifies Laish with Leshem in Jos. 19:47 and the modern Tell el-Qadi.
[20] In the first service we had planned to use a video clip from “The Ladykillers” (1:11:07) to (1:15:12) to illustrate the rationalization process but ran out of time.
[21] 1Kings 12:28-31; 2Chron. 11:14-16
