Judges 17:1-13 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Judges 17:1-13. Let’s go!
Judges 17:1-6 (NIV)
1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse–I have that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The LORD bless you, my son!”
3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you.”
4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the idol. And they were put in Micah’s house.
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.
6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
On verses 1-6: Verses 1-5 describe a man called Micah and his mother and how spiritually confused they were. Here Micah’s mother says that she is consecrating silver to the LORD by making idols with the silver? (v3) Apparently at this time in Israel’s history, spiritual confusion and religious syncretism were rampant throughout Israel (v6) and the worship of the LORD as the LORD had commanded has all but disappeared.
Judges 17:7-13 (NIV)
7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,
8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.”
11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons.
12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”
On verses 7-13: Here we see how much spiritual confusion has affected even the religious leaders of Israel. Micah finds a young Levite from the clan of Judah and asks him to be his in-house priest. Micah thinks that the LORD will bless him because of this decision, not understanding that that is not how the priesthood works. For one, according to the Jewish law, not just anyone could be a priest; one had to be a descendant of Aaron. Second, the Jewish law provided that priests were to work in the tabernacle and live off the offerings to the tabernacle. There was no provision in the Jewish law for an Israelite to have his own priest in his house. So here we see Micah continuing to make up his religion as he goes along, totally confused and in the dark as to what God really requires.
Sadly this is how many people approach spirituality today. Nowadays people think they can take different ideas and terms from existing faiths which they don’t really understand, and mix and match them as they please, giving them new definitions and meanings. If there is no such thing as absolute truth, then go ahead and do that because none of it matters anyway. But if there is such a thing as absolute truth, and if there truly is a God who commands that we worship Him on His terms, then making up our own faith as we go along is not harmless playful spirituality, but sin and spiritual delusion. The big question goes back to verse 6: who is your king? If you are your own king and master, then you call the shots and you can do anything you want. But if God is king, then our biggest concern ought to be: what does my king require of me? Is what I am doing really pleasing to this king?
Jesus, because You are my king, I can’t just live an “anything goes, do as I see fit” kind of life. Because You are real and You reign, please help not to focus on doing what only pleases me, but what pleases You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
