Judges 18:14 – 31 “Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.” So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.
The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war. And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men. When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?” So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people. Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed.
After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites. When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?” He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.
After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a tranquil and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city. There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there. They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish. The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,b and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.”
The Danites might have wimped out against the Amorites and the Philistines, but they could afford to be big and brave when confronting Micah and his unarmed household or the unsuspecting people of the city of Laish. Graphically demonstrating that they had no spiritual insight whatsoever, the Danites insisted on capturing Micah’s priest, along with the idols and the ephod and hauling them off to their new city. There is no spiritually neutral location in the entire world. By establishing Dan on the basis of idolatry, the Danites doomed themselves and their clan. Later on, Jereboam built an enormous altar in Dan as a means of keeping the Israelites from returning to the temple in Jerusalem, but the rot started with Micah’s idols and that unholy ephod.
APPLICATION: Many of us would like to go our own way, behaving according to our own lights, dim as they might be, without any regard for the lasting effect it might have on our friends or families. We give lip service to the idea that we want our children to be good upright moral people; however, we ourselves are lousy models. “Do as I say and not as I do” has never worked for parents, not even for Adam and Eve.
The story of Micah and his idols and the Danites is pathetic for several reasons. Here are people who sense that they need God and His power in their lives; however, they are clueless as to how to reach God. In the absence of true knowledge of God or of His precepts, these people are simply making things up as they go along, hoping that somehow they are going to get something right.
At this point it is evident that the Tabernacle is still in Shiloh. Presumably, there are also Levitical priests who are also still in Shiloh and who continue to follow the worship practices laid down by Moses. But Shiloh is a long ways off. The Danites haven’t paid any attention to that stuff in years, and they aren’t about to start now.
What kind of worship did the Danites conduct using these idols and that ephod? Who knows? And when the Danites attempted to hear from God using the ephod as a divining tool, was it God who answered or was it Satan? There were really only two possibilities.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4 that “God is a spirit and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” How do we worship God when we have never known Him? Ask! God promises that He will always hear those who are searching for Him. Tell God your problems and ask Him for help. Then see what He will do. The results might be amazing.
PRAYER: Father God, there are many of us who aren’t sure Who You are or how to approach You. Please guide all who are truly seeking You into Your Truth. Thank you that You love us and that You always respond to those who want to know more of You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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