Judges 17:6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. These final 5 chapters begin and end with these bookends making it clear that God’s people had moved away from moral absolutes. There was no absolute truth, no absolute authority…Israel has lost the sense of who God is and what His will for them was. They don’t know the meaning and purpose of life. Israel had lost their moral compass. We need a compass in life, and that compass is God.
Chapters 17-21 are epilogues, like an appendix to a book. With the last judge SAMSON, the author completes a series of stories regarding the various judges that God had raised up to deliver His people.
He ends this book by recalling some very sad events that had taken place in this very dark period of Israel’s history, when “Israel had no king” and everyone did what they like. This conclusion can be separated into TWO parts – Judges 17-18 and Judges 19-21.
6 times this verse appears in the book of Judges: “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” If one thing has proven to be true, it’s that history repeats itself.
When God established Israel as a nation He gave them very strict laws, but by the time we reach the book of Judges we find those values, that God had tried to instill in that nation, HAD VANISHED. WHY? “In those days there was no king in Israel, but EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”
17:1-6 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 an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.” 4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. 5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
There is no authority. So everyone is doing whatever they want to do. They’re doing whatever they think is right, which leads to chaos in the home, 1st of all.
What we have here is a typical Jewish home during the period of the Judges in Israel. Micah, whose name means “Who is like YHWH,” steals from his crazy mother, who curses the thief and then blesses him when she finds out it’s her son. He then builds a little shrine and makes a priestly garment, along with some household idols.
Micah also illegitimately elevates one of his sons to the priesthood, who had no business being a priest since he was not from the tribe of Levi.
A man with a godly name from a prominent tribe in Israel is involved in stealing, idolatry, and the occult, leading his own family astray. But that’s what happens when there is no authority, and everyone does what is right in his own eyes: There is chaos and anarchy in the home.
Judges 17:7-10 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.”
The Levite couldn’t refuse an offer like that! Micah gave him a regular salary, some clothes, a place to stay, and meals to eat.
Judges 17:11-13 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 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.”
One who was hired to be a father and a priest became like a son. The Levite lost any moral authority he might have had because he took the job for the money. Now, he’s under the control of the man who hired him. Do you think this Levite is going to condemn Micah for his idolatry? Of course not, or else the Levite would lose his job.
Micah thinks he can manipulate God because he’s hired a real priest, but the priest remains under Micah’s control, and he is no real priest. He’s a Levite, an assistant to the real priests, who have no business serving in the role of priest.
The story continues in chapter 18:
The tribe of Dan is unable to settle in the land God gave them in the southern part of Israel, so they send five spies north to find a more suitable piece of land. When they get about as far north as they can, north of the Sea of Galilee, they find a quiet, peaceful city with no defense, the city of Laish. The spies return to tell their tribe, and 600 soldiers from Dan move out to take the city.
Judges 18:14-20 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods, and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.” 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod, and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate. 18 When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as a priest rather than just one man’s household?” 20 The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods, and the idol and went along with the people.
On the way, they steal Micah’s “priest” and idols; and when they arrive at Laish, Judges 18 concludes, “They came to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.” After that, they rebuild the city, name it Dan, and worship Micah’s idol.
It turns out that the “priest” they stole from Micah was a grandson of Moses himself: Vs30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, who leads them into idolatry. Israelites are fighting each other. A city is set on fire, and they are so far away from God.
Sounds a lot like our country these days, and why? Same reason: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.” There is no moral authority or moral compass so everyone does their own thing, which has led to chaos and anarchy in our nation.
What we see going on around us, with our cities on fire and a deeply divided nation, is the result of two generations (at least) rejecting God’s authority, Rejecting God’s moral compass.. We’ve kicked Him out of our schools, our courts, and our public discourse.
That is exactly the level American society is on today. We are repeating history. Today we find, on a large scale, that EVERY MAN DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. This “religion” IS CALLED “HUMANISM.” It is impossible to define because there is no set of doctrines. Individuals simply believe, IF YOU THINK IT IS RIGHT, OR WRONG, THAT MAKES IT RIGHT, OR WRONG. THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES!
Does that sound familiar? That is exactly what most Americans are doing today!
In our homes, churches, and our nation, we need a moral, spiritual revival, a genuine encounter with the Holy Spirit of God.
Because anytime a nation goes down and experiences the judgment of God it happens in this order:
- Moral decay in the home, then in the church, and finally in the government.
- “As the home goes, so goes the church, and as the church goes, so goes the nation.”
God exists and He is involved in our lives. We are called to discover Him, know Him, Praise Him, and worship Him.
And it’s only when we truly find Him, that we will find our meaning and purpose in this life.
Life cannot be complete without God. We cannot live life without a reference to God. HE IS OUR MORAL COMPASS FOR LIFE.
- Micah had become so comfortable with wrongs, they were now rights. What is wrong has now become right.
Everything that we read is blatantly wrong, in absolutely every way, and yet it happened. It happened because the people had lost their compass in life. They are confused. They don’t know right from wrong.
This is what is happening to our world. There is no absolute truth. There is no absolute right or wrong.
You can even decide who god is, shape it in the way you want, and then worship it. But I’m here to tell you there is only ONE true God!
Paul tells the people of Athens in Acts 17:23-28 So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’
There is only one true God and what He says is right is right, and what he says is wrong is wrong..Period..End of story!
And I’m fully aware….
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
God is Looking….
Gaye LaVigne says
A wonderful & powerful message!!
Thank you