Judges 17

Micah’s Idols

1There was a mannamed Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces* of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” “The LORD bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. 7He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” 4So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. 5Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest. 6In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes, 7One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. 8He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. “Where are you from? 9Micah asked him.

Independence and self-reliance are positive traits, but only withinthe framework of God's standards.17:6 Today, as in Micah’s day, everyone seems to put his or herown interests first. Time has not changed human nature. Mostpeople still reject God’s right way of living. The people in Micah'stime replaced the true worship of God with a homemade versionof worship. As a result, justice was soon replaced by revenge andchaos. Ignoring God’s direction led to confusion and destruction.Anyone who has not submitted to God will end up doing whateverseems right at the time. This tendency is present in all of us. Toknow what is really right and to have the strength to do it, weneed to draw closer to God and his Word.17:7-12 Apparently the Israelites no longer supported the priestsand Levites with their tithes because so many of the people nojonger worshiped God. The young Levite in this story probablyleft his home in Bethlehem because the money he received fromthe people there was not enough to live on. But Israel's moraldecay affected even the priests and Levites. This man acceptedmoney (17:10, 11), idols (18:20), and position (17:12) in a waythat was inconsistent with God's laws. While Micah revealed thereligious downfall of individual Israelites, this priest illustratedthe religious downfall of priests and Levites.

He replied, “I ama Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and 1am looking for a place to live.” 10"Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces* of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” 1 The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons. 120 Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. 13“T know the LORD will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.”