Judges – God’s Grace in Dark Times
The Consequences of repeated rebellion is Spiritual and Moral Anarchy - Judges 17-21
SPIRITUAL ANARCHY – Ch 17-18
As we have noted from the beginning of our study in the book of Judges the repeated phrase is that: ‘in those days everyone did what was right in their own eyes’ and as we have seen this has been a recipe for disaster. Here it is again in this final section (17:6).
The reality is that when the cycle of rebellion… retribution… repentance…restoration… and rest is repeated, it is not just more of the same over and over again, it inevitably leads to a downward spiral. That is exactly what happens here in the book of Judges – and the sad, ugly consequences are spelt out loud and clear. We have reached rock bottom.
Here at the end of the period of the Judges, the nation is bereft of spiritual health and hunger, and consequently, there are no Judges raised up and certainly no appetite to be restored to being a covenant nation that can fulfil the Abrahamic covenant to be blessed and be a blessing to the nations of the world (Gen 12:2).
When there is a famine of the word of God and everyone does that which is right in their own eyes then there is a fatal decline in the spiritual and moral fibre of the nation. We are seeing this played out in our world today too. As we in Australia (or any other traditionally ‘Christian nation’) abandon our foundational Christian values and settle for doing that which is right in our own eyes we will see an increasing decline in every facet of society. When that foundation crumbles, society begins to fall apart. As Ps 11:3 says ‘If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?’
This decline always begins with the spiritual and as the Christian presence and influence in Australia has waned, we are seeing the inevitable vacuum filled with a whole range of alternative ideologies and life-styles – none of which honour our Creator Redeemer and which produce nothing but the most devastating self-harm. As James Macpherson (SkyNews host) says ‘unfortunately, we are now living off the fumes of our Christian past. It is only a matter of time before the Christian deposit is overdrawn and what will replace it?’
Here after the time of the Judges, there are three causes and consequences of false spirituality represented by the three main persons recorded: Micah – make my own god (17:4-5) – note he ends up with nothing 18:26 The story of Micah stealing from his mother and then being ‘blessed’ by her and commissioned to make a household idol to worship is almost farcical, except that it is very tragic. Micah’s mother cast a curse on the person that stole her 1,100 shekels which clearly unnerved Micah so that he confessed to being the thief. Ironically Micah means ‘who or what is the Lord like’ and he was displaying the exact opposite nature to that which is Lord-like! The spiritual ignorance and decline is confirmed by the fact that Micah’s mother commissions him to make ‘an image overlaid with silver’ to the LORD (v3). This directly violates Ex 20:4-5 and Deut 4:15-17 where God condemns the making of any image. An image cannot do justice to the invisible eternal God and he knows full well that the people will quickly forget the true nature of God and worship the wood or stone as an idol. In addition, in Deut 12:13-14 God had said: ‘Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the LORD will choose’.
So Micah makes his own god even in the name of Yahweh. It is sadly possible that prominent Christians can do something similar. They can build their own ‘ministry’ in the name of God when in fact they are actually worshipping what they have made – usually their own reputation – not God alone.
Micah appoints his own son as priest (v5) – this perpetuates his own dynasty not the true God’s and clearly violates the requirements of the law: ‘The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel… They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them… for the LORD your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the LORD’s name always.’ (Deut 18:1-5) Jonathan – define my own priesthood (17:11; 18:19-20) – note he ended up as a nobody 18:30 The story of Jonathan is just as depressing as that of Micah. The story begins with Jonathan’s restlessness and determination to better himself in worldly terms rather than be faithful to his status as a Levite in Judah. He abandons his home in Bethlehem and finds himself at Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim (v8). When Micah finds out that he is a Levite he invites him to stay and become his personal priest. (There is no mention of his son who presumably was cast aside). Neither men are seeking the Lord’s will in this or following his revealed protocols. It was very much a marriage of convenience – Micah got an actual Levite as his priest and Jonathan got a paid secure position in his home. Not only is there no indication of seeking the Lord’s will or abiding by his Word, Micah even believes superstitiously that his life will be improved.
He virtually manipulates God ‘now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest’ (v13). Jonathan has exchanged the opportunity of being a priest in the town of Bethlehem in Judah with all its historical significance (Rachel’s tomb; Naomi and Ruth’s home; prophesied by Micah as the birthplace of the Messiah) for an obscure life in a private home and later a remote location in the far north of the country with the tribe of Dan.
Dan – choose my own inheritance – for an easy prosperous life (18:1-2; 27- 31) – note ended up with no inheritance (18:30; Rev 7:4-8) The story of the Danites failing to settle in their allotted territory and being willing to rob territory from other people is another symptom of the spiritual bankruptcy of the time. The section starts with ‘In those days Israel had no king’ (18:1). In human terms this was true of course but in true terms God was their king but they were so lacking in spiritual perspective that they didn’t recognize this truth. Samuel had to deal with the same attitude when they were demanding a king not long after this and God pointedly said, ‘it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king’ (1 Sam 8:7).
The Danites had failed to inherit the land allotted to them by Joshua or at least had been ‘confined to the hill country’ (Judges 1:34). So now they were going to find their own inheritance by stealing land from another people. (Perhaps this is why the tribe of Dan is missing from the list of tribes in Revelation 7:5-8?). They sent out five of their leading men to find some land suitable according to their perspective – so in effect ‘land that is right in their own eyes’. In the process they came to Micah’s house and recognized Jonathan’s voice (v2-3) and even asked him to determine God’s blessing on their plans. It is not uncommon for Christians today to ask God to ‘bless’ their plans instead of staying faithful to God’s plan all along! The Danites plan to attack another people and steal their land could never be approved/blessed by God. When they reported back to the main tribe they even had the audacity to say ‘when you get there you will find and unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands’ (v10). God (or at least God’s name) gets dragged into a lot of things that he has nothing to with whatsoever!
During their first encounter with Jonathan, they had become aware of Micah’s shrine and ephod and when they passed by with the 600 men ‘armed for battle’ they stole ‘the idol, the ephod and the household gods’ (v16-17). When Jonathan protested, they invited him to abandon Micah and join them with the lure that ‘isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?’ (v19). How many so-called Christian ministers and leaders have been enticed away by the promise of greater glory and status in a bigger church or ministry?
As the Danites travel north to Laish, they are challenged by a pursuing Micah who is seeing his ‘god’ (actually an idol) disappearing over the horizon with his own priest. He is not strong enough to reclaim it. But what real god needs rescuing! This confirms the futility of creating your own god – only the true God is worthy of our allegiance and he will always prove utterly trustworthy. The Danites themselves ruthlessly attacked the unsuspecting people in Laish and established their ‘inheritance’ there (v28-30) but along with the glaring omission in the book of Revelation, they were only there ‘until the time of the captivity of the land’ (v30) so failed to establish a lasting inheritance. Most telling of all is the fact that all the time that Micah was making his own god, Jonathan was defining his own priesthood and the Danites were establishing their own inheritance ‘all the time the house of God was in Shiloh’! (v31)
They all paid the penalty for ignoring…God’s Grace in Dark Times