THE DESTRUCTION OF A NATION---PART 1
JUDGES 17
1) And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2) And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursed and spoke of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.
3) And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4) Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
5) And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
6) In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7) And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8) And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
9) And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
10) And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
11) And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.
12) And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
13) Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Definitions
ephod---garment worn by the high priest
teraphim---a human shaped idol
COMMENTARY
1) Ephraim was located in the wild, uncultivated hill-country (according to Wikipedia) thirteen miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, "perched on a conspicuous eminence and with an extensive view" between the central towns and the Jordan valley.
2) Micah was a thief. He stole about a years earnings from her and received a curse from her for it, which she tried to recant when he gave it back to her. So, she was at fault for not correcting him and he was at fault for stealing from his own mother. Who does that? Most mothers would GIVE their children whatever they have for the asking.
3) Then the mom goes even further and says she was saving the money to make graven images for the LORD. I don't know about you, but have you not read the second commandment? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." So, why would she do this thing?
4) Micah gave the money back to his mother and she took out two hundred shekels and gave it to the idol maker. The idols were added to Micah's house of idols.
5) Micah not only had a house of gods, but he made an ephod, which was a dressing for a priest and he made a teraphim, an idol in the image of a man. If that weren't bad enough, he also consecrated his own son as a priest! The LORD was not in any of this!
6) In those days, priestly judges were the law. They had no king unless you recognize The King of Kings! Obviously, not everybody consulted a judge when they wanted spirituality. They just conjured up whatever they thought was right at the time.
7, 8) So, here comes a Levite, who was of the priestly tribe of Israel. He had no business wandering off on his own. He had a city to live in and a place established by God for him to minister. Even the Levite was doing what was right in his own eyes!
9,10) The Levite came to Micah's house as he traveled. Micah discovered he was a Levite, so he offered him clothes, room and board, and a stipend to be his "priest". Surely God would bless that arrangement! Don't we all do this, though, in one way or another? We do things all on our own and then ask God to bless it when we never consulted Him to begin with? What Micah was actually doing was setting up a rival religion and turning his back on having a relationship with The Most High God.
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11) And the Levite was content with the arrangement. We have ministers today who are content with giving a show and demanding "seeds" for their efforts, while leading souls to hell. There are contemporary ministers who are no more than motivational speakers doing this, but one comes to my mind from decades ago when he told his "sheep" that if he didn't raise eight million dollars in a certain period of time, that "God was going to call him home." These people are content to use religion as a means of living.
12) We are instructed to "test the spirits" to confirm or deny any "man of God". If he does not preach Jesus, and Him crucified, run! Run as fast as you can away from him, as he is working for Satan!
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