‘And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (Judges 17:5-6).
The closing chapters of the book of Judges (chapters 17-21) could pose a problem that would lead to us scratch our heads in disbelief. What are we to make of them as they don’t seem to follow the pattern of the book, but seem to go off at a tangent? If 1:1-3:6 acted as a historical introduction and 3: 7 -16:31, gave us the case histories of various Judges that the Lord raised up to save his people (with the exception of Abimelech), what are we to make of the final chapters of the book?
Perhaps the best way to think of these chapters is to think of the writer of the book as a bit like a correspondent who’s in the middle of a war zone. They can report on various battles, but they can’t be everywhere at once. So, you get are reports of various incidents that act as examples of what is happening overall. It’s not the whole picture, but it gives you a good idea of what’s going on.
Every indication is that the events of chapter 17 happened quite early in the history of the book as Phineas (20:28) is the high priest during the time that is covered in these last chapters. He dates from Moses time where he is commended for his zeal for the Lord (Numbers 23:10-13).
But despite this, the opening of the passage might strike us as downright peculiar (vs1-3). We are introduced to Micah who lived in: ‘hill country of Ephraim’ (v1) and who had stolen a considerable amount of money from his mother. However, he very quickly returns it, not because he’s suffering pangs of conscience, but because he hears his mother uttering a curse concerning it. The peculiarity of the passage really kicks in with his mother’s reply when he returns the money. ‘And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord” (v2). This is pretty indulgent, and lacking in the discipline his action should’ve demand. But, if the mother’s next words “I dedicate the silver to the Lord” (v3) seem a bit more encouraging, that rapidly dissipates due to the fact that she doesn’t dedicate all the money, but only a small part of it, and that’s used to make an idol! This action breaks a good number of the Ten Commandments. But Micah’s happy to goes along with this and adds it to his collection of idols! He then installs one of his own sons as a priest, showing a major disregard for the law! The text gives a very succinct summing up of these events with the words: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (v6). The writer’s intention in verses 1-6 is very clear, this incident shows that Israel is in a mess, because there are spiritual failings, which inevitably lead to moral failings in the home and family which, being the bedrock of the society, spells big trouble for the nation as a whole!
Next we are introduced to the wandering Levite from Bethlehem (vs7-8). Once again, this should set alarm bells off as there’s so much wrong with this. Firstly, Bethlehem was not one of the towns set aside for the Levites. Secondly, the Levites had jobs connected with the Tabernacle and with the teaching of the Law. And finally, they were supposed to be supported by the people so they could get on with the Lord’s work. But here we have a Levite for hire! He’s not where he should be with time on his hands, wandering around and looking for a place to stay! Let’s face it, this tells us that Israel has fallen into a sorry spiritual state!
However, Micah thinks it will give his shrine added credibility to have a genuine Levite as a priest rather than his son, who should never have been a priest in the first place. The Levite obviously thinks that: ‘ten pieces of silver’ plus clothing (no doubt a priestly garment) and food and lodging sounds a pretty good deal (v10). With his son given the boot as priest and the Levite installed as his new priest, Micah reflects: “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest” (v13), happily fooling himself that his false religion will bring him greater prosperity!
The writers intention in this chapter is to show us the low moral and spiritual temperature of the nation. This will prepare us for what we now encounter as we read these last chapters of the book. But it could be argued the writer is posing a question to prepare us for what will follow. The question is the following, if this is what happens when people get spiritually creative in their worship and ignore what the Lord has commanded, what kind of effect does it have on the nation and God’s people as a whole? This chapters that follow will answer the question!