Lord’s Day, Vol. 12 No. 20
Opening the Book of Judges II
Spiritual corruption occurred in different regions of the nation of Israel during the time of the Judges culminating in the general corruption of the entire nation in personal (Joshua 17) and tribal idolatry (Joshua 18), personal (Joshua 19) and tribal immorality (Joshua 20) that finally threatened to wipe out the tribe of Benjamin.
We see the scene of a family (Micah and his mother in Mount Ephraim) making their own concoction of worship, making idols that pleased them and doing that which was right in their own sight in Judges 17.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6)
Those were the days when Israel has drifted so far away spiritual speaking since the days of Moses and Joshua when God’s Word is the indispensable guide to every aspect of life (Joshua 1:6-9).
There was a young Levite leaving his home at Bethlehem in Judah, seeking a better situation for himself. In due course he comes to Micah’s house (v7-8). The Levites are to be serving in the work of the Tabernacle and in the teaching of the Word of God. Instead, the entire system has broken down so that the Levities and priests were no longer the dispenser of God’s Word and His holy will for the people of God.
Judges 17 begins with Micah stealing a large sum of 1,100 shekels of silver from her mother, equivalent to 110 years of wages for a priest – Judges 17:10 (KJV) 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.
Stealing was condoned by his mother who was also a thief. She promised to dedicate all 1,100 shekels of silver which her son returned but finally gave only 200 to make idols to worship. There was no fear of God in their eyes. God’s commandments were not obeyed. They did what was right in their own eyes.
The biblical concern was God’s people failing because they did not know God’s Word. The prophet Hosea of a later period in Israel’s divided kingdom sums up well the spiritual state of Israel – Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
In the wilderness, the Tabernacle system of sacrifice and worship was set up but with the dividing of the inheritance, there seemed to be a drifting apart in their faith.
The in-route of idolatry through marriages outside God’s covenant family was rampant leading to compromise in the faith. Even Samson, Israel’s Judge whom God raised, had no qualms in an unequal yoke – Judges 14:1-2 (KJV) And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
In chapter 18, is described tribal idolatry. The young Levite from Bethlehem should not have been there for Bethlehem was not a city designated for the Levites. Walking out of the will of God for his life, he was dissatisfied and disobedient. He came to Mount Ephraim and became a house priest for Micah to tend to the idols in his house. What a sorry state in Israel!
The story developed of five men from the tribe of Dan scouting for land. They had been allocated a very rich inheritance (Joshua 19:40-48 – Joshua 19:40-48 (KJV) And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. And the coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, And Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, … And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.
However, the tribe of Dan were not vigilant in trusting God to keep and extend their inheritance to the Amorite territory at the place of their allotment. Before long, Judges 1:34 (KJV) … the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley. And soon were unfaithful to the LORD.
Rather, the Danites went looking for a comfortable place in the far north at Laish for a home in the place where the Phoenicians (Zidonians) had taken. They did not go to Shiloh to the high priest to seek God’s will and instead went to Micah’s priest to seek the guidance they wanted (Judges 18:7-11).
The Danites came with 600 of their armed soldiers to Micah’s house and rob him in broad daylight of his idols and hired the Levite as their priest, offering a “promotion” from a house priest to a tribal priest – Judges 18:18-20 (KJV) And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
Taking over the city of Laish, the Danites renamed the city Dan – Judges 18:31 (KJV) And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
From idolatry to immorality, Judges 19 gave the example of personal immorality in rampant wickedness and lewdness. In Judges 20 of tribal immorality, with the tribe of Benjamin condoning such sins. This was the account of the certain Levite who took for himself a concubine. The concubine became the victim of violation by depraved homosexuals from the men of Gibeah of the tribe of Benjamin who first wanted to rape the Levite. The tribe of Benjamin refused to punish the perpetrators of this evil, resulting in a war between Israel and Benjamin. This resulted in the tribe of Benjamin to be nearly wiped out – Judges 20:46-47 (KJV) So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
The record of Judges 17-21 may be seen as an appendix to the Book of Judges to highlight the decadent state of Israel and therefore the flow of the book is not in chronological order. It can be observed that this incident took place in the early period of the Book of Judges because Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron was still the high priest in Shiloh – Judges 20:28 (KJV) And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
In other words, the deterioration began even during the days of Joshua (Joshua 17) and the steep deterioration after his death and after the generation of men who served with Joshua. The repeal of Section 377A in 2023 in Singapore will exert pressure on churches to conform to accept the sin of homosexual relationships. May the church not compromise and the people of God be not sucked into such lewd practices. Ancient Israel provides such a warning for today’s church. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee