- Judges 17-21 Understanding the Times - Kay Arthur
- Judges 17 Bible for Home and School
- Judges 17 Biblical Illustrator
- Judges 17 - Cambridge Bible Commentary
- Judges 19-21 Judges 19-21 - Rich Cathers Notes
- Judges 17-18 Micah Makes An Idol / Dan Moves Its Territory - Jim Bomkamp
- Judges 17 - Adam Clarke Commentary
- Judges Commentary - Thomas Constable
- Judges 17, 18 - The Folly of Micah - W A Criswell
- Judges 17-18 Micah - Ron Daniel
- Judges - Mp3's - Dan Duncan
- Judges 17 Commentary - A C Gaebelein
- Judges 17 John Gill
- Comments On Judges - L M Grant
- Judges 17-18 Judges 19-21 Joe Guglielmo
- Judges 17 Commentary - David Guzik
- Judges 17 Judges 18 Judges 19 Judges 20 Judges 21 David Hatcher
- Judges 17 Matthew Henry
- Judges 17-18 Ready-Mix Religion - David Holwick
- Judges 17 Private Religion - David Holwick
- Judges 17 Homiletical Commentary - Check this resource!
- Judges 17 - International Critical Commentary
- Judges 17 - Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
- Judges 17 Keil and Delitzsch
- Judges 17 - Pictorial Bible - John Kitto - Interesting!
- Judges 17, 18 - Daily Bible Illustrations - The Levite - John Kitto
- Judges 17 - Lange's Commentary
- Judges 17:6 Confusion - Our Daily Bread
- Judges 17:6 Free to Do What is Right - Our Daily Bread
- Judges 17:10 - F B Meyer
- Judges 17 Micah's Idols - F B Meyer
- Judges 17:1-6 J Vernon McGee Thru the Bible - Mp3
- Judges 17:7-13 J Vernon McGee Thru the Bible - Mp3
- Judges 17:6 G Campbell Morgan
- Judges 17 Commentary - Net Bible Notes
- Judges 17-18 Traveling gods - Phil Newton - Mp3 Only
- Judges 17:1-13 Exposition - Pulpit Commentary
- Judges 17:1-13 Homiletics
- Judges 17:1-13 Homilies
- Judges 17-18 Ten Shekels and a Shirt - by Paris Reidhead (audio - a must listen!)
- Judges 17-18 Ten Shekels and A Shirt - transcript of sermon
- Judges 17 - The Levite of Judah - Henri Rossi
- Judges 17-18 Judges 19-21 - Rob Salvato
- Judges 17:13 Micah's False Confidence - Sermon by Charles Simeon
- Judges 17:6 Chuck Smith
- Judges 17-21 - Transcripts; Judges 17-21 - Mp3's - Chuck Smith
- Judges 15 Expositor's Bible Commentary - Dauntless in Battle, Ignorantly Brave - R A Watson
- Judges 17, 18 Expositor's Bible Commentary - The Stolen Gods - R A Watson
- Judges 17:1-18:31: Religion for Rent - Steve Zeisler
VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY
Judges 1
Judges 2
Judges 3
Judges 4
Judges 5
Judges 6 Judges 7
Judges 8
Judges 9
Judges 10
Judges 11 Judges 12
Judges 13
Judges 14
Judges 15
Judges 16 Judges 17
Judges 18
Judges 19
Judges 20
Judges 21
Judges 17:1 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. A.M. 2585. B.C. 1419. An. Ex. Is. 72. there was. It is extremely difficult to fix the chronology of this and the following transactions. Some think them to be here in their natural order; others that they happened in the time of Joshua, or immediately after the ancients who outlived him. All that can be said with certainty is, that they happened when there was no king in Israel; that is, about the time of the judges, or in some time of the anarchy (Jdg 17: 6). mount. Jdg 10:1. Josh 15:9. 17:14-18. Micah. i.e. who is like Jah?, Jdg 17:4. A C Gaebelein's Summary of Judges 17…
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NOW: The final five chapters of Judges constitute two non-chronological appendixes to the book, omitting any reference to judges or times of oppression. While chs2-16 describe primarily foreign threats to Israel, these last chapters show an internal breakdown of Israel’s worship and unity. This episode illustrates how low even the true spiritual leadership of the nation had gone, setting up rival sanctuaries (with idols) in a land meant to have the Tabernacle and worship the true God. L M Grant writes that…
An accurate subtitle for Judges 17 would be "The Marks of False Religion" which is followed in Judges 18 by "The Motivation of False Religion". How did the state of the chosen people who were to be a separate and holy people unto Jehovah get to be so bad? The answer echoes forth over and over (with some variation), on four separate occasions (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1 and Jdg 21:25)…
Judges 17-21 underscores the principle that when that foundation of a society based on God's principles begins to crumble, the society begins to fall apart. The psalmist testifies that…
After the death of Samson, the chronological sequence in Judges ends so that one cannot assign the events in the last five chapters to any specific time. Some therefore consider these chapters almost like an "appendix' which exemplifies the utter apostasy of Israel in their religious, civil, and moral life. These chapters picture the climax of the downward path of Israel resulting from departure from the Word of God. It is interesting that Rabbinic commentators placed the story of Micah in the time of Othniel. These appendices do not contain any references to great leaders. The Preacher's Commentary has a sobering comment reminding us that…
THERE WAS A MAN OF THE HILL COUNTRY OF EPHRAIM WHOSE NAME WAS MICAH: EPHRAIM is in the highlands of central Palestine begin some 12 miles N of Jerusalem. EPHRAIM also played an important role in the success of Ehud, Deborah, and Gideon (Judges 3:27; 4:5; 7:24). Micah means “Who is like Jehovah?” an ironical name for a man who sadly began an idolater! It's not how we begin our walk with Christ but how we end and just because we can claim the name of Christ does not guarantee a good ending. Let us all learn the danger of drifting from God's foundational truths in His Word. It is also sad to note that God honoring names such as Micah were usually only given in homes where Jehovah was at least outwardly recognized. Nothing is said about Micah's family or his wife; and one gets the impression that his mother lived with him and that she was wealthy. Extended families were common in Israel. Henrietta Mears summarizes these last chapters noting that…
You may want to listen to the sermon 10 SHEKELS & A SHIRT (audio - a must listen!) based on some of the events in Judges 17. It is a riveting sermon! BACKGROUND: The Amorites refused to allow the people of the tribe of Dan access to Jerusalem and they crowded them out into the mountains. A sad thing when the people of God allow the world to force them into an awkward position! They were unable to get to Jerusalem and that sets the stage for the problems they are about to face. See Related Discussion: Where is Dan in Revelation 7? |
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary…
Judg. 17. Micah’s Image-Worship.—The account of the image-worship which Micah established in his house upon the mountains of Ephraim is given in a very brief and condensed form, because it was simply intended as an introduction to the account of the establishment of this image-worship in Laish-Dan in northern Palestine. Consequently only such points are for the most part given, as exhibit in the clearest light the sinful origin and unlawful character of this worship. Judg. 17:1–10. A man of the mountains of Ephraim named Micah (מִיכָיְהוּ, vv. 1, 4, when contracted into מִיכָה, vv. 5, 8, etc.), who set up this worship for himself, and “respecting whom the Scriptures do not think it worth while to add the name of his father, or to mention the family from which he sprang” (Berleb. Bible), had stolen 1100 shekels of silver (about £135) from his mother. This is very apparent from the words which he spoke to his mother (v. 2): “The thousand and hundred shekels of silver which were taken from thee (the singular לֻקַּח refers to the silver), about which thou cursedst and spakest of also in mine ears (i.e., didst so utter the curse that among others I also heard it), behold, this silver is with me; I have taken it.” אָלָה, to swear, used to denote a malediction or curse (cf. קֹול אָלָה, Lev. 5:1). He seems to have been impelled to make this confession by the fear of his mother’s curse. But his mother praised him for it,—“Blessed be my son of Jehovah,”—partly because she saw in it a proof that there still existed a germ of the fear of God, but in all probability chiefly because she was about to dedicate the silver to Jehovah; for, when her son had given it back to her, she said (v. 3), “I have sanctified the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an image and molten work.” The perfect הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי is not to be taken in the sense of the pluperfect, “I had sanctified it,” but is expressive of an act just performed: I have sanctified it, I declare herewith that I do sanctify it. “And now I give it back to thee,” namely, to appropriate to thy house of God. (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 17 - p426 ) |
Judges 17:2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces (shekels) of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD." about (KJV): etc. Houbigant renders this, "and for which you put me to my oath." cursedst (KJV): Jdg 5:23 Dt 27:16 1Sa 14:24,28 26:19 Ne 13:25 Jer 48:10 Mt 26:74 Ro 9:3 1Co 16:22 I took it (KJV): Pr 28:24 Blessed (KJV): Ge 14:19 24:30,31 Ex 20:7 Ru 3:10 1Sa 23:21 Ne 13:25 Ps 10:3 2Jn 1:11 |
AND HE SAID TO HIS MOTHER, THE 1100 PIECES OF SILVER (about 28 lbs): Compared with a yearly wage of ten pieces of silver (v10), its value represents a fortune. No wonder Micah's mother cursed the thief! L M Grant…
WHICH WERE TAKEN FROM YOU, ABOUT WHICH YOU UTTERED A CURSE IN MY HEARING: It was the fear of the curse, not the fear of the Lord, that motivated Micah to confess his crime and restore the money. Ancient peoples greatly feared the power of a parental curse. Thus Micah is superstitiously fearful of a curse, but not attuned to true godliness. Someone has rightly concluded that outward losses drive good people to prayer, but bad people to curses. BEHOLD, THE SILVER IS WITH ME; I TOOK IT AND HIS MOTHER SAID, "BLESSED BE MY SON BY THE LORD: Spurgeon…
Instead of his mother turning him across her knee and applying the board of education to the seat of knowledge, she congratulated him responding to the confession of theft with a blessing! Values were certainly upside down. As a reward for such “honesty,” his mother sought to neutralize her curse with a blessing. Blessing was superstitiously believed to countermand a cursing! This is a striking example of the permissive spirit that had infected Israel at this time. There is an old saying: “As goes the home, so goes the nation.” Israel was in trouble for everything about this home violated the law of God. Corruption in the home spreads into society; and in this specific instance it spread to a whole tribe (see Judges18:1ff). False doctrine is like yeast: it grows quietly in secret and affects everything it touches.
The events in this section are a dramatic example of what James warned about writing…
Thomas Watson on relation of murmuring and cursing…
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Judges 17:3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you." I had wholly. Jdg 17:13. Jdg 18:5. Is 66:3. a graven image. Ex 20:4, 23. 32:4, 5. Le 19:4. Dt 12:3. Ps 115:4-8. Is 40:18-25. 44:9-20. Je 10:3-5, 8. Hab 2:18, 19. Jn 16:2. |
HE THEN RETURNED THE ELEVEN HUNDRED PIECES OF SILVER TO HIS MOTHER: Micah had stolen a small fortune (1100 pieces of silver) is indicated by the fact in [Jdg17:10] where the Levite was pleased to get a position for an annual salary of 10 pieces of silver!. These 1,100 silver shekels are not to be confused with the 1,100 silver shekels that each of the Philistine rulers gave Delilah [Judges 16:5, 18] AND HIS MOTHER SAID, "I WHOLLY DEDICATE THE SILVER FROM MY HAND TO THE LORD FOR MY SON: L M Grant…
Spurgeon…
Out of gratitude for getting her silver back, Micah's mother decided to consecrate it to the Lord. Yet the desire to make an idol was counter to God's command and made Micah's mother liable to God's curse, Moses recording…
Compare what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11 when they held some of the money back!
Note that she dedicated only 200 of the 1100 which also brings even her motivation into question. In fact "MOTHER MICAH" proved also to be a THIEF, as well as an IDOLATER! And she eventually even leads her own son into this abominable practice of IDOLATRY! Why is there such perversion of God's order? The ROOT cause goes back to Judges 1 where Israel failed to DRIVE OUT THEIR ENEMIES but instead COMPROMISED WITH THEM and ultimately ADOPTED THEIR ABOMINABLE PAGAN PRACTICES.. Judges 17-21 represents the FRUIT of the ROOT OF WICKEDNESS and REBELLION TO GOD'S STANDARDS that Israel was now REAPING because they failed to TOTALLY ERADICATE the EVIL LEAVEN! What a lesson for modern day saints… let us be warned and return to the LORD and repent and amend our ways while we still live in the day of His mercy and grace.
TO MAKE A GRAVEN IMAGE (wood overlaid with silver) AND A MOLTEN IMAGE (of solid silver): The same two Hebrew terms for idols occur together also in [Dt 27:15 see above]. |
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary…
Judg. 17:5. His mother did this, because her son Micah had a house of God, and had had an ephod and teraphim made for himself, and one of his sons consecrated to officiate there as a priest. הָאִישׁ מִיכָה (the man Micah) is therefore placed at the head absolutely, and is connected with what follows by לֹו: “As for the man Micah, there was to him (he had) a house of God.” The whole verse is a circumstantial clause explanatory of what precedes, and the following verbs וַיַּעַשׂ, וַיְמַלֵּא, and וַיְהִי, are simply a continuation of the first clause, and therefore to be rendered as pluperfects. Micah’s beth Elohim (house of God) was a domestic temple belonging to Micah’s house, according to Judg. 18:15–18. מִלֵּא אֶת־יָד, to fill the hand, i.e., to invest with the priesthood, to institute as priest (see at Lev. 7:37). The ephod was an imitation of the high priest’s shoulder-dress (see at Judg. 8:27). The teraphim were images of household gods, penates, who were worshipped as the givers of earthly prosperity, and as oracles (see at Gen. 31:19).—In v. 6 it is observed, in explanation of this unlawful conduct, that at that time there was no king in Israel, and every one did what was right in his own eyes. (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 17 - p426 ) |
Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. an house of gods. or, as baith Elohim may also signify, “a house of God.” Jdg 18:24. Ge 31:30. Ezra 1:7. Ho 8:14. ephod. Jdg 8:27. 18:14. Ex 28:4, 15. 1 S 23:6. teraphim. Ge 31:19, 30 Ho 3:4. consecrated. Heb. filled the hand. Ex 28:41mg. Ex 29:9. 1 Ki 12:31. 13:33, 34. He 5:4. his sons. Ex 24:5. |
SHRINE = literally "a house of god (s)," (as in KJV) which may be an intentional contrast with "the house of God," which was probably not that far from Micah's house, since it was located at Shiloh (see note Judges 18:31) (site of Ark of Covenant & the Shekinah Glory of God) which was in the same territory of Ephraim. L M Grant…
Spurgeon…
Nelson's Bible Dictionary defines "SHRINE":
HOUSEHOLD IDOLS (teraphim) is used for “idols.” Though plural in form, “teraphim” can refer either to one or more “household idols”. Scripture consistently condemns the use of teraphim, Samuel declaring to King Saul that…
Calvin wrote the following regarding images… :
CONSECRATED is an idiom composed of 2 Hebrew words (male yad) which literally means "fill the hands" conveys the meaning of ordain or consecrate. This idiom was for example the standard expression for induction into priestly service. The background for this unusual figure of speech is the filling of the hand of the officiating priest with portions of a sacrifice, particularly the wave offering. ONE OF HIS SONS, THAT HE MIGHT BECOME HIS PRIEST (Nu3:10): Observe the fact that when a Levite appears on the scene in the next section and is immediately preferred over one of Micah's sons, this action suggests that Micah had some remnant of knowledge that priests were to be from the tribe of Levi. This is a sad sampling of syncretistic worship… Micah took a bit of the pagan world and a bit of that which had been revealed by God and mixed them together like oil and water until he had something that was right in his own eyes and that he thought might please the Lord! Micah had a Place, the Paraphernalia (ephod, etc) and a Priest, a sad illustration of man-made religion which was right in his eyes but evil in God's eyes! Today the temptation to mix elements of true worship of God with practices unacceptable to Him remains with us, albeit in different ways. When you get "off course" and think you are "on course" it is a sad state of deception… Micah is like the two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat's compass, they headed to deep waters 60 miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered that one of them had laid a flashlight near the ship's compass, and the attached magnet had affected the reading. Just as that magnet changed the compass, so our sinful hearts can influence our thinking. Micah thought he was moving in the right direction. We too can be self-deceived, and must continually ask the Lord to expose the inner motives that cast shadows across our minds and dim our spiritual discernment (Ps 139:24 - Spurgeon's comment). With His help, we can get back on course. To avoid self-deception, seek God's direction. Often I have walked in my own way, The sins that would entangle us Have you ever seen a family more spiritually and morally confused than this one? They managed to break almost all the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and yet not feel the least bit guilty before the Lord! In fact, they thought they were serving the Lord by the bizarre things they did! The man’s mother broke the first two commandments by making an idol and encouraging her son to maintain a private “shrine” in his home. According to Deuteronomy 12:1-14, there was to be but one place of worship in Israel; and the people were not permitted to have their own private shrines. Furthermore, Micah’s mother didn’t really deal with her son’s sins; his character certainly didn’t improve by the way she handled the matter. But she was a corrupt person herself, so what else could he expect? Preacher's Commentary applies the truth in this section to our age noting that…
To summarize Micah's actions:
The Preacher's Commentary in applying this first section of Judges 17 draws some painful parallels warning us that…
This story illustrates the powerful inclination in the heart of unredeemed man toward idolatry. It is vital that the church pay careful attention to John's warning to believers, writing…
John is speaking to believers ("little children") which is a clear warning to all of us to continually be on guard. And remember that an idol is anything that substitutes for God. And even closer to home Paul warns believers…
Thus even Greed equates with idolatry. That brings this warning "close to home" for all of us doesn't it! How could such improprieties come into existence? As discussed earlier it begins with failure to obey God and drive out the enemies. When men reject God's law as the standard of conduct and righteousness, the only other alternative is the subjective determination of man in regard to what is right or wrong. This moral and spiritual relativism is where we find Israel during the period of the Judges and also where we find America at the beginning of the 21st century. How long can it last? The point is clear that if we do what is right in our eyes we end up doing what is wrong in God's eyes. People will not just hit bottom morally. They will break clean through with gross idolatry, immorality, brutality, injustice, etc. This is INEVITABLE when God's standards of right and wrong are discarded. America is in a precarious situation beloved. Godly Daniel recognized that
All those who are godly need to cry out for America as Daniel did for faithless, rebellious Israel…
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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary…
Judg. 17:5. His mother did this, because her son Micah had a house of God, and had had an ephod and teraphim made for himself, and one of his sons consecrated to officiate there as a priest. הָאִישׁ מִיכָה (the man Micah) is therefore placed at the head absolutely, and is connected with what follows by לֹו: “As for the man Micah, there was to him (he had) a house of God.” The whole verse is a circumstantial clause explanatory of what precedes, and the following verbs וַיַּעַשׂ, וַיְמַלֵּא, and וַיְהִי, are simply a continuation of the first clause, and therefore to be rendered as pluperfects. Micah’s beth Elohim (house of God) was a domestic temple belonging to Micah’s house, according to Judg. 18:15–18. מִלֵּא אֶת־יָד, to fill the hand, i.e., to invest with the priesthood, to institute as priest (see at Lev. 7:37). The ephod was an imitation of the high priest’s shoulder-dress (see at Judg. 8:27). The teraphim were images of household gods, penates, who were worshipped as the givers of earthly prosperity, and as oracles (see at Gen. 31:19).—In v. 6 it is observed, in explanation of this unlawful conduct, that at that time there was no king in Israel, and every one did what was right in his own eyes. (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 17 - p426 ) |
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. no king. Jdg 18:1. 19:1. 21:3, 25. Ge 36:31. Dt 33:5. 1 S 12:12. right. Dt 12:8. Ps 12:4. Pr 12:15. 14:12. 16:2. Ec 11:9. Je 44:16, 17. |
IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25,): Spurgeon…
Rather than follow the law of God, their King, they became a law unto themselves. It is interesting to note that this description did not begin in judges as we see a virtually identical phrase in (Deut 12:8), Moses recording that… "You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes" Israel should have known better, for Jehovah through His prophet Moses had clearly commanded that…
Commenting on Deuteronomy 12:8, John MacArthur writes that…
L M Grant…
As we learned in Judges 2 (note) (see death of Joshua in Jdg 2:8), without leaders the past history of God's acts and the future hope based on those acts can be easily forgotten. Lack of leadership and forgetting of history lead to self-centered life where wrong begins to look right! God's people need role models and spiritual leaders. The writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers not to…
Israel ignored God's moral and religious demands when no one led them to remember His historical deliverances. Judges 3-16 of report external disasters that came on Israel, especially enemies from without who were literally sent by God to judge His people and bring them to repentance. What we discover in Judges 17-20 is the internal enemy of the wicked unredeemed flesh, which produces decay and deterioration of our moral compass with consequent loss of direction and ever increasing conflict from others who are also infected with "the corruption that is in the world by lust." (see note 2 Peter 1:4) As emphasized earlier, these last chapters show us what happened within Israel when they abandoned God and His ways. Abandoning God’s standards sears the conscience and confuses the ability of the individual to distinguish between good and evil. No wonder Proverbs says
The “way which seems right" is a deceptive illusion. The hard reality that it leads to death is not an illusion but a certainty! WHEN I DO MY OWN THING (i.e., do "right" in my own eyes) I DO JUST LIKE MICAH and HIS MOTHER and REJECT GOD AS KING and HIS KINGDOM STANDARDS AS MY GUIDE FOR LIVING! Because Micah and his family didn’t submit to the authority of God’s Word, their home was a place of religious and moral confusion. What a vivid example of Do-It-Yourself Religion! But is the situation any different today? People ignore [Isa 8:20, La 2:14] and do what is right in their own eyes. The prophet Isaiah witnessed this dynamic and recorded that…
Their home was a good deal like many homes today where money is the god the family worships, where children steal from their parents and lie about what they do, where family honor is unknown, and where the true God is unwanted. Television provides all the “images” the family will ever want to “worship,” and few worry about “thus saith the Lord.” Vance Havner speaking specifically about America had a quip that would have been relevant to Micah's day…
But today our prisons are so crowded that the government doesn’t know what to do. If every family would make Christ the Head of the home, we could stop some of the nation’s crime right at the source. Godly homes are the foundation for a just and happy society. Ungodly homes end up with dramas like that in Judges 17. Ralph Davis notes three characteristics of spiritual apostasy in this story: religious syncretism, moral relativism, and extreme materialism. Wood notes several sins that openly occurred in this account:
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DEVOTIONAL WHAT confusion! Never had I seen anything like it. On the road from the Leonardo da Vinci Airport to downtown Rome was an intersection where a host of cars had converged from every direction. Each driver was inching forward. Horns were blaring. Passions were flaring. No stoplights or traffic cops were there to bring order to this chaos of cars. A first-come-first through principle prevailed. But there was one positive note: no one was breaking the law—there was no law! Something like that marked the time of the judges. God's people did what was right in their own eyes. And what a bitter price they paid for such freedom. The book of Judges is a sad tale of repeated waywardness requiring God to use oppression by their heathen neighbors to bring them back to their senses. Still today, professing Christians ignore God's clear revelation of Himself in His Word. They form their own ideas of what God is like and what He expects. Strongly influenced by humanistic thinking, they live at the center of their own little world. Though claiming to be people of God, they actually walk in their own ways. And it creates moral and spiritual confusion. When we take God's Word seriously and live by it, we will show the world the value of doing what God says is right. —D J De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) |
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 17.6. These words constitute a commentary on the conditions obtaining in this particular period; and they were doubtless written at a later time, when the nation was brought to a more orderly state under the rule of its kings. Whether the writer intended to or no, there is a deeper note in them than that. The nation had turned away from its one true King. He had not abandoned them utterly. That He had never done. But they had flung off restraint, and were acting according to their own desires. This chapter, and the next four, do not continue a consecutive history. That ended with the story of Samson. In these five chapters we have illustrations of the internal conditions of the national life, and it is most probable that they were written with that intention. The strange and deadly mixture of motive is set forth in the story of Micah. His act was a violation of the second Commandment. When he made images to himself and to his household, he was not adopting the idolatries of the heathen. His mother's words reveal her recognition of Jehovah, "Blessed be my son of Jehovah." So also do his own words to the Levite : "Now know I that Jehovah will do me good." Micah was desirous of maintaining his relations with God, but be attempted to do so by violating the commands of God. When in full and practical loyalty the King is dethroned, it is impossible to maintain relationship with Him. (Morgan, G. C. Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible). |
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary…
Judg. 17:7–13. Appointment of a Levite as Priest.—Vv. 7ff. In the absence of a Levitical priest, Micah had first of all appointed one of his sons as priest at his sanctuary. He afterwards found a Levite for this service. A young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who, being a Levite, stayed (גָּר) there (in Bethlehem) as a stranger, left this town to sojourn “at the place which he should find,” sc., as a place that would afford him shelter and support, and came up to the mountains of Ephraim to Micah’s house, “making his journey,” i.e., upon his journey. (On the use of the inf. constr. with לְ in the sense of the Latin gerund in do, see Ewald, § 280, d.) Bethlehem was not a Levitical town. The young Levite from Bethlehem was neither born there nor made a citizen of the place, but simply “sojourned there,” i.e., dwelt there temporarily as a stranger. The further statement as to his descent (mishpachath Judah) is not to be understood as signifying that he was a descendant of some family in the tribe of Judah, but simply that he belonged to the Levites who dwelt in the tribe of Judah, and were reckoned in all civil matters as belonging to that tribe. On the division of the land, it is true that it was only to the priests that dwelling-places were allotted in the inheritance of this tribe (Josh. 21:9–19), whilst the rest of the Levites, even the non-priestly members of the family of Kohath, received their dwelling-places among the other tribes (Josh. 21:20ff.). At the same time, as many of the towns which were allotted to the different tribes remained for a long time in the possession of the Canaanites, and the Israelites did not enter at once into the full and undisputed possession of their inheritance, it might easily so happen that different towns which were allotted to the Levites remained in possession of the Canaanites, and consequently that the Levites were compelled to seek a settlement in other places. It might also happen that individuals among the Levites themselves, who were disinclined to perform the service assigned them by the law, would remove from the Levitical towns and seek some other occupation elsewhere (see also at Judg. 18:30). (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 17 - p426 ) |
Judges 17:10 Micah then said to him, "Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance." So the Levite went in. a father. Jdg 17:11. Jdg 18:19. Ge 45:8. 2Ki 6:21. 8:8, 9. 13:14. Job 29:16. Is 22:21. I will give. Jdg 18:20. 1 S 2:36. Ezek 13:19. Mt 26:15. Jn 12:6. 1 Ti 6:10. 1Pe 5:2. year. Ge 24:55. a suit of apparel. or, a double suit, etc. Heb. an order of garments. |
MICAH THEN SAID TO HIM, DWELL WITH ME AND BE A FATHER: So Micah promises the Levite PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT and honor as one would one's own father. Micah does not seem interested in his credentials, takes no time to inquire how he behaved in the place of his last settlement, etc. Micah is focused. He wants a "full-fledge" priest. Micah foretold of similar actions by Jeroboam I (1Ki 12:31) and this may have been the "leaven" beginning to make the yeast rise. Micah's action should not surprise us -- if he can make anything an image of God, he wouldn't hesitate to make anyone a priest of God. The Levite became both a "father" and a "son" to Micah (v10-11). "Father" is a term of honor used of Joseph's position in Egypt (Ge 45:8) and of Elisha as a respected prophet (2Ki 13:14, Ge 45:8). The salary of ten shekels of silver a year may not, however, have matched the lofty position (cf. 16:5; 17:2-3). AND A PRIEST TO ME: Not only were the Levites to assist the priests in their ministries (Nu 3:6-13; 8:17,18), but also they were to teach the Law to the people (Neh 8:7-9; 2Chr 17:7-9; 35:3) and be involved in the sacred music and the praises of Israel (1Chr 23:28-32; Ezra 3:10). Jonathan gave all that up for comfort and security in the home of an idolater. AND I WILL GIVE YOU TEN PIECES (shekels) OF SILVER A YEAR, A SUIT OF CLOTHES, AND YOUR MAINTENANCE: a poor salary in comparison of what God provided for the Levites that behaved well; but those that forsake God’s service will never better themselves, nor find a better master. The ministry is the best calling but the worst trade in the world. L M Grant…
Spurgeon…
SO THE LEVITE WENT IN: what the Levite should have done is go in an rebuke Micah for his idolatrous setup (Ex 20:2-4, La 2:14). But then Micah should have rebuked him for not remaining as he should in one of the Levitical cities! Two wrongs definitely don't make a right as the subsequent sad tale reveals. |
F B Meyer Dwell with me, and be unto me a priest. Men crave for a priest. In every age of the world’s history, where there has been a tent indicting the presence of human life, there has been an altar indicating man’s consciousness of God, and a priest suggesting his consciousness of unworthiness to enter into the Divine presence. Man has perpetually taken one of his fellows whose character seemed less blemished than that of others, and after setting him apart with special rites from the ordinary engagements of life, has promised him maintenance and honor, if only he will act as priest. Be my priest; say for me to God what I cannot say. The sacrifices offered by thy hands are more likely to avail with Him than those rendered by mine. (1) Let us beware of the religion which ignores man’s craving for a priest. — The world abounds with attempts at religious systems, from which the conception of the priest is eliminated. These reduce the worship of God to a system of high-thinking, but fail to deal with man’s consciousness of sin, and his yearning for a settled basis of peace. (2) Let us remember that all human priests must ultimately fail. — God has put them all aside, setting up the priesthood of the blessed Lord. “We have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Stars are needless when the sun has arisen. The human priesthood is rendered unnecessary since the Son of God has passed into the heavens to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. No one has a right to pose as a priest to others, except in the sense that all Christians are such. |
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary…
Judg. 17:10. Micah made this proposal to the Levite: “Dwell with me, and become my father and priest; I will give thee ten shekels of silver yearly, and fitting out with clothes and maintenance.” אָב, father, is an honourable title give to a priest as a paternal friend and spiritual adviser, and is also used with reference to prophets in 2 Kings 6:21 and 13:14, and applied to Joseph in Gen. 45:8. לַיָּמִים, for the days, sc., for which a person was engaged, i.e., for the year (cf. 1 Sam. 27:7, and Lev. 25:29). “And the Levite went,” i.e., went to Micah’s house. This meaning is evident from the context. The repetition of the subject, “the Levite,” precludes our connecting it with the following verb וַיֹּואֶל.—In vv. 11–13 the result is summed up. The Levite resolved (see at Deut. 1:5) to dwell with Micah, who treated him as one of his sons, and entrusted him with the priesthood at his house of God. And Micah rejoiced that he had got a Levite as priest, and said, “Now I know that Jehovah will prosper me.” This belief, or, to speak more correctly, superstition, for which Micah was very speedily to atone, proves that at that time the tribe of Levi held the position assigned it in the law of Moses; that is to say, that it was regarded as the tribe elected by God for the performance of divine worship. (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 17 - p426 ) |
Judges 17:13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest." Now know. Pr 14:12. Is 44:20. 66:3, 4. Mt 15:9, 13. Jn 16:2. Ac 26:9. Ro 10:2, 3. |
THEN MICAH SAID, NOW I KNOW: Whenever we human beings imagine that we have God in our pocket, we are desperately misguided. What Micah did not know (or blatantly disobeyed if he knew it) was the Word of God in which appointment of anyone to the priesthood other than from lineage of Aaron was strictly forbidden (cf. Num 3:10 "So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood."). Micah practiced a false religion and worshiped false gods (with Jehovah thrown in for good measure), and all the while he rested on the false confidence that God was blessing him! Micah's smug assertion of "now I know… " ranks with Aaron's declaration the day after the golden calf was made, Moses recording that…
Both Aaron and Micah were sadly deceived in their expectations. When a person is a deceived by definition they don't even realize their tragic state. The writer of Hebrews offered the preventative for deception exhorting us to…
Solomon wrote that…
Micah and most others in Israel during this dark time were
Micah’s naive, complacent confidence that God would bless him because he has installed a Levite priest illustrates the shocking degree to which truth had been corrupted because of their wicked desires. The people had lost the ability to distinguish between God’s truth and mixture of God with idolatry, or pagan syncretism. They had apparently forsaken the intake of solid food for so long that they were like those described by the writer of Hebrews who recorded that…
L M Grant…
J V McGee wrote that… :
Let us remember what Israel (and Micah) should have known according to God's Word:
Micah violated every basic principle and yet was so self-deceived that he was convinced that his actions merited God’s favor! How shall we apply the truth in this chapter? Preacher's Commentary warns that…
Brensinger reminds us that…
True shepherds receive their calling and authority from God, not from people (Ga1:6ff); and they honor the true God, not the idols that people make. It must grieve the Lord today to see people worshiping the idols of ministerial “success,” statistics ("nickels and noses" as someone has quipped), buildings, and reputation. In today’s “consumer society,” self-appointed preachers and “prophets” have no problem getting a following and peddling their religious wares to a church that acts more like a Hollywood fan club than a holy people of God. And to make it worse, these hirelings will call what’s happening “the blessing of God.” Jonathans and Micahs will always find each other because they need each other. Spurgeon…
Charles Simeon's sermon on Judges 17:13 entitled
JUDGES 17‑21 Henri Rossi…
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L M Grant…
CHAPTER 17 Samson was the last judge in Israel. The last five chapters of Judges -- 17 to 21 -- deal with conditions during the time of the Judges, so do not necessarily take place after Samson. The history of Micah and the Danites (chapters 17 and 18) illustrates the spiritual corruption (idolatry) into which Israel sank so soon after coming into their land, while chapters 19-21 emphasize the moral corruption of the people. Certainly idolatry is the worst of these two, for it is against God, but no opposition from Israel was raised against idolatry, though they were incensed against the moral corruption (Jdg 20:11, 12, 13). How sad it is that we generally think more of the people's rights than of God's rights! Micah was from Mount Ephraim. We are introduced to him as confessing to his mother that he had stolen 1100 shekels of silver from her, reminding her also that she had pronounced a curse against the thief. His mother said nothing about the curse, but told him, "May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!" (Jdg 17:2). Then she made it evident that she idolized her son, by telling him she had wholly dedicated this money to the Lord to make a carved image and a molded image for her son (Jdg 17:3). She evidently wanted her son to be religious, but was teaching him to refuse to obey the Word of God! The first of the ten commandments sternly forbad idolatry and image making (Ex. 20:3,4), but here this wickedness was rising in the midst of the land of Israel! Micah's mother used 200 shekels for the making of the images. Are we like her in any respect? Do we speak of devoting everything to the Lord, then keep back nine elevenths for ourselves? But of course none of this was really devoted to the Lord, but to an evil purpose. Micah also had a shrine. Where did he learn of this but from the idolatrous nations in the land? He made an ephod also, copying what was only to be worn by the high priest of Israel (Lev. 8:7). Then to crown his wickedness, he consecrated his son as his priest (Jdg 17:5). Scripture had declared plainly that only those of the line of Aaron were priests, and anyone who dared to infringe on this was to be put to death (Num. 18:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Also, a priest was a priest for all Israel, not for a family. But independence is a natural weed of the human heart, and that independence expressed itself everywhere in Israel at the time: "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Jdg 17:6). At this time a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, was traveling, looking for a convenient place to stay (Jdg 17:7). A Levite at least ought to have consulted God and been guided by God as to where he should be, but he was like some preachers today who are looking for a church where they might find amore or less permanent position. One who is the Lord's servant should not be aimless and haphazard in what he does. Coming into the mountains of Ephraim, the man happened to stop at Micah's house (Jdg 17:8). Micah inquired as to where he cane from, and when he learned the man was a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, Micah discerned a wonderful opportunity of having a Levite as his priest instead of his son (Jdg 17:9,10). He offered him 10 shekels of silver per year, plus his sustenance (room and board) and a suit of clothes. Such bargains are made also today in Christian circles, and preachers are hired on agreed terms. This is not scriptural at all, but is plausible in the eyes of unspiritual people. The Levite ought to have had sense enough to refuse this, specially when it involved him with idols and also elevating him to the priesthood (which was gross wickedness), but he was evidently insensible to the serious evil that was laid as a snare to his feet. The agreement was made, and then Micah consecrated the Levite as a priest, as he had done with his son. Who gave Micah the authority to consecrate a priest? Yet similarly today, people are "ordained" by those who have no God-given authority whatever. In fact, each independent "church" has its own policies of ordaining. They think that the fact that God instructed Moses to consecrate priests of the line of Aaron is a justification for their consecrating priests or pastors or "reverends" as they see fit! They think that since God gave Moses such authority, they are within their rights to assume such authority too! But in the New Testament there is no suggestion of God giving to any man the authority to ordain others to any spiritual position. Micah did not seek God's guidance at all, yet he said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!" (Jdg 17:13). He did not remember that when Korah (a Levite) wanted to usurp the priesthood of Israel, God caused the earth to open and swallow him up (Num. 16:10, 31-32). Thus, at the first God had shown His great anger against such evil, which should have been enough to warn men, but later He allowed the evil to go unchecked. Why? Not that He hated it less, but patiently waited with a view to testing all Israel, so that when they failed the test, judgment was all the more severe when it eventually fell. |
F B Meyer…
JUDGES 17 The incidents related in this book do not follow in strict chronological order. They are fragments of history, strung together to show the confusion and sin which arise in the absence of a properly constituted central authority (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1). It is probable that what is here related, and to the close of this book, took place before Samson's time, for the origin of the name given to the camp, mentioned in the time of Samson's youth (Judges 17:13) is given in the narrative (Judges 18:12). Judges 17:1-5 Idol-making. -- A miserable home was this. The mother hoarding (1 Tim. 6:9); the son robbing. It is best not to do evil; but it is next best, when it is done, to undo it, so far as may be, by confession and restitution. This is what Micah did. The money had been their god; but it remained the mother's god, for she devoted less to the images than she had vowed. The family might be outwardly religious and accustomed to speak familiarly of God, and yet was evidently eaten through with lying, deceit, and such-like sins. We should be very careful that with a form of godliness in our homes, we also have its power, and train our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here for the first time we meet the phrase which often recurs in the latter chapters of this book, "there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes" It is always so when Christ is not on the throne; we do as we like, and perhaps are more careful than ever in the observance of a ceremonial and outward religion. Judges 17:7-13 Priest-making. -- Micah thought that the Lord would do him good, because he had made a house of gods, an ephod and teraphim, and had secured a Levite to be his priest. But this Levite had no right to the priesthood, or Micah to consecrate him. How little did Micah know that disobedience to the second commandment did him more harm in God's sight and in his own soul, than these externals could do him good. "Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation and faith that worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6). There is a strong tendency among men to manufacture their own priests, and to suppose that things must go well when they have their presence and blessing. But a religion which man invents will not suffice him in the sight of God, and will some day desert him, as we shall see. He alone is the true Priest of souls who has been set apart to the work by the hand of God Himself (Heb 2:17-note). (F. B. Meyer. CHOICE NOTES ON JOSHUA THROUGH 2 KINGS) |