SERIES H --- THE JUDGES

BIBLE STUDY LESSON 18

FAITH LOST

SILVER IDOLS AND A PERSONAL PRIEST
From Judges 17:1 -18:13
“Once there was a man named Micah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. ‘Do you remember the eleven hundred pieces of silver which you thought someone had stolen from you?’ he asked his mother one day. ‘You even spoke a curse and I heard it. Don’t worry about it anymore, for I was the one who took it.’ ‘May the Lord bless you,’ his mother said. ‘I’m so glad you told me.’ Then Micah gave the money to his mother. ‘I will dedicate this money to the Lord in your name,’ Micah’s mother told him. ‘We will use it to carve an idol and cover it with silver. In that way, I shall return the money to you’. When Micah gave the pieces of silver to his mother, she took two hundred of them to a silversmith, who made an idol for Micah’s house. Micah added this idol to the shrine in his house, where he also put an ephod and teraphim; and he installed one of his sons as priest. Israel had no king in those days; everyone did whatever he pleased. One day a young Levite, a priest, happened to come along that way from Bethlehem looking for a place where he could live.

When he arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, he stopped at Micah’s house for a visit. ‘Where did you come from?’ asked Micah. ‘Bethlehem,’ the young Levite answered. ‘I have come from the land of Judah and would like to live here for a while.’ ‘You may live here,’ said Micah. ‘If you will be my priest, I will give you ten pieces of silver each year as well as your room, board and clothing.’ The young man accepted Micah’s offer and became his personal priest. Micah was pleased with the arrangement too. ‘I’m sure that the Lord will bless me now, for I have a priest who is a Levite.’ Although the tribe of Dan had been assigned a part of the land for their home, they had been unable to drive out the people who already lived there. So they began to look for a territory where they could settle down and build their homes. Since Israel had no king, the Danites decided to take matters into their own hands. They sent five spies from Zorah and Eshtaol to explore the land. ‘Search the land to see what you can find,’ the spies were told. When they came to the hill country of Ephraim, the five spies happened to stay at Micah’s house, where they met the young Levite. When they noticed the young Levite’s accent, they took him aside to talk with him.

‘Who brought you to this place?’ they asked. ‘Why are you here?’ ‘Micah and I have an arrangement,’ he said. ‘I have become his personal priest.’ ‘Then ask God if we will succeed on our trip,’ they said. ‘Don’t worry,’ the Levite said. ‘Your trip will succeed, for the Lord is watching over you.’ The five spies left Micah’s home and went to Laish where they explored the city. They found that the city would be easy to conquer, for the people had not planned for an attack because there were no other strong tribes in that area. These were wealthy people, living a Phoenician lifestyle, yet living too far from their friends and relatives in Sidon to receive much help in case of attack. The spies then made their way home to Zorah and Eshtaol. ‘What do you have to report?’ the people asked. ‘We found a land that is rich and broad and has everything we need!’ they said. ‘Let’s not hesitate to go up now to capture it. The people don’t suspect a thing and God has already given it to us.’ Six hundred men from the tribe of Dan prepared for battle and set forth from Zorah and Eshtaol. They first camped west of Kiriath-jearim in a place called Mahaneh-dan, ‘The Camp of Dan,’ as it is still called at the time of this writing. From there they went on through the hill country of Ephraim, making their way to the house of Micah.”

COMMENTARY

MIGRATION OF THE TRIBE OF DAN
The last chapters of the Book of judges tell of Israel’s lawlessness during those days. The accounts show how far Israel had drifted from God. The story of Micah, who thought he would please God by making idols and hiring a Levite as a priest, show how much of God’s Law had been forgotten. On a map of early Israel, Dan was a tribal region in the south, not far from the city of Beersheba. After years of struggling, the Danites gave up their attempt to control this land. Fighting the Amorites and the Philistines proved too difficult, so the tribe sent spies across Canaan to search for an area easier to settle. The spies travelled a long distance to the north before they found a sparsely populated region. In a fertile valley on the edge of Phoenician land they discoverer the unguarded prosperous town, Laish. The soldiers of Dan attacked the city and captured it. The families of the tribe then journeyed from the old Dan in the south to their new home in the north. They rebuilt the city and gave it the tribal name, Dan. The distance from their old home to the new Dan almost covers the entire land of Israel.

TEST YOURSELF

1.) Who did Micah steel the silver from?
            A) A passer-by
            B) His father
            C) His mother
            D) None of these

2.) Where was the young Levite from?
            A) Jerusalem
            B) Bethlehem
            C) Meribah
            D) Jezreel

3.) How much did Micah pay the Levite every year?
            A) One piece of gold
            B) Five pieces of silver
            C) Ten pieces of gold
            D) Ten piece of silver

4.) How many spies did the tribe of Dan sent out?
            A) Three
            B) Five
            C) Six
            D) Four

5.) At what end of Israel did Dan originally lie?
            A) South
            B) East
            C) West
            D) North