Year 1, Day 278: Judges 17

Background for Judges 17

Okay, I need to do a little background to this story because the way that the story is written there are some gaps which are hard to see.  So here goes.  This man named Micah, whom we meet in the first verse, had a mother who had some money stolen.  Micah’s mother pronounces a curse upon whomever it was that stole the money.  The curse apparently scares her son enough to return the money, for apparently he had stolen the money from her.  The woman is bothered by the fact that she cursed her son and knows that she cannot take the curse back.  So she pronounces an equally binding blessing upon him to nullify the curse.  Therefore the blessing isn’t actually a blessing as much as it is an attempt to negate a curse that the woman doesn’t want to fall upon her own son.

That should get us up to speed now.  When the silver is returned, the mother dedicates some of the silver and they make an idol.  Now we begin to see a decline in their spirituality.  But remember the background of this story.  This decline began in their sinful and superstitious livelihood.  The son steals from his own family.  The mother is in the habit of pronouncing curses.  Out of this sinful and superstitious pattern, we have the tragic spiral of events that follow.

Spiraling Spirituality

First, an idol is made.  Out of their sin comes another direct violation of the commandments.  Not only did Micah steal, but now together he and his mother create an idol!  What makes this particularly bad is that this sin comes out of a failed attempt to be spiritual.  Micah’s mother wants to dedicate it to the Lord – which is a good thing.  But out of this good desire comes an unspiritual reaction.  She doesn’t know how to be spiritual, she just knows that she wants to be spiritual.  Now let’s take this point seriously.  Two good teachings come out of this point.

First, if we do not know God’s Word, we cannot possibly hope to be spiritual.  We might recognize that God is the creator.  We might recognize that God has blessed us with life and we should honor Him.  But without knowledge of His Word we cannot hope to get anything right!  If we do not know God’s Word we cannot hope to be able to respond to God appropriately!

Second, we must also realize that spiritual motivation does not always equate to spiritual results.  Just because a person vocalizes the need for spirituality doesn’t mean she is actually a spiritual person.  Micah’s mother may well be trying to be spiritual, but the results are not good.  Her advice to make an idol is not good.  So often in today’s church we see someone trying to be spiritual and we assume it will end in good.  Certainly Micah and his mother’s desire to remember the Lord is good, but it doesn’t mean that the results are what God wants.  Because they don’t know how to properly respond – because they don’t know the Word – their results are not good.  We can know a person’s spirit by the fruit of their lives, not the words on their lips.

Furthermore, we see Micah make a shrine to God in his own house.  Then he makes an ephod.  Then he ordains one of his own sons.  Do you see what is subtly happening?  They don’t know the Word of God.  Because of this they are slowly beginning to replace what God has set up for the Hebrew people with what sees right in their own eyes.  They are no longer worshipping God where He desires: the tabernacle.  Rather, they are worshipping God in their own house.  They are no longer following the priests that God has appointed: the sons of Aaron.  They begin following their own son, who cannot be any more trained than they are!  The spiral increases in speed and depravity.  Verse 6 is placed in this passage for a reason: everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

Enter the Levite

There is one final element to this story.  Micah finds himself a Levite.  At first, this actually sounds like a good thing. You might be reading through this passage and be thinking that with the addition of this Levite then the ways of the Lord might actually come to Micah and he might find himself getting true faith!  Oh, that this would be true!

But how does this chapter end?  Micah ordains the Levite himself.  Then Micah says, “Now I know the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite priest.”  Micah isn’t looking for true faith.  Micah is looking to satisfy his superstition.  Micah is accumulating things so that God will love him and bless him.  Micah thinks that just by surrounding himself with an aura of godliness and the people of God that he will himself be godly.  We are not godly because of the people and things around us!  We are godly because of the Spirit of God that can dwell within us.

This story gives us such a sad reality.  Micah is looking to manipulate a God who genuinely wants to be in a sincere relationship!  The problem is that Micah wants to do it on his terms, not God’s terms.  Micah isn’t willing to humble himself and listen to the truth.  Micah wants to go out, conquer the world, and establish what seems right in his own eyes.

Am I Any Different?

As I often say at the end of a blog entry, we are no different.  How many of us say, “We have a glorious sanctuary, surely God will bless us.”  How many of us say, “Look at the beautiful cross out front, surely God will bless us.”  How many of us say, “Look at the programs we offer in our church, surely God will bless us.”  How many of us even say, “Look at how charismatic our pastor is and how wonderful his sermons are, surely God will bless us.”

But here is the truth: God will not bless us based on the beauty of our sanctuary, the greatness of our cross, the bountiful programs, or any quality of the pastor.  These are not the things for which God is looking!  God wants us to love Him, to humble ourselves to Him, and to put Him and His ways at the center of our life.  When we remember that, God will be with us regardless of our circumstances and what we have around us.

God desires to be in relationship with us, we don’t need to bribe him by filling our life with religious stuff.  Rather, we need to come to Him on His terms.  We don’t mandate the terms, we receive His grace.  That is something we forget all-too-often in the church.

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