Year 7, Day 278: Judges 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an obscure little story.  It’s probably a story that you’ve seldom if ever read before.  It’s a bit of a confusing story and if we aren’t in the habit of looking at motivation we can easily get lost in the story.

There is a young man whose name is Micah.  To show his moral character, we are to understand that he steals from his own family.  Of course, he is the son from a woman who is in the habit of pronouncing curses upon people who wrong her.  To give him a little credit, at least he does return the money he stole.  Granted, had he not stolen it in the first place, he wouldn’t have needed to return the money.

His mother takes a small amount of the money and gives it to a smith to make an idol.  This should cause a little more concern.  The fact that Micah goes out and finds his own personal Levite should concern us a bit more.  The fact that Micah then ordains this Levite under the auspices of his household god should really concern us.  Things are going south pretty quickly now.

If we aren’t careful, this sounds like the story of a grateful woman who dedicates some money for religious practices and whose son is so interested in the faith that he supports a Levite all on his own.  But that isn’t what is going on here at all.  This is a superstitious family doing right in their own eyes.  This is a young man who thinks he can buy his way into grace.  Do you see how this chapter ends?  Micah believes that now that he has his own Levite that God will notice him.

We need to be careful with our faith.  If we aren’t careful, we end up thinking that we can impress God with our surroundings.  We end up living life with the wrong motivation.  We end up doing right in our own eyes and maybe even fooling the people around us while we’re at it.

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