The Domino Effect
Judges 17:1-8, 12-13; 18:30-31
Micah, of the tribe of Ephraim, confessed to his mother that he had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from her, and he gave it back because he heard her utter a curse against whoever took it. He was afraid the curse would bring disaster upon him. His mother was so thankful that he had returned the money she asked the Lord to bless him, hoping to reverse the curse. The people at that time worshiped the God of Israel in their own way, incorporating idols into their worship.
The mother consecrated the silver to the Lord and used five pounds of it to have an idol made for Micah. This idol was to bring blessings on his home and family. She hoped this would counteract the curse.
Micah evidently had quite an impressive family shrine. He had idols – and he made an ephod, a special priestly garment, and installed one of his sons as priest.
The Lord was supposed to be Israel’s King, but the people had strayed away from Him and everyone was doing whatever they wanted to do. They missed the blessings and relationship with the Lord that they could have enjoyed. Do we miss God’s blessings because we are doing what we want to do instead of following the Lord’s guidance? How are we influencing others? Are we leading people astray or are we influencing them to be obedient to the Lord and to resist temptations?
There was a young Levite, from Bethlehem in Judah, who decided to find a new place to settle down. His journey led him to Micah’s house. Micah consecrated the Levite and he became Micah’s priest. Micah felt the Lord would richly bless him because he had a genuine Levite priest working for him.
The tribe of Dan had not conquered their allotted land so they decided to send out five scouts to find an area that they could easily take. The scouts stopped at Micah’s house, where they met the Levite priest and saw Micah’s shrine and idols. They wanted the priest to ask God if their journey would be successful. The priest told them all was well; the Lord was taking care of them.
The scouts found a town that was unprepared for an attack and felt like it was theirs for the taking. On their way to claim the land, the Danites stopped at Micah’s house, stole his idols, the ephod, and persuaded the priest to go with them. Micah and some of his neighbors went after them. The Danites threatened them and, realizing they were outnumbered, they returned home.
The Danites worshiped Micah’s idols, thinking they were worshiping God. Worshiping images of God is not worshiping God. Today, are we worshiping the Lord in spirit and truth, or are we worshiping images, traditions and worldly things?
Johnston– Lessons in the ETB series for the summer quarter are being written by Virginia Johnston, a member of First Baptist Church, North Charleston, where her husband Dan is pastor.