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Pexels.com For the Israelites; the time was life after Samson.
After Samson's time as judge the people simply continued with every man doing what he thought was right in his own heart.
Isn't that so much like today?
At first every man doing what seems right in his own heart sounds like a type of freedom. In some ways it might actually be a type of freedom, but not the right type.
People usually go a little further and a little further with their own human ideas. Before you know it; the world has totally changed. What God originally created doesn't exist anymore.
That happens when men do not consider God and respect Him as Creator and Lord of All. Whenever a creation thinks it is smarter and wiser than its creator; things tend to fall apart.
WELCOME
Welcome to the COME AS A CHILD WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY. We are in Judges Chapters 17 and 18 this week. Thank you for joining in with us! If you wish to receive all of our articles; just click the submit button above this article and give us your email. We never sell or trade people's submission information.
ISRAEL IS FALLING APART
Israel too seemed to be falling apart from the original plan God had designed for The Promised Land.
In Judges Chapters 17 and 18 we see that the tribe of Dan had not had the courage to go out and defeat the Canaanites and take the land that God had promised them. Instead they lived in fear, way up in the hills. They hid from the other inhabitants. Instead of following the original plan, they looked for easy and safe ways to take a place instead of trusting God to defend them and fulfill the promises that had been given to them.
THE WORN OUT ROAD TO PAGANISM
Because this tribe would not move on into its purpose it stalled out and began to accept the pagan ways of the cultures around them.
The Tabernacle from the wilderness journey still existed. It had been set up in Shiloh. This meant that the tribe of Dan had to come down from their hidden perches and worship The One True God. They chose instead to stay in their own homes and they neglected bringing the temporary sacrifices to the altar that held the true fire of God.
Some of the tribe of Dan neglected keeping Sabbath all together. Their sons and daughters grew up mingling with those who worshiped the pagan gods of the area. They were often drawn into those practices; simply from lack of teaching from their elders, and lack of enforcement of God's rules in the homes of their tribe.
MICAH
In the area not too far away from the Tribe of Dan lived a native of the land named Micah. Micah kept a pagan chapel in his home. It all started because of something that happened with his Mother.
Micah's mother had 1100 shekels stolen from her possession. She was upset about this so she put a curse upon the one who had taken her wealth away.
Later; the woman's son, Micah, came forth and confessed that he had taken the shekels in a moment of weakness. He begged for her forgiveness.
REWARD FOR SIN AFTER CONFESSION
The Mother, realizing that her son was sorry for his sins against her, forgave him and blessed him instead of cursing him.
He returned the shekels and she took 200 of them to a pagan priest.
She asked the priest to form an idol as a gift to go inside the household of her son. This unwise mother was so proud of her son's confession that she returned the left-over shekels to the son as a reward.
He took them and built a chapel to hold the idol she had given him for his household.
A CHAPEL, AN IDOL, AN EPHOD
Micah also made an ephod for a priest to wear inside this chapel.
All he needed was a priest to finish and perform his man-made religious practices. For the time being; he ordained his own son.
In the meantime a Levite priest was passing through the land. He had been trained by the Israelites to be a Levitical priest who served Israel's God. However, he found the life of a Levitical priest to be boring and chose to wander out of the area of the tabernacle in hopes to find his purpose of servitude in another way.
MICAH FINDS A PRIEST
The priest passed the house of Micah on his way. Micah struck up a conversation with him and offered for him to stay the night. The priest gladly accepted.
When Micah found out that this wandering priest had been trained by the Levites he offered for him to come and live in his house and be the priest of the chapel in his home. He could help to train Micah's young son and Micah would pay him a wage and furnish his garments.
This thrilled the rather naïve young priest. He was deceived into thinking that he had found his calling for his ministry.
Happily he moved into Micah's home and never gave a second thought to the idol and the ephod that Micah had made with his own hands and called holy.
A DECEIVED PRIEST
Of course all of this makes one wonder how devoted this priest had ever truly been to the causes of the God of Israel.
He didn't seem to notice the difference between The One True God and the idol that Micah's Mother had designed which set boldly inside the man-made chapel where Micah had called him to do ministry.
So the deceived of that area were for awhile very content to sit and worship falsely in their nice, safe, prosperous part of town.
THE SPIES OF DAN
In the meantime; the Dannites were feeling the need to send out spies to see if there were any lands that they felt would be safe to enter and take over for their own.
Five spies from Dan came riding through the place where Micah's house existed. Micah inquired of their business. They explained that they were merely passing through and needed a place to stay. Micah, being a very hospitable person, invited them to stay at his place.
While there, the spies from Dan encountered the priest who spoke their language and had been trained by their own people. They were curious as to why he was dwelling inside the house of Micah instead of with the other priests at Shiloh.
The young priest was quick to tell them how he had been seeking the purpose of his ministry and met Micah. Micah had invited him in to be the priest of the chapel he had set up inside his family home.
SPYING MORE THAN LAND
The young priest even showed the five spies from Dan the chapel with the idol and the ephod.
These men had been so long from true worship that they too fell into the trap of not noticing how these things would have offended the True God of Israel. They was so far off course that they simply saw them as tools that were for worshipping.
They thanked Micah for his hospitality and went on their way, not telling Micah or the priest about their true mission.
FINDING LAISH
As they traveled further into the lands they found a place that had created a very peaceful little village. It was surrounded by prosperous, simple and happy farmers.
The people of this land were not associated with anyone on either side of their borders. They lived simple uncomplicated lives, existing off the bountiful land full of rivers and streams and rich soils for the growing of their crops.
What they didn't know is the fact that because they had no walls and were kind to strangers passing through, they were a perfect target for people like the tribe of Dan.
A PERFECT TARGET
The five spies discussed how easy it would be to take these people of Laish, kill the inhabitants and burn their property. Then they could build their own more fortified city and live peacefully in the land themselves. It would be easy here, since there were not people defending borders on either side of these people.
Laish was the perfect target they had been looking for.
Never had they seen a more lush or abundant place to live. They hurried back to their tribe to inform them and to make plans to overcome this simple community where they wanted to make their own home.
THE INVASION OF LAISH
The tribe of Dan was delighted with the news of the spies. They gathered their army together and set out to invade.
The five spies lead the way to show them the place they wanted to capture.
On the way, they again came across the town of Micah. One of the spies had the idea that they could steal the ephod and idol inside Micah's chapel and take it with them in order to unite their people under religion when they rebuilt their new city.
Some of the men of Dan distracted Micah at the city gates. While they were talking others of Dan snuck into Micah's chapel and took the idol and the ephod.
PRIEST FOR SALE
At some point they encountered the young priest. They encouraged him to come and be their priest, noting that they were much larger and his wages would be so much more if he went with them instead of staying with Micah.
The young priest was intrigued with the idea and decided to go with them.
As they were leaving the city; Micah confronted them with a few of his friends. They pointed out to Micah that they had not harmed him and that he was greatly outnumbered by the huge army that was on its way to somewhere else. Micah saw that he had no chance of getting any of his goods, or his priest back; so he reluctantly turned around and went back home.
TAKING LAISH
The tribe of Dan continued on to Laish and took the village there. All of the people were destroyed and the city burned to the ground.
When nothing was left, the men from Dan began to rebuild a new city for The Tribe of Dan. They set up the idol and built their own altars. None of these instructions were part of God's plan for them.
They had not consulted God. It was the time in history when everyone in Israel was living exactly as they desired in their own hearts.
God had brought them to the Promised Land.
He had shown them their inheritance.
The tribe of Dan moved in their own power and might. They did not consult God and they became like the pagans of the land worshiping idols and participating in false religious practices.
IS THERE A MESSAGE FOR TODAY?
Next week we will break all of this down and try to decipher the messages from God for our own times which hides deep inside this story.
In the meantime; Israel continued without a King.
Now they had not even a judge.
The idea was that God would be their only King; but they had turned away from this idea; every man unto himself and his own ways.
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