Almost As Messed-Up As It Gets (Judges 17-18)

Judges 17:13 – Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Judges 18:19-20 – And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” And the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.
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By the time we get to this point in the history of Israel, everything has gone wrong. Throughout the book of Judges, the nation has been on a downward spiral. Here that spiral reaches almost as low as it can go. First, we have a man, Micah, who makes for himself an idol out of the money that he stole from his mother. Then, we have a Levite, a grandson of Moses, who is wandering around Israel with no purpose. This Levite should have been teaching the Torah of God to the people, but he was just wandering to see whatever.

When the Levite comes to Micah’s house, he should have immediately condemned Micah for his wicked practice. The commandments of God are explicitly clear as to the evil of idolatry. But, the Levite wants a comfy job, and so he goes for the rank and prestige. As soon as the Levite is installed as priest, Micah actually believes that he will be blessed of God, because he has a Levite as his priest. He is missing, of course, the fact that the priest is doing something expressly forbidden by God.

Then, the story gets even worse. The men of Dan, who had not taken the possession originally allotted to them, go scouting for a place to stay. When they come across this Levite in the house of Micah, they encourage him to come along with them and be their priest. The young Levite, instead of teaching God’s law, willingly leaves behind the house of Micah for a bigger, more comfy job, as priest to an entire tribe.

There is so much wrong in these two chapters of Judges, it is hard to know where to begin. With the man, Micah, we see an incredible misunderstanding and sinful disobedience to God’s law. It is not enough to have a priest. You have to have your heart aimed in the right direction. Micah was happy just to be religious. He forgot that the object of worship is more important than the worship itself.

In your life and mine, we need to remember that “faith” is not the highest merit. Many people believe that with faith, we can accomplish anything. Many people are happy to applaud a “man of faith.” The problem is, no one ever says, “Faith in what or whom?” Faith in an idol is sin. Faith in a false God or false religion will lead to your ultimate condemnation. Your amount of faith in something does not make that thing any more legitimate an object of faith. You might, as Josh McDowell once said, believe with all your heart that a tree will save your soul, and you will still be damned; because the tree is a false object of faith. Let us never mistake religious zeal or blind faith with true, God-honoring worship. God demands that our faith be in him. He demands that our faith be genuine. He demands that our religious practices grow out of a heart of true faith in the one true God.

From the Levite, we also should learn a lesson. He was wandering around seeking a fortune. God never calls us to do that. He should have been teaching the law of God to the people of God. He sought prestige, status, and comfort. He jettisoned his principles, the word of God, for a cushy job and a nice title. Then, when other people came along, he left behind his first master for men more evil, simply because he liked the career advancement. This man is sinful from the beginning to the end.

We are not created by God to seek fortune. We are not designed by him to wander around the world trying to find ourselves. He has called us all to love him, worship him, and tell others about him. That is our purpose. We exist to glorify him and to spread that glory to the nations. We dare not compromise that job for earthly comforts or career advancement.

Lord, this whole story is just plain wrong. The people forgot about you, and set up their own religion and their own standards. I pray that I will never lose track of you as the central focus of my life. Let me never compromise your word for my comfort. Let me never fail to teach truth to your people. Let me never sell you out for a comfy job or a title. I desire to serve you and you only.