“…as he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. Then his mother said, ‘I solemnly dedicate this money of mine to Adonai, in order for my son to make a carved image overlaid with silver. So now I’m giving it back to you.’ But he returned the money to his mother, and she took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the metalworker, who made a carved image overlaid with silver which was put in Mikhay’hu’s house.”-Judges 17:3-4
Alrighty folks, prepare to be shocked.
So Micah who stole 1100 pieces of silver from his mother has repented and returned the money.
However, how does the mother respond?
She responds by saying she is going to dedicate the returned money to Adonai (actually, the original Hebrew says YUD-HEI-VAV-HEI).
And how does she do that?
She does it by taking 20% of the dedicated money and hiring a silversmith to construct a god image for their household.
That’s right folks.
We’re talking about a direct violation of the second commandment:
“You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…”
What’s tragic is this same scenario was repeated thousands of times among the tribes of Israel not long after Joshua had led them into the land.
Micah’s mother dedicated the money to YAHWEH but kept most of it for herself.
She then used the rest of the money to create an image strictly forbidden by Torah.
An idol she planned to worship in her household.
But wait.
Things get worse.
We’re told that Micah owned a BEIT-ELOHIM.
Literally translated that means a “house of God”.
In other words, it appears that Micah’s family had set up a little shrine inside of their house…
Or perhaps they had built a small sanctuary…
Either way, it was in this space where they’d perform their own rituals and observances.
And the molten silver idol was to be centerpiece of this sanctuary in honor of the Lord.
Holy pork skin tarnations man!
I’m reminded of the whole Golden Calf idolatry that occurred at Sinai thousands of years previously.
This whole situation kinda gives new meaning to the phrase “every man did what was right in his own eyes”, doesn’t it?
But wait.
It still gets worse.
We’re told Micah even had an ephod created that was modeled after the high priest’s ephod…
And had even consecrated one of his sons to become a priest who would oversee the religious rituals.
Man, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry (probably both) at this dark and sad situation being portrayed here.
I could even make a little quiz out of this whole scenario.
I think I’d call it…
“How many perversions and violations of the Torah can you count in this situation?”.
But you know what makes this situation more tragic than anything?
Micah and his mother weren’t deliberately trying to commit evil.
They didn’t gather together with devilish grins on their faces with the sole attempt to conspire against God.
No man, they actually thought they were doing good.
Their motivation was to be seen as righteous by both God and man.
And it’s not like they didn’t have any Torah knowledge.
They most certainly did.
Where do you think they got the idea to create and Ephod and set up a sanctuary in their home in the first place?
They got it from the Torah…
But it was a perversion of the Torah.
They did what both modern Christianity and Judaism have done.
They cherry-picked parts of the Word they preferred and cast aside the rest.
Probably the worst teaching that has affected believers over the centuries is the ABSOLUTELY FALSE and manmade doctrine that the Law (the Torah) is dead and gone…
Or has been nailed to the cross as the gentile church likes to claim.
It seems as if Yeshua foresaw this would happen when he said…
“Don’t think that I have come to abolish
the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete.
Yes indeed!
I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away,
not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah —
not until everything that must happen has happened.
So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and
teaches others to do so will be called the least in
the Kingdom of Heaven.
But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be
called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness is
far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and
P’rushim, you will certainly not enter
the Kingdom of Heaven!”
How could something so clear be construed to mean the exact opposite?
It’s because in our flesh we always prefer to do things our own way.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do we, then,
nullify the law by this faith?
Not at all!
Rather, we uphold the law.”
-Romans 3:31
I like that word – “cherry pick”. 🙂
We’re back to the state of “there was no king in Israel and everyone does what is good in their own eyes”. People are making ephods everywhere. Each is claiming his graven image (church) is the best.
Yup.