“There was a man from the hills of Efrayim named Mikhay’hu. He said to his mother, ‘You know the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you — you pronounced a curse about it, and you told me about it? Well, the money is with me. I took it.‘ His mother said, ‘May Adonai bless my son,’ 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 17:1-4
The first four verses of Judges Chapter 17 give us good insight into the spiritual climate of Israel at this time.
I mean look how easy it is to instantly pick out the number of direct trespasses against the Lord’s commands in this passage.
-Micah dishonored his parents (his mother) by stealing from them…
-He obviously had other gods in his possession…
-Micah’s mother vowed to donate the returned 1100 pieces of silver to the God of Israel but keeps most of it for herself…
-The money that was used to “honor” God was spent to hire a silversmith to create an idolatrous image of the Lord…
-The idol was then turned into an object of worship and placed in an unauthorized sanctuary…
-Micah willy nilly turned his son into a priest who was assigned to oversee the unauthorized rituals at the unauthorized sanctuary…
Seriously, WHAT A MESS!
Now chronologically speaking, this chapter should really be placed at the beginning of the book of Judges at around the time of the first Judge Othniel.
The objective of this story was to communicate just how far Israel had strayed from the Torah of Moses in only a few years after Joshua had passed away.
In addition, this chapter and the one after helps us to understand the tribe of Dan’s rapid descent into idolatry and how they ended up after they decided to NOT inherit the plot of land God had set aside for them…
Instead Dan decided to move into a region near the Lebanese border where they thought life would be easier.
Turns out no such thing.
The consequences of NOT listening to God led to extreme apostasy.
And the irony of it all is they were eventually forced to move again to Northern Africa in order to avoid extinction.
Some of this movement was due to the Assyrian takeover and some of it was to simply escape persecution from other gentile powers.
As a result, even today the majority of the Tribe of Dan’s ancestors currently reside in Northern Africa.
Of course, the first 4 verses of Judges 17 gives us a clear glimpse of just how quickly religious and cultural syncretism overtook ALL of Israel and not just Dan.
Each tribe was impacted on different levels.
Some tribes rather quickly discarded the Law of Moses and opted instead to assimilate with the pagan world around them.
Others made more of an effort to not totally abandon the teachings originally handed down at Sinai.
But at the end of the day, every one of the tribes of Israel including Levi came under the heavy influence of the Canaanites who remained in the land.
Remember, per God’s command, the Israelites were to either drive the Canaanites out or completely eliminate them.
Instead, they chose to do the “politically correct” thing and became allies and friends with them.
Intermarriage also occurred.
Don’t think Samson’s wedding fiasco with the Philistine girl was a rare thing.
It was happening all over the place.
Can you see why the Lord’s commandment to “Be separate” is so important?
We cannot helped but be influenced by those who we keep company with.
Now when I use the word “syncretism”, I’m talking about how we mix our Biblical beliefs with other competing religious or even secular philosophies.
The Israelites did exactly that when they adopted practices from the Canaanite Babylon Mystery Religions.
And it was amazing how quickly it happened.
You may wonder why Israel so easily fell?
The answer is for the very same reasons we fall today.
We compromise our beliefs for economic gain, social pressure or because we don’t want to face conflict.
Or simply because the “new” secular ways of our generation just seem more hip and attractive than the ways of old practiced by the ancients.
A believer’s struggles to obey God versus doing the politically correct thing…
Or wanting to part ways from our parents’ or grandparents’ generation because they seem old and outdated…
This is a struggle that has ALWAYS existed.
The truth is this conflict began in the garden with Adam and Eve when the serpent suggested biting into that fruit was a much more desirable option than obeying God.
Fallen mankind has always had a tendency to want to adopt whatever new belief seems popular at the time.
The Hebrews during the time of Judges wanted comfort, wealth and spiritual “freedom” above all else.
And so does modern man in our day and age.
The motto of the whole book of Judges is well summed up in the phrase “every man did what was right in his own eyes”.
That same phrase is just as if not more applicable to our day and age.
PLEASE BE AWARE OF WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD ???
2 TIMOTHY 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
ACCORDINGLY PRESENTING THE KEYS TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES/BIBLE ABOUT THE GRACIOUS AND GLORIOUS WILL OF GOD !!
Note:- Brackets are used to give meaning and not otherwise!
1 Timothy 2:3-6 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, [ NOT ETERNALLY, BUT FROM THE SIN AND IT’S JUST PENALTY OR UPRIGHT DECREE IS DEATH, INHERITED AND PASSED THROUGH ADAM ]
and to come unto the [ EXACT ] knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
[ OF JESUS MILLENNIEL REIGN WITH HIS SAINTS ON EARTH CENTERED IN EARTHLY ZION AND JERUSALEM ]
ROMANS 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”
ROMANS 5:15-21 “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many……………………………
[ COMES INTO EFFECT IN THE COMING KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS CHRIST AND HIS SAINTS MILLENNIEL REIGN, NOW FOR THE ELECT FEW ONLY ]
…….And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 CORINTHIANS 15:21-22 “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order”[ TURN OR RANK ]
ISAIAH 26:9-11 “when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.”
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS MENTIONED BELOW WILL NOT ETERNALLY INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH ????
REVELATION 21:8 “But the fearful [ TERRORISM OF ALL TERRORISTS ] and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars [ CHIEFLY MANY MANY/MAJORITY OF FALSE PREACHERS OF CHRISTIANITY – WHO MISREPRESENT AND DO BLASPHEMOUS DOCTRINES ] shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Hello Again Riichoka,
As always, another thought provoking and well said post!
I must admit that your comment regarding the tribe of Dan ending up in Northern Africa, struck me as odd…on what do you base this statement?
The Danaties had a proclivity for naming every place they conquered after themselves. Joshua 19:47 “they called Leshem, DAN, after the name of Dan their father. Judges 18:11-12 after taking Kirjath-Jearim, “they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day.” same chapter vs 27-29 after taking Laish “they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father.” Judges 5:17 many of the tribe of Dan were seamen living on the coast “Dan abode in ships” Some historians believe that when Assyria captured Israel, some of the Danites struck out in ships west on Mediterranean and eventually north to Ireland. These same historians see a connection between those Danites and Danoi in Greece, and the Tuatha De Danaan of Ireland. Tuatha De means the “people of God”. Many of the northern Danites were taken by the Assyrians into captivity. After leaving the Assyrian captivity they inhabited the land west of the Black Sea, before migrating northwest. The nation of Denmark…called Danmark by its inhabitants, meaning Dan’s borderland, or march.
Again, I am curious as to how you arrived at Northern Africa as the place Dan ended up?
Ed
From this statement from Tom Bradford’s Torah Class
“The consequences of their rebellious actions and rather extreme apostasy led to yet another eventual migration of Dan to avoid their extinction (some of it forced by the Assyrians and some it as a means of escape from foreign regional powers) to Northern Africa where the bulk of the known remnants of Dan currently live.”