“There was a young man from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, from the family of Y’hudah, who was a Levi. He had been staying in Beit-Lechem, but he left there to find another place to live and came to the hills of Efrayim, where eventually he made his way to the house of Mikhah.”-Judges 17:7-8
Things are back to “normal” at Micah’s house.
The mother has lifted the curse against her son for stealing from her…
And the home sanctuary is now in full operation with the newly crafted silver idol of the Lord situated smack dab in its center.
A calm and ho-hum existence has settled in.
But then out of the blue a stranger shows up at Micah’s house.
We’re told he was a young man from the tribe of Judah…
And he was a Levite.
That’s not a lot of information…
But from what we know about the Levites and God’s original plans for them, there’s a lot we can discern from this passage.
This young man was probably a full Levite.
But we’re told he was living in Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem) in Judah territory.
He had most likely shacked up with one of the Judahite families there.
Now here’s what’s interesting.
Recall the tribe of Levi was given 48 cities evenly distributed throughout the 12 tribal territories.
These cities were where the Levites were to carry out their religious duties.
But here’s the thing.
Beit-Lechem was NOT one of those cities.
And notice the reference that Beit-Lechem was located in Judah territory.
This detail was necessary because there were multiple Beit-Lechems scattered across Canaan.
And yup, this particular Beit-Lechem or Bethlehem is the one we’re most familiar with.
This is where Yeshua was born.
So here’s what I want you to grasp from this situation.
The fact that this young Levite was temporarily residing in Bethlehem gives us a pretty good idea of the sorry state of the priestly tribe at this time.
In other words, the 12 tribes were supposed to support the Levites.
However, since that wasn’t happening, many Levites were forced to leave their designated cities and find work elsewhere.
But it wasn’t just the 12 tribes who were at fault for not supporting the Levites.
The Levites too fell into gross apostasy and let selfish interests take priority over their calling and duty to serve the Lord.
Therefore, there can only be one reason why this young Levite left Bethlehem and showed up at Micah’s door.
It’s because he wasn’t able to practice his idolatrous form of Israelite religion in Judah territory.
So he decided to pick up and go elsewhere.
Now here’s the thing.
The Tribe of Judah was one of the tribes (perhaps the only tribe) that made a consistent effort to obey the Lord.
They were by no means perfect…
But for the most part, compared to the other 11 tribes, Judah took a strong stand AGAINST assimilation and the religious syncretism popular in its day.
As a result, they were the last tribe to be conquered by the gentiles as divine punishment for rebelling against God.
There’s an inspiring takeaway here folks.
Those who do the will of God, especially during times of tribulation, will in one way or another be preserved.
We even have physical evidence of this in our times…
Because which Hebrew tribe remains with us today and makes up a majority of the inhabitants in the modern state of Israel?
Is it not the people originating from the tribe of Judah or Jews as they’re called today?
I don’t know about you but I get goosebumps whenever I think of this.
I’m reminded of what the Psalmist wrote when he penned the following:
“How blessed are those
who reject the advice of the wicked,
don’t stand on the way of sinners
or sit where scoffers sit!
Their delight
is in Adonai’s Torah;
on his Torah they meditate
day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams —
they bear their fruit in season,
their leaves never wither,
everything they do succeeds.”
-Psalms 1:1-3
Alrighty, let’s call this a wrap.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“The world and its desires pass away,
but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
-1 John 2:17
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