“Mikhah asked him, ‘Where are you coming from?’ He answered, ‘I am a Levi from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, and I’m looking for a place to live.’ Mikhah replied, ‘Stay with me, and be a father and cohen for me; I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, in addition to your clothing and food.‘”-Judges 17:9-10
It should be fairly obvious by now that as soon as Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership things quickly began to fall apart.
The biggest evidence of this was the ever-widening split between Judah and Ephraim, the two top dog tribes within Israel.
There wouldn’t be a final falling out between these two tribes until shortly after King Solomon passed away (about 400 years after Joshua), but every indication that it would eventually happen is present here.
That’s why we see this young Levite traveling from Judah to the hills of Ephraim.
It’s because he knew Ephraim would be more open to his own personal agenda and how he wanted to practice and promote his own form of Hebrew-ism (as opposed to Judah-ism).
Back in those days, travelers were welcome to stay in people’s homes because only the big cities had inns where you could rent a room.
So this Levite probably would have stayed in several homes as he made his way across the landscape.
When he arrived at Micah’s house to seek lodging, Micah was quite impressed when he found out the young man was actually a Levite.
Micah’s immediate response was to offer this Levite a job.
“Come and be a father and a priest for me” he says.
Now understand Micah asking this young man to be his father was meant in a spiritual sense (kind of how the Catholic Church refers to their priests as “Fathers”).
It had nothing to do with taking on the responsibilities of a parent or anything like that.
The Hebrew word he used here was Avva (or Abba).
However, what should surprise us is just how quickly Micah offered this man employment as a priest…
Because his son was already serving as the family priest…
But now he was looking to fire him…
Can you see how chaotic the spiritual situation is here?
We have a spiritually lost Levite wandering around looking to ply his priestly trade in a place that will accept him…
And we have Micah who’s willing to trade one priest for another at the drop of a hat.
So what’s the big takeaway I’m getting here?
It is this.
Without a solid understanding of God’s Word, in a sense we all end up either like this Levite and Micah…
We end up lost and wandering with no real direction and purpose for our lives.
When I think of this Levite, I think of all the New Age spiritual gurus out there (many of them disguised as life coaches) who package up their own version of spirituality and sell it to the masses.
And when I think of Micah, I think of all those folks who because of a lack of any Biblical foundation are empty and without any meaning in their lives.
The result is they’re so easily taken in by all these spiritual gurus who promise purpose, motivation and money.
I’m telling you the era of the Judges where every man “did what was right in his own eyes” is replaying itself right here and now in our own day and age.
It’s a total mess.
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