The hill country of Ephraim in late-afternoon light: a small cluster of flat-roofed stone houses on a terraced slope among olive trees and a great oak, a thread of smoke rising from one roof.

The Book of

Judges 17

A stolen bag of silver, a mother’s blessing, and a homemade god. Everyone did as he saw fit.

13 verses≈ 3 min3 peopleBSB

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–2Not finishedThe land left half-taken
3–5The cycleSin, oppression, a deliverer
6–10Gideon and afterA weak man, a strong God
11–16Jephthah and SamsonFlawed deliverers
17–21No king in IsraelEveryone did as he saw fitChapter 17

Micah’s Idolatry

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

Micah

said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.”

Micah’s mother

Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”

And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”

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Reflect

Made to order

Micah’s mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD,” and then used it to make an idol. Everything was done in the LORD’s name, and nothing the way He had asked. Where are you tempted to worship God in a way you have designed, rather than the way He has shown? Write it down.

And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

Micah

“Where are you from?” Micah asked him.

The young Levite

“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”

Micah

“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.”

So the Levite went in

and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.

Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.

Evening at Micah’s house: lamplight from the shrine room falls on the two small silver idols in their niche, while Micah stands content in the courtyard, seen from behind, and the young Levite waits at the doorway in a white linen tunic.

Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

0:07

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Question

Quick question

Micah’s mother dedicated the silver “to the LORD.” Then she took some of it to a craftsman.

What did Micah’s mother have made from the silver?

Religion made to order

Whiteboard

Follow Micah step by step. Silver stolen from his mother. A blessing “by the LORD” to cancel her curse. Silver dedicated “to the LORD” and made into “a graven image and a molten idol.” A shrine, “an ephod and some household idols,” and his own son as priest. Then a better priest, a Levite, hired for “ten shekels of silver per year.” Every step was taken in the LORD’s name, and every step went against His word. And at the end Micah felt sure: “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me.”

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Judges 17

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A verse to carry with you

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 17:6

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