The first thing to deal with in this dark story from Judges 17 and 18 is the four parts of the title.
- Micah – A family man from the Tribe of Ephraim who stole his mother’s fortune. This is not the prophet who lived at the same time as Hosea and Isaiah and spoke against The Sin that was started in this story.
- Jonathan – A Levite who probably was a grandson of Moses by Gershom. I am giving two links that formed the discussion in the Gershom post. Judges 18:30 Hebrew Text Analysis and judges 18:30 jewish encyclodepidia – Search. This is not David’s friend who was the son of King Saul.
- The Sin – Micah set up a new worship center/religion to compete with the Tabernacle that was at Shiloh, which was just down the road. (That place developed its own problems, read the first chapters of 1 Samuel.) This was the groundwork or pattern for what Jeroboam did when he left the Temple in 1 Kings 12:25. Both of these exceeded the high places of ‘prayer’, sacred groves, Asherah poles, and altars to Baal because they installed their own priest to copy what was done by Aaron’s family.
- Ephraim – A mantle of leadership and blessing rested on the Tribe of Ephraim. Joshua, son of Nun, who took over for Moses, was from Ephraim. The land of Ephraim had been chosen to protect the Tabernacle. It’s central location and large population made it a major player in the politics of the Twelve Tribes.
Other Factors in this Story.
- Micah’s Mom – (This part of the study went places I did not expect, so I will present the words and not my opinions.) MM cursed the silver and Micah heard it. We do not know what the curse was but it snapped Micah back to reality. This word indicates that it was serious. Strong’s Hebrew: 422. אָלָה (alah) — take, takes an oath, oaths He returns the silver and she blesses him. (She could have had him stoned.) Then she ‘double dedicates’ the silver to YHWH. KJV says “wholly”, but that was a special decision. Hebrew Concordance: hiq·daš·tî — 6 Occurrences is the root word for dedicate and is first used when God dedicates the Levites to His service. The dedication of the silver was for a graven image, which flies in the face of God in Deuteronomy 4:16. The “to make” word is first used in Genesis 2:3 and refers to God making the earth. The words used would indicate that this was not done lightly, and she knew that she was saying. (Okay, I blamed Micah, but it seems mommy was the problem.)
- Judges 17:6. Judges 17:6 Hebrew Text Analysis “The right” is associated with many sight and eye verses. This becomes the argument for Israel pushing Samuel to anoint a king.
- The Tribe of Dan. The little Tribe of Dan whose land started on the Great Sea coast and was between Judah and Ephraim was a tough piece of real estate to conquer; the Philistines were happy with it. They bullied Ephriam, stole the idols and priest, and continued the sin and kept it going for years. The phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” meant all of the land Jacob’s family owned.
This Sin made it past the sword of Samuel, King Saul, King David, and the Temple; finally, the Sin Site of Dan was closed down by the Assyrians in the days of Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. That is several hundred years. The Assyrians, in Isaiah, even mocked the statues that they took back to Ninevah. Jeroboam had added his own golden calf statues and priest, which makes me wonder what the silversmith made for Micah. Please remember that Dan was active in the affairs of Israel during this whole time period.
A strange thought that is strictly my own; did this worship area get recycled into the birthplace of Pan in the Caesarea Philippi region? That is where Jesus went to proclaim He was the Rock of God’s Kingdom. “A little sin” can go a long way and do a lot of damage, but our God is greater.
How do I end a post like this? These two chapters should have never happened, but they did.
Mark's Bible Study 