Read Judges 17
Micah’s Idols
17 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 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 that silver with me; I took it.”
Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”
3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”
4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”
Go Deeper
In this chapter, what Micah is doing is creating an idol. This is in violation of the second commandment. He not only was creating an image of God to worship, but he was creating his own image of God. Micah lost track of the fact that he was created in God’s image, not vice versa. God is who God is. God is not who we make God to be. Our own images of God limit Him to a human concept, not the eternal concept He is. In Exodus we read that God describes Himself as, “I am that I am.” In part, this is because there is no possible description or one-word statement to emulate all that God is.
So often we paint our own image of who God is. We paint Him according to our circumstance. Additionally, so often we paint the image of God and use descriptions of what He isn’t. We place Him as not good, or not all knowing, or not gracious. We see the circumstance in our life and let it describe God. We don’t remember who God actually is. He is holy, just, gracious, faithful, provider, kind, and so much more. He is greater than any image we could place on Him.
Remembering that God is so much greater than who we make Him to be will change everything about us. When we fully understand that God is who He says He is and not just who we say He is, everything changes about us and our relationship with God. We can ask the big things, remember who holds us, and above all, remember that our sin isn’t too much for Him. We have to remind ourselves of the character of God and not limit Him to our own image. We serve the God who does the impossible and making Him less is insulting.
He is the only one who saves us from our sins- the small and the big. God has handled the payment of sin. This was not just a saving for Micah and the Israelites who “simply couldn’t get it right,” but for all of us. The cross was and is and forever will be for the gossip we fall into, the little white lies we tell, the pornography addiction, and whatever it is for you. Through it all, God stands as who He says He is. He doesn’t change.
Questions
- How have you painted your own image of God? Is this right?
- What are the characteristics of God that are true of Him that comfort you in the trials?
- Does your prayer life accurately reflect who God is? Do you believe He is the God of the impossible?
Pray This
Heavenly Father,
You are good. You are who you say you are. You are so much more than what I can comprehend. You, Lord, are a God of the impossible. Thank you for being above all and above my understanding of good. Lord, thank you for being outside of my image of who you are. Lord, I want to praise you for being a big God.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
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4 responses to “Judges 17”
God will never operate contrary to the precepts revealed through his word. Micah and his mother must have forgotten the first two commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:3-4). God clearly does not accept worship from anyone who worships other gods, nor will he compete with or be represented by created objects. It’s a sad commentary where they began to blur the lines between the truth and a lie.
6 “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.“
“Everyone did as they saw fit.” That sounds familiar! Never seems to work out, does it?
The lesson I’m gleaning here is to diligently seek God’s will, obey His commandments and avoid the allure of idolatry and the pursuit of my own desires at the expense of spiritual integrity.
Without a king we do what is right in our own eyes. We become the judge and jury. If we are not following our King, we decide what is right in our own eyes and how we want things to happen or occur, just like Micah. We have so fallen away from how and what God intended for us. He knew this would happen. That is whay He sent Jesus to be the help in our time of need.
CJB Matthew 5:17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah- not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is very clear but we still do things our own way. We are not going to be blessed by God for breaking His commandments or not observing his ways even when we are “attempting to follow Him”. You reap what you sow, you have freedom of choice=right or wrong.
Matthew 22:37-40 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
God please forgive me for not being obedient. God thank You for continuing to show me how to be the best for You. As I trudge through this life may it glorify You. May my minutes be consumed by thoughts of You, no matter the circumstances. God may Your Hesed love reign and rule in and around me. May I love You more and more fully to effervessing, overflowing, steadfast, compassionate love for You God and then downwards to others. Let my love goggles be adjusted to see others, never from my lense, but always from Yours. God thank You for holding my hand as I think about stepping out of the “boat”. God I know that I know You are with me, help my life to show it, today in the minutes of this day, in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!