Judges 17

The Explanation

There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he went to his mother and said, "The silver that was stolen from you, I have it. I took it." Can you imagine saying that to your own mother?

His mother did not shout at him. She said, "May the LORD bless my son!" Micah gave the silver back to her, eleven hundred pieces. But then his mother did something strange. She said she would dedicate the silver to the LORD, to make a carved image and a statue made of melted silver. She took two hundred pieces and gave them to a silversmith, who made the statues. They ended up right there in Micah's own house.

Micah was not finished. He built a little house of gods inside his home. He made a priestly vest called an ephod, and small idols called teraphim. Then he picked one of his own sons and made him priest of this house.

The storyteller stops for a moment and tells us something important. "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes." Nobody was leading the people to follow God's ways. Everyone just decided for themselves what seemed good.

Then a young man came walking through. He was a Levite from Bethlehem, from the family whose job it was to serve God and teach his people. He was traveling, looking for a place to live. He came right to Micah's house.

"Where did you come from?" Micah asked him. "I am a Levite of Bethlehem, and I am looking for a place to live," the young man answered. Micah saw his chance. "Stay with me," he said. "Be a father and priest to me. I will give you silver every year, clothes, and food." The Levite agreed and stayed. Micah treated him like one of his own sons and made him priest of his house of idols.

Then Micah said something that sounds hopeful, but is not. "Now I know that the LORD will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest." He thought having a real priest, even for false gods, would earn him blessing.

What Does This Mean?

This story feels upside down from the start. Stealing, idols, a priest who serves statues instead of the living God, all mixed together with the LORD's name. Micah even thought God would be pleased with him. That is exactly the danger the storyteller wants us to see. When everyone does what seems right in their own eyes, even good words like "bless" and "LORD" get twisted to cover wrong things.

The Common Thread

God had already told his people how to worship him, through Moses, without carved images and without private houses full of idols. Micah left that behind and built his own religion instead. This whole book is waiting for something better, a king who would lead people rightly. Much later, God sent the true King, Jesus, who never did what was right in his own eyes, but always what pleased his Father.

For You

Sometimes it feels right to just decide things for yourself, what is fair, what you deserve, what God must think. But feeling right and being right are not the same. This week, when you are not sure what is right, ask someone who knows God's word, your mom, dad, or a teacher, instead of just deciding on your own.

Talk About It

Why did Micah think God would bless him, even though he built idols?

Can you think of a time you decided something was "right" just because it felt right to you?

Praying Together

Lord, we do not want to decide everything by ourselves. Teach us what is truly right, through your word. Thank you that Jesus always did what pleased you. Amen.