Judges Chapter 17

We begin to see why during this period of Israel’s history of the judges that it is called the dark ages of Israel.  Verse 6 tell us, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  It is correct that the people did not have a king, but they didn’t recognize God as their King either.  Humanity will always get to a place of “dark ages” when everyone does what is right in their own eyes.  When there is little to no recognition of who God is, humanity will fail.

The story recorded in this chapter helps us see where the hearts of men were at this period of time.  There may have been some who wanted to worship Yahweh, but they didn’t worship Him in the way they had been instructed to.

Let's Reflect

1.  Why do you think Micah’s mother was so happy with him when he returned the money he had stolen?

2.  This mother thought she was doing the right thing by dedicating all her money to the LORD, but she took it upon herself to pay a craftsman to make an image for her.  This image’s purpose may have been to be an image of God.  Making in graven images, however, was and is still strictly forbidden.  How much money did she spend to have this image created?

3.  The image stayed in the house of Micah, and he took things even further than his mother.  Besides the image, Micah added a shrine (a small temple), and he added an ephod which was a special garment worn by the priests.  He also added household gods which were gods that were worshipped in hopes of gaining prosperity and guidance.  What else did Micah do for his shrine of worship?

4.  A young travelling Levite man came to the house of Micah.  What offer did Micah extend to this young priest?

5.  So now, not only was the family of Micah mixed up in idol worship, but now he has brought a Levite priest into his sin.  Of course, that young priest should have known better, but all he seemed to care about was that he was getting a good offer for his services.  How did Micah view the advantage of having a Levite priest in his own home and shrine?