Judges 17: 1-13
There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing—that silver is in my possession; I took it; but now I will return it to you.’ And his mother said, ‘May my son be blessed by the Lord!’ Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, ‘I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.’ So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah. This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there. This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live wherever he could find a place. He came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim to carry on his work. Micah said to him, ‘From where do you come?’ He replied, ‘I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place.’ Then Micah said to him, ‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living.’ The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons. So Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.’
Reflection
In this latter section of Judges we will frequently encounter the idea that Israel’s problems all stem from having no king (v.6). Sometimes this is accompanied by the idea that this results in the absence of a shared public sense of morality. We now recognise that ethical norms are based on cultural, faith and political ideologies and that they cannot be imposed (or enforced) effectively by any leader or institution. We cannot assume that a Christian king means Christian values are accepted as valid by society at large.
The focus of this passage is religious corruption. It’s set in Ephraim where Micah (= ‘who is like Yahweh’ [Israel’s God]) has stolen money from his mother. He returns it after she’s cursed the unknown thief; and she dedicates the silver to God, so that her son can make an idol from the metal. Less than 20% of the silver is handed over for this purpose and it’s put in Micah’s household shrine. One of his sons becomes his personal priest. All this contravenes Israel’s faith; it’s much like Canaanite religious traditions.
A Levite (the tribe set aside as holy to God) from Bethlehem in Judah, is seeking a place to fulfil his vocation. He visits Micah who offers him a home and stipend if he’ll serve as priest in Micah’s household shrine; and he agrees. This contravenes God’s commands again. Levites belong to God, to serve the altar only in official Israelite sanctuaries.
Micah proclaims that God will prosper him because he now has his own Levitical priest! None of the characters in this story have remained faithful to God; and each one has acted, spoken or decided in ways that led another astray. How easily the central tenets of their faith have been abandoned as each ‘did what was right in their own eyes’.
May we never forget the importance of testing our ideas about ministry and mission within the body of Christ, lest we lose our way in pursuit of false gods.
Prayer
Holy God, you taught us how to live through your commands and through Jesus who shared our human condition.
We know that your ways lead to fullness of life for all creation; yet too often we stray down paths that offer false hopes. Forgive our foolishness.
Draw us back to you and strengthen our faith. Save us from waywardness that might cause others to lose their way in life too.
For the sake of Christ. Amen