Sin Against God, Part 2: Idolatry Taken up by Dan
Judges 18
Judges 18
Judges 18. The chapter traces how an evil that began with one man’s departure from God’s Word in chapter 17 spread to a household, then to the tribe of Dan, and finally became an enduring religious snare to the nation. Dan’s failure to possess the inheritance God had given them led them to seek an easier path. In this path governed by self-will, idolatry was embraced and firmly established in Israel.
The Danites Come to Micah’s House (18:1-6)
CHAPTER 18
1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day their lot had not fallen to them for inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men of their whole number, men of valour, from Zoreah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to examine it; and they said to them, Go, examine the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. DARBY
vv.1-2 The Danites Seek an Inheritance. The statement that “their lot had not fallen to them for inheritance” does not mean that Dan had never been given an inheritance. Their portion had been assigned by lot (Josh. 19:40-48), but “the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain” (Judg. 1:34), and Dan lacked the faith and energy to possess what God had given them. Rather than overcome the enemy within their allotted territory, they sent five men “to spy out the land” in search of an easier inheritance elsewhere. This was activity, but not the activity of faith. When we fail to enjoy and possess what God has given us, we become restless and begin looking for something else. Had Dan taken his assigned inheritance and needed more space, God could have rewarded their faith with victory over the Philistines. Faith does not choose its portion for itself; it accepts what God has given and depends upon Him to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way. This spiritual weakness in Dan led the way for the idolatry of Micah’s house to spread from one household to an entire tribe.
3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah done to me; and he has hired me, and I am his priest. DARBY
vv.3-4 The Spies Recognize Micah’s Levite. When the five spies came to Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the Levite and asked three searching questions: “Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?” These questions exposed the whole character of his position. God had not brought him there; his own restlessness had. He was not serving according to God’s order, but doing what Micah had hired him to do. And what did he have there? A salary and a position in a man-made religious system: “he has hired me, and I am his priest.” The Danites were really no different. Dan had left the inheritance God had given them to seek something better for themselves, just as the Levite had left his place to seek a position for himself. They were alike in self-will.
5 And they said to him, Inquire, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way on which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way on which ye go. DARBY
vv.5-6 The Levite Promises the Spies Success. The Danites asked the Levite to inquire of God whether “our way on which we go shall be prosperous.” They had already chosen their way and merely sought assurance that it would succeed. Nor did they inquire at the house of God in Shiloh, but from a man who had departed from God’s order and was serving in an idolatrous system. They received the answer they wanted: “Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way on which ye go.” He used Jehovah’s name to gave a religious appearance to a wrong course.
The Danites Spy Out the City of Laish (18:7-13)
7 And the five men departed, and came to Laish; and they saw the people that were therein, dwelling securely, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and no one was in the land who possessed authority, that might put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had nothing to do with any man. 8 — And they came to their brethren at Zoreah and Eshtaol. And their brethren said to them, What say ye? 9 And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and ye are still! Be not slothful to go, to enter to take possession of the land. 10 When ye go in, ye shall come to a people secure, and the land is spacious in every direction; for God has given it into your hands; it is a place where there is no want of anything that is on the earth. DARBY
vv..7-10 The Spies Survey Laish and Recommend an Attack. The spies found at Laish the kind of inheritance they were looking for: “a people secure,” a spacious and prosperous land, and apparently little difficulty in taking it. The inhabitants were isolated from the Zidonians and had no nearby allies to deliver them. Everything appealed to nature: “it is a place where there is no want of anything that is on the earth.” The spies returned, telling their brethren, “Be not slothful to go.” Dan had been slothful in taking his inheritance, but became energetic when a different path presented itself. They claimed God’s approval, “God has given it into your hands.”
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zoreah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war. 12 And they went up and encamped in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah; therefore they call that place Mahaneh-Dan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. 13 And they passed thence to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. DARBY
vv.11-13 Six Hundred Danites Depart for Laish. Encouraged by the report of the spies, six hundred armed men of Dan set out from Zoreah and Eshtaol toward Laish with numbers and weapons. Their journey brought them again to “the house of Micah.” The easier path they had chosen ended up connecting them with the false religious system there.
The Danites Take Micah’s Idol and Priest (18:14-26)
14 Then the five men that had gone to spy out the country of Laish spoke and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? And now ye know what to do. 15 And they turned thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and inquired after his welfare. 16 And the six hundred men of the children of Dan, girded with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men that had gone to spy out the land went up, entered in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were girded with weapons of war. DARBY
vv.14-17 The Spies Identify Micah’s Idols. The five spies had not forgotten what they had seen in Micah’s house. They now informed the six hundred armed men that “there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image,” adding, “now ye know what to do.” They immediately took the objects of Micah’s worship. The scene exposes the worthlessness of his religion: gods that Micah had made for his protection could be stolen and actually needed protection. It also shows how quickly evil spreads.
18 And these came into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest said to them, What do ye? 19 And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be a priest for the house of one man, or to be priest for a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. DARBY
vv.18-20 The Priest Confronts the Danites. When the Levite protested, “What do ye?” the Danites quickly silenced him and offered him something more attractive: “Is it better for thee to be a priest for the house of one man, or to be priest for a tribe and a family in Israel?” This exposed his true character. If his position had been from God, a larger sphere would have been no reason to leave it; but because he had chosen his position for himself, advancement naturally appealed to him: “The priest’s heart was glad.” God’s thoughts had no place in his mind or in the decision.
21 And they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the baggage before them. 22 They were already far from the house of Micah, when the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? DARBY
vv.21-23 The Danites Depart with the Idols and Priest. The Danites departed with Micah’s idols and priest, carefully placing “the little ones and the cattle and the baggage before them.” This suggests that they anticipated trouble and placed their vulnerable possessions away from Micah and his pursuing neighbors. Micah gathered what strength he could and overtook them, but he was powerless. The priest whom Micah had hired was now gladly serving those who could offer him more.
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? and what is this that ye say to me, What aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of exasperated spirit run upon you, and thou lose thy life and the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, and he turned and went back to his house. 27 And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest that he had had, and came upon Laish, upon a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. DARBY
vv.24-26 Micah Pursues but Is Forced to Retreat. Micah’s despairing cry exposes the emptiness of his whole religious system: “Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest… and what have I more?” There is an obvious contradiction in gods that a man can make and that other men can steal. His religion had become everything to him, while the Lord Himself had no place. True faith is really the opposite. The Word of God remained, and Jehovah’s priest in Shiloh. If persecution came and Christians were deprived of the outward privileges, what would really be lost? We have Christ, and that is everything. But with false religion, once the outward was taken from Micah, there was nothing left. The Danites answered Micah with the threat of superior force. Micah therefore “saw that they were too strong for him” and returned home.
The Danites Destroy Laish and Set Up Idolatry (18:27-31)
27 And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest that he had had, and came upon Laish, upon a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Zidon, and they had nothing to do with any man; and it lay in the valley that is by Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt therein. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; howbeit Laish was the name of the city at the first. DARBY
vv.27-29 The Danites Destroy Laish, Rebuild, and Rename Dan. The Danites now came upon Laish, “a people quiet and secure,” smote its inhabitants, and burned the city. There was “no deliverer” because Laish was isolated and far from the neighbor Zidon. Dan succeeded, but their success did not prove that their course was of God. They had avoided the enemies occupying the inheritance God had given them and conquered instead a people unable to resist them. After rebuilding the city, they “called the name of the city Dan.” This reminds us of Cain: “he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Gen. 4:17)
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses; he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. DARBY
vv.30-31 The Danites Establish Their Idolatrous Priesthood. What began as the private idolatry of Micah’s house now became an established religious system for an entire tribe. The Danites “set up the graven image,” and Jonathan and his sons became “priests to the tribe of Dan.” Sadly, we learn that Jonathan was “the son of Gershom, the son of Moses.” Within only a few generations, the descendant of the man through whom God had given the law was serving as priest to an idol. Spiritual faithfulness cannot be inherited; each generation must walk with God for itself. Nor was this a passing failure. The idolatrous priesthood continued “until the day of the captivity of the land.” The exact captivity referred to is uncertain. It may refer to the judgment associated with the fall of Shiloh under the Philistines, though some understand it as the later Assyrian captivity.1 All the while this was happening, “the house of God was in Shiloh.” Dan’s worship was a rival religious system to God’s appointed center. Dan later becomes a place for one of Jeroboam’s calves.
- “It is possible that verse 30 may be one of those later additions which Ezra or one of the prophets was inspired to make in putting together at a subsequent epoch the books of Scripture. If this be so, the captivity might be the Assyrian, and not that of the Philistines. But verse 30 seems adverse to this view. There is no difficulty in principle either way.” – W. Kelly. The Book of Judges.