Micah, a Levite & Danites - Religiously Lost - pt2

Introduction

I began to name this the ‘Bible Person Study’, but chose to go with the ‘Bible Character Study’. I hesitated to name it that, as I don’t want to diminish the fact that these are real people we’ll be examining. But the reason that it’s named the Bible Character Study is because we’ll be focusing on the person’s character throughout. But don’t forget that these were real people, with real lives that made real choices that had real consequences.

I. Their Nature

((What is their History / Background?)

Micah was a Thief

Prior to Jg. 17, we know nothing about Micah. The first thing that we learn about this man is that he’s a thief - and his victim was his mother.

What we gather from v2 is that he’d stolen 11h shekels of silver and his mother had put a curse on the thief. When she did that, it frightened him enough to come and admit his guilt.

Micah was a thief

Micah’s family was Wealthy

In addition to the 28 pounds of silver that Micah stole, he also was able to hire his own personal priest and had a ‘house of gods’ which included the graven and molten images and such.

Micah’s family was wealthy

The Levite was Wondering

This Levite had a job to do, and a place to go - yet he wasn’t doing either. The Bible says that he was just ‘looking for a place’ (Jg. 17:7-9)

The Levite was Wondering

The Danites were Raiding

One thing to know about the Danites is that God had given the tribe of Dan a land inheritance, but they weren’t there.

Their land was just to the West of Jerusalem - a very nice portion of land, but there was a problem. The Bible says; Judges 1:34 “And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:”

So they had the mountainous area of their inheritance, but couldn’t take the valley - so they packed up and headed north to find a place for them.

The Danites were Raiding

All were ‘Religious’

Micah’s mother dedicated silver to an image for Micah

Micah had a house of gods

The Levite grew up under the teachings and working of the ministrations of worship

The Danites inquired of the Levite about their plot & Stole the ‘gods’ out of Micah’s house

All of them were Religious - but all of them lost.

Church, this is not uncommon.

They all Knew Better

This is the sad thing about it! They ALL knew better! It’s not like they didn’t have the law and the commandments, because they did! They just chose to ignore them and do their own thing!

We see the theme verse of the book of Judges in Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

I have said multiple times over that the Spiritual condition during the times of the Judges mirrors that of America today, and I think for good reason, none better than what we see here.

Remember: These are God’s people - called to be separate and sanctified, yet instead they are acting religious while continuing to live just as wicked as the heathen! And this is the same thing you get with the contemporary church!

Solomon’s words hold great weight: Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

It’s not like we don’t have the Word of God to guide us, yet instead we follow the dictates of our own choosing.

They all knew better

II. Their Notoriety

(What they are known for?)

A Side Story in Judges

What’s interesting is that this Scripture tells us nothing about a Judge, or the backsliding and redemption of God’s people - it’s just a side story about something that takes place during this time.

A Side Story in Judges

Illustrative of the Moral Climate in Israel

This is the reason God gives us this story - it illustrates the whole.

Israel was morally and Spiritually bankrupt. We see this here as well as the following stories of the Levite & his concubine and the wickedness of the tribe of Benjamin.

This is in essence, a thermometer check.

Illustrative of the Moral Climate in Israel

III. What Makes them Noteworthy

(What Lessons we can Learn from them?)

Men left to themselves become Righteous Degenerates (Jg. 17:6)

God was their King - yet they rejected that King and because of that, they were left to their own devices and look where that got them.

The reason this is the way it was, and most certainly the way it is, is because mankind are inherently sinful.

Let’s bring this down to today:

America has had a President, but in our early goings, America had God as King. We honored and sought the face of God, and God prospered our land.

With God as King, we installed a Republic (not a Democracy) made triune in the image of God, and set about law that reflected the law of the Bible.

In the years since, men have strayed from God, and we’ve seen that transitioning. America’s saving grace was that we still had law that reflected Biblical teaching - which is in the process of being perverted.

What we have left, is the society that we’ve become, which is waxing worse and worse as the days go by.

But here’s the thing - everybody believes themselves to be righteous!

The Tranny’s believe their cause to be a righteous one.

The Sodomites believe their cause to be a righteous one.

The Abortionists believe their cause to be a righteous one.

The Environmentalists, the Feminists, the women preachers, the Rock & Rollers, the Muslims, the Buddhists - just ‘fill in the blank’ here!

But what you are left with is not Righteousness in the sight of God, it’s Righteous in the sight of men, yet in God’s eyes it’s nothing but filth and ungodliness!

The reason this is, is because their Moral Standards are Flexible

Their Moral Standards are Flexible

When you remove the constant. The baseline. The thing that is sure - what you’re left with is open to interpretation.

A common argument for sin is ‘Well, what does it matter if I do this, as long as live a ‘good’ life?

The problem is ‘good’ is left open to interpretation.

To the Sodomite ‘love is love’ - same sex relations are ‘good’

To the adulterer, as long as they provide for their family, their lapse in faithfulness is justifiable

To the pedophile, it’s natural to be attracted to minors

A lot of the trash that we find acceptable today in the church is because of flexible morality, as we’ve shunned the Bible for our baseline!

Their Moral Standards are Flexible

Standards are Formed by the Parents (Jg. 17:2-4)

Micah got his ungodliness honest as we’re given some of her character in these verses as well:

She proved to be double tongued: James 3:10–11 “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”

She proved to be a liar:

She said she ‘wholly’ dedicated the 11h silver, then really dedicated 2h. Less than 20%

This is typical of most Christians today, in that they will give God ‘everything’, except for (fill in the blank).

Standards are formed by the parents. We must make sure that we’re forming the right standards.

Religious and Godly are Not the Same (Jg. 17:5)

Paul described this mentality to Timothy: 2 Timothy 3:1–7 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Micah was religious

He desired god(s)

He was willing to pay a priest to serve

But he was ungodly:

He only desired a god of HIS making

The Levite was religious

He performed as a priest

He gave counsel as a priest

But he was ungodly

He was a pimp for God

His counsel was what they wanted to hear, not what he should have said

The Danites were religious:

They asked the ‘priest’

They desired the religious images

But they were ungodly

They coveted, murdered, stole,

Wandering Leads to Wickedness (Jg. 17:8)

This Levite had a job & place he was supposed to be. Yet he wasn’t doing his job, and he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Instead he was ‘wandering around looking for a place’.

Before I get into WHY he was wandering, let me just say this: If God has you somewhere, you’re there for a reason.

You see, there’s a difference between traveling, and wandering. The Bible tells us of a man named Philip (Read Act. 8:26-39)

Philip went to and fro, but he was led by the Spirit of God!

The point is, wherever the Spirit leads you, go - if He doesn’t, then you’d better stay put where you’re at.

Wandering leads to Wickedness

One of two things happened:

The Levite didn’t Trust God for Provision

The COI didn’t Supply for his Need

Both reflect Disobedience to God’s Commands

Covetousness Leads to Destruction (Jg. 18)

Your Sin will Find You Out (Jg. 18:3)

When Idols are Taken Away, it’ll Leave you Empty (Jg. 18:24)

Once Idolatry is Established, it’s Hardly Eradicated (Jg. 18:30-31)

Conclusion