Micah's Family Idolatry: Depraved Worship

Introduction

The nation of Israel was in a sick mess. There wasn’t anyone really seeking to live for the Lord except the occasional judge.

Judges 17:1–6 “1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

D. Family can play a role in your values.

P. Parents and Christians be careful to instill biblical values in your children. Your influence and lifestyle play a huge part.

T. Curse instead of command, coddling instead of correction, carved images instead of a consecrated life, Culturally individualistic instead Creator informed.

1. A curse instead of command brings the confession of theft.

Judges 17:1–2 “1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son.”

Explain

Mount Ephraim

The home and burial place of Joshua the leader after Moses. (Joshua 19:49-50; 24:33)

It was home of Shechem, a city of refuge. (Joshua 20:7)

The home of Deborah the prophetess and judge (Judges 4:5)

The men captured the two leaders of the Midianites at the ford of Jordan. (Judges 7:24)

Tolah the Son of Puah the son of Dodo. (Judges 10:1)

Mount Ephraim had a rich history of men and women of God, and victorious battles by their men, but they strayed from the Lord to their own devices.

A man lived on Mount Ephraim named Micah.

His name means who is like Jehovah? But from examining his life he had no idea who or what Jehovah is like.

Manner of living

Stealing from his mother without regard for God’s law.

The Prohibition: Exodus 20:15 “15 Thou shalt not steal.”

The Restitution: 20% extra. If you steal one hundred dollars your return $120. Leviticus 6:2–5 “2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; 3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: 4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, 5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.”

The Reconciliation: a ram without blemish to be offered to the Lord to the priest.

Confession

Atonement made for the sin.

The Christian who steals.

Ephesians 4:28 “28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

The Christian who stole needs to learn to work to provide for himself. (1 Thess. 4:11)

Work so he can give to those in need.

Romans 12:13 “13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”

Titus 3:14 “14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.”

Micah fears the curse of his mother, more than breaking the explicit command of God Almighty.

Micah was more fearful of a curse invoking God’s curse.

Than the curse God pronounced for disobeying his commands. Deuteronomy 28:15–20 “15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.” It goes on with curses for another 47 verses.

Micah didn’t know better.

Romans 2:14–15 “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”

God gave his people the law.

The Priests were not doing their jobs

Malachi 2:7 “7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, And they should seek the law at his mouth: For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

The parents were not doing their job.

Deuteronomy 6:7 “7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Personally, Micah was not doing his part either. He was a man, not a child. He had his own son.

The Bible states there was a man in Mount Ephraim.

Deuteronomy 6:5 “5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Illustrate: Having a Bible name that has a meaning that mentions God is not an indicator of your spiritual condition.

Apply

When do you obey? For love of God or fear of consequences.

John 14:15 “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Proverbs 29:25 “25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

2. A coddling is given instead of correction.

Judges 17:2–3 “2 ...And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image:..”

Explain

The mother is of weak character herself. She is unwilling to encourage him to make the appropriate restitution the law demands.

Understandably most mothers are very forgiving of their children. However, the Word of God tells us as parents to bring up in the nurture in admonition of the Lord.

At this point it seems that Micah’s parents have not trained him to do right.

Micah’s Mom invokes the blessing of God for her son’s theft.

Ephesians 4:32 “32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Micah confesses and restores the 1,100 shekels of silver he stole.

This mother is completely ignorant or purposefully disobedient to God.

Notice she purposed to have the silver used to make an image. Exodus 20:4–5 “4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”

Notice to whom it was to made: the LORD.

God is not pleased when we go against his word.

Micah’s mother should have known better. But since they have become like the Canaanites, she probably didn’t even bat an eye at the idea.

She is so blinded that she thinks she is pleasing the LORD.

Ignorance is not an excuse for sin. Hosea 4:6 “6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Argue

Yes. We are to be forgiving, but if there are never consequences for wrong doing a child will not succeed in life. They will go around blaming everybody else for their faults.

Illustrate: I knew a kid once who had a hard time getting along with anybody for a long period because he’d get in their business and boss them around. He never learned to own up to his faults and because of that frequently found himself in trouble.

Apply

While we shouldn’t desire God’s judgment. We should not be angry when God punishes us for wrong doing.

Hebrews 12:5–8 “5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

Praise God he will deal with the wrong doing of his children. Let us learn to fear him and love him.

Proverbs 8:13 “13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate.”

1 John 5:2–3 “2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

Parents be careful that what you encourage your children in is not idolatry.

Sports over church

Money over church attendance.

Work over devotions.

If the busyness of life has crowded out God. You need to take some time to cut out some things.

At home, avoid idolatry by setting clear priorities based on your faith. If you find yourself prioritizing social media over family time or spiritual growth, it's time for a change. Create a digital detox schedule. For instance, designate tech-free evenings to engage in family devotionals, prayer, or sharing testimonies. This will help you cultivate deeper relationships and keep God at the center of your household, reducing the risk of allowing distractions from the world to take the place of true worship in your life.

3.Carved images and consecrated priest instead of a conversant worship.

Judges 17:4–5 “...and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.”

Explain

Micah put the idols in his house

Micah had a house of gods - he had lots of images he worshipped.

Sometimes we can multiple idols in our kitchen our coffee maker, our sweets, a certain kind of food, etc. If these things have become the standard by which we are content and happy and we are contentious and crabby without them these things have become idolatrous.

Maybe guys its your game systems.

Maybe girls its your wardrobe.

He had an ephod - this was a special vesture priests would wear when they enquired of God.

We don’t need special outward clothes to enquire of God today.

We come before God spiritually robed in the righteousness of Christ. And we should come with hearts pure from sin, but there isn’t any special garb prescribed other than modest clothing.

Teraphims - pocket gods, or small figurines.

In those days many homes had their own family gods and small figurines of larger deities at temples.

Sadly, it is common in archeological digs to find evidence of these in Israel.

Many people are always looking to them for help instead of going to God in prayer.

Argue

Micah had devised his own way of conversing with God.

God desires us to worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

In the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 96:9)

In faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

Illustrate: Cell phones fit Teraphims well today. People are always looking at them instead of praying to God when they need help.

Apply

We must come to God his way.

Micah 6:8 “8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God?”

Wearing crosses.

Are you walking with God with your own relics that are really idolatry.

4. Culturally individualistic instead of submitted to the Creator.

Judges 17:5–6 “5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

Explain

He consecrates his son to be a priest.

Job the man of God in the OT acted as a priest. We as Christians don’t need our children to intercede. We must intercede for them on God’s behalf to save their souls.

Everyone has their own brand of religion.

Argue

No one can judge me.

Philippians 1:9–11 “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”

Christian God wants you to grow in your love of God. Part of that is understanding what he wants not inventing your own religion.

Illustrate

Apply

Study Scripture to become informed about how you should worship God.

Repent of looking to food, substances, or a phone as a replacement for God. The material things of this life should not dictate our happiness in this life. When it does like Micah our worship has become depraved.

Conclusion

Christian friend is your worship depraved or dedicated in purity to our Lord Jesus?