Judges 17-18

Prequel to Saviors that fail: When: Israel was in slavery for 400 years. Then Moses led the Exodus into the desert. His successor, Joshua, let them into the promised land. The 12 tribes of Israel came from Jacob’s (aka Israel) 12 sons. The “Judges” didn’t judge in a courtroom. They were “deliverers” or “saviors”. Last week on Saviors that fail: Samson went to Gaza to visit a prostitute, then ripped off the city doors and carried them uphill to Hebron. Then another woman betrays him over and over again hoping to win Powerball. She does, and the party comes to an end . . . For Gaza! This week on Saviors that fail: Samson introduces us to the tribe of Dan. They were the king of tribe, well, who would produce Samson. Too lazy to take their inheritance, the rob from the poor and take priests for hire. They are not 180 degree opposite from what God wanted for them. Now what? Application →Worship God, don’t buy religion. .... And will someone finally tell Spain about the Light of the world??? Judges 12:8-13:25 Christian Standard Bible (CSB) Revelation 7:1-10 (CSB) The Sealed of Israel 7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea: 3 “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites: 5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin. After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: 9 Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Judges: Micah’s Priest 17 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on—here’s the silver. I took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the LORD!” Sincere or sincerely wrong? Like most of the book, these next stories begin and end with nameless women. Withholding the name of someone is a way of using their actions to generalize for everyone like them. Mom and Micah seem sincere in their idolatry→ sincerely wrong! He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you.” 4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to 3 a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house. This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household Deuteronomy 33:2-5 idols, and installed one The Lord came from Sinai and appeared to of his sons to be his them from Seir … Indeed he loves the people. priest. 6 In those days 5 there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. All your holy ones are in your hand, and they assemble at your feet. Each receives your words. Moses gave us instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob. So he became King … when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel. There was a young man, a Levite from 7 Bethlehem? That sounds like an interesting detail to include. Hmm. Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah. 8 The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim. 9 “Where do you come from?” Micah asked him. He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.” Micah replied, “Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levite went in 11 and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons. 12 Micah 10 consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.” Dan’s Invasion and Idolatry 18 In those days, there was no king in Israel, and the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy. Up to that time no territory had been captured by them among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent out five brave men from all their clans, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out the land and explore it. They told them, “Go and explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the home of Micah and spent the night there. 3 While they were near Micah’s home, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they went over to him and asked, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is keeping you here?” 4 He told them, “This is what Micah has done for me: He has hired me, and I became his priest.” Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God for us to determine if we will have a successful journey.” 5 The priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over the journey you are going 6 on.” The five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people who were there were living securely, in the same way as the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. They were far from the Sidonians, having no alliance with anyone. 7 When the men went back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find out?” 8 They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why wait? Don’t 9 The sad parody Numbers Judges Landless situation 12:6 18:1 Selection of scouts 13:4-16 18:2a Dispatch of scouts 13:4-16 18:2b Arrival in hill country 13:7 18:2c Northern extremity of 13:21 18:7 Return to base 13:2-26 18:8 Report re: land 13:26-33 18:9-10 14:1-4 18:11-13, 2731 Rahab: prostitute Micah’s who trusted the Lord “priest” Levite trusted an idol 19:51,others 18:31 expedition Response of people “Native” welcome Reference to priests in Shiloh hesitate to go and invade and take possession of the land! 10 When you get there, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has handed it over to you. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.” 11 Six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol armed with weapons of war. 12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. This is why the place is still called the Camp of Dan today; it is west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 From there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and arrived at Micah’s house. The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, “Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image and a silver idol in these houses? Now think about what you should do.” 15 So they detoured there and went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danite men were 14 standing by the entrance of the city gate, armed with their weapons of war. 17 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land went in and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, while the priest was standing by the entrance of the city gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18 When they entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” They told him, “Be quiet. Keep your mouth shut. Come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or for you to be a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?” 20 So the 19 priest was pleased and took his ephod, household idols, and carved image, and went with the people. 21 They prepared to leave, putting their dependents, livestock, and possessions in front of them. 22 After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near it were mustered and caught up with the Danites. 23 They called to the Danites, who turned to face them, and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you mustered the men?” He said, “You took the gods I had made and the priest, and went away. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s the matter with you?’” 24 The Danites said to him, “Don’t raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and 25 your family will lose your lives.” 26 The Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were stronger than he was. After they had taken the gods Micah had made and the priest that belonged to him, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people. They killed them with 27 their swords and burned the city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no alliance with anyone. It was in a valley that belonged to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29 They named the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. The city was formerly named Laish. The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land. 31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image that he had made, and it was there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh. 30