Just because you can doesn't mean you should

Imitating the ways of God is not the same as following the leading of God (Judges 18:1-11)

Explanation: The tribe of Dan had failed in securing their inheritance of land from the hand of Yahweh. (cf., Josh 19:40-48, espec. v. 47; Judges 1:34-36). The account of Dan’s effort in gaining their land is listed in the final position of the accounts in chapter 1 of Judges. As the chapter progresses, the showing of God’s people worsens until it finally reaches the low point with the tribe of Dan: “the Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country” (judges 1:34).

Because of their lack of faith in the sure Word of God through Moses and Joshua, the tribe of Dan had a problem. They were forced out of their inheritance by pagans and forced to live in a tiny area in the hill country. They did not have enough room to grow.

Argument: The Danites were faced with a crisis . They had a real need and they were seeking a solution. Instead of facing their failure head on, they decided to go a different route. As a result, the problem simply grows instead of going away.

Note the intro to chapter 18: “In those days there was no king in Israel.” This phrase is repeated at this junction to demonstrate the mind-set of doing whatever seems best. This approach is known as pragmatism, and while that approach usually generates immediate, positive results, it is off-limits for the Christian. We are called to do things according to God’s revealed will, not what seems best to us according to present circumstances.

The Danites should have confessed their sin of unbelief in trusting the promises of God and repented. God never changed His mind about their original allotment, and He would have given it to them had they trusted in Him.

Instead, they collectively chose to take another route - one that imitated the way of God and seemed easier to them at the time.

Like Joshua during the initial conquest the Danites sent out members of the tribe to explore the land to find themselves a new place (Judges 18:1b-2b) [Problem:God had already given them a place]

The scouts sought the favor of God upon their venture (Judges 18:5) [Problem: They went through the motions - they knew the Levite wasn’t supposed to be there, they should have recognized the idolatry, and they only used the generic term for God] We also try to “Christianize” our self-efforts with religious terminology

The scouts brought a favorable report back to the tribe and chastised the members for being slow on accepting their report (Judges 18:7-10). They found a people group that was easy prey - a job they could handle themselves. [Problem: if we can take care of it on our own, it probably isn’t a Kingdom task. The original spy report was that there were giants in the land, and that the people would have to depend on God for success]

Even with a favorable report, only a small portion of the tribe decided to go on the new campaign. The 600 armed soldiers (along with family members) displays limited results. The remaining Danites simply disappear from Biblical history. [Problem: The pragmatic approach involves casualties along the way]

Idolatry grows quicker and stronger than expected and stays longer than expected

Explanation: When the Danite force moves the the northern extremities of the Land, they stop back at Micah’s place one final time to take care of some “church business.” The scouts were already in violation of the Mosaic Law ( Deut 13:1-5; 17:2-7) which clearly called for the death penalty for those engaged in idolatry. They should have called for the Levite’s death, not seduced him to come and serve their own tribe.

Again, the pragmatic approach is clearly witnessed. The scouts had already determined that the Levite was serving at Micah’s compound because he was being well-compensated. The Danites themselves had already abandoned the high moral ground by running off on their own, so they weren’t about to report the Levite’s sin - they simply made him a better offer

Illustrate: old story of the guy who asks the attractive lady if she would have sex with him for a million dollars. The lady is caught by surprise by the sudden and unexpected request, but after a few moments of reflection she agrees. The man then asks if she would be willing to do the same thing for only a hundred dollars. The woman is outraged. “what kind of woman do you think I am?!” The man’s reply: “we already know what kind of woman you are; we’re just negotiating the price.”

Argument: Sin will take us further than we want to go, keep us there longer than we intended and make us pay a higher price than expected. That’s what happened to the Northern Kingdom as a result of this decision. Consider the sequence:

Micah steals money from his own mother

He confesses (after being cursed) and returns the silver

The mother dedicates all of the silver to God, then holds back 900 of the 1,100 for herself and uses the 200 for graven images

Micah sets up a local shrine and dedicates on of his own sons as priest

A hireling priest arrives and takes up the office of head of the shrine

The tribe of Dan takes off on their pragmatic approach to find greener pastures and they stop by Micah’s compound and coerce the hireling Levite to come with them

The Levite embraces thieving as well and gladly makes off with the stolen goods, happy to have “lucked” into a better position

Micah, the one-time thief and idolater, expresses outrage in that others have stolen from him. God uses the disobedient Danites to serve as His judgment upon Micah.

The diminished tribe of Dan reaches the farthest north regions of the land and wipes out the unsuspecting town of Laish.

The Danites rename the place and call it their own. Then they set up the carved images for themselves and the idols were in existence until the Northern Kingdom fell about 400 years later. The idols at Dan become synonomous with the idolatry of the Northern Kingdom.