Judges 18:1-13.  Yesterday we started the last section of the book which describes life on the streets during the time of the Judges.  Yesterday we met a guy, Micah, who was starting his own personal religion.  Sure he talked about the LORD (Notice all capitals.  See yesterdays post for an explanation.)  He even hired a Levite, a guy from the tribe approved to be priests by God.  But he didn’t follow the LORD’s commands.  Although God is personal, worship of Him in Israel was to be done at the Tabernacle, a special tent-like structure that the Israelites had used during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before entering the promised land.

Today we continue Micah’s story.  In verse one the tribe of Dan enters the story.  You may remember this is the tribe that Samson was from.  In fact the spies that are sent out in the next verse are from the very area where Samson lived.  In the layout of the book this story follows the story of Samson and would naturally make us think of him.  We want to remember though that the book of Judges is not strictly laid out in order of time.  It is not a time line of events and there is overlapping of the stories.  It is a sort of spiritual timeline, however.  So we meet the Danites.  Are they all like Samson spiritually?  That should be the question we have in mind as we read this next part.

Back to verses 1.  Some translations say they had not received an allotment.  We know from the book of Joshua (Joshua 19:40-48) that land had been given to them.  In Joshua the land was divided up and assigned to the different tribes but they still had to go take it.  The first two cities that were given to the Danites were  Zorah and Eshtaol.  When cities are listed in the book of Joshua they are usually listed from east to west, the direction the tribes would usually move through the land as they took it over.  So it looks like the Danites had only been able to take the first couple of cities.  But they needed the rest of their land.  So they sent out spies to check out where they may be able to go.

It is interesting that they wind up in Ephraim’s territory.  Ephraim’s territory is north of the territory given to Dan.  Ephraims territory is in the center of Israel and it does not quite reach to the Jordan River or the Mediterranean Sea.  A little piece of Manasseh’s territory comes down between Ephraim and the river and about half of Dan’s land goes up between Ephraim and the Mediterranean.  Benjamin’s land is also south of Ephraim to the east, under Manasseah’s little piece.  South of all of this is Judah.  Bethlehem is in Judah about 20 miles south-east of Eshtaol and Zorah.  it looks like the spies may have been cutting across Ephraim’s territory to the part of their land that was west of Ephraim’s.

During their scouting mission they came to the house of Micah and decided to stop and rest there.  Much to their surprise they heard a familiar voice.  The voice of the Levite.  Remember that the Levite had left his home in Bethlehem and went looking for a place to stay.  If you have read “The Twelve?” you might remember that Levi was  chosen by God to be priests.  To go in and out of the tabernacle and bring offerings from the people to God.  The Levites were not given a portion of the land because they were to be supported by the offerings (Joshua 13:14, 33).  They did have property in certain cities where they were to live (Joshua 21:1-3).  It looks like the Israeiltes were not supporting the Levites and so this guy went looking for a place to stay.  Really he was looking for a job not a house.  Along the way he would have passed through  Eshtaol and Zorah before coming to Micah’s house.  He must have spoken to theses men at that time.  So the spies from Dan check out Micah’s little shrine and must have been impressed because they ask the Levite to check out their journey with God.  He tells them that their plans are approved by God.

The spies went on their way.  But they did not go on to the coast, maybe 10 miles away, to the land given to them by God.  Instead they traveled 100 mile north into the northern parts of Naphtali’s territory and found a city up there that they liked, Laish (Later called Dan.  Also called Leshem in Joshua 19:47).  The spies returned home and talked the tribe into going north to take the city they had found.  A troop of 600 men went to conquer the city and stopped by Micah’s house.  What happens next is interesting but we will have to wait until tomorrow for that.

But what about this part of the story?  Were the rest of the Danites like Samson?  Were they into doing things their own way?  At first it looked like they were finally going to conquer their land.  But then they didn’t even get close.  Instead they travelled through land that belonged to the other tribes.  Samson repeatedly checked out women that were off limits now his relatives were checking out land that was not theirs (See Deuteronomy 5:21).  Remember yesterday that I said this larger section of Judges was an inclusio.  There is an envelope or parenthesis of two verses (Judges 17:6; 21:25) that make it a unit.  Those verses give us a clue about what we will find in between.  Judges 17:6 says that every man did what was right in his own eyes.  Samson followed his eyes and now we have a whole tribe doing the same thing.  In Joshua 19 when certain land was set aside for Dan we find out that they could not or would not conquer it.  So they went up to Laish (Leshem) and took it instead.  That is the story we are reading about here in Judges.  It was not land God had given them it was land that they saw and took, they coveted it.  And remember that they had asked the Levite if they should do it and he told them yes.  He told them God was with them.  It was really him talking.  Sometimes we do the same thing.  We make plans and then ask others what they think.  “Oh sure God……”  but it’s really just their opinion.  There is a time and place to ask others (Proverbs 15:22) but it is God’s truth we should be looking for not their opinion.  We need to check out the Bible first and after we have been given advise check out the Bible again.  And we need to be careful no to look for the easy way out either.  Sometimes we will go a long way to avoid doing what God has given us to do. We need to be careful to find out what God has said, really said, and then do it.  God help me hear you voice instead of all the false voices.  help me check out everything I hear with the stuff you have already said  in the Bible. Help me not look for the comfortable way out.  The Danites wanted a land where there ws no lack of anything.  I know when I have “everything I need” I start to forget you.  Thank you for tough times so I can cling to you.  Thank you for being there and caring.  Help me do what is right in your eyes and not my own.  Help me be satisfied with what you have given me and not want what others have.