Judges 18:14-31.  A couple of days ago we met a guy named Micah.  He set up a shrine in his home and hired a wandering Levite to be his personal priest.  Yesterday we were introduced the Danites, the tribe of Samson.  They decided that they needed more that just the couple of cities that they were living in.  If course God had assigned much more land to them they just hadn’t taken it over.  They sent out spies and it looked at first as if the spies were going to do a little recon on their territory.  They wound up going all the way to northern Israel and checking out some land that belonged to Naphtali instead.  Along the way the spies stopped by Micah’s house and spoke to the priest.  Then they went home and convinced the tribe to sent out a group of soldiers to take over the land up north.  At the end of yesterdays reading they came to Micah’s house.

In today’s reading as they approach Micah’s place the spies inform the soldiers of the idols that he has.  Then they ask the soldiers to think about what they should do.  In Deuteronomy 5:8 God told the Israelites that they were not to have idols; no likeness of what is in heaven, or on the earth, or in the sea.  In Leviticus 26:1 He told the Israelites that they were not to make idols.  In Exodus 34:17 God told the Israelites that they were not to make “molten gods” (See Judges 17:4).  In Deuteronomy 13:6-17 the most severe punishment is laid out for encouraging people to have and follow false gods, death and total destruction.  Proper worship of God does not involve images or idols (See Deuteronomy 4:15-19).  Although Judges 3:17 looks like the mother is creating the images to worship the LORD (See 1/14/12 post for an explanation of the all capital spelling) it is clear that they are not.  These were not representing the LORD at all but were false gods (Judges 18:24).  And even if she were trying to actually worship the LORD it had to be done God’s way not her’s.So what should the soldiers have done?  According to the Law they should have stoned Micah, his mother, and the Levite to death.  You my think that that is pretty harsh, and it is.  But it is less harsh than eternity in hell.  The Israelites were supposed to be helping the world find it’s way to God.  Jesus said that he was the only way to God  so it was very serious for the Israelites to imply by their actions that other gods were OK or even that honoring God in their own way was OK.  Honoring God must be done the way he says (John 14:6).  That kind of bad example  has serious eternal consequences and that is why the punishment was so harsh (Matthew 23:15, Luke 17:2; for more check out “The Old Testament Connection”).

Instead the soldiers took the idols and talked the priest into going with them.  They told him it was better for him to be priest to a whole tribe rather than just one household.  They then went on to Laish and destroyed the city and it’s inhabitants.  After they conquered the city they rebuilt it, set up “what Micah had made” in the city,  and put the “priest who had belonged to Micah” in charge of them.  He and his descendants maintained the idol worship for the next three hundred years in that city.  Based on Deuteronomy 13:12-17 what they had done to Laish should have been done to them. And based on  Luke 17:2 the Levite and his children were in big trouble, they hadn’t made one follower of the false gods but many, over several generations.  The Danites whole city should have been destroyed.

A couple of interesting things about this story.  The name of the city was Laish which means lion.  But the word has an interesting background, it comes from the word “kneed”, lke making dough.  Some say the link is the idea of crushing.  It’s funny to me though that cats, at least house cats, will often “kneed” an object before they lie down to rest.  Lhere seems to be some implication that Laish was a secure restful place.  We do not need to just assume this from the name though because those are the kinds of words used to describe it in Judges 18:7. A couple of other parts of that description are interesting too.  We are told that they lived like Sidonians.  Sidon was the first son of Canaan according to Genesis 10:15 so that would make Sidonians Canaanites.  the people of Laish were probably Canaanites.  If they were not they at least lived like them.  They probably were not Israelites.  Their land provided all that they needed, they had no king pushing them around, and they lived far enough away from every one that no body bothered them and they bothered nobody.  One of the Hebrew words that describes this peaceful life is “shaqat”.  It is also used in Judges 3:11′ 30; 5:31; 8:28; 18:27.  It is the word that describes life in Israel after the different Judges overcame the invaders, up until the story of Gideon.  After that there is no rest or peace in the land.  Except here in this Canaanite city in the far north.  And that peace is destroyed by the Danite invasion.  Two last things. In Joshua 19:47 this story is told but they call the town Leshem.  It is not unusual for people and places to have more than one name in the Bible.  Often the names meaning is important to the story (see “What in a Name?”).  Leshem was the name of one of the precious stones on the coat worn by the hight priest when he would make offerings (Exodus 28:19).  This precious stone would be taken by force.  And finally at the very end of the chapter we are told that their idol worship continued at the same time that true worship of God was going on in a town called Shiloh.  That is where all of the stuff God told them to make and use in honoring Him was set up when the Israelites entered the land.

It’s sad that a people who should have been living at peace in their land and with the creator God of the universe were living such uptight lives.  They had no peace in their work, in their relationships with each other, with outsiders, or with God.  Everything was a fight.  What is even sadder is that idol worshipping Canaanite had all the worldly peace and security that should have belonged to the Israelites.  Saddest of all is that the Israelites destroyed the Canaanite’s peace for no real purpose.  They were lazy physically and spiritually.  They should have taken control of the land given to them in the south.  But from a human point of view that would have been too hard.  On the spiritual front there was no battle here either.  Destruction of the inhabitants was to keep the Israelites from following them in false worship.  In todays story the Israelites brought their false worship with them and even caused it to become kind of permanent.  Instead of being a light to the world they spread darkness to their own people.  And there is even some question about whether or not Laish was actually part of the original promised land.  So that city possibly could have been left alone without disobeying God’s command to push the inhabitants of the land out (Exodus 33:52).

There is a verse in the New Testament that tells us that we need to be ready to explain to others when they ask us why we have hope in our lives (1 Peter 3:15).  That verse bothers me for two reasons.  First I have only been asked a question like that once or twice in my life.  The second probably explains the first.  I can often feel hopeless about life.  Like the Danites I often don’t live a life that says much about God to the people around me.  I get so caught up in finding the easy way through life and avoiding the battles God wants me to fight.  The answer is in the first part of that verse in 1 Peter.  “Sanctify Christ as lord of your life.”  Make Jesus the king and ruler in your life.  The Danites did not know Jesus as Jesus, but they knew Jesus as Jehovah (LORD, Yahweh) or as the promised seed of Abraham, or as the Messiah.  they needed to make God the lord of their existence and we do too.  That is the only way for us to have peace in life and in eternity and that is the only way to help others have it too.  Blessed are the peace makers for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9).  God help me make you the king and ruler in my life.  Let me bring real peace to myself, my family, and to my neighbors by following you.  I know there will be messy battles but life is full of that anyway.  The question is will the battles be worth it 10,000,000,000 years from now?  The only way to be sure is to let you direct them.  Thank you for being willing to live in and through me.  Help me have a vision of forever.  Help me Lord.  Let me be a true peacemaker.