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.

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.