Misplaced Zeal

Israel repeatedly turned away from God and wound up being conquered by other nations.  God sent judges to lead them back to god and set them free of their oppressors.  While God had called Samson to be a judge, he was far more interested in his own reputation and pleasure than in serving God.  While he did break the Philistine’s power and set Israel free, it was all to satisfy his personal grievances rather than for Israel or for the Lord.  He did very little to turn the people back to God, and set a very poor example.  As a result, Israel continued to move further into sin. 

They started by changing how they worshipped God, in Judges 17:1-5.  “And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.  And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.

And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.  And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.  Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.  And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.”

In Exodus 20:4, God had commanded, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”  Micah and his mother were violating God’s commands, while sincerely trying to do what was right. 

At Shiloh, Israel had set up a large monument with the entire law inscribed on it so that anyone who wanted could go and read it for themselves.  The tabernacle had been placed nearby, and if there were questions, they could go to the priests for clarification.  In addition, there were Levites every district of Israel who were responsible for teaching the Jews what the law commanded.  While they had no organized central government, when problems arose, God would send prophets and Judges to straighten things out.  Each person was responsible for their own actions and choices, as Judges 17:6 tells us.  “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

Deeply religious, Micah was constantly looking for something more he could do.  Knowing the Levites had a special calling, he seized the opportunity to hire one to be his priest, in Judges 17:7-13.  “And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.  And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.  And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou?

And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.  And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.  And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.  Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.”

Micah was sure God would bless him because he had hired a Levite as priest, totally ignoring what God had commanded about having idols, or that the only Levites who were to be priests were descendants of Aaron.  He also ignored the fact that they were only to offer sacrifices at the Tabernacle, as commanded in Deuteronomy 12:13-14.  “Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.” 

As we see in the next chapter, God did not bless Micah for all his religious efforts.  Unfortunately many people today are falling into the same trap, As Paul said about the Jews in Romans 10:2, “…they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”  Like Micah, they want God’s blessings, but don’t take the time to find out what God said and obey him.  Instead, they adopt ideas from psychology, business, and other religions.  As a result, even their efforts to worship are offensive to him.