Doing As We See Fit
Lawlessness, ruthlessness, corruption, chaos… These are hallmarks of corrupt and idolotrous worship and leadership. As we enter this election season, we must recognize that we have people in office who are doing whatever they see fit to enrich themselves and gain more power. Yet there are those who are praising and worshiping corrupt leaders and their actions. In the process, God’s desire for how His people should live and prosper is being abandoned and His people are suffering. In Judges 17:1–6; 18:18–19, 27, there is biblical example of the spiral into chaos that results when worship and obedience to God is abandoned and instead, people do as they see fit. I pray that we would put down the things that we have made idols in our lives, and stop doing whatever we see fit. Instead, may we ever look to God and His ways for our guidance to best live our lives and prosper. Amen
Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”
Then his mother said, “The LORD bless you, my son!”
When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”
So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. (Judges 17:1–6)
Micah’s character is revealed by the fact that he stole his mother’s silver. To counteract the curse that she pronounced on him, she had some of the silver made into an idol for worship. Micah took that idol and put it with the other gods and an ephod he had made, in a shrine. He then made his son a priest. All of these things (worship of other gods, priest not in the lineage of Aaron, making a priestly ephod) were unholy attempts to create his own worship system outside of that prescribed by God to Moses and Israel. It was influenced by Canaanite idol worship of false gods. The scripture emphasizes how far Israel had strayed from God, saying “In those days…everyone did as they saw fit”.
When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” (Judges 18:18-19)
The tribe of Dan decided that they needed more land and sent a small 5 man party to scout out where they might take over an area to settle in. They had not been obedient to God and subdued the peoples in the area of their inheritance in the Promised Land. When the 5 scouts returned and reported on an area and people that Dan could overtake, 600 fighting men were assembled. When they came to Micah’s house, the 5 scouts went into his house and took his idols. They also persuaded a Levite that Micah had made into his family priest, to go with them and become a priest to the tribe of Dan. The apostasy (abandonment of true worship) that Micah had engaged in (idols, false god worship, unconsecrated priests outside of Aaron’s lineage) was thus co-opted and instituted and spread within the entire tribe of Dan.
Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. (Judges 18:27)
The 600 fighting men from the tribe of Dan took Micah’s idols and the Levite that he had made his priest. Instead of worshiping God and being obedient to His laws and ordinances, they chose to worship idols made by man, becoming like the Canaanites in the land around them. They also attacked a peaceful people who had no military alliances and took their land. Through these actions, they established an idolotrous worship center in Northern Israel. These acts were evidence of the completely sinful nature and abandonment of God that was prevalent throughout Israel during the time of Judges.
Conclusion
The book of Judges identifies a cycle of sin that we see over and over among God‘s people in the Old Testatment. It is a cycle that we still see in the world today. A cycle where people are engaged in sin and abandonment of God as the sole authority in their lives, until their own circumstances become unbearable. It is at that point that people cry out to God for relief from the consequences of the things that they have done. Eventually, the tribe of Dan was allowed by God to be taken into captivity. We have to be careful not to abandon God, and engage in the worship of other things we have made gods. Multiple times in the book of Judges, we see the phrase “everyone did as they saw fit”. It is when we began relying on our own judgement and creating our own gods that we begin to sink into the depths of sin and reap its consequences. When we put our faith in the gods we have made, instead of the God who made us, we are hopelessly lost. That’s what Israel learned the hard way. This story of Micah and Dan’s worship of idols instead of God stands as an object lesson for us. We Invite failure and heartache whenever we abandon God and His ways to “do as we see fit”.
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
