Juízes 17

Juízes 17

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission Chart on Judges - Charles Swindoll RECYCLING SIN (The High Cost of Compromise) Jdg 1:1-3:6 Jdg 3:7-16:31 Jdg 17:1-21:25 Introduction History of the Judges Appendix Causes of the Cycles THE REASON Curse of the Cycles THE RECORD Conditions in the Cycles THE RESULTS God's Judgment for Failure Jdg 2:1-3:6 Curse of the Cycles Conditions in the Cycles Living with Canaanites War with the Canaanites Living Like the Canaanites Religious Laxity Political Uncertainty Moral Anarchy About 350 Years of Israel's History - Almost 25%! From Compromise to Confusion! A TIMELINE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY "in the days when the JUDGES governed" (Note: All dates are approximations & time gaps NOT to scale) Exodus 40 Years Israel Enters Canaan JUDGES Saul David Messiah Redemption from Slavery Wilderness Wandering Canaan Conquered Joshua Dies LIGHT of book of RUTH Shines forth in Dark Days of Judges To obey is better than sacrifice Man after God's Own Heart The Lamb that was slain -- 40 yrs ~24 yrs 350+ yrs 40 yrs 40 yrs Forever MESSIAH'S LINE To Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab To Boaz was born Obed by Ruth To Obed was born Jesse To Jesse was born David the King Jesus Christ the Lord 1445BC 1445 -1405 1405 -1381 1381-1051 1051-1011 1011-971 4AD Another Timeline of Israel's History from Jensen's Survey of the OT Other ways to describe Israel's cycle… Rest > Rebellion > Retribution > Repentance (?) > Restoration Sin > Suffering/Servitude > Supplication > Salvation Apathy > Apostasy > Affliction > Answered Prayer Disobedience > Desperation > Deliverance Disobedience > Bondage >Misery > Liberation and Rest > Compromises Judges 17:1 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. there was. Jdg 17: 6 a man of the hill country of Ephraim Jdg 10:1. Josh 15:9. 17:14-18. Micah Jdg 17:4. Location of Ephraim MICAH THE MAN WHO MADE IDOLS An accurate subtitle for Judges 17 would be "The Marks of False Religion" which is followed in Judges 18 by "The Motivation of False Religion". In Judges 1-16 the enemies were primarily external (pagans), whereas Judges 17-21 deal with the deadly enemy which is internal, our fallen flesh which is godless, hates God and constantly seeks to dethrone Jesus. G. Campbell Morgan on Judges 17–21: “The events here recorded must have taken place closely following the death of Joshua. They give us a picture of the internal condition of the people, and it is probably that they were added with that intention by the historian.” Dr Donald Campbell makes an interesting observation regarding how Judges 17 connects to Judges 18 writing that "It seems apparent there is a direct relationship between the story of Micah and the story of the migration of the tribe of Dan. The record of Micah's idolatry is graphically explained in order to show how the tribe of Dan became an idolatrous tribe." (Borrow this Judges Commentary) Now - The final five chapters of Judges constitute two non-chronological appendixes to the book, omitting any reference to judges or times of oppression. While Judges 2-16 describe primarily foreign threats to Israel, these last 5 chapters show an internal breakdown of Israel’s worship and unity. This episode illustrates how low even the true spiritual leadership of the nation had gone, setting up rival sanctuaries (with idols) in a land meant to have the Tabernacle and worship the true God. Sadly these appendices do not contain any references to great leaders. Judges 17-21 underscores the principle that when that foundation of a society based on God's principles begins to crumble, the society begins to fall apart. The psalmist testifies that "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3+) Rabbinic commentators placed the story of Micah in the time of Othniel. L M Grant writes that "Samson was the last judge in Israel. The last five chapters of Judges 17 to 21 deal with conditions during the time of the Judges, so do not necessarily take place after Samson. The history of Micah and the Danites (Jdg 17 and 18) illustrates the spiritual corruption (idolatry) into which Israel sank so soon after coming into their land, while Judges 19-21 emphasize the moral corruption of the people. Certainly idolatry is the worst of these two, for it is against God, but no opposition from Israel was raised against idolatry, though they were incensed against the moral corruption (Jdg 20:11-13). How sad it is that we generally think more of the people's rights than of God's rights!" (Comments On Judges LM Grant) How did the state of the chosen people who were to be a separate and holy people unto Jehovah get to be so bad? The answer echoes forth over and over (with some variation), on four separate occasions (Jdg 17:6, Jdg 18:1, Jdg 19:1, Jdg 21:25) "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” THOUGHT - Note the problem - NO KING. So what's the solution - A KING. And not just any king but the King of king and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. You might want to pause and sing to Him an apropos hymn Crown Him With Many Crowns. Is He your King? Who is ruling your life today (check your thoughts, words and actions)? And if you do not know Jesus as King, then you need to heed Paul's wise words "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord (kurios = MASTER, OWNER - cf 1Co 6:19-20+), and believe (pisteuo - FAITH IS NOT JUST INTELLECTUAL BUT FAITH THAT OBEYS) in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (cf THE "ESSENTIAL GOSPEL" = 1Co 15:1-8+), you will be saved (sozo - RESCUED FROM THE POWER OF SIN, DEATH, WORLD, DEVIL!); for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (soteria - DELIVERANCE)." (Romans 10:9-10+) After the death of Samson, the chronological sequence in Judges ends so that one cannot assign the events in the last five chapters to any specific time. Some therefore consider these chapters almost like an "appendix' which exemplifies the utter apostasy of Israel in their religious, civil, and moral life. These chapters picture the climax of the downward path of Israel resulting from departure from the Word of God. David Jackman has a sobering comment reminding us that "These closing chapters are actually very dark indeed. They show the depths to which even God’s covenant people can sink when once they begin to disobey His instructions and trample His grace and mercy under their feet. They prove beyond all doubt the truth that God has not chosen us because we are costly, or impressive, or morally any better than anyone else, for we are not. The grace of God is that He chooses to have mercy on totally undeserving sinners, such as Israel and today’s church. In the end, we cannot get further than that magnificent statement to Israel about God’s covenant love and mercy, recorded in Deuteronomy 7:7, 8. “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you ….”He loves us because He loves us! (See context in The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 7 : Judges, Ruth) Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah - As shown on the map above, Ephraim is in the highlands of central Palestine begin some 12 miles N of Jerusalem. Ephraim also played an important role in the success of Ehud, Deborah, and Gideon (Jdg 3:27; 4:5; 7:24). Micah means “Who is like Jehovah?” an ironical name for a man who clearly was himself not like Jehovah but was an out and out idolater! It's not how we begin our walk with Christ but how we end and just because we can claim the name of Christ does not guarantee a good ending. Let us all learn the danger of drifting from God's foundational truths in His Word. It is also sad to note that God honoring names such as Micah were usually only given in homes where Jehovah was at least outwardly recognized. Nothing is said about Micah's family or his wife; and one gets the impression that his mother lived with him and that she was wealthy. Extended families were common in Israel. Keil and Delitzsch—The account of the image-worship which Micah established in his house upon the mountains of Ephraim is given in a very brief and condensed form, because it was simply intended as an introduction to the account of the establishment of this image-worship in Laish-Dan in northern Palestine. Consequently only such points are for the most part given, as exhibit in the clearest light the sinful origin and unlawful character of this worship. A man of the mountains of Ephraim named Micah (מִיכָיְהוּ, vv. 1, 4, when contracted into מִיכָה, vv. 5, 8, etc.), who set up this worship for himself, and “respecting whom the Scriptures do not think it worth while to add the name of his father, or to mention the family from which he sprang” (Berleb. Bible), had stolen 1100 shekels of silver (about £135) from his mother. This is very apparent from the words which he spoke to his mother (v. 2): “The thousand and hundred shekels of silver which were taken from thee (the singular לֻקַּח refers to the silver), about which thou cursedst and spakest of also in mine ears (i.e., didst so utter the curse that among others I also heard it), behold, this silver is with me; I have taken it.” אָלָה, to swear, used to denote a malediction or curse (cf. קֹול אָלָה, Lev. 5:1). He seems to have been impelled to make this confession by the fear of his mother’s curse. But his mother praised him for it,—“Blessed be my son of Jehovah,”—partly because she saw in it a proof that there still existed a germ of the fear of God, but in all probability chiefly because she was about to dedicate the silver to Jehovah; for, when her son had given it back to her, she said (v. 3), “I have sanctified the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an image and molten work.” The perfect הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי is not to be taken in the sense of the pluperfect, “I had sanctified it,” but is expressive of an act just performed: I have sanctified it, I declare herewith that I do sanctify it. “And now I give it back to thee,” namely, to appropriate to thy house of God. (Judges 17 Commentary) ANARCHY WITHOUT A KING BOOKENDS OF JUDGES 17-21 (ESV Study Bible ) Micah and the Danite Migration (Jdg 17-18) Gibeah’s Deed and Their Punishment (Jdg 19-21) Religious Deterioration Moral Deterioration Beginning “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 17:6+). “In those days, when there was no king in Israel...” (Jdg 19:1+). Beginning Ending “In those days there was no king in Israel” (Jdg 18:1+) “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 21:25+). Ending Who was Micah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Henrietta Mears summarizes these last chapters noting that… First, we find confusion in the religious life of the nation (Judges 17, Judges 18). Second, we find confusion in the moral life of the nation (Judges 19). Third, we find confusion in the political life (Judges 21). The story of the backsliding of individuals is followed by the backsliding of the nation. The last chapter proves that the children of Israel had lost the way to God’s house, so low had they sunk. We find faithlessness, failure and forfeiture! But God loves His own. The history of the Church through the ages has been like this with Martin Luther (1483-1546, leader of the Protestant Reformation); John Knox (1513-1572, Scottish Reformer); and John Wesley (1703-1791, founder of the Methodists) as deliverers. The biography of many a Christian in just the common run of life is like this. God opens doors and gives us grace for great tasks. Then we forget Him and begin to have our interests in the world about us. This brings loss and defeat. But God hears our cry of repentance and restores us to favor again. A C Gaebelein Summary of Judges 17 The Images Made and the Hired Priest 1. The stolen money restored and the images (Jdg 17:1-6) 2. The Levite hired for a priest (Jdg 17:7-13) The last five chapters of the book form an appendix. The events given did not occur after Samson's death, but they happened many years before. These chapters are not in chronological order but arranged in this way to teach the root of the evil and its results. This answers much, if not all, of the objections of the critics. These chapters reveal the internal corruption which existed in Israel during the different declensions. Idolatry and lawlessness are the two characteristic features. True worship and dependence on God is given up and then follows the dreadful fruit of this, which is hatred, strife culminating in lawlessness. The predictions in the New Testament reveal the same two phases. Departure from the faith is followed by moral corruption (1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 3:1, 2+, 2Ti 3:3, 4+). Then we find in these chapters a statement which does not appear elsewhere in the book. "There was no king in Israel " is the statement made four times (Jdg 17:6; 18:1, 19:1; 21:25). A king was needed to remedy these sad internal conditions, this departure from God and strife of one against the other. This is an evident link with and preparation for the history which follows. Even so in this age of evil, darkness and cunning lawlessness; what the world needs is a king, the King of Righteousness and Peace. When He comes, order will be brought out of chaos, all strife and war, all bloodshed and lawlessness will cease. Into what a scene this chapter introduces us! The thieving son, the cursing mother. He, for the fear of the curse (true faith was not there, but superstition), restores the money and that ungodly woman can say, "Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son." Then she used two hundred shekels of silver and has two images made. Micah, whose wicked life belies his name (Micah means "who is like Jehovah"), had a house full of gods, made an ephod, teraphim and then "ordained" one of his sons for a priest. Then a wandering Levite passed by and to make his idolatrous worship a little more "religious" he hires the Levite to be a "father" and "a priest." He also promises him a yearly salary, his board and clothing. Then he settled down and said, "Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." There is no need of much comment. The typical application is seen at a glance. Here is a man-made god, a man-made worship and a man-made priest. Such is the state of ritualistic Christendom. Much of that which is called worship is simply man-made and dishonors God as much, or even more, than the idolatry of heathendom. And how the false priesthood is here typified! We have but one Priest as the people of God and that is our gracious Lord. Through His infinite grace all true believers are constituted priests with Him. We are a holy and a royal priesthood. Any other priesthood is man-made and a wicked assumption which has corrupted and is corrupting Christianity. The hirelings too are represented in this scene. Religious service is so much reduced to a commercial basis. And there is the delusion of thinking that the Lord must surely bless and give prosperity. The Levite himself is another sign of the times. He is of the Levites of Judah, has been for a while in Bethlehem-judah and wandered away again to find, where he may, another temporary resting place. His is the restless foot of a stranger where he might have claimed inheritance, and he is ready to find a home where he should have been a stranger. Little solicitation prevails with him: his sustenance, a suit of clothes, a salary, has prevailed with many in all ages of the world, and the Levite exchanges his ministry for priesthood in the house of Micah, where the idolatry of the place is sanctified with Jehovah's name. All this is simple enough to read by those that care, and Christendom has exhibited every detail of this transformation--not, alas, as it would seem, a long process: a manufactured priesthood for manufactured gods, all covered with a fair name of orthodoxy, and men doing with great satisfaction what is right in their own eyes! (Commentary) Walter Kaiser - Hard Sayings (go to page 169) - Judges 17:1–2 A Thief Cursed and Then Blessed? Here is a story that seems so mixed up and crazy that it easily raises as much embarrassment as anything else. What is happening in this densely packed exchange between mother and son? One wonders where the writer’s—or even God’s—evaluation of things appears in this bizarre narrative. How can a mother curse a thief and then turn around and bless him when she finds out the culprit was her own son? Isn’t thievery still wrong for all the Bible and its people? And how can God suddenly bless what was just cursed? What did the woman expect to happen? Why did she utter such a strange response upon learning that her money was in the hands of one of her own children? The writer of the book of Judges wanted us to see that everything was out of control in Israel. Almost every aspect of this story discloses a violation of the will of God as he had revealed it to Israel. Clearly the narrative is compressed and in a tightly woven form. Micah’s mother, realizing that she had been swindled out of eleven hundred shekels of silver, responded with an oath. The effect of such an oath was not taken lightly in that culture, for once the word was uttered, it was as if it were an accomplished fact. It was not, as it often is in our culture, where someone might say something off the cuff and then quickly, or even later, retrieve it: “Aw, forget I said that; I didn’t mean anything by it.” The Israelites of Old Testament times believed that God monitored all speech and saw to it that vows, oaths and even idle words fulfilled their mission. Theirs was not a magical view of words, but they did know that talk is not cheap and words often carry consequences. When Micah heard his mother cut loose with this oath, he immediately confessed that he was the thief. He obviously feared the consequences of the oath. It is doubtful that his mother had suspected her son and spoken her curse in his hearing deliberately. Probably she had been unaware of her son’s presence. Curses were taken too seriously in those days for us to think otherwise. Delighted to have the money back, the mother was not immediately concerned to ask Micah why he had stolen. On the contrary, she was now worried about reversing the effect of the curse she had invoked over her son’s head. That is why she said, “The LORD bless you, my son.” She hoped that this blessing would mitigate, if not nullify, the negative effect of the curse placed on Micah. Now it must be made clear that the Bible only reports what happened here; it does not teach that any of this is normative or worth emulating. The narrative must be read in the context of the revelation of God up to this point. At least six sins can be discovered in this story. First, the eighth commandment (Ex 20:15) is clear: “You shall not steal.” Micah stole from his mother, and later the tribe of Dan stole his religious articles from his private sanctuary. In the second place, Micah and his mother, wishing to buy some insurance, as it were, against God’s carrying out her original oath, gave part of the money for the making of several images. This ran counter to the second commandment. But notice how dulled their theological senses were. How could they have expected God’s blessing when they had substituted graven and molten images for the sovereign Lord of the universe? Third, Micah established a private sanctuary in his home. God had said there was to be only one sanctuary for all the people, and that was at the tabernacle in Shiloh (Deut 12:4–14). God had promised to dwell there and place his name in a central sanctuary, not in individual tents or homes throughout Israel. Then Micah made one of his sons his private priest, though God had said that only members of the family of Aaron in the tribe of Levi were to represent the people before the altar. Apparently that arrangement did not work out, and Micah then hired a Levite who had been wandering the countryside looking for work. Here again, Micah (and later the tribe of Dan) was still in violation of God’s directive, for Aaron and his family were the sole legitimate priests. When the tribe of Dan decided to leave the coastal plain, they committed the fifth sin in this narrative by moving from their allotted inheritance. They should have conquered the territory assigned to them rather than capitulating to the Philistines and moving north to the exposed city of Laish. Finally, the movement of the Levite from his assigned city to work for Micah and then for the tribe of Dan shows that he was an opportunist. As a Levite, he would have had an assigned place to work. Instead of remaining there, he determined to make his own way in the world; as a result a number of people were impacted by his sin. Neither the story nor the times are pretty; but this account is entirely realistic, and its implied warning is instructive. We should not doubt in the darkness what God has already told us in the light. Judges 17:2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces (shekels) of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD." uttered a curse in my hearing: Jdg 5:23 Dt 27:16 1Sa 14:24,28 26:19 Ne 13:25 Jer 48:10 Mt 26:74 Ro 9:3 1Co 16:22 I took it: Pr 28:24 Blessed: Ge 14:19 24:30,31 Ex 20:7 Ru 3:10 1Sa 23:21 Ne 13:25 Ps 10:3 2Jn 1:11 Related Passage: Malachi 2:1-2+ (GOD NULLIFIED THE PRIEST'S BLESSINGS TURNING THEM INTO CURSES!) “And now this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 “If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. HOW TO TURN A CURSE INTO A BLESSING And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces (shekels) of silver (about 28 lbs) - Micah the thief confesses to the crime, the first of a number of sins! This is no small sum stolen, because compared with a yearly wage of ten pieces of silver (Jdg 17:10), its value represents a fortune. No wonder Micah's mother cursed the thief! While we cannot be absolutely sure, it is highly likely that Micah confessed not because he was convicted of His sin, but because he feared the curse from his mother! L M Grant - Micah was from Mount Ephraim. We are introduced to him as confessing to his mother that he had stolen 1100 shekels of silver from her, reminding her also that she had pronounced a curse against the thief. His mother said nothing about the curse, but told him, "May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!" (Jdg 17:2). (Comments On Judges LM Grant) Which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing - As alluded to above, it was likely the fear of the curse, not the fear of the Lord, that motivated Micah to confess and return the stolen silver. Ancient peoples greatly feared the power of a parental curse. Thus Micah is superstitiously fearful of a curse, but not afraid to be displeasing to Yahweh. Someone has rightly concluded that outward losses drive good people to prayer, but bad people to curses. Behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD." - Instead of his mother turning him across her knee and applying the board of education to the seat of knowledge, she congratulated him responding to the confession of theft with a blessing! Values were certainly upside down. As a reward for such “honesty,” his mother sought to neutralize her curse with a blessing. Blessing was superstitiously believed to countermand a cursing! This is a striking example of the permissive spirit that had infected Israel at this time. There is an old saying: “As goes the home, so goes the nation.” Israel was in trouble for everything about this home violated the law of God. Corruption in the home spreads into society; and in this specific instance it spread to a whole tribe (see Judges 18:1ff). False doctrine is like yeast: it grows quietly in secret and affects everything it touches. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough." (Galatians 5:9). The events in this section are a dramatic example of what James warned about writing…from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way." (James 3:10). Spurgeon…Very little was her blessing worth, since she had been so ready at cursing. Her silver was her god while it was in the form of shekels, quite as much as when it was fashioned into an image, or else she had not cursed because of the loss of it. Her son Micah, who became so ostentatiously religious, was a thief to begin with. A superstitious dread made him restore what his conscience did not forbid him to steal. The man was made of the right material to become a Ritualist. (The Interpreter: Spurgeon's Devotional Bible) Thomas Watson on relation of murmuring and cursing… Murmuring is a quarrelling with God, and inveighing against him. “They spake against God.” Nu 21:5. The murmurer saith interpretatively that God hath not dealt well with him, and that he hath deserved better from him. The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy, of a murmuring spirit,—God might have been a wiser and a better God. The murmurer is a mutineer. The Israelites are called in the same text “murmurers” and “rebels” (Nu 17:10); and is not rebellion as the sin of witchcraft? 1Sa 15:23. Thou that art a murmurer art in the account of God as a witch, a sorcerer, as one that deals with the devil. This is a sin of the first magnitude. Murmuring often ends in cursing: Micah’s mother fell to cursing when the talents of silver were taken away. Judges 17:2. So doth the murmurer when a part of his estate is taken away. Our murmuring is the devil’s music; this is that sin which God cannot bear: “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?” Nu. 14:27. It is a sin which whets the sword against a people; it is a land-destroying sin: “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.” 1Co 10:10. Judges 17:3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you." I wholly dedicate Jdg 17:13. Jdg 18:5. Is 66:3. for my son to make a graven image and a molten image Ex 20:3-4, 23. Ex 32:4, 5. Lev 19:4. Dt 12:3. Ps 115:4-8. Is 40:18-25. 44:9-20. Je 10:3-5, 8. Hab 2:18, 19. Jn 16:2. Related Passages: Deuteronomy 4:23-25+ (MOSES HAD CLEARLY WARNED AGAINST MAKING GRAVEN IMAGES!) “So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image (pesel) in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. 24 “For (TERM OF EXPLANATION = WHY IT IS DANGEROUS TO MAKE GRAVEN IMAGES!) the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 (MOSES PREDICTS THEY WILL MAKE GRAVEN IMAGES!) “When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land (IN JUDGES 17 THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE LAND LESS THAN 50 YEARS! HOW FAST THEY FELL!!!), and act corruptly, and make an idol (A GRAVEN IMAGE - pesel) in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger." MOTHER'S UNHOLY "WHOLLY" He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother - Micah had stolen a small fortune (1100 pieces of silver) as indicated by the fact in Jdg 17:10 where the Levite was pleased to get a position for an annual salary of 10 pieces of silver!. These 1,100 silver shekels are not to be confused with the 1,100 silver shekels that each of the Philistine rulers gave Delilah Judges 16:5, 18+. And his mother said, "I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son - Wholly dedicate to Yahweh is a clear example of religious syncretism because she says the purpose is to make idols which Micah immediately goes out does (Jdg 17:4). Now watch the mother still from Yahweh! Any guesses at where Micah learned how to steal silver? L M Grant…Then she made it evident that she idolized her son, by telling him she had wholly dedicated this money to the Lord to make a carved image and a molded image for her son (Jdg 17:3). She evidently wanted her son to be religious, but was teaching him to refuse to obey the Word of God! The first of the ten commandments sternly forbad idolatry and image making (Ex. 20:3, 4), but here this wickedness was rising in the midst of the land of Israel! Micah's mother used 200 shekels for the making of the images. Are we like her in any respect? Do we speak of devoting everything to the Lord, then keep back nine elevenths for ourselves? But of course none of this was really devoted to the Lord, but to an evil purpose. (Comments)