Judges 17:1-7

Judges 17:1

And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

 

This scenario took place either right after the death of Samson or right after the death of Joshua. 

 

8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.  (Judges 2:8-9, KJV)

 

As we see in Judges 2:8-9, that Joshua was buried in the mount of Ephraim.  Then Judges 17 picks right up concerning a man named Micah who lived in Mount Ephraim.  Judges 17 shows how idolatry and rebellion against the Lord had become a part of the personal lives of the people and how the mindset of rebellion against God had begun to mushroom among the people of Israel.  Micah was a man who became steeped in idolatry.

 

Judges 17:2

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.

 

This man’s mother had apparently set aside the 1100 shekels for the purpose of some type of idol worship.  When she found out that the money was taken, she had cursed the money and cursed the thief that took it.  Micah probably feared what he heard in the cursing by his mother and told her that he had the money and admitted that he had taken it.  Now that she had her money back, she turns the curse into a blessing and it seemed that all she cared about was her money and did not rebuke her son for taking it.

 

Judges 17:3

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.

 

Then once he had returned the money to his mother, she tells him what she had planned for the money.  She wanted to dedicate the silver unto the Lord by means of having the silver made into a graven image and a molten image which was one that had hot metal poured over it and fused to the metal it was covering.  It would be a silver plated idol.  So she now hands over the money to her son again.

 

Judges 17:4

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.

 

Then what Micah did was give back the money to his mother.  Maybe at this point he did not want anything to do with a molten idol.  So the mother takes the money and gives 200 shekels to the founder.  The founder was a person who molds metal.  He then made her the graven image and the molten image and they were both placed in the house of Micah.  The other 900 shekels were kept back for an unknown reason which may have been for an ephod or for further idolatry.

 

Judges 17:5

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.

 

Micah had a house of false gods.  He made an ephod which was an apron or embroidered cape worn by a priest.  The teraphim were images or family idols. 

And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.  (Genesis 31:19, KJV)

 

And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?  (Genesis 31:30, KJV)

 

Micah probably consecrated his oldest son for the purpose of being a priest in his house.

 

Judges 17:6

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

 

This is probably the saddest description of Israel.  Since they had no king, every person did what they thought was right in their own eyes, even if what they did was wrong.  Once Joshua had died, there was no longer a central figure they could look to for guidance therefore they did what they wanted.

 

Judges 17:7

And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

 

Then there was a man who was a Levite who came from Bethlehem which was in the area given to Judah.  The Levites were dispersed throughout all the tribes of Israel so it did not mean that this man was born there but that his area of ministry was in Judah.  He had desired to take up residence as a stranger to Mount Ephraim.

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