Judges 18:1-17 - Wrongly Seeking an Inheritance

Judges 18:1-17

The Danites Adopt Micah’s Idolatry

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. 2 So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?”

4 He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

5 So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”

6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way.”

7 So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone.

8 Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

9 So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

11 And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. 12 Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) 13 And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” 15 So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

With no king in Israel to guide and judges failing to keep order for long, the Danites were still seeking their inheritance in the promised land but looked in the wrong places without spiritual guidance.  They sent five men spy out the land, reminiscent of the time in the wild before wandering due to disbelief and fear of the land’s inhabitants, and they ended up at the the house of Micah in the mountains of Ephraim to rest.  They heard the voice of the young Levite whom they recognized and immediately asked the wandering priest what he was doing there and how he got there.  He told of how he left Bethlehem looking for a place since he was a priest in a land that had gone after idols and forsaken the LORD, ironic because he ended up in Micah’s house as a priest over idols.  Lack of spiritual guidance was rampant at that time in Israel and many had turned to idolatry and immorality.  He did still minister to the Danites, however, asking the LORD to give advice and a blessing for the wandering tribe’s spokesmen.  He said, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way.”  These spied out the land, gave a good report (unlike in the wilderness time long before), and they sent an army of six hundred men.  They all stopped at Micah’s house on the way since it was nearby and the original five went in and stole the ephod, household idols, carved image, and molded image of Micah while the entire force stood at the door armed with weapons of war to ensure they would not meet any resistance.  These wrongly sought their inheritance by force and trusted in idols along with the LORD God, lacking spiritual leadership.  They would then go on to conquer but not prosper spiritually.  When we likewise fight the good fight of faith for the gospel’s sake, we are not to repeat this mistake of divided loyalty and worship, but wholeheartedly serve the Lord Christ in singleness of worship and devotion (Romans 2:22) to Him only as Lord without any idols (1 John 5:21) to of desire for what we see, feel, or live for distract us in (1 John 2:15, 16-17) in what we rightly seek in our inheritance already provided in heaven to come.  May we then seek godly men to lead us (Hebrews 13:7) in the truth of our journey of sanctification in the battle with proper armor (Ephesians 6:10-11), motive (Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 3:17), and grace (Acts 20:32, 2 Thessalonians 1:12) by His words that give us this eternal inheritance we seek.