Micah Makes His Own Religion
17:1 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country.
Micah means “who is like God." He was from the Ephraimite hill country, which was the location of the Tabernacle at Shiloh.
17:2 He said to his mother, “You know the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole it, but now I am giving it back to you.” His mother said, “May the Lord reward you, my son!”
1100 pieces of silver was stolen from Micah’s mother. A curse was placed upon the thief. Micah was the thief, so he confessed his sin and returned the silver to his mother. He feared the curse. His mother could not reverse the curse, so she neutralized it by pronouncing a blessing of Jehovah upon her son.
17:3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.”
Micah’s mother used the silver to purchase two idols. One idol was carved out of wood. The other idol was poured from a metal cast.
17:4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house.
This incident recorded the spiritual climate of the latter days of the Judges. First, Micah violated the Mosaic Law by theft, dishonoring his mother, and carving idols. Second, the mother donated the money not to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, but to idol-making silversmiths. Third, syncretism (the mixture of Jehovah worship with pagan worship) was beginning to prevail in Israel. Fourth, silversmiths were prevalent in Israel and making huge profits by selling idols.
17:5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.
A shrine was a private house of gods which was kept in the house. This was common among pagans, but it was against the Mosaic Law. Deuteronomy 12 required all worship to be in one place which was designated by Jehovah.
An ephod was a copy of the jacket that the High Priest wore on special occasions. Micah draped his own ephod over his own idols.
The personal items were teraphim, which were used by pagans for divination purposes. These teraphim were to replace the Urim and Thummin.
Levitical priests were not for hire. They were to serve Jehovah only in the 48 Levitical cities.
17:6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.
There was no king in Israel to enforce the use of proper Levitical rituals. Micah and his family was involved in syncretism. They used the name of Jehovah in their worship, but they were practicing pagan rituals. The author gave one example of one family in Israel. This type of Canaanization was prevalent all over Israel.
Micah Hires a Professional
17:7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.
There were two Bethlehems in Israel. The young man came from Bethlehem in Judah, not Bethlehem in Galilee. The unnamed man was a Levite. He should have been living in one of the Levitical cities. Bethlehem in Judah was not a Levitical city. This Levitical priest was living in idolatry. The priesthood of Israel had become corrupted by the Canaanite influence.
17:8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house.
Israel was no longer supporting their Levitical priests. Therefore, they had to leave their Levitical cities and search for work. Bethlehem in Judah refused to support this idolatrous priest.
17:9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”
Micah questioned the traveling Levitical priest.
17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”
Micah wanted to hire the Levite to become his personal “advisor” and priest. The Hebrew word for “advisor” is אָב (ab), meaning “father." Micah meant this term in a religious way, very much like the “father” title in Catholic popery.
17:11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.
The Levite agreed to these terms and became like a son to Micah.
17:12 Micah paid the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.
Micah ordained the Levite as his personal priest. This was a violation of the Mosaic Law.
17:13 Micah said, “Now I know God will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my priest.”
This was an expression of superstition and not of faith. Micah regarded the Levite as a good luck charm who would bring him blessing. This Levite would actually bring Micah divine judgment. Canaanization had infiltrated the priesthood of Israel.