Bible Talks

From: Messages of God's Love: 1954

Judges 16:30-18:31³⁰And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. ³¹Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. ¹And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. ²And 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. ³And 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. ⁴Yet 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. ⁵And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. ⁶In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. ⁷And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. ⁸And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. ⁹And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. ¹⁰And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. ¹¹And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. ¹²And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. ¹In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. ²And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. ³When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? ⁴And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. ⁵And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. ⁶And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go. ⁷Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. ⁸And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? ⁹And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. ¹⁰When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. ¹¹And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. ¹²And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. ¹³And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. ¹⁴Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. ¹⁵And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. ¹⁶And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. ¹⁷And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. ¹⁸And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? ¹⁹And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? ²⁰And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. ²¹So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. ²²And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. ²³And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? ²⁴And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? ²⁵And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. ²⁶And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. ²⁷And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. ²⁸And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. ²⁹And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. ³⁰And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. (Judges 16:30‑18:31)

It is a sad thing, as we have remarked, when the Church gives up her separated position, but it’s also sad to talk of a separated position, without practical separation from the world. If we do this, it will not be long until we, like Samson, give up such a position to please our friends whom we have made outside the true path of faith.

Samson’s parents went down, and took him up, to bury him. Thank God, no true child of God can ever be lost, nor will anything done for Christ in obedience to His Word ever be forgotten, but may the Lord keep our feet walking in His ways in these days of testing. Samson was brought up in a separated home, as perhaps the one who reads these lines has been, but it is only by cleaving to the Lord with purpose of heart that we are kept faitul to Him.

“O Lamb of God, still keep us

Close to Thy pierced side;

‘Tis only there in safety

And peace we can abide.”

The seventeenth chapter begins a new section of the book of Judges, for it gives us a little insight into the sad condition into which the people fell, so soon after God had brought them into the land. It is not the enemy’s power oppressing them, which we find here, but their own evil state within, and thus we often read these words, “In those days there was no king in Israel.” Refusing to own Jehovah as their king, they fell into all forms of evil.

In the chapter before us we see how they still used the name of the Lord, but connected it with idolatry, just as we find so commonly today; and there seemed to be little, if any, conscience about cursing and stealing. We also find the origin here, of the idea of a man being clothed, fed, and paid to be a priest by human appointment. Micah, the householder here, thought everything must be right because he had a Levite for his priest, and the young Levite who took the position was happy and content to do whatever Micah required, for it was he who paid him. It was simply a place and an easy occupation he was seeking.

The children of Dan sought to expand their coast, at this time, and, after spying out the land, they gathered an army to capture Laish. It was a typical example of the state of things in those heathen cities, where they did not fear God nor regard man, and nothing put them to shame, we are told. When the spies came to the house of Micah, they asked the young Levite to inquire of the Lord for them, and he told them, “Go in peace; before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.” When these Danites returned with their army to capture Laish they came to the house of Micah, stole his idols, and persuaded the young Levite to come with them and be the priest of the tribe of Dan.

Like many a “hireling” today, he was glad to be a priest to so many. It was pleasing to have “a larger congregation” and he willingly accepted “the call,” without any thought of what the Lord would have him do. Alas, he had the miserable “honor” of becoming the priest of the tribe of Dan, who were the first to set up idolatrous worship as a tribe, setting aside God’s center at Shiloh. What a solemn thing it is to have to do with the One who knows the secrets of the heart—even all our moves and motives.

ML 01/10/1954

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