Judges 18 – August 17
You must go all the way back to Judges 1:34 to understand why the Danites were still looking for their inheritance at this point. Their inheritance had not been allotted to them because of their failure to trust God and to move forward in His power (1:34). You see, like all the other tribes, a territory had been allotted to them but they failed to move into it. While the other tribes were claiming and taking their lands by military force and the might of the Spirit, the Danites were fleeing to the hills for perceived safety away from the Amorites. Oh how I wonder what the Lord has for each of us that we fail to experience because of fear of lack of faith.
As you move into this chapter, you will quickly meet the young Levite Priest at the house of Micah. The Danites recognize his voice and ask very appropriate questions. They are surprised that a Levite priest is in the land of Ephraim and that he is outside of one of the 48 cities designated for him as I mentioned in yesterday’s devotion. The Danites proceed to ask him to enquire of the Lord as to whether they should go forward or not and the young priest gives them as affirmative. We don’t really know if he got that word from God or not as he was a disobedient priest.
What we do learn shortly is that this young priest proves once again to be nothing more than a “priest for hire.” The Danites easily talk him into leaving Micah to come and be their priest. By the way, the priest and the Danites took all the idols by force as another sign that the Danites were likely still idolaters with little faith and trust in the Lord. I wonder why they didn’t stop to consider the lack of integrity and honor that the Levite priest exhibited? That question is answered for us at the end of the chapter. The Danites wipe out a peaceful people and proceed to set up the graven images and idols that they had stolen from Micah and made the Levite priest, Jonathan and his sons, their priests.
Brothers and sisters, please do not fail to miss the reality that weak or non-existent faith demonstrated in the lives of one generation negatively affects many generations to come. Years had passed since the tribe of Dan had retreated to the hills with no faith or confidence in God. Obviously the people that we read about in chapter nineteen were still men and women with no faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as we see them setting up and depending on false gods and idols even as this chapter ends. Let us set out today to demonstrate before our families and church members, and community what genuine faith in Jesus Christ looks like and how it affects our day to day decisions. May we vow to trust Jesus today with a hope that those who follow us will learn to trust Him to.