Read verse 1: In case you forgot, we start off with another reminder that there's no king. We now find out that the tribe of Dan hasn't cleared the Gentiles of of their promised land and they decide to look for land elsewhere.
Read verse 2: Five spies are sent out who find Micah's house.
Read verses 3-4: They recognize the Levites voice (meaning his accent probably), so they ask him what he's doing there.
Read verse 5: Evidently they see no issue with this Levite being the priest of this guy's house so they ask him to find out from God if they'll be successful in their endeavor. They are looking for God's stamp of approval on their plans rather than obeying commands He's previously given (namely to drive the foreigners out of their portion of the Promised Land).
Read verse 6: The Levite says "Go in peace, God approves." But did He? The text doesn't say that the Levite inquired of the Lord, my guess is that he just told them what they wanted to hear. This all just goes to show how low the Levite's morals have gotten and how depraved Israel is becoming.
Read verses 7-10: The five spies find a quaint little town. They head back home and report their findings.
Read verses 11-13: A war party sets out, which again heads towards Micah's house.
Read verses 14-17: The five spies tell the men in the war party about Micah's idols and ephod. The men decide to go steal it.
Read verse 18: At the house, the Levite questions them, even though he's clearly out numbered.
Read verse 19: They tell him to shut up and to come with them and be their priest.
Read verse 20: He probably doesn't really have much of a choice. Either way, he agrees to go figuring it's better to be the priest of a tribe than just a household.
Read verse 21: The war party puts their animals and little ones in front (what? the war party isn't just men with weapons?). At first this seems a little weird; shouldn't they have their fiercest warriors at the front of the line to be the first to encounter the enemy? Well yes, but right now they fear Micah may come fight for his idols so they are protecting from the back rather than the front.
Read verses 22-23: Micah comes after them and when he catches up to them, the tribe of Dan acts like he's overreacting.
Read verse 24: Micah explains to them why he's upset.
Read verses 25-26: They threaten him to be quiet (don't want him angrily alerting neighbors that there's a war party around). Micah begins to realize he's got no chance at fighting off this huge group of men and he goes home.
Read verses 27-29: The tribe of Dan overtakes Laish (the quaint little town) and rename it Dan. In overtaking it, they destroy it, so they rebuild it in order to live there.
Read verses 30-31: After two chapters referring to the Levite as the Levite, we find out his name is Jonathan. Jonathan and his sons were priests for the Danites, where they set up and use Micah's idols, until they were captured.
Read verse 2: Five spies are sent out who find Micah's house.
Read verses 3-4: They recognize the Levites voice (meaning his accent probably), so they ask him what he's doing there.
Read verse 5: Evidently they see no issue with this Levite being the priest of this guy's house so they ask him to find out from God if they'll be successful in their endeavor. They are looking for God's stamp of approval on their plans rather than obeying commands He's previously given (namely to drive the foreigners out of their portion of the Promised Land).
Read verse 6: The Levite says "Go in peace, God approves." But did He? The text doesn't say that the Levite inquired of the Lord, my guess is that he just told them what they wanted to hear. This all just goes to show how low the Levite's morals have gotten and how depraved Israel is becoming.
Read verses 7-10: The five spies find a quaint little town. They head back home and report their findings.
Read verses 11-13: A war party sets out, which again heads towards Micah's house.
Read verses 14-17: The five spies tell the men in the war party about Micah's idols and ephod. The men decide to go steal it.
Read verse 18: At the house, the Levite questions them, even though he's clearly out numbered.
Read verse 19: They tell him to shut up and to come with them and be their priest.
Read verse 20: He probably doesn't really have much of a choice. Either way, he agrees to go figuring it's better to be the priest of a tribe than just a household.
Read verse 21: The war party puts their animals and little ones in front (what? the war party isn't just men with weapons?). At first this seems a little weird; shouldn't they have their fiercest warriors at the front of the line to be the first to encounter the enemy? Well yes, but right now they fear Micah may come fight for his idols so they are protecting from the back rather than the front.
Read verses 22-23: Micah comes after them and when he catches up to them, the tribe of Dan acts like he's overreacting.
Read verse 24: Micah explains to them why he's upset.
Read verses 25-26: They threaten him to be quiet (don't want him angrily alerting neighbors that there's a war party around). Micah begins to realize he's got no chance at fighting off this huge group of men and he goes home.
Read verses 27-29: The tribe of Dan overtakes Laish (the quaint little town) and rename it Dan. In overtaking it, they destroy it, so they rebuild it in order to live there.
Read verses 30-31: After two chapters referring to the Levite as the Levite, we find out his name is Jonathan. Jonathan and his sons were priests for the Danites, where they set up and use Micah's idols, until they were captured.
Application:
- Obey known commands of the Lord. If you know what the Bible says, do it! Don't do something else and hope God's ok with it. Obey what you know!!
- Don't make plans and try to stamp God's approval on them. Seek God first and then do what He wants!
- When you say you'll pray, do it! Don't just say you'll pray for someone just because it fits in the conversation or seems right. If you say you'll pray for someone, you better do it.
**All Scripture is quotes from the New American Standard.
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I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.
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I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.
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