This dense chapter contains the account of 600 Danite families who travel to capture and occupy some land from the Sidonians. On their way, they convince Micah’s Levite priest to come be their priest, and they also take all of the household gods and ephod with them.
“When [the Danites] had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, ‘What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?’ And he said, ‘You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, “What is the matter with you?” ‘ And the people of Dan said to him, ‘Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.’ Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.” (v22-26)
The Danites reach their desired land, conquer it, build a city, and then set up Micah’s gods, complete with priests (including the Levite Micah had hired). “And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.” (v30) Not only did Micah’s household invent false gods, the Danites stole these false gods and began to worship them as well.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, so today I wish to encourage us to clean house. I’m not meaning literally (unless you put it off too long, like I do), I’m meaning spiritually. Let’s ask the Spirit for discernment to root out any “false gods” or sin in our lives, so it may be destroyed.
It would have been far better for the Danites to destroy the household gods, but they chose to keep them. Have we inherited/stolen someone else’s sin and adopted it as our own? Perhaps the culture or some influence in our lives modeled it for us so we came by it accidentally. Unfortunately, sin is so easy to come by.
Regardless of it’s source, God sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and restore a right relationship with us. Let’s ask God to clean the sin out of our hearts, so that we may be in right relationship with Him in this important time of remembrance (Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday).
Father God, our gracious Redeemer and King, great and mighty is Your name. Father, thank you for sending Your Son to die for our sin. Jesus, thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice to redeem a wretch like me. Father please forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, for we are in desperate need of Jesus’ cleansing blood. Thank you for raising Jesus from the dead, conquering the grave, and giving us the greatest hope we could ever ask for. All honor, glory and praise be to You, O Lord God Almighty, whose steadfast love endures forever. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training