Judges 17:7-13- Two Discontented Men Find An Opportunity Together

There are three scenes taking place in Judges 17-18 and two of those scenes are recorded in Judges 17. I would like to read both of those scenes this morning. It says, “There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, ‘Where do you come from?’ And he said to him, ‘I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.’ And Micah said to him, ‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.’ And the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.’”

In Judges 13:24-25 we see that Samson enjoyed many blessings from the LORD, “And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him…”.

• Samson’s birth was a miracle,

• he was a healthy and growing,

• he experienced blessings of God,

• and the Holy Spirit was stirring his heart for the mission he was given.

You expect that because Samson was blessed like this from the LORD that he would have been content and focused on His mission. (v.5,7) Samson, however, was not content and he was not focused on his mission. On the contrary, Samson sought contentment in the things of the world and these pursuits negatively effected him and the nation of Israel. (2:16-17)

Similarly, we see that this same sort of dis-contentedness is in all three scenes of this story that is recorded in Judges 17-18. In all three of these scenes everyone is discontented, but they will not look to the LORD.

In Judges 17:1-6 we see that Micah was born into a high class family that had lots of money. Because of this, you would have thought that this man would be content but he wasn’t. Application: Isn’t this like so many of us in America who enjoy so many blessings but are discontented. This dis-contentedness has spiritual roots that most fail to address. (Philippians 4:11-13) 

Micah was a covetous and greedy man who hid these sins behind the cloak of religion. Micah is like the religious people in Jesus’ day to whom He said, “You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39) Like many today, Micah believes that his pursuit of religion will obligate the LORD to make him prosper. Yet, Micah is not careful to pursue the LORD according to the Scriptures, but like most people in Israel at this time, he does what is right in his own eyes. (17:6)

The greed and covetousness that we see in Micah would be enough to disqualify any New Testament elder or deacon from serving in the local church. (1 Timothy 3:3, 3:8) And yet, there are many Micah type people in these positions today. This is sad because the Scriptures warn us often about the reality of this danger. (2 Peter 2:3, Jude 1:4, 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, Ezrekiel 13:9)

Micah engaged in these idolatrous practices because he believed that this would obligate God to bless him, not just with wealth, but in many other ways. Look at Judges 17:13, “Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.’”. Let me make six observations about this verse.

• First, when we read, “Then Micah said”, we should remember what Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Micah has an idolatrous and sinful heart from which he thinks, acts, and speaks.

• Second, Micah thinks that he is wise in his own eyes, but he is worse than a fool. Micah is convinced, apart from the Scriptures, that he knows what is true, saying, “Now I know”. Because of this, if you tried to convince him otherwise he would say, “I know the truth, I am not stupid, I know what I am talking about. I don’t need you to tell me that!” Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Imagine what this looks like in Israel, when everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes!

• Third, Micah says, ‘Now I know’. Right now Micah is content and confident of God’s blessing, but he is looking at the carrot dangled before him that he can never catch through this sort of legalism. All God’s blessings are by grace! Any trust put in these subjective things, and not the objective Word of God, will lead to discontentment and despair.

• Fourth, because Micah is wise in his own eyes, he is presumptuous and overly confident about things that are not true, saying, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me...”. False religion always over promises, but under delivers

• Fifth, Micah reveals that he is self-centered, saying, “...the Lord will prosper me (masculine singular), because I have (singular)…”. Micah is not focused upon the LORD, but upon himself; therefore he does not have real faith which always looks to Christ.

• Sixth, Micah believes he is obligating the LORD to prosper him, saying, “...the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” Micah’s idolatry will bring the curse of God’s law, not the blessing of God. Micah believed he was earning wages from God which would obligate God to give him joy, happiness, and contentment., but he is storing up wrath for the day of judgment.

Since Micah is inclined towards religious things, maybe this is why his mother is so quick to use the silver that he had taken from her to create a shrine, household gods, and an ephod that would be put in Micah’s home.

This family is nothing like Samuel’s parents who faithfully went to the Tabernacle to seek God and His Word.(1 Samuel 1) This family does not go to the Tabernacle and worship God in appropriate ways. No, they do church at home by themselves just like many today.

In Judges 17:7, in the second scene in this story, we are introduced to another discontented person, “Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.” Like Samson, this young Levite likes to wander away from where he was supposed to be because he is not content with the station that God had given to him.

We’re told that this young man ‘sojourned’ in Bethlehem. He is a ‘sojourner’ because a Levite would not normally be found living in Bethlehem. Samson was more comfortable among the Philistines than he was among God’s people, and this Levite was not content to live among the Levites. Therefore, he leaves his home and he becomes a ‘sojourner’. (Note: this is scriptures testimony of him!) Detached from these things, his heart wanders away from the LORD and His Word. (Proverbs 18:1)

As a Levite this man would have some connection to the Kenites who also lived in the land of Judah. The Kenites were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law who came into the Promised Land with Israel. They lived about 20 miles away from Bethlehem, but this Levite wants to separate from all familiar ties. He is like the faithless and godless who say, “Let us burst their bods apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Ps. 2:3) Like many professing Christians today, this man is separating himself from God and the community that God had placed him in. This is very dangerous.

Question: Someone might wonder, “Was it really so wrong for this man to do this?”

It would be easy to try to justify or explain away what is being done. After all, this young man is not like Heber the Kenite that we studied back in Judges 4:17. Heber moved far away from the Kenites and then made peace with Israel’s enemy! We all knew that what he did was wrong, but this Levite is not doing that! No, he is living among God’s people in Israel, so what is so wrong with that? Well…

• Like the tribe of Dan in Judges 18 this man is abandoning the inheritance that God had given him. By leaving his tribe he is ignoring the responsibility he had to serve the LORD as a priest for Israel.

• He is ignoring, abandoning, and rejecting the instruction that God has given to the Levites who were to learn the Word of God, to live it, and to teach it to Israel. (Ezra 7:10)

• As a result of these things, this man will become apostate and form a whole new false system of religious worship that will lead many other people away from the LORD for a very long time. (Judges 18:30-31)

• Finally, it is the testimony of the Holy Spirit that this man is a ‘sojourner’! This could be the testimony of so many professing Christians today.

Last week we saw that Micah had come from a faithful line of godly men like Joseph and Joshua, but he didn’t follow their example. Similarly, this Levite descended from the lineage of Moses (18:30) and could have followed his example of faith, but he won’t.

Because we live in a sinful world there are plenty of places were this ‘sojourning’ Levite’s can find a place where his sin will be encouraged and rewarded. Because of this, when this man becomes a ‘sojourner’ he will find opportunities to practice his idolatry. We see this in Judges 17:8-10, “And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, ‘Where do you come from?’ And he said to him, ‘I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.’ And Micah said to him, ‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.’” Let me make four observations about these words.

Observation#1: We read, “And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place.”. If we are looking for some sign of good news, this may speak well of the people who lived in Bethlehem. The fact that he does not, or could not, stay there may imply that Bethlehem was no place for a man like this. Maybe the people in Bethlehem did not give this young man an opportunity to put down roots in their midst. Maybe they challenged him by asking, ‘Why are you here and not with your people?’ Or maybe they said, ‘Where have you gotten these strange ideas that you are speaking about? They are not found in the scriptures!’

Application: A church that loves God and His Word will not be a comfortable place for people like this young man. They may come and stay for a while but two things will happen. They will get bored with the Word of God and move on. Or when they try to introduce false teaching it will be detected and addressed.

Observation#2: There is also some encouragement that this man had to search to find a place for an opportunity. Wouldn’t it have been sad if this man found his opportunity in the next town down from Bethlehem. (Or the next church down the street!) Instead, he had to travel 30 miles to the hill country of Ephraim to find this opportunity.

Observation #3: This also makes us consider the tenacity of this man’s desire to find a place where he could sin and do what was right in his own eyes. He did not give up and return home. No, he kept looking for an opportunity and eventually he found it. If our hearts are inclined to sin we will eventually have an opportunity to do so. Application: Idolators, sinners, and legalistic people are some of the most faithful and hard working people you will ever meet. They need to see our example of being a people of grace and truth, holiness, righteousness, and faith in Christ, and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Observation #4: This man’s opportunity comes when he meets another discontented man named Micah. As they begin to talk, they realize that they can help each other in their sin. Both are religious, but neither is looking to the LORD or to His Word.

Micah offers this man a job with benefits. Do you think Micah had to think real hard about this opportunity? No, verse 10 says, ‘And the Levite went in...’. He doesn’t seek God’s counsel in His word or pray for wisdom. He sees the opportunity and he immediately goes through that open door and probably thanks God for this good Providence. And yet, (Proverbs 19:2- “Desire without knowledge misses the way, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses the way.”)

For now, this Levite found a home to settle into, a family to be a part of, a job to profit from, and an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Therefore, we read in verse 11, “And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.” For the moment, this man was content, but this contentment would only be temporary until a better opportunity presents itself.

In verses 12-13 we read these words, “And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” Don’t you just cringe to read the words, “Micah ordained the Levite…”.

Micah had ordained his son in 17:5 but when something better came along he deposed him. What would cause Micah to do this? We read what his motivation was at the end, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” The LORD was not blessing Micah then, and He will not bless him now.

There are many today who see religion as a way to provide them prosperity, some advantage, some good, some insurance policy, or some contentment in this life; but despite these things God is not known, His Word is not loved, and there is no saving faith present in their hearts.

As we come to the communion table today let us remember Hebrews 13:9-15 which says, “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”