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

Today we will look at the second scene so let’s read Judges 17:7-13, “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.’”

Think back for a moment to what we saw in Judges 13:24-14:3 when we considered Samson. We saw in Judges 13:24-25 that Samson enjoyed many gracious gifts. There we read these words, “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…”. Here we see that...

• Samson’s birth was a miracle,

• he was a healthy and growing,

• he experienced blessings of God,

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

Because the Lord blessed Samson with these things you would expected that Samson would have been content with the calling that he had and that he would have been able to be focused upon His mission. (v.5,7) And yet, most of the story regarding Samson was about how he did not enjoy contentment and he was not able to focus on the mission that God had given him. Instead, Samson’s sought his contentment and enjoyment in the things of the world. Throughout that story, Samson was characterized as a person who was driven by fleshly appetites; therefore, he pursued sinful things. As a result, sadly, Samson’s pursuits negatively affected him and the nation of Israel that he was called to judge.

In a similar way, this is happening in all three scenes of the story in Judges 17-18. In each of these scenes people are discontented. But instead of finding their contentment in pursuing in faith the LORD’s will, they all seek contentment in idolatrous and sinful ways.

Let’s go back for a moment and reflect a little more about that first scene in Judges 17:1-6. We saw that Micah was born into a high-class family with lots of money, but he was not enjoying any contentment. Application: Doesn’t this sound like so many of us in America! We enjoy so many blessings, but we are often anxious and discontented.

Micah’s dis-contentedness shows up in two ways. First, he has a religious disposition, but he is not interested in finding his contentment in God and His Word. Instead, he tries to obtain contentment by doing what is right in his own eyes and creating a whole new idolatrous and religious system. Secondly, we see that Micah was discontented because he wanted the LORD to prosper him. Because he was already wealthy, we can assume that the prosperity that he wanted from the LORD was broader than just wealth. (7:13)

When we were introduced to Micah in Judges 1:1-6 we saw that Micah had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother. Let me ask you some questions regarding this.

• Did Micah do this because he was greedy and covetousness, or was there something more going on with him?

• Did Micah steal that silver so that he could start a business?

• Like the ‘Prodigal Son’ (Luke 15:11-32) did he want to travel to a far-away land to spend it on reckless living?

• Did he want to buy influence or status with it?

• Did he want to use it to obtain citizenship in some other powerful nation?”

Micah does not appear to be motivated by these things in this story. He is a covetous and greedy man, but he cloaks these things in religion. He believes that he can pursue religion, and many other good things will be added unto him. Observation: What Micah is doing is far different than what Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:33, saying, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.” Jesus is teaching that faith is seen in those who look to the LORD and find their contentment in Him and His provision. They are not anxious about their lives, what they will eat or drink, or what they will wear.

Micah will be an example of what Jesus condemns, saying in Matthew 6:31-33, “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Instead of seeking after God in the way that God has prescribed, Micah invents new and idolatrous ways to practice his religion. And when he does this, he says in 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 five observations about this verse.

• First, when we read, “Then Micah said”, we should remember what Jesus says 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’s got a idolatrous and sinful heart from which he acts and speaks.

• Second, Proverbs 26:12 which says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Micah is a man who thinks that he is wise, but he is worse than a fool. Micah is convinced, apart from the Scriptures, that he knows what truth is, saying, “Now I know”. If you were to try to convince him otherwise with the Scriptures he would say, “I know the truth, I am not stupid, I know what I am talking about!”

• Third, because Micah is wise in his own eyes, he is presumptuous about things that are not true, saying, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me...”.

• Fourth, when Micah speaks he reveals that he is self-centered and self-righteous, saying, “...the Lord will prosper me (masculine singular), because I have (singular)…”. He is not concerned about doing something that will bless his family or community. Nor is he concerned about the harm that this may do to them either. All he cares about is if he will prosper.

• Fifth, Micah believes that what he is doing will make him prosper by the hand of the LORD. Scripture clearly teaches that idolatry will bring the curse of God’s law upon the idolator, not the blessing of God. Micah believed that the LORD was pleased with these things that he had done; therefore, he believed the LORD would do good to him. He believed he was earning God’s favor and so he would experience joy, happiness, and contentment from His hand. Application: Micah is like so many today who think God is all love and they have no concept of the wrath of God which is against their sin.

Micah seems to have an inclination towards religious things. Perhaps this is why his mother is so quick to use the silver that he returned to her to create these religious idols. Together they create a shrine, household gods, and an ephod and put in Micah’s home. Then Micah ordains his own son to be a priest! This family is nothing like Samuel’s parents who faithfully go to the Tabernacle to seek God and receive his blessing.(1 Samuel 1) No, this family does not want to be burdened to go to the Tabernacle and worship God there in appropriately ordained ways; therefore, they do church at home by themselves and do what is right in their own eyes.

In Judges 17:7, in the second scene in this story, we are introduced to another discontented person. We read, “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 from place to place instead of being content in the station that God had given to him and his tribe. He is like a pastor that is continually looking for a better opportunity, a big instead of remaining where God has called him.

We are told that this young man was a Levite who ‘sojourned’ in Bethlehem among the families of Judah (or among the clans of Judah). He is a sojourner because a Levite would not normally be found wandering around or coming to live in a place like Bethlehem. Like Samson, who seemed to be more comfortable among the Philistines than among God’s people, this man is not content to live in one of the 48 cities given to the Levites. He leaves his home, his tribe, and the mission that they had been given and he becomes a sojourner. Because he detaches himself from these things he not only wanders away physically, but his heart also starts to wander away from truth. (Proverbs 18:1)

As a Levite this man would have some connection to the Kenites who lived in the land of Judah. The Kenites were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law who came into the Promised Land and lived in the Negeb near Arad. Their location was about 20 miles away from where this man was sojourning in Bethlehem. This Levite does not go to live among them; therefore, he appears to be like other faithless and godless people say, “Let us burst their bods apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Ps. 2:3)

Question: Was it really so wrong that this man did this?

It would be easy to try to justify what is being done or exuse it away. After all, this young man is not like Heber the Kenite that we studied back in Judges 4:17. That man moved far away from the Kenites and then made peace with Israel’s enemy! Unlike Heber, this man is not choosing to sojourn among Israel’s enemies. No, he is living among God’s people in Israel. Since this is the case, we might wonder what is so wrong or sinful about what he is doing? Well…

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

• This young man 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 the others in 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 affect many other people for a very long time. (Judges 18:30-31)

Last week we saw that Micah came from a long faithful line of godly men like Joseph and Joshua, but he will not follow their example. Similarly, this Levite descended from the lineage of Moses. (18:30) This man could have followed after Moses’ great example of faith, but he won’t do this. Because of his discontentment this man will seek an opportunity and a path that seemed right in his own eyes.

Ever since Adam and Eve fell we have lived in a sinful world where there are plenty of places were sin will be encouraged and rewarded. Because of this, when this man sets out and becomes a sojourner, he will find opportunities to practice his idolatry and do what is right in his eyes. This opportunity reveals itself 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 you're living.’”

Observation#1: We’re told that this man leaves Bethlehem looking for an opportunity, “And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place.”. 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 to stay for very long. Maybe the people in that town 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 as the LORD had commanded you?’ Or maybe they would say, ‘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 that is central to that congregation and move on. Or they will try to introduce false teaching into that congregation, and it will be detected and addressed.

Observation#2: If there is some encouragement about the condition in Israel at this time it may be found in the fact that this man has 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. This man had to travel 30 miles to the hill country of Ephraim to find this opportunity. He had to travel through many settlements to get to the place where he could find this opportunity.

Observation #3: If this young man left Bethlehem because there was no opportunity, and if he kept sojourning for over 30 miles, 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 could have given up and returned home but he didn’t. Instead, he kept looking for an opportunity and eventually he will find it. If our hearts are inclined to sin, we will eventually an opportunity to do so. Instead of making a habit of looking for an opportunity to sin, or instead of moving farther away from godly and faithful people (Heb. 10:25), we should make a habit of repenting and turning to the LORD.

Observation #4: This man’s opportunity comes when he meets another discontented man named Micah. As these two men 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. They both find an opportunity to do what is right in their own eyes, not what is pleasing to him.

Micah offers this young man a job with benefits. He offers him an opportunity to be part of his family as his family's priest. Do you think Micah had to think really hard about this opportunity? No, we read at the end of verse 10, ‘And the Levite went in...’. He doesn’t seek God’s counsel in His word. He does not pray for wisdom. He sees the opportunity that he wanted, and he goes through that open door.

When he did this, we are told that he found a home to settle into, a family to be a part of, a job to profit from, an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Then we read these words 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. It will only last till 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.”

To be honest, I cringe at the words, “Micah ordained the Levite…”. Micah had done this to his son in 17:5 but when something better came along, he deposed his son and this young Levite took his place. 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.”

Many today are like the main characters in this story. There are many who see religion as a beneficial way to provide them with prosperity, some advantage, or some good. In the end, God is not known, His Word is not loved, and there is no saving faith in such people. Let us remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Religious people do not find salvation, but people who have turned away from doing what is right int their own eyes and humbly confess Jesus as LORD will be saved.