Judges 18- The Tribe of Dan Seeks an Inheritance

In Judges 17:1-6 we had two reasons for hope that Micah might be a faithful man. Unfortunately, Micah did not have faith in God or His Word. (2-5) As we come to the final scene in this story we read in Judges 18:1, “In those days there was no king in Israel.” These words should temper our expectation that this story will have a happy ending. By now we have become familiar with the sentence, “In those day there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”. Any part of this sentence does not signal that something good is about to happen. (14:3, 16:6)

After this we read these words, “And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.”

In Judges 13:24-25 Samson was being stirred by God for the mission that he was given. However, when this happened he did not respond well. He had a spiritual stirring, but he pursued worldly things. Similarly, the Tribe of Dan is being stirred, “Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in”.

Question: How will the Tribe of Dan respond when they are being stirred like this? They should look to the LORD in faith; but they’ve always lacked faith in God’s promises. Remember Judges 1:34, “The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.”

Application: God will stir our hearts but our flesh will seek to fulfill this longing in inappropriate ways. (Psalm 77:1-2, Luke 8:4-15) When Satan tempted Jesus, He responded faithfully and did not sin. This is what the Spirit enables believers to do. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Question: Dan has this stirring, so does this mean that they will turn to the LORD in repentance and faith and take the land they had been given? Let’s read, Judges 18:2, “So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.”

Notice the words, “So the people of Dan sent five able men.…”. These men are called without repenting, praying, or seeking God’s will in His Word. Dan is not seeking the LORD at this time.

• Observation #1: In Judges 13-16 we saw that Samson looked a lot like the tribe of Dan. Now Dan picks five men who are a good representative of the spiritual condition of the tribe. We’re not told that they were men of faith, courage, and wisdom.

• Observation #2: These spies are given bad instructions, “Go and explore the land”. (2) They’re told to go outside of Israel to find an inheritance. Dan lacks faith in God’s promise so they ‘do what is right in their own eyes’. What an insult to the LORD who’d given them an inheritance in the Promised Land.

Let’s read verses 3-6, “When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, ‘Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?’ And he said to them, ‘This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.’ And they said to him, ‘Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.’ And the priest said to them, ‘Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.’”

The spies came to the house of Micah and they recognized the voice of this young Levite. Warning: These spies can discern his dialect, but not the errors of his words. Application: They’re like those who go to a faithless church because they like something more than the accurate preaching of the Gospel.

The spies ask, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” In Judges 17:7-13 we said that Bethlehem might have questioned this Levite like this and it caused him to leave; but their questions will not effect this Levite because he is accepted by Micah.

In response Micah says, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” These words contain reasons to reject this Levite, but these spies assume that the Providence of God had brought them to this young man (too young to be a priest probably) and they say, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”

Observation: The Levite’s response to their questions contained no faith building truths; nevertheless, they will believe and act upon his words. Application: Most of the words we hear around us are faith destroying and conscience hardening and they can effect us greatly.

Micah would have used the ephod to pronounce this blessing which would help make his pronouncement appear legitimate as he says, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.” (17:5) These men did not go to the Tabernacle to inquire of God, but they will presume that this word is from the LORD.

Two Observations: First, this happened in the hill country of Ephraim. (18:2) Second, this Levite is apostate but they listen to him. This idolatry will expand later when the kingdom of Israel is divided. At that time, Jeroboam will go to the hill country of Ephraim (this same area) and make two idolatrous calves, saying, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:28) One calf gets put in Bethel, the other is put in Dan (the city that we are going to read about today in 18:29-31). Application: Micah’s idols will be removed but their idolatrous hearts will remain unchanged. Only through repentance and faith is the root of idolatry removed. Dan is ruined by this idolatry, but later many tribes will be.

In verse 7 we read, “Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.” Surly they are saying, “Look what God is providing!”

These spies traveled 150 miles to get to Laish and they were weary, but all was forgotten when they saw how people of Laish lived in safety, quietness, had no lack, and they were isolated from others. Observation: A person of faith acts upon God’s promises even if it seems impossible. The faithless will need all of these favorable conditions to act from their own power.

Verses 8-10 says, “And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, ‘What do you report?’ They said, ‘Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.” Though they have traveled 150 miles, none of their excitement diminished and they said, “Arise…the land is very good…they are an unsuspecting people...God has given it into your hands, (long discussion about what had happened at Micah’s home) a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

In the middle of all of these motivating words the question is asked, “And will you do nothing?” This phrase characterizes this tribe in the Book of Judges. Dan has been absent from every battle in this book. They have been a ‘do-nothing tribe’. Application: These spies stir up their flesh; not their faith. Similarly, there are many people in church want their flesh stirred up and not their faith.

Let’s read verses 11-13, “So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.”

After this rousing speech only 600 men gather! (11) Some say this is a remnant of Dan. Others suggest that this is a sign of how significantly this tribe has declined under the oppression of the Philistines. In the past, Dan had been one of the largest tribes in all of Israel (Numbers 1:36-38, 26:2, 42-43).

Let’s read verses 14-20, “Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, ‘Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.’ And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare. Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, ‘What are you doing?’ And they said to him, ‘Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?’ And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.”

Isn’t it amazing that the one thing that causes these 600 men to stop their journey to get an inheritance is to get Micah’s idols! Did you see how many times in this text we read about an ephod, the household gods, the carved image, and the metal image? Four times in seven verses!

This Levite left the Levitical cities and lived in Bethlehem. He left Bethlehem to look for another opportunity. Now he has another opportunity, “Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”. (Here is one reason I believe this is the whole Tribe. And Judges 18:2, “So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol…”.

In verses 21-26 we read, “So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them. When they 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.”

As Dan leave Micah’s house they put their families, their livestock, and their goods in front of them. They know that Micah will be coming. When he arrives they speak to him as if they had done nothing wrong, saying, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” Micah replies, “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?” Observation: The words, ‘my gods that I have made’, are the words spoken by an idolatrous heart. Our sin nature wants a dod we can fashion as we like.

Micah has put all his hope in the ‘gods’ that he made. Micah, is like so many who put all their hope in their money, their career, their possessions, and their relationships. When these are taken Micah can only say, “What have I left?” That is the sad cry of a person whose faith shifts away from God to other things. In verse 30 we see that in the future Dan will lose everything and say, “What have I left?” If you’ve not read Ray’s book, Diagnosing A Shifting Faith, please do so.

Finally let’s read verses 27-31, “But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.  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. So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.”

Verse 27 begins with the words, “But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him…”. The verb ‘took’ can be translated as, “to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, snatch, take away”. All of these words convey what has gone on here, but there is another word that can be used which is better. The word ‘took’ can be translated, “to marry, take a wife, to take by the hand”. This adulterous tribe is uniting their hearts to these idols and this young Levites false ways. They are commit adultery against the LORD, rejecting their inheritance, and commiting adultery with these gods.

When you come to the end of this story you see the enslaving power of sin and idolatry. This sin will enslave them for generations. Ever since the Fall, everyone has been born dead in trespasses and sins. They are without hope and without God in this world and they make other things their god. However, when the kindness and mercy of God came He saved sinners and free them from these things. Our story ends in despair, but there is hope in the Promise of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to set us free to serve the LORD. (Romans 5:10, 6:6-7) Sinners are faithless, but God is faithful concerning his promises. Have you repented of your idolatry and turned to the LORD Jesus Christ in faith?