Judges Chapters 17 & 18
Continuing with
the first six verses of Judges 17:
And his
mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” He then returned the 1,100 pieces
of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver
from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved
image and a cast metal image…
Consider that
Micah’s mother is blessing her son in the name of Yahweh (the LORD) and is also
consecrating her silver to Yahweh so that her son can “make a carved image
and a cast metal image.” Micah’s mother is talking “God talk” but she isn’t
talking true God talk for she is not only worshipping idols, she is encouraging
her family to worship idols – all in the name of the True and Living God.
Do we see the confusion here?
Do we see that
it is possible to use Biblical language, to use Christian language, and yet not
worship the True and Living God, and yet not actually live in obedience to
Jesus Christ?
So when he returned the silver to his mother,
his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith,
who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the
house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and
household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his
priest.
It was common in
the ancient world for households to have household gods. While families would
worship and idolize the gods of their communities and nations, they would also
have family gods, gods of their own households. Of course, this was not to be
for the people of Israel, for they were to worship Yahweh and Yahweh alone, and
they were forbidden to make images to worship, they were to have no other gods
in the Presence of Yahweh. Therefore, a distinguishing feature of faithful
Israelites was that there were no idols within their homes, while such idols
were common in the homes of other peoples, they should not have been found
within the homes of Israelites.
Yet, Micah and
his mother not only saw no problem with making idols for their family, they made
these idols in the name of Yahweh; then they took things a step further, Micah
took one of his sons and made him a priest – Micah set up his own little
idolatrous religion. While other households might have their family idols, Micah’s
household would go them one better, it would have a family priest. Now we have
a family in Israel not only making idols, in violation of the Law of God, but the
family is now consecrating its own priesthood – this is in clear opposition to
Yahweh’s decree that the family of Aaron was to serve as priests and that the broader
family of Levi was to serve the Tabernacle. The actions of Micah and his mother
were without regard to the Law of God and without regard to the people of
Israel. How could this be?
It could be
because, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was
right in his own eyes.”
Is there a King
in the Kingdom of God? If so, then what we do as individuals, as families, as
congregations, as denominations or movements or ministries – ought to be done
in obedience to the King and with reference to His Kingdom. If there is a King
in the Kingdom, then our language ought to reflect that, our thinking ought to
exhibit it, our relationships with other professing Christians ought to be
under the authority of the King.
But are they? Or
have we produced our own household idols? Have we carved our own denominational
idols? Have our movements left their first love, Jesus Christ, and become
movements of self-love? Are we making our own rules and priorities? Like
ancient Israel, is everyone doing what is right in his or her own eyes? Micah
and his mother were not accountable to anyone; what about us?
Are our
denominations accountable to anyone or anything outside themselves? Our
movements? Our ministries? Our “nondenominational” congregations? Are we using “God-talk”
while all the time making idols for our households? Do we need to hear the
voice of the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration saying, “This is My Beloved
Son, hear Him!”?
O dear friends,
we are to worship Jesus Christ, to hear Jesus Christ, to obey Jesus Christ. We
are to beware of our propensity to make idols out of the good things that God
gives us; whether those things are wonderful teachers, or deeper understandings,
or blessed experiences. Micah and his mother lived in Canaan, the Promised Land
– it was in the Promised Land that they made and worshipped idols. Let us not
be so foolish as to think that the temptation toward idolatry was left behind in
Egypt – it followed us in the Wilderness and it followed us into our
inheritance, the Promised Land.
I have made my
own idols, I have made my own rules, I have made my own priesthood. I have made
things other than Jesus Christ the basis for my fellowship with other
Christians. I have not sought accountability, I have not wept for the schisms
in His Body, I have lived without reference to the universal Body of Christ. I
have been prideful regarding doctrinal distinctives, experiences, movements,
traditions, and associations with like-minded brothers and sisters.
In short, I have
made idols.
What about you?
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