February 5, 2024

The following story continues my post from yesterday. Have you ever known the right thing to do but because you saw your friends in sinful behavior, decided to engage in such? I have! When I was much younger and more easily persuaded and not as strong in the Lord, I followed my friend in destructive behavior. I knew it was wrong, but I still participated. That is the jest of this next chapter in Judges. A faction from the tribe of Dan needed more land and decided to overtake a small city in an area of plenty. They sent spies to see if they could stamp them out. On their way there, they passed Micah’s home and recognized the Levite, who was Micah’s priest. They wanted him to ask God whether they would successfully overtake the city. He told them to go in peace that the Lord was with them. The spies told the rest of the family about Micah, his idols, and his priest. Knowing it was wrong to have idols, they decided to steal them and persuade the Levite priest to go with them to become priests for a community of people rather than one man. He happily agreed. They were too strong for Micah; he could do nothing about it. They came to the city, killed all the people, and burned it down. Jonathan, a grandson of Manasseh, and his sons were priests for the new city of Dan until it was taken captive. It doesn’t say how long before their captivity, but you can bet God allowed it because they were thieves and had set up idols in their town. Sin never pays off.

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. Judges 18:30-31