Joel M Bradshaw

1There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2And 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.” 3And 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.” 4So 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. 5And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8And 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. 9And 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.”10And 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. 11And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”–Judges 17

Meet a man named Micah and his mother. They do what is right in their own eyes. Micah’s name means, “Who is like Yahweh?” This particular Micah had an answer to that question. Yahweh’s name was used in the story, but he wasn’t honored. This chapter was about a man doing whatever he wanted and thinking God was behind it and happy with him. Even if it meant stealing from his mother, setting up a household shrine with a rival object of worship, and making his son a priest. Who was like Yahweh, indeed. Evidently anything or anyone else.

Also meet a Levite who had wandered far from home looking to settle down. Nothing fishy here. We get the sense that this man of God was a wandering opportunist just looking for material support, for he takes Micah’s blasphemous offer because it seemed to good to pass up.

So who is like Yahweh? The Exodus story told us that nobody is. Yahweh delivered his people and proved a whole pantheon of rivals to be impotent. How does your life answer that question? Are you the hero of your own story? Does your life communicate submission to and trust in God or that you do whatever is right in your own eyes?–JMB