GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
JUDGES 17:5-6
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine to God, and he made an ephod and some idols, and ordained one of his sons to be his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did whatever seemed right in his own eyes.
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1:5 “idols” Hebrew teraphim, small human-shaped idols used for divining and supposedly giving oracles.
We don’t know how much time passed while the events of verse 5 transpired. Was Micah still a boy in his mother’s house when he stole from her? If so, he was now married and had a son old enough to take on pseudo-priestly duties in his father’s shrine. The eleven hundred pieces of silver (minus the 200 in verse 4) had by now become a kind of endowment for the perpetual care of this little chapel.
On the surface, someone could be led to think, “How wonderful! This family wanted to be closer to God, and so they set up an altar just like the great patriarchs did.” And this is partly correct. Abraham did build an altar (Gen. 22:9; James 2:21); as did Isaac (Gen. 26:25) and Jacob (Gen. 35:1). But after Jacob’s son Joseph died, God raised up Moses the prophet, and through Moses the Lord God changed the way sacrifice was to be done in Israel. Household altars were done away with, and one altar was to be used in Israel, the altar of the tabernacle. As we have already pointed out, that altar was here in the hill country of Ephraim at this time, at Shiloh (Judges 18:31). Although it may have moved around somewhat in the past, it was in one place now, and it was very close by to this family.
As time went by, Micah ordained one of his sons to serve as the priest of his private shrine. The word “ordained” here is the same as we find in Leviticus 16:32, 21:10 and other places, where his “hand is filled.” When this happened, a priest begins the work of making sacrifices, praying, and blessing the people, all of which include the use of the hands. The young priest unquestioningly obeyed the instructions of his father and grandmother. Notice that there is no mention whatever as to who Micah’s father was. Usually that detail was always included in the Bible as a sign of respect for the man’s family; here it is omitted as if out of shame for what happened.
The collection of religious artifacts shows us that Micah’s shrine had crossed the line (to use Professor Lawrenz’ term) from the acceptable to the unacceptable. There was a carved image and a silver idol (17:4), a shrine, an ephod, “some (more) idols (teraphim), and an Ephraimite priest ordained by his own family (17:5).
First, there was a shrine to God, a beth-el or “house of God.” This was a private shrine. There are Christians who have a small family altar even today. In this case, the shrine was at best questionable. If it had not had an altar, but was simply a house of private prayer and teaching, then it would have been acceptable. However, joined with the other items in the list, it became an abomination to God.
The ephod was a garment like a vest to be worn in connection with the true tabernacle; this one was also an abomination since it was fashioned to circumvent the ephod of Israel’s true high priest. At this time, earlier in the period of the judges, the high priest was probably either the Uzzi or his father Bukki mentioned in the genealogy of Ezra (Ezra 7:4). At some point near this time, the straight line of descent among the high priests changed from Aaron’s son Eleazar (which included Bukki and Uzzi) to the line of Aaron’s son Ithamar (beginning with or at least including Eli later in the days of the judges; see also 1 Chronicles 24:1-6). Could the death of a sonless high priest have thrown Israel into enough confusion and turmoil for some families to have sought their own priestly lines? Remember that at about the same time, the judge Gideon also made his own ephod, which became an idolatrous temptation for his family (Judges 8:27).
The carved idol (pesel) was probably made of wood and then overlaid with gold. This was exactly what Aaron had made for Israel at Mount Sinai, and Micah’s was probably a calf-image just like Aaron’s. Perhaps a terribly faulty family memory of that story led to this creation. Remember that families and individuals did not have their own Bibles. What would your knowledge of worship be like if you only made it to Sunday school a few times and then became the religious leader of your whole family?
The silver idol was a solid silver casting. This may have been smaller but far more costly and precious than the carved idol. The basic idea of a metal cast is to carve an image in some soft, easily destroyed material like wax. This image is then packed in something much firmer and more solid, like a mixture of sand and clay known as green sand. When molten silver is poured into the cast, the wax is destroyed, but when the silver cools, the shape is retained from the green sand, and then the item is finished.
The “other” idols were teraphim, small human-shaped statues (often of one’s dead relatives, about the size of a Barbie doll or a G.I. Joe) used for divination (1 Samuel 15:23). In later Roman times, these became known as penates or “household gods” and were common throughout the whole Roman empire. They were so important to private pagan worship that Virgil makes a point to tell us that King Priam was killed not only in front of his sons, but in front of his household gods (Aeneid II,51-52).
Like the carved idols and cast idols, the teraphim or household gods were forbidden by the first commandment. God commanded Moses: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6). This law and gospel presentation is so key to understanding our relationship with God and his will that Martin Luther included it as the “conclusion to the commandments;” God’s own explanation of his Law.
This is the first time that our author says that everyone did what seemed right in his own eyes (NIV “as he saw fit”), but it won’t be the last time. It’s here to emphasize that this direction in the worship life of the people was not at all what God had in mind or what pleased God. God is not pleased when we do whatever makes us happy. God is not pleased when we do anything we like “as long as no one gets hurt.” That might be a kindergarten rule, but it’s not God’s law. He wants us to obey him, keep his commands, and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our forgiveness and salvation. When Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, what do you want to say to him? “Lord, I did what I pleased,” or, “Lord, I did what you pleased?” Our help and our hope don’t come from within us. Our help “comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8).
Martin Luther explained: “God threatens to punish all who transgress these commandments. Therefore we should fear his anger and not disobey what he commands. But he promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments. Therefore we should love and trust in him and gladly obey what he commands.” (Small Catechism, Conclusion to the Ten Commandments).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota