During the time the judges ruled Israel, law and order was left in the hands of people and as scripture records, in those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25). Different people were raised by God to lead the Israelites and others were self-made rulers like Abimelek. Today we shall consider a mother’s seemingly good intention which was evil and led the people to worship other gods. Scripture doesn’t mention the name of this woman. The name of her son is mentioned and so we will refer to her as Micah’s mother. This woman seemed rich and had enough shekels of silver. This is how their story begins: “Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!” (Judges 17:1-2). The Bible doesn’t state that Micah stole the silver but he had in his possession the same silver his mother was looking for. In fact, the woman even uttered a curse because her silver was missing. The details of the curse are not given. Surprisingly, the woman seemed just content when Micah confessed that he had the silver. She even blessed Micah for that. What were they going to do with the silver? The value of that silver in 2023 would be over 10,000 USD. So that would have been a lot of investment then. So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. (Judges 17:4) However Micah’s mother had a different plan. The woman’s intention was to give the silver back to God. That seemed like a good plan but her implementation of the plan went wrong. “When [Micah] returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.” So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.” (Judges 17:3-4). Anytime I read this scripture, I am amazed that a dedication to God was actually something God had sternly warned the people not to do. God’s command against idolatry has and would not change. In both Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8, the command against idolatry is clearly spelt out. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Exodus 20:4) “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Deuteronomy 5:8) Subsequently, the idols Micah’s mother commissioned were never to God. The spiritual perversion caused by these idols was so great. The woman’s son took the idolatry a step further. Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest (Judges 17:5). Later, he installed a young Levite as priest over the idols. Some time later, the Danites (the tribe of Dan, son of Jacob) had envoys in search of land and the envoys came across the Levite priest and the idols. Subsequently, the Danites carried both the priest and the idols to their new home. To the Danites, it was better that the Levite serve a tribe and clan in Israel as a priest rather than just one man’s household (Judges 18:19). So a whole clan prostituted themselves with the idols Micah’s mother commissioned. The idolatry was no more a household sin but a territorial sin. They forsook God and turned to idols made with silver. In so doing, the people activated all the curses concerning idolatry. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists these curses. The poignant idolatry initiated by Micah’s mother was established and when the Danites finally moved to their own land, they set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh (Judges 18:30-31). So for generations, a woman’s good intent became a snare for a whole people group. Like Micah’s mother, sometimes we set out to do something good but the result could be man gratifying rather than serving God’s purpose. Don’t be in a hurry to raise idols in the name of serving God. If care is not taken, the same gift you received from God will become an idol serving your interests rather than serving God. Search your heart before you make any commitment. It is better to worship God in your little corner than to commission a territorial idol. God hates idolatry!
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