Reflections on Judges 18

Judges 18 (Contemporary English Version)

1. These things happened before kings ruled Israel. About this time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. The other tribes had land, but the people of Dan did not really have any to call their own.
   
2. The tribe chose five warriors to represent their clans and told them, "Go and find some land where we can live." The warriors left the area of Zorah and Eshtaol and went into the hill country of Ephraim. One night they stayed at Micah's house,
   
3. because they heard the young Levite talking, and they knew from his accent that he was from the south. They asked him, "What are you doing here? Who brought you here?"
   
4. The Levite replied, "Micah hired me as his priest." Then he told them how well Micah had treated him.
   
5. "Please talk to God for us," the men said. "Ask God if we will be successful in what we are trying to do."
   
6. "Don't worry," answered the priest. "The LORD is pleased with what you are doing."
   
7. The five men left and went to the town of Laish, whose people were from Sidon, but Sidon was too far away to protect them. Even though their town had no walls, the people thought they were safe from attack. So they had not asked anyone else for protection, which meant that the tribe of Dan could easily take over Laish.
   
8. The five men went back to Zorah and Eshtaol, where their relatives asked, "Did you find any land?"
   
9. "Let's go!" the five men said. "We saw some very good land with enough room for all of us, and it has everything we will ever need. What are you waiting for? Let's attack and take it. You'll find that the people think they're safe, but God is giving the land to us."
   
10. (SEE 18:9)
    
11. Six hundred men from the tribe of Dan strapped on their weapons and left Zorah and Eshtaol with their families.
    
12. One night they camped near Kiriath-Jearim in the territory of Judah, and that's why the place just west of Kiriath-Jearim is still known as Dan's Camp.
    
13. Then they went into the hill country of Ephraim. When they came close to Micah's house,
    
14. the five men who had been spies asked the other warriors, "Did you know that someone in this village has several idols and a sacred priestly vest? What do you think we should do about it?"
    
15. The six hundred warriors left the road and went to the house on Micah's property where the young Levite priest lived. They stood at the gate and greeted the priest. Meanwhile, the five men who had been there before went into Micah's house and took the sacred priestly vest and the idols. "Hey!" the priest shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
    
16. (SEE 18:15)
    
17. (SEE 18:15)
    
18. (SEE 18:15)
    
19. "Quiet!" the men said. "Keep your mouth shut and listen. Why don't you come with us and be our priest, so you can tell us what God wants us to do? You could stay here and be a priest for one man's family, but wouldn't you rather be the priest for a clan or even a whole tribe of Israel?"
    
20. The priest really liked that idea. So he took the vest and the idols and joined the others
    
21. from the tribe of Dan. Then they turned and left, after putting their children, their cattle, and the rest of their other possessions in front.
    
22. They had traveled for some time, before Micah asked his neighbors to help him get his things back. He and his men caught up with the people of Dan
    
23. and shouted for them to stop. They turned to face him and asked, "What's wrong? Why did you bring all these men?"
    
24. Micah answered, "You know what's wrong. You stole the gods I made, and you took my priest. I don't have anything left."
    
25. "We don't want to hear any more about it," the people of Dan said. "And if you make us angry, you'll only get yourself and your family killed."
    
26. After saying this, they turned and left. Micah realized there was no way he could win a fight with them, and so he went back home.
    
27. The tribe of Dan took Micah's priest and the things Micah had made, and headed for Laish, which was located in a valley controlled by the town of Beth-Rehob. Laish was defenseless, because it had no walls and was too far from Sidon for the Sidonians to help defend it. The leaders of Laish had not even asked nearby towns to help them in case of an attack. The warriors from Dan made a surprise attack on Laish, killing everyone and burning it down. Then they rebuilt the town and settled there themselves.
    
28. (SEE 18:27)
    
29. But they named it Dan, after one of Israel's sons, who was the ancestor of their tribe.
    
30. Even though the place of worship was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses. His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.
    
31. (SEE 18:30)
    

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    As mentioned with the previous chapter, these last chapters are somewhat of an epilogue to the book of Judges. The accounts in these chapters do not relate events associated with a particular judge though they no doubt occurred during the period of the judges. They serve as a commentary on the extent to which the Israelites had drawn away from God.
    
    The account of chapter 18 is of the relocation of a portion of the Danite tribe. Finding themselves cramped within the boundaries of their inheritance, a portion of the tribe went looking for a place to where they could relocate. We should not think the Lord had slighted them in not giving them a sufficient inheritance. Every tribe was given sufficient land for both their current and future needs. But for every tribe to have full access to their inheritance they had to rid their territories of the former inhabitants still residing in them. This the Danites had failed to do. Either they had not trusted God to give them victory over their enemies and did not attempt to take all their land, or they did not sufficiently rely on God in pursuit of their land and failed in their efforts to take possession.
    
    Either way points to a lack of faith and reliance on God. It would seem, therefore, that this pursuit of additional land elsewhere was a search for easy prey, and that does appear to be the case with the people of Laish, a city located in the Northeastern region of Canaan. In search of new territory to which they could move, this clan of Danites sent out 5 scouts. Early in their journey the scouts came to the house of Micah, who was mentioned in the previous chapter. There they spent a night becoming acquainted with Micah's priest, a young Levite who had moved from Bethlehem. The Danites asked him to inquire of God on their behalf to see if their journey would be successful. The priest assured them they would have success. Given the priest's disobedience to the law and even possible ignorance of the law and lack of knowledge of God, it is doubtful that his statement to the Danites was a word from God.
    
    When the Danite scouts arrived at the city of Laish they saw the people "living securely, in the same way as the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. They were far from the Sidonians, having no alliance with anyone." (18:7) To them it was a great place to live and the people easy prey which is basically how they presented it to their people when they returned home, adding that "God has handed it over to you." (18:10) Having turned to idolatry, I suspect this was more rhetoric than true knowledge.
    
    It turned out that they did indeed take the city of Laish and then rebuilt it to make it home, renaming it Dan after their tribal ancester. When the Danite warriors were traveling to take the city of Laish, they also passed the home of Micah where they stole his idols and priest, taking them with them. The priest served as priest for their clan "until the time of the exile from the land. " (18:30) It is uncertain to which exile this refers. Under this priest, the new city of Dan became a center of idolatrous worship.
    
    As is usually the case, the Danites didn't turn away from God to become an irreligious people. Few people, if any, have no faith system of any kind. The Danites turned away from God and to other gods represented by the idols, evidently desiring something they could see as the object of their worship. Never mind that this object of their worship was an inanimate object of wood or stone.