The Progression of Sin

INTRO

Our word for the book of Judges is Judge, and Jesus serves as a Judge who comes in to save. As Judge, Jesus knows we deserve punishment and death, but He chose to save us instead. Over the 300-year period of Judges, judge after judge attempted to save the people of Israel and set them free. But their attempts could not complete the process. Judges 17 provides the story of Micah, who owned 1100 pieces of silver that he had taken from his mother. He returned the silver to his mother who had a carved image made and overlaid with silver. The silver image was placed in Micah’s house as part of a shrine, and he installed one of his sons as his priest. Judges 17:6 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.” When a Levite traveled through Micah’s area, Micah hired him to be his priest. This is the backdrop for chapter 18.

TEACHING

The Danite tribe was “looking for territory to occupy." This is confusing, because the tribe of Dan was given choice, ideal land (Joshua 19:40-47), along with the other 11 tribes of Israel. Apparently, the tribe just wanted more land. We’re going to walk through the sins of the tribe of Dan.

Judges 18:1-2: Covetousness. They wanted something else than what they had already been given. In Judges 1:34, the Amorites gave the Danites opposition in taking the land they were given, so they went elsewhere. Now, in Judges 18, they sent out scouts to explore the land. Only, they went into lands that had already been allotted to other tribes. They came to the house of Micah and found the Levite at Micah’s home shrine. The spies stayed for the night.

Judges 18:3-6: Ungodly Counsel. While at Micah’s house, they received what Wiersbe refers to as “ungodly counsel.”¹ The spies recognized the Levite’s dialect and asked him why he was there (v. 3). After the Levite explained, they asked him to enquire of God if their journey would be successful (vv. 4-5). The spies unwisely accepted what the Levite told them, even though he was being paid by the other tribe (Proverbs 12:26; 16:16). Most commentators agree that this Levite was “Jonathan son of Gershom,” the grandson of Moses (v. 30). Think of the ramifications––the grandson of Moses was being paid to be Micah’s personal priest. This is treading on holy ground.

Judges 18:7-13: Violence and Murder––Part 1. The spies went to Laish, approximately 125 miles away from Micah’s house and 30 miles east of the Mediterranean Sea. There, they found the Sidonians, a “quiet and unsuspecting” people who seemed like easy prey (v. 7). In New Testament times, this was Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia. The spies returned to Dan and told the people the land was good and would be easy to take (vv. 8-9). Remember that when the spies entered the land under Moses' leadership, the Danite spy was afraid and voted not to take the land. These spies told the people that “God has handed it over to you . . . a place where nothing on earth is lacking” (v. 10). Six hundred Danites left to go into a land that wasn’t theirs (v. 11). At some point, there were many more soldiers than this in Dan (Numbers 1:38-39; 26:42-43). Possibly this was only a small army, or many of the soldiers had not survived. The army made its way to Micah’s house (vv. 12-13). These verses set up the violence and murder that will be covered below.

Judges 18:14-26: Breaking and Entering, Robbery, and Intimidation. The spies told their brothers about all the idols and goods inside Micah’s house, so they made a detour to the house, while the Danite soldiers waited at the gated entrance (vv. 14-16). The spies went into the house and took the silver-covered image, the ephod covered in stones, and the household idols (v. 17). The Levite priest asked what they were doing (v. 18). They told him to be quiet and asked if he wouldn’t rather be a priest for an entire tribe than for one person (v. 19). This was a legitimate question, because it questioned where his allegiance was. This was not a question about numbers. We have to be careful in America because we tend to evaluate the church’s success by the number of people within the church.

The Levite agreed and took his ephod, idols, and the carved image with them (v. 20). Small children, livestock, and possessions were put in front of the soldiers for safety, “because any attacks would come from the rear.”²What was happening with the

¹Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Judges (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2003), p.159.

tribe of Dan was exactly what Jacob’s prediction was for the tribe of Dan (Genesis 49:17): “a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horses’ heels so that its rider falls backward.” In chapter 18, we’re beginning to see this prophetically come about. When Micah returned home, he realized what had happened and he called the men in homes nearby to go after the Danites (v. 22). They caught up with the Danites who turned around and asked Micah why he was chasing them (v. 23). Micah asked why they had taken everything from his house (v. 24). The Danites told Micah not to raise his voice against them or they would attack him and his family would be killed (v. 25). The Danites continued on their way. Micah returned home because he realized the Danites were stronger than he was (v. 26).

Judges 18:27-29: Violence and Murder––Part 2. The Danites went on to Laish and killed the people and burned the city (v. 27). The people of Laish had no alliance with anyone so no one could help them (v. 28). The Danites rebuilt the city, named it Dan, and lived there (v. 29). They settled into an area they should never have been in. Wiersbe says there are only “three philosophes of life in today’s world” (1) ‘What’s mine is mine, I’ll keep it’; (2) ‘What’s yours is mine, I’ll take it’; and (3) ‘What’s mine is yours, I’ll share it.”³The tribe of Dan operated under the second philosophy. It started with the eyes––they wanted what they saw.

Judges 18:30-31: Idolatry. The Danites set up the carved image they had taken from Micah and worshiped it, while Jonathan son of Gershom and his sons served as priests for the Danites (vv. 30-31). Wiersbe states that “the tribe of Dan was the first tribe in Israel to officially adopt an idolatrous system of religion.”⁴(1 Kings 12:25-33). MacArthur explains that “the ark of God was far away from [the Danites], so they justified their idolatry by their distance from the rest of Israel”⁵

CLOSING

In Revelation 7:5-8, the 144,000 are not any current religion today, but are Jewish evangelists who come from the tribes of Israel. Jews from the 12 tribes will evangelize for Jesus. When you read Revelation 7:5-8, where the breakdown of the 144,000 is listed from each tribe, you’ll see that the tribe of Dan is NOT even listed. Can I prove that it’s because the tribe of Dan instituted the first idolatrous religious system within Israel? No, but I think there’s a good chance that is the case. It all started through coveting what others had. And, coveting leads to all kinds of other issues. I hope this encourages you to keep your eye on the Lord.