This chapter begins with another reference to the fact that there was no king in Israel then (cf. 17:6). The writer reminded us again that the Israelites were living unrestrained lives. Abundant evidence of this follows in chapter 18.
"The nation needs no king to lead them in battle or into apostasy. They will do both on their own."319
In verse 1 the NASB and NIV translators have implied that the following incident happened before the Danites had received their tribal inheritance (Josh. 19:40-48). If true, this statement would date the incident that follows during the days of Joshua. The AV and NKJV versions imply that the Danites had not yet subdued and fully occupied their allotted tribal territory. In this case the incident probably happened after Joshua's death. Most of the commentators prefer the latter view.320In either case the incident shows the Danites' dissatisfaction with their condition. They either did not wait for God to give them what He had promised (cf. Josh. 13:1-7), or they were unwilling to fight the Amorites so they could inhabit it (cf. 1:34). They felt that they did not have an adequate inheritance. They then sent a group of five men to investigate the possibilities of other land that might be available to them in other parts of Canaan.
"They clearly felt that the boundary lines had not fallen for them in pleasant places' (Ps 16:6). Their desire to move revealed a lack of faith in the Lord who had allotted to them their original territory."321
The center of Danite activity was then between Zorah and Eshtaol, the area where Samson grew up. However this incident seems to have antedated Samson's judgeship. Previously Moses and later Joshua had sent spies before them (Num. 13; Josh. 2).322There is no reference to God's leading the Danites to send spies, however. In view of what follows this decision seems to have lacked divine initiative.
When these representatives happened to come to Micah's house, they recognized the distinctive voice of his Levite (v. 3). After learning what he was doing there, the Danites explained their mission and asked the Levite to inquire from Yahweh whether their journey would be successful (v. 5). The tabernacle was just a few miles from Micah's house, and the Danites should have gone there if they wanted to know God's will. The Levite, perhaps using Micah's ephod, announced God's approval of their mission (v. 6). In view of his own relationship to God it is doubtful that he really received an answer from Yahweh. Moreover in view of what the soldiers proceeded to do their plan was definitely not in harmony with God's will.
The five Danites continued northward about 100 miles and finally came upon an area they felt would be ideal for their needs. They discovered the isolated town of Laish (Leshem, Josh. 19:47) that they believed they could capture fairly easily.323It occupied a beautiful location on the southwestern foothills of Mt. Hermon.
"Unlike most Canaanite cities of the time, Laish was not defended by stone walls but by huge ramparts consisting of alternating layers of soil from the surrounding region and debris from previous settlements."324
"The Bible refers to the country as Phoenicia only in the New Testament (Mark 7:26; Acts 11:19; 15:3; 21:2). The Old Testament regularly uses merely the name of either or both of its principal two cities, Tyre and Sidon. These two cities, both prominent in merchandising activity, continue to the present day and are only twenty miles apart. They never seem to have enjoyed any real political cohesion, however, which means that the country never did either. In fact, the boundaries of the country, at any given time, are difficult to fix because this was true. The people often are called simply Sidonians' in the Old Testament (Deut. 3:9: Josh. 13:4, 6; Judg. 3:3; 18:7; 1 Kings 5:6; etc.). This is because Sidon was more important than Tyre in early history."325
Encouraged by the Levite's report these spies persuaded their fellow Danites to believe that God would give them this new "promised land."Its advantages were three (v. 7). It was a "quiet and secure"site (cf. v. 27). There was no dominating ruler under whom the Danites would have to submit; they could continue to do as they pleased. Third, it enjoyed an isolated location that also suggested no interference from people who might object to the Danites' practices. Obviously the Danites wanted to continue to live as they chose rather than submitting to God's will for His people.
One writer suggested the following translation of verse 7 on the basis of the Arabic cognate of the Hebrew word translated "humiliating"in the NASB: "there was no one speaking with authority in the land, no one in possession of control."326This translation is possible but probably not as accurate as the NASB marginal reading that suggests the ruler's restraining influence.
The spies' use of the phrase "to possess the land"(v. 9) appears to have been a pious ploy to convince their brethren that this self-seeking plan was God's will. Moses and Joshua had repeatedly urged the Israelites to "possess the land,"but only the land that was God's will for them to possess. The Danite spies were trying to provide security for their tribe contrary to God's previous directions. Likewise the phrase "for God has given it into your hand"(v. 10) had previously been Joshua's battle cry (cf. Josh. 6:16; et al.).
The Danites were unable, or unwilling, to claim their God-appointed territory in which no city was larger than Laish. But they were eager to march miles north and battle other Canaanites for a town that suited them better. The fact that Laish lay within the Promised Land, the full extent of the land that God had said He would give the Israelites, does not justify the Danites' action. It was God's will for His people first to settle in their appointed tribal allotments. Then He would given them the rest of the land later.
An army of 600 Danites proceeded from Zorah and Eshtaol eastward up the Kesalon Valley to Kiriath-jearim and then northward into the Hill Country of Ephraim. They stopped at Micah's house, noted his images and ephod, and pondered what they should do (v. 14). What they should have done was execute Micah and the Levite since they were idolaters (Deut. 13:6-11), but they too had departed from God. Instead they stole Micah's images and his priest. They convinced his Levite that it would be better for him to serve a whole tribe than just one family. They made him an offer that this upwardly mobile apostate could not refuse. Here was an opportunity for a larger ministry. It did not matter to him that it involved violating God's will concerning ordinary Levites serving as priests.
"The question the Danites posed to him is asked every day by pastoral search committees: Which is better, to be the pastor of a small family or to be the pastor of a megachurch?' The contemporary problem of ambition and opportunism in the ministry has at least a three-thousand-year history."327
"His fickle and mercenary attitude reflects the state of the priesthood during this period. Equally deplorable is the fact that one tribe would steal from another with apparent impunity. The treacherous behavior of the tribe of Dan in dealing with Micah and the city of Laish illustrates the serpent' nature predicted by Jacob in Genesis 49:17."328
The Danites' theft and intimidation were actions contrary to God's will (Exod. 20:15). Apparently the writer wanted to highlight the theft since he referred to it five times in this chapter (vv. 17, 18, 20, 24, and 27; cf. 17:2, 4). The bullying tactics of the soldiers further identify their selfishness (cf. v. 25).
Micah gathered some of his neighbors and pursued the Danites hoping to force them to return what they had taken from him. However the Danites proved stronger than he anticipated, and he had to withdraw without a fight (cf. Gen. 14). Here is another example of the Israelites fighting among themselves rather than uniting to combat their common foe.
It is comical to read Micah's sniveling complaint that the Danite soldiers had taken his gods "which I made"(v. 24). Obviously they had no power to protect him from his enemies. The fact that he had made them should have made this clear to him. His pathetic question, "What do I have besides?"reflects the emptiness of idolatry.
"His failure is in marked contrast to the stunning victory gained by Abraham and his small army when they overtook the coalition of kings who had captured Lot and the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 14:10-16). The God of Abraham proved stronger than the idol deities fashioned by Micah. Like the gods of Babylon, Micah's gods were taken captive, unable to effect their own escape (cf. 6:31; Isa 46:1-2)."329
Likewise Micah's priest, whom he had treated as a son, turned against him. None of the characters in this story shows any integrity.
The Danites' defeat of the inhabitants of Laish appears cruel and unjustified (cf. 9:45-49). The town that seemed so desirable to the spies was really vulnerable and isolated. Its advantages proved to be weaknesses. Since God had adequate territory for the Danites in southern Canaan this whole expedition was displeasing to God in spite of the Levite's blessing (v. 6). Some of the Danites remained in their original southern tribal allotment and did not move north.
Note in verse 27 that the Danites took three things: the "gods"that Micah had made (cf. v. 14), a priest whom they could buy, and a town that its inhabitants could not defend. On these flimsy foundations the Danites built their future in the North.
Definitely contrary to God's will was the setting up of Micah's graven image in their newly named town. Jonathan was the Levite the writer referred to previously. Only now did the writer identify him by name probably as a final forceful shock for us, the readers. He was, of all people, a direct descendant of Moses (marginal reading, v. 30).
"It is universally agreed that the reference [to Manasseh] was originally to Moses. The reason for the amendment may have been to safeguard the reputation of this great leader by excluding him from the pedigree of this time-serving and idolatrous Levite."330
The revelation of the identity of this apostate Levite as Moses' descendant at the end of this already shocking story brings it to an almost unbelievable climax. A direct descendant of the man most responsible for securing Israel's unswerving commitment to Yahweh played a major role in leading the Israelites away from God!
"The problem of religious syncretism is so deeply rooted it has infected the most sacred institutions and the most revered household. . . . If benmeans son' rather than grandson' or descendant,' then these events must have happened within a hundred years of the arrival of the Israelites."331
The captivity referred to (v. 30) may be that of the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:11, 22) or the Arameans (1 Sam. 14:47).332Some scholars believe that it was the Assyrian Captivity of Israel that began in 734 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29),333but if so this statement was a later editorial insertion in the text. Idolatry that centered in Dan did plague Israel for over 600 years, and the Danites were responsible for it.
"In the book of 1 Chronicles, when the list of the tribes and families of Israel is given, Dan is the only tribe which is totally ignored. Zebulun's genealogy is also not chronicled, but it is mentioned elsewhere (1 Chron. 6:63, 77; 12:33, 40). Dan appears only as a geographical name, not as a tribe. They had vanished into obscurity, probably because of intermarriage with the Philistines. (E.g., 2 Chron. 2:14.) Dan did not take what God had given to them, and they took what God had not given them. In the process, they lost all that they had."334
The last verse of the story makes the most important point. The writer contrasted "Micah's graven image that he had made"with "the house of God"that He had ordained.
"I suggest the writer places these two sanctuaries [Micah's house of gods, translated "shrine"in 17:5, and the tabernacle], the false and the true, over against one another. There is the true house of God at Shiloh and then there is Micah's collection of cultic Tinkertoys."335
"The narrator's point is that throughout the period of the judges the cult site at Dan functioned as an apostate challenge to the true worship of Yahweh."336
The Danites were the first tribe to establish idolatry publicly in Israel. Perhaps this is why their tribe does not appear in the list of 12 tribes that will each produce 12,000 godly Israelite witnesses during the tribulation period (Rev. 7:5-8).
". . . the tribe of Dan was one of the first to go into idolatry, was small in number, and probably was thereafter classified with the tribe of Naphtali . . ."337
This whole story of Micah and the Danites illustrates the terrible spiritual apostasy that corrupted Israel during the age of the judges. Even the grandson (or descendant) of Moses took leadership in it. It was no wonder that Israel had trouble with her external enemies (chs. 3-16) since she was so spiritually corrupt internally (chs. 17-18).
"The general theme pervading the whole narrative is its concern over false religion . . ."338
These two chapters teach us important lessons. We should obey God's Word, not disregard it, as Micah did. We should serve God faithfully as He directs, not advance ourselves at the cost of disobedience, as Jonathan did. We should also wait for God and engage our spiritual enemy, not rush ahead or run away to establish our own security, as the Danites did. Micah's error was self-styled worship, Jonathan's was self-determined service, and the Danites' was self-seeking security.
"In this portrayal of the events the narrator provides another challenge to the traditional scholarly understanding of Deuteronomism, which insists that sin brings on the curse, but blessing follows obedience. Here sin succeeds! Ironically, and perhaps tragically, the agendas people set for themselves are sometimes achieved--which sends a solemn warning to the church at the close of the twentieth century. Success is not necessarily a sign of righteousness or an indication that we must be doing something right. It may in fact be the opposite. God does not stifle every corrupt thought and scheme of the human heart."339
