Judges 17:1-13
Micah's Idols
1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 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!”
3 When he 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.”
4 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.
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”
There was a man named Micah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim...Micah said to his mother, “Do you remember that someone stole 28 pounds of silver from you?...I heard you say a curse about that...Well, I have the silver. I took it.”...His mother said, “The LORD bless you, my son.”...Micah gave the 28 pounds of silver back to his mother...Then she said, “I will give this silver as a special gift to the LORD...I will give it to my son so that he can make a statue and cover it with the silver...So now, son, I give the silver back to you.”...
It appears, in my opinion, that some people in Israel made idols to show faith in God, as Micah's mother suggests...Micah shows kindness to his mother...Nevertheless, for me this is an unusual biblical story...Micah lived during a period of time where there was no king, or judge over Israel to keep the people in line with God's commands, a time when the people of Israel did what they thought were right...
Micah gave the silver back to his mother...So she took about 5 pounds of the silver and gave them to a silversmith...He used the silver to make a statue covered with silver...The statue was put in Micah’s house...Micah had a temple for worshiping idols...He made an ephod and some house idols...Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest...(At that time the Israelites did not have a king, so everyone did what they thought was right.)...There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah...He had been living among the tribe of Judah...He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live...As he was traveling, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of the land of Ephraim...Micah asked him, “Where have you come from?”...The young man answered, “I am a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah...I am looking for a place to live.”...Then Micah said to him, “Live with me...Be my father and my priest...I will give you four ounces of silver each year...I will also give you clothes and food.”...The Levite did what Micah asked...The young Levite agreed to live with Micah...He became like one of Micah’s own sons...Micah chose him to be his priest...So the young man became a priest and lived in Micah’s house...And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me...I know this because I have a man from the tribe of Levi to be my priest.”...