Judges 17:7–9

The chapters that follow (Judges 17-21) do not stand in the historical order of this book. They lift the veil to show us some scenes from the inner life of this people, whom God patiently bore with for so long... They were self-willed, and nothing held them back, since they had no king. So every kind of loose living had room to spread.

Son of Gershom and grandson of Moses or Manasseh... Though he was only a Levite, he acted as priest in the house of Micah, who had a carved image, an ephod, and household idols. Later he became priest to the tribe of Dan... He was called "a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah." This may mean that he had only lived there for a time. Bethlehem was not a Levite town. He had been staying wherever he could in those troubled times.

The Levite himself is another sign of the times... He walks with the restless foot of a stranger in the very place where he could have claimed an inheritance, and he is ready to make his home where he should have been a stranger.

Here is a man who leaves the place that answers to faith in God's truth. He comes in all the restlessness of discontent, looking for something better for himself. You see it in Elimelech, who left Bethlehem, the house of bread, because he wanted food. You have the same thing here: a man leaving the house of bread to improve his position... Restless discontent will always take someone away from blessing, and it will certainly bring him lower than he ever thought he stood before.

At this time a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, was traveling, looking for a convenient place to stay (v. 7). A Levite at the very least should have asked God to guide him about where he should be. Instead he was like some preachers today, who look for a church where they might find a more or less permanent position. One who is the Lord's servant should not be aimless and haphazard in what he does.

A Levite of Judah had a connection with the house of the Lord, but no right to the priesthood. He happened to pass that way, looking for a place to stay. Micah got hold of this man, who gave him the appearance of a proper religious line... Micah was doing well. He had installed a genuine Levite in his house. He valued him more than his own son, so he fed him and paid him. This was a ministry that man had set up.

It took little persuasion. His food, a suit of clothes, a salary — these have won over many people in every age of the world.

He does not criticise, and He does not show anger. He tells the facts and sets them before us. Those who are spiritual discern what God condemns and what He approves. They also learn to keep away, as He Himself does, from every principle that this chapter paints in such a sad picture.