And the five men that had gone to spy out the land went up, entered in thither, [and] took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were girded with weapons of war.
Judges 17–21 turns from battles and rescues to what was going on inside Israel's homes. Here a whole tribe helps itself to another man's religion, and the paid priest at the gate says nothing.
The closing chapters of Judges do not follow time order. They come at the end to explain everything before them, and the theft in Micah's house is the sample.
We have now reached the last division of the book. Here we see the inner condition of the people, both toward God and toward one another. It lights up the whole history. So we go back to a time before the history, because this condition is not the result of that history but its cause — and a lasting cause. The idolatry of Dan lasts, as we are told, right through the whole period of the book. By itself it is no more than a sample of the general state. Its whole significance lies in that — it is only a sample.
The four items did not appear all at once. The shrine grew one piece at a time.
How it grew is very simple. He has an image, so he must have a house to put his image in. Then, as he has a house, there must also be an ephod, or priestly garment, and teraphim — minor images, you might say — connected with it. And over all these there must be a priest to preside. Micah appoints one of his own sons as priest. But he soon finds something better than a priest of his own making, for he gets one who is at least partly a priest of God.
(The ESV calls the teraphim "household gods.") One writer adds that the ephod itself was a garment with no value at all once it was separated from the high priest who was meant to wear it:
"Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim," associating the false gods with the ephod, a valueless part of Jewish worship when separated from the high priest who wore it.
The five men had passed this house before. They came back not to warn the others away but to tell them what was inside.
The five men did not avoid the place they knew to be a house of idol worship. Instead they told their company that in that house there were an ephod, household idols, a carved image and a molded image — in other words all they needed for a well rounded-out religion! (v. 14). So Micah was not the only one who had given in to the idolatry of the Canaanite nations. In this case all 600 men of Dan had too, and they were willing to rob Micah so that they themselves could be religious!
Men could lift these gods and carry them off.
The six hundred follow the spies' road to the house of Micah. Here superstition joined to immorality shows itself once more in a startling way. The spies remember their visit to the Levite. The chance to get the images for themselves looks to them far too good to pass up. Gods so helpless and so generous... But blindness here is absolute: "Those who make them become like them," says the inspired Word; "so do all who trust in them."
The man paid to serve Micah's shrine stands right where he could have blocked the way. He does not.
The hired priest shows himself to be nothing but a hired man. A greater personal advantage at once outweighs every duty to his employer, and he is "glad" of the robbery that will benefit him. For the Danites, as for others today who trust in a priestly class, there is no need to respect the man whose office is supposed to give him the ear of God. Once again, morality is separated from religion. He is not glorified but dishonored in those who draw near to Him.
Another writer notes what the promotion did to his sense of guidance:
So the Levite, under the expectation of such advancement, is quite glad, and considers it now a distinct leading of the Lord, that he should enter upon this larger field of usefulness.
The shrine did not stay in one house. A whole tribe took it over.
Micah resists, but with no effect: he finds that the tribe is stronger than he is. So the Levite goes off into his larger field with great gladness. He moves his idolatry — his image, his ephod and all the equipment he had — up into Dan. There this subtle form of idolatry rules in the tribe of Dan until the captivity of the land, and those are significant words. It lasts until God comes in judgment and the ark is taken from Shiloh. It rules there, and it works through the whole nation like leaven.
- Sample — The theft is no odd incident. It is a sample of Israel's inner condition, and the cause of the book's sad history.
- Assembled — The shrine grew item by item: an image, a house for it, an ephod and teraphim, then a priest to preside.
- Stolen — A tribe robbed a private house so that it could be religious. The four items made a complete-looking worship.
- Helpless — Gods you can pick up and carry off expose their worshippers. Those who make them become like them.
- Spread — One man's shrine became a tribe's religion. It worked through the whole nation and lasted until God's judgment fell.
And these came into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest said to them, What do ye?
Six hundred armed men of Dan stop at Micah's house on their way north. While they wait at the gate, the raiders strip the shrine bare, and the priest hired to mind it manages only one question: "What are you doing?"
The four objects listed in this verse did not appear all at once. One commentator traces how each piece called for the next:
The details of the development are very simple. In the fifth verse we find that he has an image, so he must have a house to put his image in. Then, as he has a house, there must also be an ephod, or priestly garment, and teraphim, minor images, as you might say, connected with it; and over all these there must be a priest to preside.
Another commentator turns that growth into a warning about small beginnings:
Yet there is development: the thing is a living seed that grows. All this was still "right" in Micah's eyes. Once we are committed to the guidance of our own minds, we can easily build up a whole system. The further we go, the more completely we go astray. How careful we need to be about beginnings!
The five men told their company what was in the house. Their interest was not in exposing Micah's idolatry but in owning it:
The five men knew the place was a house of idol worship. Instead of avoiding it, they told their company what was in that house: an ephod, household idols, a carved image and a moulded image — in other words, all they needed to have a well-rounded religion! (v. 14). So Micah was not the only one who had given in to the idolatry of the Canaanite nations. In this case all 600 men of Dan had given in too, and they were willing to rob Micah openly so that they themselves could be religious! What a condition was this, so soon after Israel's entering into the land as recorded in the Book of Joshua!
His protest lasts one sentence. What silences it is not an argument but an offer:
The consecrated Levite asked them what they were doing. They told him to keep quiet and go with the 600 men. For they asked him if it was not better for him to be a priest to a tribe of Israel than only of one man (vv. 18-19). When he heard this the pseudo-priest was glad. It meant nothing to him to steal from the man who had consecrated him, or to leave his job for a better paid one! (v. 20). But mere religion can make one a robber without conscience!
One writer notes what never came up in the discussion at all:
They dangled the promotion in front of him in the most dazzling way. He got a call to a more influential and better paid position. As to the will of God in the matter, that never entered the mind of the priest.
Nobody in the scene sees a clash between worship and robbery. That, one commentator argues, is the real exposure here:
The hired priest shows himself to be nothing more than a hired hand. A greater personal advantage to himself outweighs at once all obligations to his employer, and he is "glad" of the robbery by which he is to benefit. For the Danites, as for others today who rely on a priestly class, there is no need to respect the man whose office is supposed to give him the ear of God. Once again, morality is separated from religion, and those who draw near to Him dishonour Him instead of glorifying Him.
One commentator sums up the whole raid in a single line:
The gainers have lost; the loser, if he knows it, has gained.
What Dan carried home stayed there:
Micah resists, but it comes to nothing. He finds that the tribe is stronger than he is, and that their offer is stronger than anything he can hold out. So the Levite goes off into his larger field with great gladness. He moves his idolatry — his image, his ephod and all the equipment he had — up into Dan. There this subtle form of idolatry rules the tribe of Dan until the captivity of the land — significant words. It lasts until God comes in with judgment and the ark is taken away from Shiloh.
- Grown — the image needed a shrine, the shrine a garment, the garment a priest. Each step seemed right in Micah's own eyes, and a whole system grew from a small start.
- Carried — gods you can lift are gods that thieves can lift from you. Dan wanted all four items, because they made a religion look complete.
- Bought — the priest's one question dies the moment Dan offers him a bigger post. God's will never entered his decision.
- Divorced — here religion sits beside theft without a protest, and the man who should speak for God dishonours Him instead.
- Lost — the thieves carried off what could only harm them, and the robbed man was better off empty. What they gained stayed in Dan until judgment fell.