Scripture Daily

Context No. 2979 of 4322 · Judges

Context · Reflection

Judges 18:1-5: in context

1In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2The children of Dan sent five men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land!” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; so they went over there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?” 4He said to them, “Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5They said to him, “Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.”

In the lawless days when there was no king in Israel, the tribe of Dan, still without a settled inheritance, sends five men to scout out land. They lodge at the house of a man named Micah, recognize the voice of the young Levite Micah has hired as his private priest, and ask him to inquire of God whether their journey will succeed.

This story is set in Israel's spiritual chaos: in those days everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Notice the casual, transactional religion. Micah has hired a Levite as a personal priest for his homemade shrine, and the Danites, passing through, treat this priest as a handy oracle: ask God whether our trip will prosper. Everyone wants God's blessing stamped on their plans, but no one is asking whether the plans themselves are what God wants. Religion has become a tool for getting divine approval on what people have already decided to do.

Do I seek God's blessing on plans I have already made, or actually ask him what he wants before I set out?

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