July 12, 2019: Day 76 – Judges 18

We have a very unsettled picture of what is happening in the territory which should belong to the Israelites.  This poor tribe of Dan is wandering around because they weren’t able to establish the land that was assigned to them.   We read about how the Danites were pushed out of their territory in Judges 1:34-35.  We can also read in Joshua 19:47 about this similar battle depicted in this chapter, which wasn’t much of a battle but more of a massacre of a peaceful innocent people.  But notice how Micah comes back into the picture.  We still don’t know the name of the Levite, but he was very much sought after.

This is a time of utter chaos within the land of Israel.  Not only did they not have a king, but it also seems like they don’t have a judge to rule over them.  Micah does not play that role, this wandering Levite doesn’t play that role, no one plays that role within this scene.  As a result a wild-west reality seems to take over the land.  If a band of marauding Danites wanted to take a home’s idol and their priest, they could do so.  If they wanted to threaten that homeowner, in this  case it was Micah, with bodily harm, they could and the homeowner would have to decide if it was worth it or not.  Micah decided it was not worth it.  

The Danites got their land in a time where might means right.  It seems like we are living in a bit of time like that as well now.  But keep in mind “might makes right” is not a Scriptural axiom, but rather a sign that chaos and ungodliness is ruling the land.  At least that was the sign of the times in the Old Testament in the 18th chapter of Judges.