Don’t you love when the tiniest piece of text says a million things and leaves you anxious for more? This little chapter does just that. Let’s break it down:
I’ve been trying to keep a rough estimate on the timeline, and as my calculations go, we are about 400 years after the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land.
The Israelites have no judge, or king (v. 6). They are no longer under Philistine rule thanks to Samson, but apparently, no one stepped up to the plate – or rather, God did not put His Spirit on anyone to take on the job. Like I said in past chapters, I think God would LOVE if we would just do what we’re supposed to do as individuals without needing a leader to spur us on.
Micah is a new guy. We don’t know him. He obviously has a few flaws. He stole A LOT of silver from his own mother. But to his credit (or God’s), he grew a conscience and fessed up to the dastardly deed. His mother, the kind soul, forgave him and showed her thanks by dedicating the silver – and an idol – to God. Micah watched, listened, learned and applied. I think this idol thing might come back to bite him, but I’m going to leave all idol chat (har, har) alone for the time being.
Micah wants to be closer to God, so he appointed one of his own sons as his personal priest. I don’t really get how this would have worked, but what I get from it is that Micah wanted to know God so much more that he trained up one of his boys to help him do it.
Alas, God sends a real priest! Now, how these two wound up together in the hill country of Ephraim can only be a God thing.
And that’s about all we know, folks. I can’t wait for Chapter 16 to find out more about this holy duo. Today, though, I can rest assured on what I know about Micah so far: even though he made a grave mistake, he repented for it, and not only did his mother forgive him, but more importantly, God did, too.
Writing prompt: repentance or idol chat
Have you ever done something really rotten and later repented for it from the bottom of your soul? Or alternatively, have you ever done something really rotten and not felt bad at all – or maybe issued a fake apology for it but didn’t really feel bad about it in your heart.
If you want to talk more about the idol and what it could mean, please share!
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