Judges 17:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.

NIV: Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.

NASB: And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest.

CSB: This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.

NLT: Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.

KJV: And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

NKJV: The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

Micah, an Israelite of the tribe of Ephraim, stands as a representative of all Israelites. He may have claimed allegiance to the one true God of Israel, but he completely disregarded the commands given to God's people. So far, he has coveted (Exodus 20:17), dishonored his mother (Exodus 20:12), stolen (Exodus 20:15), probably lied (Exodus 20:16), and has now created an idol (Exodus 20:4) to keep with his other images of false gods (Exodus 20:3). He and his family appear to have worshipped many gods, alongside Yahweh, creating a self-styled system of religion.

Home shrines have been a common part of human religion across all history and in many cultures. God's command to the Israelites, however, was not compatible with this approach. He commanded they worship Him, and Him alone, in a single place which He approved (Deuteronomy 12:1–14). Micah's shrine held his new carved idols, along with other household gods and an ephod he had made. An ephod was a kind of ceremonial breastplate often worn by priests as they carried out the worship of their gods. During this era, ephods sometimes became objects of worship themselves (Judges 8:27), which is likely what happened with this one.

Finally, Micah's family ignored God's law about selecting and ordaining priests for worship (Numbers 3:10). He is ordaining one of his own sons, to serve as a false priest, in his own false shrine, with his own false self-selection of gods and sacred objects. Blatant disobedience like this was at the core of Israel's spiritual disobedience and is what led God to repeatedly subject His people to other nations (Judges 2:16–19).

Before a reader dismisses Micah and his family as superstitious people from a superstitious time, consider the present day. How many people today continue to select which parts of God's Word they will follow, and which they will ignore? Or, who senselessly decide which pieces and parts of other religious teachings they will add alongside of Scripture?

Judges 17:1–6 begins a new focus in the book of Judges, showing lack of commitment to God in the lives of everyday Israelites. A man named Micah confesses to his mother that he stole from her. She blesses him and has the stolen sliver made into an idol. Micah has a house shrine with household gods and totems and ordains one of his own sons as his priest. In just a few verses, the family manages to violate almost all of God's primary Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–7). This summarizes Israel's profound lack of leadership and spiritual maturity during that era.

A man named Micah overhears his mother speaking a curse on whoever stole a hefty sum of money from her. He confesses that it was him so she attempts to replace her curse with a blessing from God. She has a carved religious object made from the silver for Micah, which he puts in his household shrine full of other idols and relics. A young Levite man comes to Micah's house, and Micah hires him as the personal family priest, convinced God will prosper him because of it. This demonstrates Israel's lack of spiritual commitment during the era of the judges.

Judges 17 marks a new direction for the book. Having completed the stories of the judges themselves, the focus shifts to everyday Israelites. A man confesses to stealing from his mother, and she donates the silver to make an idol. The man puts this in a shrine in his house along with other religious objects. He hires a Levite to be the family priest, which he assumes will guarantee blessings from God. The same priest will willingly leave with a group of raiders from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18). This leads to one the Bible's most disturbing stories, involving an abused woman whose fate sparks a civil war within Israel (Judges 19—20).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).