Judges 18

There was no king in Israel. Is there a king in the church? We confess that Jesus is our King, but do we act as those who would be their own kings? Does everyone do what is right in His own eyes with no true sense of the way that Christ leads us by His Word and Spirit?

The tribe of Dan wanted their own land, but up to this point in the history of Israel they had not secured an inheritance. This chapter is the account of their violent appropriation of a land that God had not given to them and their establishment of a false religious system that He had specifically prohibited in His Word.

The story of Micah, his idol, and the Levite who served him as a priest was a revolting seed of a tree that would have even more rebellious fruit. What Micah had started for his own household and neighborhood was now embraced by an entire tribe in Israel.

The religion that was so desirable to the strong men of Dan was pagan pragmatism with a veneer of Yahwehism. They liked this spiritual pathway so much that they stole it form the man who invented it. They could continue to worship the God of Israel, but it would be with a visible image. Their goal would not be the Lord's good pleasure, but the securing of a life that was against His express commandments for this tribe.

They found a religion that worked for them. They could continue to use the Name of the Lord, but they would be their own kings. They would be pleased with this system that would satisfy their own desires, even if those desires were against the Word that the Lord revealed to Moses. They did not want the settled revelation that had been established for all the people in former days. They only wanted an answer to the specific question in front of them: Will we be successful if we fight against the peaceful people of Laish? They found in Micah's idol and Micah's priest a favorable answer that seemed to work for them.

They wanted God to be with them in their conquest, but only on their own terms. What better way than to have a visible image that would give confidence to the warriors as they followed their lusts?

We have a great King over the household of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not only a King, but also a Priest that makes intercession for us with His Father and a Prophet that reveals to us the true Word of the Lord. The Father Himself loves us with an everlasting love, and the Son has made atonement for us with His blood. His plans for us are good, but the way to the good life that He has chosen for us is through faithful obedience to the love of the cross. We will enter the land of glory and peace through the suffering and service that He has wisely ordained for our lives.

This is the way that our King leads us by His Word and Spirit. Will we embrace this good life and have joy in believing and obeying the Lord, or will we insist on a religion of pagan pragmatism that just uses the Name of Jesus? May the Lord lead us in lives that are deeply respectful of His reign over His people, and may we find in Him a better future than we could ever ask for or even imagine.