The tribe of Dan lived on the part of the land that shared its borders with the Philistine territory and after the death of their leader Samson, they probably sought new lands. This is the story of their migration from the heartland to the northern tip of Israel at the cost of deposing the people of Laish.
In those days Israel had no king.
Judges 18:1 (NIV)
And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
The Danites had been allotted their rightful inheritance (Joshua 19:40–47) but because of their inability to carry out God’s instructions, they were overpowered by the Amorites. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to enter the area in the plains that was allotted to them (Judges 1:34). Now that they had lost their mighty warrior and the atrocities of their oppressors were increasing day by day, they decided to migrate to a new place without any leading from God. They sent five of their best spies to survey the land and come back with information about a land that was rich in resources and weak in defences that they may capture easily.
Micah creates his own god
In the hill country of Ephraim, there lived a man named Micah, who used the silver he stole from his mother to create household idols for himself. Along with the idols, Micah even built a shrine, made an ephod and installed one of his own sons (who was not a Levite) as the priest of his own personal temple. One day a young Levite came from Bethlehem to Ephraim looking for work and landed at the doorstep of Micah.
Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
Judges 17:10-12 (NIV)
The author is keen to mention that during this period, Israel had no king or judge as their leader. They did not have a moral compass as they all did what they thought was best. Since there were no judges or prophets around, Micah thought that having his own shrine would give him blessings and protection.
And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”
Judges 17:13 (NIV)
He created his own image of god to give him much-needed guidance as he thinks the real One is not available to him. He thought that God could communicate with humans only through a tabernacle and the blame for that would lie on Moses and the elders for inculcating this wrong notion among the people where they were dependent on the tabernacle or the Levites to connect with God. In the same way, people today give reverence to the altar or the church building or their pastors more than they give their Maker.
The Danites meet Micah
When the scouting party of Dan entered the land of Ephraim, they came to Micah’s house and recognised the voice of the young Levite who was probably chanting his usual prayers. They went up to the Judean priest and asked him why he had left Bethlehem and come to Ephraim. The Levite told them all that Micah had done for him and how he was living in his house and serving him as his personal priest for Micah’s family. Then the men of Dan asked the priest to inquire the LORD and let them know if their search for a new land would be fruitful.
The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.”
Judges 18:6 (NIV)
The people believed that the approval from the priest was the same as them following in the path of God. We need to approach God through our High Priest, Jesus, to ask for guidance and not depend on other mediators who will offer their own advice for our lives. The Danites listened to the pseudo priest and when they saw that the people of Laish were sitting duck, they thought that God had given them into their hands. Even in our lives when things fall into place we don’t stop to think about the cause of it and whether it is truly from God. We fall prey to the trap satan has set for us at the end of that easy-looking path. God’s ways are usually tough to comprehend and even tougher to follow. But we look for the easy way out and ignore the plan that God had specially prepared for us that catered to our needs. The brutal annihilation of the people of Laish by the tribe of Dan was prophesied by their forefather Jacob on his deathbed.
Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
Genesis 49:17 (NIV)
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
The five men left from Ephraim and headed north till they arrived at a place called Laish. There they saw that the people were living in peace and had secured borders. The land lacked nothing and as a result, the people were prosperous yet they stayed at a distance from every other tribe and had relationships with no one. They returned to Zorah and Eshtaol and told them about this new land that they found occupied by a meek group of people who had no one to help them should they decide to attack them. So six hundred men from the tribe of Dan got ready to head north and battle the people of Laish.
Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.” So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.
Judges 18:14-17 (NIV)
While on their way to battle the people of Laish, the Danite army took a detour to steal Micah’s pseudo tabernacle. The problem with Israel was systemic as the people had put their trust in the idols and gods of their neighbours rather than in the one true God who brought them out of their slavery. God knew about Israel’s betrayal even when He was delivering them and he warned them of the same when they were entering the land of the Canaanites.
When the Danite spies first visited Micah’s house, they inquired Micah’s priest about their mission and believed him when he told them that they would be successful in their journey. Having seen the result of their journey was indeed fruitful, they wanted to steal his idols as well. Or perhaps they were simply driven by their greed and wanted to steal the silver idols for their value. Sometimes we too desire knick-knacks from our church not for their value necessarily but thinking that they will be a source of blessing for our family.
When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
Judges 18:18-21 (NIV)
They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
The young Levi was easily convinced by the Danites to jump ship and join them as they rebuilt their city up north. The Danite was enticed by the opportunity to serve an entire tribe than be a priest for a small family in Ephraim. The lure of serving God on a larger scale has been the downfall of many pastors. We are unable to resist the temptation of a promotion or higher pay grade even if it means going against the will of God. We want the honour and respect of the bigger role and forget about our initial commitments that we made to God. People jump ship from church to church in pursuit of a larger fellowship of a bigger role in the Sunday church service. In our lives, we must always evaluate if our new opportunity is from God or a way for satan to drive a wedge between us and our Father.
Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
Judges 18:27-28 (NIV)
Danites rebuild their city
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
Judges 18:28-31 (NIV)
The Danites and Micah could have worshipped the LORD at Shiloh but they chose convenience over Him. The time we spend with God is a reflection of what we prioritise in our lives. When meeting God was inconvenient, people created a religion that made them believe that they were still connected with their Maker. Unfortunately, religion is the most brilliant plan of satan that has driven the largest wedge between us and God. From the very beginning, satan has been using mankind’s desire to control their own destiny to slowly separate them from God. He did the same in the garden with Adam and again with the Israelites who wanted to form their own ideologies as their gods.
Religions and denominations have given the people a worship order that is moulded according to their convenience. When God brought the recent pandemic to remind people that they do not need religion to connect with Him, the religious leaders doubled down on the need for organized worship. Again and again, we continue to defy God when we keep holding on to our idols, be it the silver ones that Micah crafted or the leaders we are ready to follow instead of listening to God’s voice.
Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:21-24 (NIV)
Discussion Questions
- Did the Danites not receive their inheritance?
- Why was Micah so keen on replicating the Levitical Tabernacle?
- Was it God’s will for the Danites to move north and annihilate the people of Laish?
- Why did the Danite army halt in Ephraim to steal Micah’s pseudo tabernacle?
- How was the Levi so easily convinced by the Danites to jump ship and join them?
- The Danites and Micah could have worshipped the LORD at Shiloh but they chose convenience over Him. How do we trade in our time with God for the things of this world?
The Jordan Valley 
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