April 3 – Judges 18:7-20
April 3 – Judges 18:7-20
7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the
people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet
and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing
wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with
anyone. 8 And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol,
their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have
seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do
nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. 10 As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people.
The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where
there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
11 So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war,
set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, 12 and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this
account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is
west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim,
and came to the house of Micah.
14 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish
said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an
ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore
consider what you will do.” 15 And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young
Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare. 16 Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of
war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up
and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and
the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the
600 men armed with weapons of war. 18 And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved
image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to
them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your
mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better
for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and
clan in Israel?” 20 And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the
household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.
Here we see the
Danites choose Laish for expansion because they found it to be a safe and
prosperous area. They gathered an army of 600 men to take possession of the
area. On their way, the men take Micah’s shrines for themselves. Further, the Levite goes with them.
This is a sad
example of greed, idolatry, and even a threat.
It’s easy to think, those foolish people! Yet, sometimes we act in similar
manners. Take time to consider how you
spend your time and money or what you consider important. Are we faithful to study God’s Word? Do we give selflessly of our time, money and
resources? What distracts us from serving God and working to seek and follow
God’s will. Spend time considering what
is most important to you and ask God to reveal what other matters are keeping
you from being “full in” for Christ.
Heavenly Father,
How sad it is when
we choose be prosperous rather than righteous.
The enemy knows how to get our attention away from You, Father. How quickly my head can turn when something
catches my eye. Forgive me when that
happens. The desire of my heart is to
stay focused on You and the plan You have for me, but I know that too many
times I get distracted by the love of the world. Help me, Father. I am too weak. Any strength I have comes from You. Keep my eyes focused on truth. You are truth.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen!
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