Week 72, Day 1: Micah’s Idol

Today’s Reading:  Judges 17:1-13

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

Verse 6 sums this chapter up well.  “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”  When man is without guidance and left to “figure” things out for himself we have a real mess.  This chapter demonstrates that well.  We are introduced to a man named Micah whose understanding of what God wants has been so distorted that he thinks that having a graven image will please the Lord.  Without the revealed word of God man has come up with a lot of different things in his “service” to a god.  Micah sets up a household idol, an ephod – perhaps similar to what the priest wore, and sets up a Levite to be the priest to his household.  He has an official garb for the priest (the ephod) and even finds a real Levite to serve as his priest.  But whatever man comes up with is just a sad attempt at true worship.  When left to his own devices man comes up with many ways to serve god but it just ends up being that he serves a god of his own imagination. 

It is sad to see that things in Israel have progressed to this point.  Even the Levite who should be familiar with how to serve God correctly has sold himself into paigan idolatry.  The question for us today is how do we avoid digressing into such a wretched state of religious decay?  We have to know who is our king and where to find instruction for how to serve the king of kings. 

Question:  Is there any difference when someone serves a graven image or when someone serves a god of their own imagination (they insert practices or beliefs not found in the Bible and say that is what “my” god wants)?

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