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SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
(THE JUDGES TO THE KINGS)
Counterfeit Worship

Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Lesson 8

Judges 17:1-6

B. Idolatrous & vain worship:

1. Chronologically the events of Judges 17-21 and Ruth occur during the 80 years following Ehud and the Moabite oppression.

2. This period of time is best characterized by a statement made at the beginning and again at the end of the era. It is found in Judges 17: and Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Once this rationale, which is the core of humanism, prevailed, total confusion and anarchy soon prevailed. This is always the case in any enterprise (church, business, family) when its participants insist on their own ideas and refuse to submit to central leadership.

3. The history of this era begins with a description of Micah and his counterfeiting of the Levitical priesthood, Judges 17:1-6:

a. Micah was an Ephraimite, who dwelled somewhere in the hill country between Shiloh and the Jezreel Valley, V. 1. His name means, "who is like Yahweh."

b. He had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother. Although, he had heard her publicly curse the thief, and being fearful of the curse, he confessed and restored the 1,100 pieces of silver. (The fact that his mother expressed the curse in Micah's presence may indicate a suspicion on her part that he was guilty. The fact that he would be so moved by such a curse indicated his superstitious nature.) So many unscrupulous qualities appear in the life of Micah. He pretended to be a holy man, yet he had no concern for or dedication to what' God had said. He made himself the standard and judge of righteousness; not God through His word. Furthermore, Micah was a thief and full of superstition. And, as we shall soon see, he practiced idolatry, I thought the work of God to be for hire, counterfeited the materials of worship as well as the priesthood. Yet, all the while, by his name, he claimed to be like Yahweh (God). Micah is a classic pretender or false professor. He is one of the Old Testament's best foretypes of false worship and a false religious leader in the guise of holiness, godliness, and God. Just because one claims he's right and claims to be of God doesn't mean he is. And, that is true regardless of how sincere the man is. As Judges 17:1 indicates, Micah was very sincere.

c. Upon Micah's return of this stolen silver to his mother, she weighed out 200 shekels and gave it to a silversmith, "who made thereof a graven imag " Judges 17:4 It is not difficult to see where Micah got some of his deceitful, dishonest ways. His mother had dedicated the entire 1,100 pieces of silver to the Lord, V 3 yet she actually gave only 200 pieces of the silver for religious use. Like mother: like son.

d. The silversmith made "there of a graven image (which refers to an image carved out of wood or metal) and a molten image," V. 4 The graven image apparently refers to the idol itself, while the molten image refers to the foundation or base on which the idol sat.

e. In three major ways Micah violated the written will of God in worship, and set up his own vain, useless, sacrilegious counterfeit worship. It may have looked good to the average one who saw it, but it was repulsive I to God. John 4:23-24 says they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. However much like the real thing it may have appeared, and however! careful and sincere Micah was in what he was doing this whole operation was rotten to the core. Anyone condemning what Micah was doing here would be" condemned by most modern "mainline" Christian religious leaders as being narrow minded, bigoted, and judgmental. But, it does make a difference what you believe, and how you go about the worship and work of God.

Micah's first violation of God's will in worship was in making an image. The making of images was expressly forbidden in Ex. 20:4-5, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. "Ex. 20:231 specifically mentions "silver" to be forbidden in image making, "Ye shall not make with me gods of silve I neither shall ye make unto you gods of go ." Deut. 4:16-19 warns that the heart will turn from the object which the image symbolizes to the image itself. "Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the -ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou Iift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to;. worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." Israel tried image making in Ex. 32:19-35 with extremely bitter consequences. Micah apparently! chose to ignore and disregard God's counsel and consequences. The fact that he later chose a Levite to replace his Ephraimite son in the priesthood is indicative of the fact that he knew much of what the law taught. In fact the fact that he duplicated with counterfeits many items of true worship demands that he had a good knowledge of the law and true worship. One must conclude that Micah's making of images was an act of outright idolatry, sacrilege, and open rebellion, all in the name of honest, sincere worship of God. He had a house full of gods.

Micah's second violation of God's will was in setting up a sanctuary of house of worship apart from God's true place of worship. Joshua and Israel had set up the tabernacle of true worship in Shiloh, Joshua 18:1. It was still there far past the time of Micah as seen in I Sam. 1:3. In Joshua 22. when it appeared that apart of Israel was setting up a place of worship in another location, there was a major confrontation; and it was established clearly that all worship of God was to be done in the proper place, which was Shiloh at that time and during Micah's time. Although, "Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest," Judges 18:5. Listen to God speak on the issue in Ex. 20:24, "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God,," Yet, Micah set up his own house of worship in his own place. Eph. 3:21 says God's current meeting place is His church. There is where men are to assemble and worship Him, Heb. 10:24-25. Micah is a foreshadow of all who would attempt to worship God apart from His church. Those who would self-style their own type worship in the place of their own choosing. Micah had a priest, ephod, and teraphim, and what he was doing looked much like that which was occurring in truth at Shiloh. But, it wasn't. It was rank counterfeit. God wasn't in it even though Micah and company pretended He was. The best singing, praying, giving, I preaching, and communion is worthless and counterfeit unless rendered God's way in His appointed place.

Micah's third violation of God's will was in consecrating his own son to be a priest. The priesthood was limited to the house of Levi. Consider Num. 3:5-13. When in Num. 16 some of the people other than the, Levites demanded a part in the priesthood, God used a sensational object lesson to teach the priesthood to be, limited to the Levites. Num. 17 tells how each of the tribes of Israel were to bring dry rods before the Lord at: the tabernacle. Overnight, the Levitical rod of Aaron budded and produced almonds. Once and for all God I was telling all others the priesthood was Levitical business only. Micah and his son were Ephraimite, yet. Judges 17:5 says Micah "consecrated one of his son who became his priest." To some degree, the priesthood of the Old Testament foreshadows the ministry today. God forbid that unqualified men would ever attempt to become pastors. The qualifications are clearly spelled out in I Tim, 3:1-7. Furthermore, God forbid that anyone would just take it upon himself to enter the ministry apart from the call or will of God in the matter. I Tim. 3:1 says there must be a "desire I and Phil. 2:13 shows that desire must not be self-willed, but must originate from God. There is good reason to believe today that there are many men in the ministry,, who were not placed there by God at all.

 

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"