Judges 17-18 tell the story both of the occupation of land for the tribe of Dan, and the story of Dan’s engagement in idolatry. The larger context of this story was that in those days there was no king in Israel (18:1a). The more specific context was that the Danites were seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them (18:1b).
Once again we will include the map of the
tribal allotments for Israel. Notice
that Dan had a rather prime area which included coastal property, including the
ancient port of Joppa (modern day Tel Aviv).
It also included coastal plain and the fertile Aijalon Valley. The southeastern border of Dan was at the
base of the mountains of Judea. It was,
as we said, prime real estate!
Why were they looking elsewhere for land? Had not the LORD promised to help the tribes
take control of their allotment? All
they needed to do was to be courageous, keep the Law of Moses, and steer clear
of idolatry (Josh. 23:6-7). But Jud.
1:34-35 tells us: the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains
for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; and the Amorites were
determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. In our story today we see a tribe that is not
interested in being courageous. They
want their inheritance to “fall” to them; they want a city to take that will be
easy. They fail at every level: no
courage, no loyalty to the Law of the LORD, and no abstaining from idolatry.
As for the idolatry issue, Jud. 17 is a perfect
illustration of people making things up according to what seems good to
them. A mother who rewards her thieving
son, who returned her money, by making him carved image. A man (Micah) who has the best “temple” on
the block, including a priest who has religious roots in the religion of
Israel. Now I know that the LORD will
be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest (17:13). And then we have the Levite, willing on a
dime to turn from his patron to move to a “bigger parish” because the money is
better and the crowd is bigger.
And then you have the Danites. If it’s easier to take Laish then to take the
land God gave us, then it must be okay. How
often have we concluded that the open door must be the one that leads to the
easier path? And the Danites even had
the approval of the “priest” (18:5-6), what J. Vernon McGee called the “sweet
talk of the hired preacher.” He didn’t
actually inquire of God or he would have told them to go back to their allotted
tribal area and trust God to take it.
Can you not see our own country, and even
worse, the typical evangelical church in this?
Can you not see yourself? That’s
the point of Judges. If we are not
submitted to Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, then we are making
it up as we go along. And we will
eventually suffer the consequences.
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| The actual locations of the 12 tribes with Dan in the far north. |
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| The Israelite Gate at Tel Dan. |
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