1 In those days Israel had no king. 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. 2 So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.” So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
It is important to remember that Israel is suffering through Moral Relativity. They are so lost in their relationship with God that they have created their own truths. These truths have a damaging effect on the individual as well as the country, as we will see. In Chapter 17 we studied the story of Micah and the Levite priest. This story intersects with that one.
The Danites were a tribe who were trapped by the Amorites up in the hill country and not allowed to come down. In this, the Danites were unable to subdue the very people they were supposed to conquer and instead allowed themselves to be relegated to a small area in the land they were promised.
Here we see a problem with the people of Dan. Instead of reapplying their strength to the fight for the land God promised them, they send out a 5-man delegation to look for somewhere else to live. They want an easier path. This trajectory brings them to Ephraim, straight to the doorstep of Micah.
3 When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” 4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.” 5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” 6 The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”
We see both sides of the problematic issues with Israel. The Danites are on a mission that is not Godly. They are looking for another piece of land to live on in order to shirk their responsibilities in following God. They meet up with a man they supposedly know (or at least know his accent and region he is from) and ask what he is doing there.
The priest tells them all of what Micah has done for him. Remember, Micah began his own religion and the young priest joined Micah because Micah paid him a year’s salary and gave him a new suit. Neither Micah nor the priest are operating inside what God wants for them. The Danites, with their own shaky principles, indulge the priest by asking him to ask God about their journey. A contract has been achieved here. The Danites are allowing the priest to give them his wisdom, derived from a God he knows little about. Since the priest knows little about the true God, he is giving the Danites his earthly wisdom, channeled through the auspices of his own god.
7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. 8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?” 9 They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. 10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”
The Danites continue their journey and comes across a piece of land occupied by Sidonians in Laish. Sidonians were peoples of northern Israel who were from the area of Phoenicia. Phoenicia was well-known as a pagan country, a polytheistic society where Jezebel was from (1 Kings 16:31) and Elijah went to find care from the widow (1 Kings 17:9). The Sidonions were also part of the list of people God meant the Jews to drive out of the Promised Land (Joshua 13:4). They find that these people are in a prime spot, without any threats, were prosperous and had law unto themselves.
The Danites see this as an opportunity to conquer and take this land from this small contingent of Sidonians that have settled in Laish.
11 Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. 13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.
This battle with the Sidonians for some reason seems easier than the battle for their own land. This shows us just how far the Danites are from God. Instead of regrouping and trusting God with the land they were to rightfully inherit through trusting God, they instead are controlling the situation on their own terms.
14 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.” 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 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. 18 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?”
The original five Danite men remember MIcah’s house and raid it, stealing the idol. Their fervor is in full swing. They know they need help in the battle, and instead of relying on God (how could they, they are so far from Him now), they resort to Micha’s idol.
19 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?” 20 The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
Again, we see the morals on both sides completely fractured. The army, who are headed toward the Sidons, have forgotten God’s promise to them about their allotted Promised Land tribal land. They are running after idols to help them in battle. The priest, who took the job with Micah for a year’s pay, has also strayed from God’s work and now hooks up with a higher-bidder.
22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?” 24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’” 25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.
Micah, the man who invented his own religion and cajoled a priest into legitimizing it, may have suddenly seen the folly in it. His god, now captured by an opposing force, needs its own rescue. But even his paltry god cannot mount an attack and is carried away by the Danites.
27 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. 28 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. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30 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. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
The Danites take the city of Laish, burn it down and rebuild it as their own, becoming the most prominent northern city in Israel. From Dan to Beersheba is a common phrase used to denote all of Israel in the future books of the bible (1 Samuel 3:20). But this is also noteworthy when understanding Israel’s fallen nature. It rises to prominence because Israel is falling into further decadence.
Dan is in particular decadent because the root of their mission to overtake Laish is anchored in ungodliness. Officially, Dan becomes the first to bring Idolatry into legitimacy. And it all began with Micah’s small and isolated foray into idolatry. Jonathan, Micah’s priest, continues the practice and helps to legitimize it, causing many in Israel to go astray. The house of God is referenced at the end. That is the tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant was stored, reminding us that the true seat of worship in Israel now had opposition.