Judges 18 Devotional

Gods That Can Be Carried Off

“He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’””Judges 18:24 (BSB)

Danite spies, looking for land, stop at Micah's house. They ask his Levite for a word from God, and he tells them their journey has the LORD's approval (18:5-6). They find Laish, a quiet people with no one to help them. Six hundred armed men return, take Micah's idols and ephod, and offer the Levite a bigger congregation. He is glad to go (18:19-20).

Micah chases them and protests that they have taken the gods he made and his priest, and he has nothing left (18:24). A god that someone can make, someone else can steal. The Danites burn Laish, rename it Dan, and set up the stolen idol with a grandson of Moses as priest (18:27-30). Isaiah contrasts idols that must be carried, and are themselves carried off into captivity, with the LORD who carries his people from birth to old age (Isaiah 46:1-4). Micah lost everything because his gods depended on him. The living God does not depend on you. He made you, and he holds you.

To think about: What are you depending on that depends on you, and how might you rest instead in the God who carries you?