CHAPTER 18. THE SANCTUARY OF DAN. This chapter describes how the Danites, being unsuccessful in their allotted inheritance, sent out spies to search the land, and discover if they could find a better place to settle and expand. These spies returned and reported that Laish was such, and encouraged t... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 18:2 a ‘And the children of Dan sent from their family five men from their whole number, men of valour from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it. And they said unto them, Go, and search the land.' The five men each probably represented a clan. They were specially p... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite, and they turned aside there, and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what have you here?” ' This may explain why they obtained hospitality from Micah. It was because by... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he said to them, “In this way and that has Micah dealt with me. And he has hired me, and I have become his priest. ” ' The Levite explained to his friends how fortunate he had been, with the result that he had been employed and made a priest in a private house of God, which included enquiring... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they said to him, “Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way in which we go will be prosperous.” ' When they heard what his position was they asked him to make enquiry of God on their behalf whether they would prosper in what they were trying to do. It is noteworthy t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The way in which you go is before Yahweh.” ' Having used his methods of divination the priest supplied an answer. But we have already been warned by the writer not to take it at its face value. He assured them that Yahweh was watching over their progress... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the five men departed, and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. For there was no one in the land possessing power of restraint who might harm them, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no deali... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they came to their brothers, to Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What have you to report?” Having surveyed Laish and recognised that it was just what they were looking for they reported back to their tribe, who questioned them about what they had discovered.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. And are you still? Do not be slothful to go, and to enter in to possess the land.” They gave the strongest encouragement to their tribal leaders to act at once and go and take possession... [ Continue Reading ]
“ When you go, you will come to a people living securely, and to a land that is ample, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.” They pointed out that there they would be both secure and able to expand and prosper for it was a land of pl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And there set out from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war.' The decision having been made a powerful contingent of ‘six hundred' men set out in order to accomplish the conquest of the land in mind. They were accompanied... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they went up and pitched in Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is why they called the name of that place Mahaneh-dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.' We came across this place in the story of Samson (see Judges 13:25) as the place where the Spirit first stirred up Samson, possib... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.' Coming to the house of Micah was no doubt by deliberate design of the five guides. But this was a breach of hosiptality. They had eaten at Micah's table which was a profession of friendship. Now they were... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? Now consider what you have to do.”' The five spies had previously taken full note of the situ... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they turned aside to it, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.' So they made a diversion and came to Micah's house and pretended that they had come to see the young Levite. Micah would happily receive them They had eaten a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.' Meanwhile the six hundred warriors were waiting at ‘the entering of the gate'. This may have been the gate of the city, so as not to frighten the inhabitants, or possibly... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the five men who went out to spy the land went up and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest stood in the entering of the gate, with the six hundred men who were armed with the weapons of war.' The five men then went up... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when these went into Micah's house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ' Up to this point the priest had been innocent and when he saw on their arrival that they were carrying the religious objects fr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they said to him, “Hold your peace. Put your hand on your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” ' Their reply to his question was that he should say n... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image and went in the midst of the people.' The priest did not go because he was forced or because he had no alternative. He was glad. These people got the priest that they deserved. And he picked up three of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the goods before them.' They put the vulnerable ones in front of them because they anticipated that any danger would be from behind, from any forces that Micah could gather. The wives are not mentioned but can be assumed.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.' Once Micah discovered that his sacred religious objects had been stolen he gathered as many of his servants and neighbours as he could... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they called out to the children of Dan, and they turned their faces and said to Micah, “What ails you that you come with such a company?” ' When they got near enough to the Danites Micah's force called out to them. The Danites then sent representatives to find out their purpose, pretending to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he said, “You have taken away my elohim that I made, and the priest, and you have gone away, and what have I more? And how then do you say to me, ‘What ails you?' ” ' Micah's reply was bitter. He felt that he had lost everything. ‘Elohim' probably means here ‘holy religious objects'. We remem... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.” ' The Danites made no excuses. They were unashamed. They merely pointed to their strength and suggested he be careful in case... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Dan went their way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him he turned and went back to his house.' The thief had been outdone by greater thieves. They all deserved each other. So the children of Dan carried on, and Micah returned chastened to his house. He had not... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 18:27 a ‘And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had had, and came to Laish, to a people who were quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword. And they burned the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born in Israel. However, the name of the city was Laish at first.' They renamed the city Dan after the name of Jacob's son Dan, their ancestor, although previously it had always been called Laish. It is interest... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time t... [ Continue Reading ]