(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 18:1–6, “ In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.”
The same theme, expressed in the last chapter, is reiterated in this chapter. Israel had no king and there was no national unity and no national, or local, commitment to keeping the Law of the Lord. Dan was given an allotment along with all the other tribes in Israel during Joshua’s time.( see Joshua 19:40–48, “And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. And the coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh, And Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, and Jethlah, And Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron, And Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, And Jehud, and Beneberak, and Gathrimmon, And Mejarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before Japho. And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.”) However, Dan wasn’t happy with their allotment and took other land for themselves. At this stage, Dan still wan’t happy with their allotment so they went to find a better place to live. When the Lord promised the Land to Israel He gave them specific boundaries and they were to trust the Lord and be content with the Land. There was always the promise that they would be able to expand, in the Lord’s Name, if they were obedient to the Law. The people from Dan were not living obedient lives and could not expect the Lord to bless this venture. In spite of this they sent their own spies to find a good place for them to take for their own possession. As these spies were looking for a place to go, they came to Micah’s home. When the arrived there the recognised the priest. Naturally, they were interested to know more about this young man’e experience and asked him. He told them how he happened to be there and they asked him to ask the Lord if they would be successful. Of course, they were wrong in their request because the Lord had already defined the way His relationship with Israel would work and they were defying that context. Never the less, the Levites too them that the Lord would make their excursion successful thus showing that he didn’t really understand what he was talking about either.
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