Commentary - Judges 18:1-10

Bird's-eye view

The book of Judges is a record of a repeating cycle of apostasy, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. But by the time we get to these concluding chapters, the cycle has broken down completely. The repentance is gone, and the deliverance is a grotesque parody of what God intends. The refrain that frames this section, "In those days there was no king in Israel," is not a nostalgic comment on governmental structures; it is a theological indictment. When the people of God reject His direct rule, they do not get liberty, they get anarchy. Everyone does what is right in his own eyes, which is another way of saying that everyone does what is evil in the sight of the Lord.

This chapter brings together two streams of corruption that we saw in the previous chapter. We have Micah's boutique idolatry, complete with his custom-made gods and his priest-for-hire, and now we have the tribe of Dan, faithless and discontent, looking for an inheritance they can take by sight and not by faith. Their story is a case study in how apostasy works. It is not a headlong dive into atheism, but rather a slow, pragmatic drift into a syncretistic religion that uses the language of Yahweh to bless the projects of man. They want God's blessing, but on their own terms, for their own covetous mission.

Outline

Context In Judges

Chapter 18 is a direct continuation of the narrative begun in chapter 17. The idolatrous shrine established by Micah in the hill country of Ephraim now becomes a spiritual gas station for the wandering Danites. This story is placed at the end of Judges not because it happened last chronologically, but because it serves as a thematic capstone, illustrating the depths of Israel's spiritual and moral decay. The Danites had been allotted territory by Joshua (Josh 19:40-48), but they failed to drive out the inhabitants. Their quest for a new inheritance is not an act of pioneering faith, but an admission of covenant failure. They are looking for an easier lot, a path of less resistance, and they are more than willing to create a theology to justify it.

Key Issues

Commentary

1 In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day the land among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them as an inheritance.

The opening clause is the key to the whole sorry business. "No king in Israel" means no central authority to hold the nation to its covenant obligations. But more deeply, it means that Yahweh Himself, their true king, was being ignored. The result is a spiritual free-for-all. The Danites were seeking an inheritance, which sounds noble enough, but the text tells us why. Their allotted portion had not "fallen to them." This is a polite way of saying they had failed to take it. God had given it to them, but the Amorites were strong, and the Danites were weak in faith (Judg 1:34). So now, instead of repenting and asking God for strength to take what was rightfully theirs, they go looking for an easier conquest. This is a picture of unbelief. They are looking for a land they can conquer in their own strength, which is precisely the opposite of how God's people are to live.

2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

They send out spies, which of course echoes the faithful mission of the twelve spies under Moses and the two spies under Joshua. But this is a cheap imitation. These are "men of valor," which means they were tough guys, but their valor was not in the service of God's command. They were sent from Zorah and Eshtaol, Samson's old stomping grounds, a place already associated with compromised Danites. And where do they end up? Not coincidentally, they find their way to the house of Micah, the very epicenter of the homespun idolatry we just read about. When you abandon God's Word as your guide, you will inevitably wander into some form of idolatry. The apostate tribe finds the apostate priest. Misery loves company.

3 They were near the house of Micah, and they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. So they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”

They recognize his voice. Perhaps he had a southern accent, so to speak, that marked him as a man from Judah, out of place in Ephraim. Their questions are blunt and to the point. They are practical men. Who are you, what are you doing, and what's in it for you? This is the language of a world without a king, a world where everything is a transaction. They see a Levite, a man supposed to be dedicated to the service of God at the central sanctuary, operating a private chapel, and their first instinct is to inquire about the business arrangement.

4 And he said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

The Levite's answer is brutally honest and spiritually bankrupt. He lays out the terms of his contract. Micah made him an offer, and he took it. "He has hired me." This is not a divine calling; it is a job. His priesthood is a commodity to be bought and sold. He has traded the glory of serving the living God for a salary of ten shekels, a suit of clothes, and his room and board. This man is the prototype of every hireling minister who is more concerned with pleasing his patrons than with pleasing God.

5 And they said to him, “Ask of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.”

Here we see the essence of pragmatic, pagan religion. The Danites are on a mission born of unbelief and covetousness, yet they want a divine stamp of approval. They do not ask, "Is our way righteous?" They ask, "Will our way be successful?" This is the prayer of a thief asking for a blessing on his burglary. They are treating God, through this hireling priest and his tin gods, as a magical talisman. They want an oracle, not a word of command. This is what happens when worship is detached from obedience. It becomes a tool for achieving our own ends.

6 So the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going is before Yahweh.”

And the hireling priest gives them exactly what they paid for. He gives them a soothing, pious-sounding, and utterly meaningless platitude. "Go in peace." He pronounces a blessing on their sinful errand. And notice the clever ambiguity: "your way ... is before Yahweh." This could mean God approves of it, or it could simply mean God sees it. A true prophet would have warned them of their sin. A hireling tells them what their itching ears want to hear. He is a spiritual consultant, and the customer is always right.

7 Then the five men went forth and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no oppressive conqueror dishonoring them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

Emboldened by their phony blessing, the spies continue and find the perfect target: Laish. Notice the description. These are not fearsome Canaanite warriors in fortified cities. They are a peaceful, quiet, secure, and isolated people. They are, in a word, vulnerable. This is not a test of faith like the Anakim were for the first generation. This is an opportunity for bullying. The Danites are not looking to be giant-killers for God; they are looking for an easy mark.

8 So they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you be silent? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. 10 When you enter, you will come to a secure people and a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

The report of the spies is a masterpiece of carnal enthusiasm wrapped in the language of faith. It mimics the report of Joshua and Caleb. "The land... is very good." "Let us go up against them." But the basis for their confidence is entirely different. Joshua and Caleb's confidence was in the promise of God, despite the strength of the enemy. The Danite spies' confidence is in the weakness of the enemy. Their motivation is not obedience, but opportunity. And then comes the blasphemous capstone: "for God has given it into your hand." They have taken their covetous desire, laundered it through a corrupt priest, identified an easy victim, and are now declaring it to be the manifest will of God. This is how far you fall when there is no king in Israel, and every man does what is right in his own eyes.

Application

The story of the Danites is a sobering warning against the dangers of a self-service religion. It is tragically easy to dress up our own ambitions, fears, and desires in spiritual language. We can convince ourselves that the path of least resistance is the path of God's blessing, especially if we can find a spiritual authority figure to tell us what we want to hear.

The central problem here is the rejection of authority. With no king in Israel, every man becomes his own king, his own priest, and his own prophet. The Danites did not want to submit to God's original plan for their inheritance, so they invented a new one. They did not want to hear God's true word, so they consulted a priest who would rubber-stamp their plans.

The application for us is direct. Is Jesus Christ truly the king of our lives, our families, and our churches? Do we submit to His revealed will in Scripture, even when it is difficult? Or do we, like the Danites, go searching for an easier inheritance and a more convenient word from God? The temptation to seek success rather than righteousness, and to call it God's will, is ever-present. This passage calls us to repent of our own Danite tendencies and to submit ourselves fully to the lordship of our true King, the Lord Jesus Christ.