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Man, Judges chapter number 17, let me just start out by explaining a little bit about the book of Judges. From chapter 1 up through chapter 16, there's actually a chronological story being told. But then starting in chapter 17, we have a couple of stories that are kind of unrelated or outside the sequence of the book of Judges that are just sort of tagged on at the end. So these stories don't take place chronologically after the story of Samson. But they're put at the end because they would interrupt the flow of the book. So Judges 1 through 16 is going through each of the Judges in succession, talking about their reigns and their exploits and the things that they did. And then at the end, we tag on these five chapters. Chapters 17 and 18 make one story that we're going to look at this morning. And then chapters 19 through 21 make up another story. So these two stories are to demonstrate a little bit about the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel during the period of the Judges. So they are just anecdotes or stories that are indicative of that time. And God wants us to learn from these specific stories tagged on at the end here. So the key to this chapter is to look at verse 6 before we get into it. It says, in those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And this is what comes up over and over again in this section of the book of Judges. That's what God's trying to show, people doing what's right in their own eyes. Not what's right in the Lord's eyes, mind you, but what's right in their own eyes. And this is a bad thing. This is not a good thing. Now, notice, these people aren't just going out and saying, hey, we're going to do bad stuff because we're wicked. That's not their attitude. Their attitude is, hey, let's do what's right in our own eyes. And that's the attitude that you see amongst most people in the United States of America today. They think in their heart, hey, we're pretty good or we're generally good people, we're nice. And the Bible says there's a generation that is pure in their own eyes, but yet is not washed from their filthiness. Yet they think they're pure. They think what they're doing is right. So we have to understand when we're reading the historical books in the Old Testament, the historical books are not necessarily reflecting God's will, God's plan. A lot of these things are people doing bad things and God's showing bad examples. So the Bible says that we should rightly divide the word of truth. So when we're reading the Old Testament, we need to ask ourselves, hey, are we reading the law of Moses? Are we reading historical books? Are we reading prophecy? Are we reading something of what God tells us to do and what God's plan was or are we reading about man and his failures and his mistakes? This chapter is showing us people doing the wrong things and there are a lot of bad things over the next five chapters and that verse in verse 6 is to explain that to us. Look, in those days there's no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. God's original plan was for them not to have a king but to have the system of the judges but the reason why is that the Lord was supposed to be their king. God was supposed to reign over them. The Lord was their king. That's why when they asked for a king in 1 Samuel 8, what does God tell Samuel? They haven't rejected you, Samuel. They've rejected me that I should not reign over them. So God's plan was that he would reign over them but what actually happened was instead of God being their king and God reigning over them, de facto what happened is that because there was no king, they looked to the Lord as their king. That's what it should have been but because there was no king, they ended up doing what was right in their own eyes instead of letting the Lord and his statutes and precepts and ordinances, God's word, reign over them. So look at verse number 1 with all that in mind. It says, and there was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah and he said unto his mother, the eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee about which thou cursed and spakest of also in mine ears, behold the silver is with me, I took it and his mother said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord my son. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image, now therefore I will restore it unto thee. So this is a very strange beginning to the story, isn't it? So we have this guy coming to his mom and confessing to stealing a huge amount of money, eleven hundred pieces of silver. So this is a gigantic amount of money, okay? And just to emphasize how big of an amount of money this is, jump down to verse 10 when this guy is hiring a priest, he tells this priest, hey, here's what I'm going to pay you, you're going to get your room and board, I'm going to take care of your food and clothing, you're going to live like a member of my family, you know, like my children where I provide their needs, but then he's also going to give him his cash allowance, look at verse 10, and Micah said unto him, dwell with me and be unto me a father and a priest and I'll give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, you're going to get ten shekels a year in addition to your physical needs being met. So that goes to show you that eleven hundred shekels of silver is quite a considerable amount of money, right? So he stole this enormous sum of money from his mother and he comes to his mom and said, remember, you cursed about it and I took it, it was me, I took the money. So then she's really happy and blesses him for coming forward. Now the first thing that we can take from this, because when we're studying the historical books, how do we interpret this story? We use the rest of the Bible to interpret the story. We use the principles and precepts and clear statements made elsewhere in the Bible to interpret the story. The first thing we can see right here is that, okay, this guy did the right thing by confessing to his crime and returning the money and what did he find when he did that? Mercy. And the Bible says that if we cover our sin, we're not going to prosper, but that if we confess and forsake it, we'll find mercy. So on the positive side, there's not a lot of positive in this story, but on the positive side, when he confesses to his mom that he stole, she's forgiving. And by the way, kids, this is going to happen with your parents. It's a lot better if you just come clean for the bad stuff you do than to try to hide it and lie about it. If you stole something from your parents, you should return it to them and confess to them and you'll find mercy. And it's always easier than you think to do the right thing and tell the truth and come clean. You know, you think, oh, it's going to be the worst thing ever. This guy was probably really nervous and dreading having to face his mom and say, I stole this enormous amount of money. But he did it and his mom said, hey, blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. And when he had restored the 1100 shekels of silver to his mother, so he restored all the money. Now the first thing I want to point out here is that these people are worshiping the true God because notice God's proper name is here. At the end of verse 2, we have Lord in all caps, right? Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. So this isn't just a general supreme being, God, Lord. I mean, this is the Lord. This is the God of the Bible that they're claiming to worship, okay? She's blessing him in that name. And when he had restored the 1100 shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord, notice again the proper name, from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. Now therefore, I'll restore it unto thee. So basically he's giving her back the 1100 pieces of silver and she says, you know what, actually son, believe it or not, this money was planned for you all along. And so, you know, I'm going to give it back to you because I'm glad that you admitted that you stole it but you didn't have to steal it. I wanted to give this to you anyway because I had dedicated this to the Lord for a special idol for you, son. I was going to present you with this idolatry. Now look, there can be no mistake that God doesn't want us making a molten image unto him or a graven image unto him. I mean, this is ridiculous. It's almost laughable. It is laughable. I mean, the first time I read this when I was 16 years old, I laughed at this story like what are these people thinking? Oh, Lord, I'm going to make you a graven image. I mean, have you read the Ten Commandments? I'm going to make you a molten image, Lord. That's not what God wants, okay? So she says, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord. But then the story gets weirder, okay? Because look at verse 4, yet he restored the money to his mother. So he's like, no, mom, you take the money, all right? So it's kind of like, no, you take it, all right? This is a lot of money. And so then he restores the money to his mother. And his mother took 200 shekels of silver and gave them to the founder. Think of a foundry is like where metals are melted and so forth. So he took it to the founder who made thereof a graven image and a molten image and they were in the house of Micah. Now let me point out something interesting here. In verse number 3, notice that word, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord. Do you see that in verse 3? W-H-O-L-L-Y. Holy means I dedicated the whole thing. This isn't H-O-L-Y holy. This is holy like the whole thing was dedicated to the Lord. Now what does it mean to dedicate something to the Lord? Well if you study your Bible in the book of Leviticus and elsewhere, dedicating something to the Lord, this is a vow that was made. So an oath is made or a vow is made saying, God, I promise you that I'm going to give you X, Y, and Z. So she had made this vow or this promise where she said, Lord, I'm going to dedicate this 1100 pieces of silver and it's going to be for a graven image unto you, Lord. It's going to be a molten image for you, God. I'm going to make this idol unto you. But what does she do in verse 4? Does she take that whole amount, 1100 pieces and all right, let's dedicate this to the Lord. His mother took 200 shekels of silver. Now isn't that a little odd right away that she makes this big deal, oh yeah, I dedicated the whole thing but then she kept back part of the price, right? She only brings just a fraction of it and uses 200. So it's like count the sins. You know, she's breaking her vow. She is making idolatry. You know, these people are way off and the story only gets worse. So it says in verse 5, and the man Micah had a house of gods and made an ephod and teraphim, teraphim is a type of idol or image that you'll see elsewhere in the Old Testament as well. And Hosea chapter 3, for example, and other places, and consecrated one of his sons who became his priest. In those days, there was no king in Israel but every man did that which is right in his own eyes. There was a young man out of Bethlehem, Judah of the family of Judah who was a Levite and he sojourned there. So this guy seems to be of a little bit of a mixed blood here because he's called a Levite on one hand but on the other hand it says that he's of the family of Judah. So he definitely has family ties with Judah and Levi, however that worked. And it says the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem, Judah to sojourn where he could find a place and he came to Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah as he journeyed. This guy is not necessarily a winner. This guy is a drifter, he's a vagabond, he has no plan. He just basically leaves town which, you know, typically if people are just going to kind of leave town for no reason, just kind of, I'm just going to sojourn wherever I can find a place, when he's of the tribe of Levi, so shouldn't he be plugged in? I mean, if he's a Levite, he should easily be plugged into the service of the Lord or at the tabernacle or preaching the Bible or whatever. But he's just kind of this, and we're going to see his lack of character in the future, so I'm not just adding this to the story. But you know, this guy's just floating around, drifter, vagabond, whatever. He's not a winner. And he just happens to come upon Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah as he journeyed, verse 9. And Micah said unto him, whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I'm a Levite of Bethlehem, Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said unto him, dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy vittles. So the Levite went in, and the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. And then said Micah, now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. I mean this story is hilarious. So basically here he is, Micah, he has this house of gods, a house of idolatry, he's got his little shrine, I mean this guy's Catholic. He wants to call the priest father. He's got a little shrine with a little graven image unto the Lord, a little molten image unto the Lord. So this guy's just fully Roman Catholic. He's got his little shrine, and he's got his priest that he wants to call father. And look, this is wicked. But do you notice that these people, they seem like they have the right intent. They seem like their heart's in the right place when they are doing these things. But let me tell you something, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It's not about just, hey, I'm a nice guy, and I'm nice to people, and I believe in a supreme being, and yeah, we can call him Jesus, call him God, call him the Lord, whatever. But you know what? I'm going to do it the way I want to do it. I'm going to do what's right in my eyes. Wrong. We have to serve God according to his word. The Bible says they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. This is not the worship of the Lord in spirit and in truth. This is just a made up form of worship where just some random Levite is just consecrated to be a priest. By whom? Who has the right to consecrate this guy's, and remember, this is the same guy that just consecrated one of his sons to be a priest earlier. He just picked one of his sons and said, you know, I now pronounce you a priest. The priests are supposed to be the sons of Aaron. It's supposed to be a specific group of people, the sons of Aaron. Being of the tribe of Levi doesn't make you a priest. The Levites were the ones who were serving the priests. They were the ones who did a lot of the work around the tabernacle and they taught the word of God and preached and stuff, but they weren't the priests. The priesthood were the sons of Aaron. And so we see here that these people are just making it up as they go along. First he just ordains his son to be a priest, and then the next thing is, oh, you're a Levite? Score. Now I know God's blessing me. So then he consecrates this guy to be a priest. He says to this young guy, you're going to be a father to me. That's like these Mormon missionaries that are like 18 years old, it's like Elder Smith. Elder than who? You know what I mean? They're like 17 or 18 years old and they're supposedly elder this, elder that. So how is this going to be a father unto him if it's a young guy? It doesn't make any sense, right? Completely against what the word of God teaches. And so it says that Micah consecrated him. But verse 13 is so telling and it's so indicative of the way people think today where they suppose that gain is godliness. The Bible warns us in the New Testament, he says that those that suppose that gain is godliness from such turn away. Do not think that gain is god. Oh, things are going good for me? That means God's blessing me. Oh, things are going bad? That means I'm under the curse of God. That's not what the Bible teaches. Things often go good for the wicked. But eventually they're going to be wiped out, of course. Eventually they're going to get what's coming to them. But in the short term, of course good things can happen. You can't just say, well, things are going well, therefore I'm in God's will. Gain is godliness. I mean, you know, now that I've got this Levite showing up, that proves, he says, now know I that the Lord will do me. No, he's not going to do you good because you're worshiping idols. You're bowing down to a graven image. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible clearly commanded against that, yet you're doing that in the name of the Lord. God is angry with this guy. God is displeased with this guy, for sure, because God, throughout scripture, is angry and just very wrathful throughout the prophets against idolatry. He hates idolatry. Now I know the Lord's going to do me good. So let's see how this ends up. Go to verse 1 of chapter 18. 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 of course, this is Dan's fault, okay? Dan was brought into the land by the Lord and told to conquer the land. They lacked faith. They lacked courage. They lost the battle from not having the Lord in their midst and not trusting fully in the Lord. They would get their inheritance in the southern part of Israel, but because they were forced into the mountains and didn't inherit their inheritance, they need somewhere to live. So they just decide, well, instead of inheriting what God gave us, instead of fighting the battles and working hard, trusting the Lord, and doing it the right way, we're just going to go steal it from someone else. We're just going to go find it somewhere else. We're going to go look for an easy way to make it in life, because God's way is too hard. What God gave us, because look, God told them, this is your land. He gave them the boundaries and said, go possess it. This is yours. Go take it. Oh, too hard. We're going to go find our own thing. So that's where the tribe of Dan is in this story, okay? So it says in verse number two, the children of Dan sent of their family five men from from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah and from Eshetal, 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. So they just happen to know, you know, it's a small world in the nation of Israel. They knew this guy. So basically, they show up at Micah's house, these five men, and they're like, that guy's voice sounds familiar. We know this guy. They heard him in there, hail Mary, whatever he was doing in there. So they're like, okay, we recognize this guy's voice. And they turned in the other and said unto him, verse three, halfway through, who brought the hither? Like, did you get kidnapped and brought up here or how did you end up all the way up here up north? You know, who brought you hither? And what makest thou in this place? And what hast thou here? Like what do you, what? You're a priest now? What are you, what are you wearing? What are you doing? You know, what is that? What is this place? And he said unto them, well, thus and thus dealeth Micah with me. You know, so basically, you know, he explained to them, you know, I get the ten shekels, I get the clothes, I get the food, you know, so he's explaining them his, his compensation package. That's the thus and thus, you know, the Bible's not repeating it for us. Deal with Micah with me and he's hired me and I'm his priest. And they said unto him, ask counsel, we pray thee of God that we may know whether our way which we shall go shall be prospered. I mean, I mean, if this guy hired you, I mean, you must have some power with God or something. So maybe you can pray for us and get us some of these blessings. And the priest said unto them, go in peace before the Lord is your way wherein you go. This is a total lie. This is not what the Bible told them to inherit. This is not what God had planned for them. If he was actually speaking for the Lord, he would have said, actually, your inheritance is down south. You're supposed to fight those battles and earn it the right way and inherit the land that God gave you. But he's just like, nope. You know, you know, you guys are just blessed and your best life now and it's going to be great. And, you know, he just basically tells them what they want to hear. You know, hey, you're blessed, go in peace. Hey, before the Lord is your way wherein you go. You know what I mean? Meaning like, hey, you guys are in God's will. What you guys are doing is what God wants you to be doing. Great. They love this guy. Verse 7, then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. And there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything. So there's no sheriff or anything, you know, there's no law there. It's just basically just a small little settlement of people living peacefully and they're just going to go in and just slaughter them all and wipe them out and they're just kind of just living there peacefully doing their own thing. And they were far from the Zidonians. They had no business with any man. It's just a small little town. They're just doing their own thing. And they came under their brother into Zorah and Eshtael and their brother had said to them, what say you? And they said, arise that we may go up against them for we've seen the land and behold it's very good. Are you still? Are you guys going yet? Be not slothful to go and to enter to possess the land. When you go, you shall come into a people secure, into a large land for God has given it into your hands, a place where there's no want of anything that is in the earth. And there went from thence of the family of the Danites out of Zorah and out of Eshtael, 600 men appointed with weapons of war. And they went up and pitched in Kirjizjirim in Judah, wherefore they called that place Mahanadon unto this day behold it's behind Kirjizjirim. And they passed thence and what that means, remember when Jacob met the angels of God in Genesis and he said, this is the Lord's host. So he called the place Mahanaim, meaning the hosts of the Lord. So this means Mahanadon is like the host of Dan. Host is like an army for encampment of soldiers. So they got these 600 troops. They camped there one time on their way. So then that just became known as, hey, from now on we're going to remember this place as the place where Dan camped that one time. So the 600 troops. And they passed then to Mount Ephraim and came unto the house of Micah, then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish and said unto their brethren, hey, do you know that there is in these houses an Ephod and a Teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? Now, therefore, consider what you have to do. I mean, we're not going to tell you to do it, but there's some really valuable stuff in that house over there, you know, do what you want with it. I'm just saying this is what's over there. You know, you see what you have to do or whatever. So they're basically kind of telling them to steal it. Okay. Verse 15, and they turned thitherward and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, even unto the house of Micah and saluted him, and the 600 men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate, and the five men that went to spy out the land went up and came in thither and took the graven image and the Ephod and the Teraphim and the molten image, so they're stealing everything. And the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the 600 men that were appointed with weapons of war, and these went into Micah's house and fetched the carved image, the Ephod and the Teraphim and the molten image. And then said the priest unto them, what do ye? What are you guys doing? And they said unto him, hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Hey, is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad. He's like, great. Let me just help you rob Micah blind right now. Sounds great. Yeah, you're right. Why would I just be a small time pastor here in this little, you know, house here, a small time priest, man? I'm ready to hit the big time. I'm ready to go on TV now. I'm ready to go on the radio. Does this guy have any integrity? This is supposed to be a man of God. This is supposed to be a spiritual leader. Here he is. Micah's been nothing but nice to this guy. Micah's feeding him, clothing him, paying him. He was just some bum floating around, and Micah's doing everything for him. And now all of a sudden, he gets a better offer of, hey, why don't we steal everything from your boss? Let's steal all of his stuff, and you can be a priest to a whole tribe. He's just like, great. I mean, he doesn't even hesitate. Just he hears that. His heart's glad. He's like, wow. This is my lucky day. The priest's heart was glad. He's like, here, let me help you load up the stolen goods. He took the ephod and the terephim and the graven image and went in the midst of the people. So they turned and departed and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. The carriage is the stuff that they're carrying. The carriage is like the luggage. And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. So basically, Micah gets all his neighbors together, the houses that are near him, and he says, we ought to go get my stuff back. So he gets all his neighbors together. They form a little militia, and they're going to go and get their stuff back from Dan. And when I say Dan, I mean, of course, the Danites, the 600 troops specifically. Verse 23, they cry to the children of Dan, and they turn their faces and said unto Micah, what aleth thee that thou comest with such a company? You know, they're saying like, man, what is your problem, Micah? Why are you so mad? Why are you coming after us with all your neighbors? You got all your pitchforks and staves, and you're mad. What's going on? And he said, you took away my gods, which I've made. And the priest, and you're gone away, and what have I more? What is this that you say unto me? What aleth thee? What do you mean, what's the matter? You took my gods. You took my idols. You took my priests. I have nothing left. This was everything to me. This is all I care about. I mean, is this guy religious or what? I mean, if you take away this guy's plastic Jesus, or his crucifix, or his rosary, I mean, you know what? It's over for him. What's he going to do without his beads? What's he going to do? You took my stained glass window, right? I mean, this guy is very religious. I mean, look, you can't say that he's not into his religion. But is God blessing this guy? Oh, man, I know it's going to be great now that I have this wonderful Levite to my priest, who's going to sell me out, steal all my stuff for another gig. OK, that's what happened, right? So was he right when he said, oh, I know things are going to go well for me now? No way he's losing everything. Why? Because God's not blessing him because he's not right with God. God doesn't approve of idolatry, even though I do not doubt his sincerity. Now, the young guy, he had no sincerity. He was just a total piece of work from the beginning here. Who knows why he's leaving Bethlehem, Judah? There's probably a warrant in Judah. You know, it's probably the reason why he's even up there in the first place. But we know he always lacked integrity and had no integrity. But you know, Micah seems like a nice guy and a sincere guy. OK, remember, this is the guy who stole the money and then felt bad about it and brought it back. This guy's got a conscience. He's sincere, very religious. He's not perfect. Nobody is. But the point is, we've got two kinds of people in the story here. We've got the young man, the priest, who's just a total scumbag con artist making money in religion as a phony, fake preacher, telling people what they want to hear, positive message, hey, man, God's blessing you. This is God's will. And then we've got another guy who is the sincere but ignorant dupe of false religion, who just keeps praying those prayers and rubbing those beads and bowing down to those idols, lighting the candles. And he thinks he's doing it right, but it's not according to knowledge. It's not according to God's word. He's not following the word of God. And so he says, what do you mean, what ails you? What's my problem? You've taken everything from me. Verse 25, and the children of Dan said unto him, let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee and thou lose thy life with the lives of thy household. So again, we're not going to threaten you directly, but I'm just afraid that if you hang around, some of these guys might just beat you up or kill you. We'd hate for you to get hurt. We'd hate for something to happen. For your safety, I think you better just shut up and leave for your safety, because I can't control what some of these hotheads in my 600-man army are going to do to you. So this is a very thinly veiled threat that you better just take off or you're going to get killed. You say you're going to lose your life and the lives of your household. Something might happen to your family, too. Verse 26, the children of Dan went their way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, because he's got his neighbors, these are 600 trained troops. They have no chance against these 600 armed soldiers. So they saw that they're too strong for him. He turned and went back unto his house. And that's it for him. He loses everything. And they took the things which Micah had made and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were quiet and secure, and they smote them with the edge of the sword and burnt the city with fire, and there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon and they had no business with any man, and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth Rehob, and they built a city and dwelt therein, and they called the name of the city Dan. And this is the biblical city of Dan that you're gonna read about all throughout the Old Testament. When the Bible often wants to kind of give you the scope of the nation of Israel and encompass the whole thing, you'll see this phrase, from Dan even to Beersheba. You remember that? So Dan is a northern extremity, Beersheba being a southern extremity, and they're 144 miles apart, and when he says from Dan to Beersheba, he's encompassing the whole land there. So this is a major city that is significant because it actually remains a major center of idolatry all the way until the end of the nation of Israel. Because if you remember, when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, is gonna set up his false religion where he makes a calf for them to worship, he makes a molten image of a calf or a cow, so he was a Hindu, right? So he's worshiping this calf or cow, and when he sets that up, he doesn't just make one in Bethel. Bethel means house of God, so it's like, oh, let's put it in Bethel, and it'll be in the house of God, you know? When they're really supposed to be down in Jerusalem worshiping the Lord at the actual temple of God, but basically, he doesn't just set up one in Bethel, but he also puts one in Dan, because Dan already had a history of idolatry going all the way back to the book of Judges. So he puts one in Dan, he puts one in Bethel, and he says, these are your gods now, and you're gonna worship these gods, and then they would still call it worshiping Jehovah. Even Jeroboam says, hey, it's gonna be, you know, we're gonna have a feast under the Lord. And what did Jeroboam do? And by the way, the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, are something that's mentioned scores of times throughout the Old Testament. Over the course of hundreds of years, in the books of the kings and the chronicles and the prophets, just every bad king, he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. That's like a major theme that keeps coming up, the sins of Jeroboam, the sins of Jeroboam. These are actually the roots of that sin, okay? And if you think about it, Jeroboam was similar to this story as well, because you know what the Bible says? When Jeroboam broke off from the true religion centered around the house of David, centered around the temple in Jerusalem, when Jeroboam broke off and started his own separate Samaritan religion in the north, the Bible says that he made of the lowest of the people to be priests. And not only that, it says, whomsoever would, he consecrated. So basically, this guy would ordain anybody. I mean, he's ready to ordain, whosoever would, even of the lowest of the people. Whatever derelict, whatever bozo, whatever doctrine, it's just, they're just handing out college degrees, handing out ordinations like they're just nothing, right? No qualifications being observed or anything like that. So it's similar to what we see in this story. So let's finish off the story here, though. So it says that they called the name of the city Dan, right? After the name of Dan, their father, who was born unto Israel, he's one of the 12 sons of Israel, one of the 12 tribes, is the tribe of Dan. And it says, howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. So he's, the book of Judges is writing to people who are living in a time when that city's always been called Dan to them. They don't know the history of the city. So the book of Judges is explaining to them the history of the city, and it's explaining to them, hey, that city Dan, it used to be called Laish, and this is how they got there. So he's explaining the origin of Dan. And it says, and the children of Dan, verse 30, set up the graven image, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. This is the first time that we get the name of the young man. So presumably, the plain reading of the text would be that the same young man, because we've been reading about this nameless young guy who was kind of Judah, kind of Levite guy, this guy, now we find out exactly who he is, his name is Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh. Now why wait until the very end of the story to give the guy his name? It's because of the fact that he's writing to people at the time, you know, when the book of Judges is first released, or when it first is being read to its original audience, these people already are familiar with the city of Dan, and they're already familiar with the sons of Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, because they know, yeah, that's the priestly cast up there in Dan, those are the priests, right? Basically, the point of this story is to tell them where those people came from, you know? Hey, let me explain to you how the sons of Jonathan became priests up there, because we know God's word says it's supposed to be the sons of Aaron, right? They're supposed to be of the tribe of Levi, the sons of Aaron. So here, at the end of the story is like the reveal. Like, oh, and guess what? That's why to this day, these particular people are the priests up in Dan, they descend from him, so he's giving the origin of that wicked worship up in Dan of idolatry with this false priest, family, and so forth. So he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land, and they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. So this idol was set up for a long time, right? All the time the house of God was in Shiloh, this idol was there, and then even when the idol stopped being there, this house of Jonathan continued to be priests all the way up to the captivity of the land, okay? All the way to the end. So you see how the wicked actions that we see in chapter 17 and 18, even though in some ways there were some good intentions involved, even though there were some nice people involved, you know what, in the end, these things ended up being a wicked false religion for hundreds of years, and just damning so many souls and just so many people not worshiping the Lord, forsaking God, worshiping idols. Folks, just because your heart is in the right place, or just because you call it Jesus or Christian, folks, that does not mean that you are actually right with God. That does not mean that you're actually saved. Everybody who says Jesus or Christian or Christ isn't necessarily saved. Okay, it has to be according to God's word. What would have fixed all the problems in this story? Everything in this story would have been fixed by Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which these people had access to that information. They had the word of God. They should have known better. They could have at least known the 10 Commandments. They could have at least known the basics about vowing, and look, we've got the mother. She makes a vow. She breaks her vow. She's into idolatry. She gets her son into idolatry. They start consecrating the wrong people as a priest, and just say, oh, well, God said it's the sons of Aaron. Well, he's a Levite, close enough. Wrong. Close enough isn't gonna work with Bible doctrine. Close enough isn't gonna work with the word of God. Close enough, no, we don't wanna get close to having the right salvation. Close to having, well, you know, the NIV's close enough. Well, the ESV's in the ballpark. No, friend, I don't wanna be in the ballpark. I wanna have God's word. I wanna have the right doctrine, the right belief, the right faith. I wanna go to the right church. I wanna do the right kind of soul winning. I don't wanna just get in the ballpark. This attitude that's sloppy in our worship of God that just says, well, you know, whatever. Levite, whatever. Well, you know, you're worshiping idols. What, do you think I'm worshiping Molech here? Does this look like Dagon to you? This is an idol to the Lord. I'm praying to the Lord right now. That's idolatry. No, because it's the Lord, and I'm gonna merge the first two commandments into one. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make it a graven image. I'm just not supposed to make a graven image of other gods. That what the Catholics do? Yeah, the Catholics have mashed commandments one and two into one commandment. It's okay to make a graven image as long as it's Jesus. Long as it's the Lord. As long as it's Mary. You know, as long as we're not worshiping a cow, we should be fine. Wrong. Idolatry is idolatry. It doesn't matter if it's unto the Lord. It doesn't matter if it's unto Molech. An idol is an idol. It's of the devil. Things that are sacrificed to idols are sacrificed to devils. So what we should take away from this story is to understand that we need to make sure that we read the word of God and figure out what the truth is, and not just say, well, you know, God knows my heart, and I'm just gonna kinda just worship the Lord as it comes to me, and just see what happens. Look, here we see a nice guy worshiping the Lord, and he loses everything because he's not saved, because he doesn't even know the word of God at all. He's just completely idolatrous, but he thinks he's saved. He thinks he's worshiping the Lord. He thinks he's got it together, doesn't he? He thinks God's blessing him. Folks, he's just like millions and millions of people in America today. They don't study the word of God. They don't know what the Bible says. They're just following a religion of either their own invention, or maybe it was mom's invention, as this guy inherited this from his mom, or just whoever traveling circus of a preacher came through and taught him his doctrine. Hey, yeah, you be my father. You'll be a priest unto me. Great, you're a Levite, great. Tribe of Judah, what, whatever. I mean, you're a Levite, right? I mean, you're a Levite, right? Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. This guy's genealogy is a little questionable. Who are these people? Gershom, the son of Manasseh. Who's that? Oh, so you're a Levite, but you're of the family of Judah. Who knows? Who cares? Close enough. That's his attitude, isn't it? Close enough. And so we see how this ends up badly for Micah. And you know who makes out like a bandit is the false preacher. But he's at hell right now. So he didn't get away with much, did he? But another thing I want to point out is how the teacher of false religion is a scumbag with no integrity. You see how he'll just turn around and just bite you if it'll be to his advantage? He doesn't care about anyone but himself. You see, false religion is probably the worst possible thing anyone could do with their life. I mean, if you're not actually worshiping the true God, if you don't actually know the word of God, if you're not actually preaching the truth, if you had any decency, even if you're an unbeliever or you just don't care or you're agnostic or maybe you're just a really backslidden Christian, you're actually saved but you're super backslidden, you know, if you had any integrity, you'd just go get a normal job. You'd just go be an electrician, you'd go be a plumber, you'd go be a carpenter, you'd just do something else, right? What kind of a scummy person gets up and teaches lies about the most important issue of life for Filthy Lucre's sake? Just destroying people's souls. I mean, that's gotta be the worst scum. And so false teachers, false prophets, the Bible lumps them in with the most degenerate scum, mentioning them in the same breath in 2 Peter 2 and Jude with places like Sodom and Gomorrah, with people like Balaam, the son of Bosor, with people like Cain and Korah and all these horrible people. Why, because they're the worst scum. People who get up and knowingly teach lies are super wicked and God's wrath is on them. That's why Jesus just ripped the Pharisees and the Sadducees, because that's what they were. They were greedy, the Bible tells us, they devoured widows' houses, they made all kinds of money, and then they would make a pretense of a long prayer to justify it, and he said, you will receive the greater damnation. He said they were, basically of all the people in Israel, when Jesus is there, you know, you got prostitutes, you got publicans, and then you got the false religion, he said, you guys are gonna receive the worst damnation. You've got the hottest hell waiting for you. So we see that we need to make sure that our religion, our worship of the Lord is according to the Bible, not just some made up, make it up as we go along, close enough type thing. We need to make sure that we actually know what we're talking about and that we actually listen to preaching of someone who knows what they're talking about and that we search the scriptures to see whether these things are so, and not blindly believe any preacher, myself included, but search the scriptures daily whether these things be so. This story is indicative of the spiritual state at this time, and this is why they ended up having to have a king, and they end up, you know, having Saul and David and Solomon and so forth. They ended up having to have a king because they couldn't handle the freedom under the system of the judges. There's no question that when they had a king, they lost freedom, right? I mean, when they had a king in 1 Samuel chapter eight, Samuel tells them, look, you're gonna get taxed, you're gonna have to pay for all this, you're gonna get drafted into the military, your daughters are gonna get drafted to help the war effort, baking and doing all kinds of stuff. He said, look, he is gonna put you to his work. Are you sure this is what you want? They lost freedom, but you know why they lost freedom? Because the Lord wasn't their king. So then they had no king, everybody's doing what's right in their own eyes, and it descended into chaos. And let me tell you something. God can only give people freedom when they're righteous people. Parents can only give their kids freedom when they're good kids. You know, if your parents give you a little bit of freedom and then you abuse it, you lose freedom. Well, guess what? In America today, we are abusing our freedoms. I mean, we've been given all this wonderful freedom. We live in the freest place, probably almost in the history of man, but one of the freest places for sure, and what have we done with our freedom? We've used it to blaspheme God, and we've used it to do all sorts of wickedness. And you know what? It's going away, you're gonna lose it. You abuse freedom, you lose it. You don't worship the Lord, well, then you know what? Man's gonna have to whip you into shape then. If you won't allow God to whip you into shape, man's gonna have to do it. And so that's why we see, and you know, everybody's so big on the politics and the election and everything, but you know what? Those are just the leaves on the tree. What are the real branches? What's the real root? What is the real trunk? I'll tell you what it is, it's the wickedness of America. What we ought to worry about is making America righteous. Making America a godly place, because if you do that, then the election will be in God's hands. The election will be fine. But if we have an unrighteous nation, why would God bless us with righteous leaders? He's gonna give us the worst leaders. If we do right, he'll bless us with good leaders that give us more freedom. And if we do wrong, we're gonna get some of these weirdos that are running, I don't follow it. I don't even know their names. The only one that I know his name is creepy Uncle Joe Biden. That's the only name I even know. And obviously I know our incumbent, Donald Trump, okay? But you know, these other guys, I mean, is that booty guy still running? Yeah, you heard me right. Booty judge. There's a fag running named booty judge. Can't even make this stuff up. Then there's some other guy running called Beto or something, but I don't even know. Is that his first name or his last name? What is that? That's not his name? What's his real name? Goldstein? Goldberg? Shapiro? What's his real name? Tell me. So what is that though? Is that a nickname or is that? Robert O'Rourke. Well, you can't get much more Irish than the O'Rourke's. Robert O'Rourke is about as white as you can get. That's his name? Robert O'Rourke? I mean, I'm assuming it's Irish because it's got an O in front of it. I was just kidding. I've never heard the name. What, Beto? But isn't this about B-E-T-O? So wouldn't it be like Beto? Bat-o. What kind of a name is Beto? So it's not Beto. Oh, Beta. Yeah, I'm sure he is quite the Beta male. So it's Beta, like the fishes that eat each other? Is that? Oh, Beto. I'm sorry, I can't process this name. I've tried to process it for 60 seconds. At this point, it's becoming counterproductive, so I'm just gonna throw that in the trash because I can't process it. Folks, if you want to have freedom, look, I don't care who's in the White House because I'm not gonna put his picture up in my living room or something and pledge allegiance to it. I don't really give a rip. I just want to be left alone. Amen? I just want to live a life in all godliness and peace and safety and honesty. I just want to live my life. I don't care who gets, you know what all I care about is just that I still have the freedom to serve God and raise my family and be a Christian. You know, that's really, at the end of the day, what we care about, right? We just want to be able to go out and work and make an honest living, take care of our family. Well, guess what the pathway to that is? It's having a godly nation where God can bless that nation. Then God can bless us and give us freedom, but I promise you that if we go into wickedness, the freedom's gonna be gone. It's not as much like, oh man, I hope, you know, Beto or Beto or Beto or Booty or whatever gets in. I don't sit around thinking about that. I just sit around thinking, man, what can we do to wake up Christians and get them to be more righteous? What can we do to get people off of these modern perversions and get them on the King James Bible? What can we do that's gonna allow us to go out to the heathen and get more people saved? What can we do to wake Christians out of their sleep and get them serving God? I mean, these are the type of things we ought to be worrying about, not like, oh man, you know, I gotta catch the news and we gotta figure out what's going on with Beto and Booty. I don't, who cares? It doesn't matter, because you know what matters is are we soul winning, are we living for God, and are we turning other people to righteousness? That's what's gonna fix the nation. You lose freedom, you lose privileges when you don't serve God, okay. And so these people, they're about to lose everything because they're not serving God, whether sincere as Micah or insincere as Jonathan. Doesn't matter, okay. They're both doomed in two different ways. But not only that, everything that's called Christian isn't Christian. Oh, it's for the Lord, molten image. If it's a house of gods, it's not of the Lord. House of God singular, okay. But when you got a graven image and a molten image and a terra-fem, you got this whole menagerie of false gods there. And you know what, I briefly heard about this, and again, forgive me for not being up on current events, but that's why you're here to help me in the interactive portion of our sermon this morning. Kanye West. He got saved. No, what I saw is that he joined some Aramaic Orthodox church, baptized a baby and whatever. Can somebody help me out who knows more about this? Who's done the research? Does anybody know more? Help me out. Help me. Corvin, help me. Okay. Unforgettable ending or whatever. So, okay. Well, last I saw you, he was telling people, I saw some article about how he's telling people to all come together of different denominations and it doesn't matter. Did anybody see that article? You did? All right. Can I get a witness? Yeah, but let me explain something to you, folks. Let me explain something to you. The answer to our problems in America is not some godless, wicked, perverted, blasphemous star getting religion. Is this, oh man, now you know. People just fall all over themselves over some celebrity. Hey, God's not a respecter of persons. Okay, hey, I baptized a young black gentleman in Atlanta, Georgia a couple days ago and let me tell you something, that guy is every bit as important as any celebrity in Hollywood or the music industry or whatever. In fact, they're probably more important because these Hollywood and music celebrities are less than nothing in God's sight. They're not even nothing, they're less than nothing. Okay, they are some of the most wicked, godless, heathen. I mean, that guy, Kanye West, okay, has come out with some blasphemous stuff. Super blasphemous. And the chances are he's a reprobate, which is why all of a sudden when he supposedly gets saved, his message is some ecumenical message, not a clear gospel message of the actual truth about how to be saved or the Bible, but it's just an ecumenical message where him and Belieber, you know, him and Bieber and Joel Osteen can all get together and whatever. Folks, this is not, it's a sham. Right. You know, I don't know the details, but I'd be willing to bet based on the quotes that I saw from him. I didn't, like I said, I didn't do a lot of research. I was hoping somebody would help me out here. Based on the quotes and the things that I saw, it didn't, hey, it didn't sound like the voice of the shepherd to me. It sounded like the voice of strangers. Didn't sound like old Kanye has become anything close to being a real Baptist or Evangelical Christian. Sounded more like just some kind of a turnover newly. And you know what, these celebrities, they often go through a phase like that. You know one of the most perverted rock and roll singers of all time, Little Richard? Remember when he converted to Christianity, you old people? What year was that? Who knows who Little Richard is? And by the way, he's one of the founders of rock and roll. I mean, he's one of the most, he's one of the big ones. Total flaming sodomite. Super wicked. Okay. And I'm not, I mean, I didn't wanna go into it. But the guy is just, you know, just don't ever sing that song Tutti Frutti. It's a lot worse than you think of a song. And let me tell you something. He converted to Christianity, you know, maybe some of you know this, maybe you don't. And he swore off the rock and roll industry and became a preacher. Yeah, he did. He's like, I'm done with rock and roll. I'm a preacher now. And he went around preaching as an evangelist. You know why you don't remember that? You know why you don't hear about that? Because a few months later, he went back to being a fag and whatever and just preaching and doing rock and roll and became a complete degenerate again. And let me tell you about someone else. How about the artist formerly known as Prince? The artist formerly not burning in hell. Okay, what did he do? Oh, he hit rock bottom and he got really, you know, he started seeking Christ. And what did he find? The Jehovah's Witnesses. So instead of going to hell number one for being a godless, evil, effeminate, whatever, now he's going to hell number two reserved for Jehovah's Witnesses. Folks, Kanye West was on his way to hell number one. Now he's on his way to hell number two. And you know what? I'll eat my words as soon as somebody can show me a clear presentation of the gospel out of his mouth and not this ecumenical junk of what I'm seeing. Because the guy is most likely a reprobate. And you know what? The devil just puts these people out there because he knows that a lot of Christians are going to be dumb enough to salivate all over these Hollywood stars when they find Jesus. I mean, oh, Gene Simmons, you know, is our spiritual role model, right? Is that the guy or didn't he, or one of the members of KISS found Christ, or maybe not Gene Simmons or whatever. One of the members of KISS found Christ. And then somebody, and then one of the members of Megadeth found Christ. And one of the members of, Corn, yeah, the bass player from Corn or something. Is that who it was? You know, he, and what's the guy? Alice Cooper, you know, is our, you know, these are godly men, folks. These guys are going to be ruling and raiding with Christ. Folks, people hit rock bottom and they turn over a new leaf. That's not salvation. Oh, but he said Jesus! This guy said the Lord, this guy said Jehovah, this guy said Elohim, so what? Guess what? It's not God unless it's the God of the Bible. And it's not salvation unless it's faith alone, not of works, and unless it has nothing to do with turning over a new leaf, but if it's about putting your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Not, oh, I was so wicked and now God has delivered me from all that. That's not the gospel, friend. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's not, let me tell you how I am this and I am that. It's about Jesus. It's about faith alone. It's certainly not about, hey, let's all join hands and sing Kumbaya with all denominations. Folks, don't just get sucked into anything that has Christian on it. Oh, this is a Christian rock band, Christian rap. You know, oh, this must be good. Oh, this is a Christian TV. Oh, the Christian preacher. Oh, he's a Christian now. Let's all go buy, you know what? I don't want Kanye's Christian album. Don't be deceived. Get in the Bible and figure out what Christian is. Okay, get in the word of God and figure out who God is. We don't need some reprobate celebrity who's on his little Jesus kick. And you know what? Hey, if he truly gets saved, which I don't, based on the stuff I saw, he's not saved. But you know, again, it's not like I've actually met, you know, I met with Kanye this week and, you know. But based on the stuff that's being reported, based on the stuff that I saw, the ecumenical stuff that was going on and whatever, and I mean, it looked like a complete sham. Okay, but even if someone like that did get saved, you know what, there's no more or less rejoicing in heaven than when some random person out in the ghetto gets saved. You think they're up in heaven, just like, oh, you know, Faith Ford got another 15 people saved today. What else is new? Well, 200 people out soul winning and, you know, 12 people got saved today or whatever. Oh man, Kanye West, woo! Things are going to start, high five, Gabriel, you know, things are going to start happening now, woo! Oh man, someone of this caliber has gotten saved. Folks, you know what, you know what caliber Kanye West, whatever the smallest caliber. And I don't know anything about guns to tell you what that caliber is, but he's a 22. Is that the smallest caliber? Is there something smaller? He's a rubber band, there we go. He's a spitwad, is what he is. Oh, isn't it so great when these people have spent their whole lives blaspheming Christ and just perverting young people and getting millions and millions of young people to live a wicked, perverted, fornicating life. Oh, isn't it great, their music that encourages adultery and using drugs and drunkenness and blaspheming God, he's ready to throw Jesus a bone and in fact, he's already in touch with Joel Osteen and he's already in touch with, you know, whoever. Durbin's just salivating over the guy's pastor. I wonder if it's the King James version that Kanye's into. Yeah, I wonder if it's the King James version. I wonder if it's salvation by faith alone or if it's kind of a turnover your new leap kind of gospel. I wonder if it's the exclusive gospel that says there's no salvation in any other, there's none other name given under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and whosoever believeth not shall be damned. Is that what it is? Well, you know what, that's what the book says and so we need to be following the word of God and not just say, oh, it's Christian, let's go with it. So there are a lot of powerful lessons from Judges 17 and 18, amen. It's not a story that you often hear preached. It's not really a typical Sunday school favorite but it's a great story. There's a lot to learn here to the one who knows the rest of the Bible and can kind of put the pieces together and read these historical books as they should be read. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord God. Help us not to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Help us not to salivate over the world's celebrities, Lord. Help us not to just think that everything that glitters is gold. Lord, help us to actually read your word and live it and follow it and Lord, help us to try to turn as many people to righteousness as we can in order that we might be blessed as a nation, Lord. Please just bless our church, Lord. Forgive me for not knowing more about Kanye West in my sermon, Lord, but I frankly don't care. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up but I really don't give a rip. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would just help everyone who's here to just take the message and live it and care what the Bible says and not just all close enough and not to get their morning devotions from a TV station or a radio station and not to look to someone like Kanye West as their new Messiah or something because he's now in his little Richard Christian phase, Lord. Please just help us to be serious about your word and serious about integrity and our doctrine, Lord, and help us to just follow it to the letter and not to just think that we can cut corners and get fuzzy with your commandments. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.