Micah's Curse

A Study of Events Surrounding Micah's Ephod, From the Account Given in Judges 17-18

When Adam and Eve chose to sin at the beginning of time, their progeny was doomed to sin's curse of destruction and ruin. The malediction ultimately brought corruption and decay to their physical bodies, and God cursed the ground to be less fruitful to their sustenance. In the story of Micah’s family, we see how one uttered curse, joined to the most serious transgressions, spiraled into an unfavorable judgment by God that would last throughout history.

But what exactly did it mean to curse in Old Testament times? A curse could be voiced by God, or by a follower, to be brought into effect. Sometimes, there would be times where the nation of Israel would proclaim curses on those who would break the Covenant(e.g. Deut. 27). Others could, and often would, pronounce an imprecation, but only when it related to an offense against God would it bring God’s sealing punishment. The curses were known and assumed to bring about destruction, and inevitably ruin, on the cursed. The best illustration of this is outlined in Deuteronomy 28.

If the Holy Spirit of God prompted a curse, whether directly through a follower or indirectly, the prediction of harm would assuredly be fulfilled. For example, Ham, the son of Noah, shamed his father and exposed Noah’s nakedness, which caused Noah to damn Ham’s future inheritance: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”(Genesis 9:25-26) This prophecy was brought to fulfillment when Israel subdued the Canaanites in their conquest with Joshua and later inspired leaders. In another instance, Elisha was mocked by a large number of children while on his pilgrimage. He then pronounced a curse on them, and immediately a group of bears killed them. (2 Kings 2:23-24) But the most strikingly evident result from a curse honored by God is shown by Jesus when he cursed the fig tree that did not bear fruit: “And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” Later, Peter noted that the tree had withered away. (Mark 11:14, 21)

However, God showed His lovingkindness and grace by offering to lift the burden of His execration if the ancient people would return to His ways and His fellowship, and away from other gods(demons). And in a most incredible and generous act, God the Father gave His Son Jesus as a sacrifice to cancel the debt of the curse of sin to all who repent of their evil deeds and accept His offer and gift of discipleship.

With the understanding of these facts, we are now ready to examine one of the most powerful curses enacted in history at its very inception.

“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, and about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, 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.”(Judges 17:1-3 [italics mine])

Micah and his mother appeared to be two piously devoted followers of God, but it is evident from just this opening verse that they are grossly deficient in knowledge of the laws of Moses. Likely, intermingling with the Philistine lords, as exposited in the previous chapters with Samson’s judgments, eroded Israel's faith and strict adherence to God’s precepts, and enticed them to follow the false gods- to one degree or another. Perhaps the isolation in the mountain made it more difficult for this family to reach, or be reached by, a reformation by the church of Israel.

Somehow Micah’s mother lost her money, likely through robbery or bad business dealings. Yet, this misfortune could be interpreted as a blessing from God and a warning, because her planned use for the silver was to make a graven image and a molten image- two items that would be sure to incur the wrath of God. However, instead of accepting the loss and quietly submitting to God’s providential care, she was upset enough to curse the silver, and her son heard the denunciation. In Israel, and in the ancient world in general, uttering a curse carried with it the same weight and solemnity as swearing an oath. According to Moses’ Law, an oath by a woman would be ratified by a male witness of her household. (Numbers 30) Apparently, Micah is at least aware of the steps necessary to seal a curse. Nevertheless, he did not believe in the actual fulfillment of one, otherwise he would not have tried to obtain the money again, and then proceed to give it to his mother. Here we begin to see a trend in this family of looking at the gratification of their hearts’ desires, and nothing else, as blessings from God; his mother then blessed her son for the silver’s return. She superstitiously and erroneously believed that this blessing would negate the curse.

“Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.”(17:4-5)

Not only did the mother not see the immutability of the imprecation, but she now could not bring herself to honor the oath that she just admitted to. One heinous sin makes it easy to slip into a host of other sins. Her greed caused her to keep the vast majority of the silver, and she only gave a small portion to the craftsman to make the ephod for her son; Micah was probably none the wiser that such a small portion was used for his prized gift.

Because Micah used this cursed money as an object to be worshipped, in the midst of several other idols, God not only recognized the curse, but it was also brought to its most severe level. God had stipulated very grievous penalties for making idols to worship, and they would carry their own ruinous punishment with them. As He said, “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.” (Deut. 25-26) By bringing the cursed silver and cursed image(the ephod carried a double curse) into his house, Micah and his whole household effectively came under the curse. Under a sham of piety, he even consecrated one of his sons to make his house of mockery seem more “legitimate”.

Immediately following the last verse is this statement: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”(Judges 17:6) This not only validates the mistakes of Micah’s ill-fated actions in the previous verse, but also gives a clue to the spiritual disregard of the whole nation, even some of its leaders, as the passage additionally refers to the next verse: “And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.”(17:7)

“And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.” (17:8) Micah introduced himself to the Levite, and asked the Levite to stay with 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 victuals. So the Levite went in.” (17:10)

This Levite obviously had no regard or care at all to uphold his obligations to God by traversing so far away from home, and so aimlessly. There is no supernatural sign that told him to move, otherwise he would have mentioned it to Micah. From the information of the period that is available, the salary offered by Micah was measly compared to what a God-fearing and dutiful Levite would receive from the nation. Most probably, he was tired and lazy, and was happy to receive more power by having full spiritual authority, and not have to perform tasks in the true Church that might seem menial to the carnal mind; he was satisfied to become “a big fish in a small pond”, so to speak. Micah consecrated the Levite as his head priest, so the Levite effectually attained the roles, though from a false perspective, of an equivalency of high priest and prophet. Micah consecrated the Levite. Such was the young man’s lust for power and ease that he did not even ask by what spiritual credentials or authority Micah could lawfully do this; the Levite’s strict training in his upbringing should have taught him to at least have that much reverence.

What is so shameful is that Micah’s family seemed to have zeal for God, as witnessed by Micah’s statement: “Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.”(17:13) This proclamation by him is a perfect example of how ignorance of the Scriptures, whether innocent or willful, will bring people to such erroneous conclusions in matters of God. It seems that in this spiritually chaotic state of the nation of Israel, the Law was not common knowledge or regularly taught. Micah should have known not to: 1.)take money that he heard to be cursed, 2.)return cursed objects to the one that cursed them, 3.)buy household luxuries with that kind of money, 4.)set up other gods to compete with the one true God, 5.)create images to represent his gods, 6.)devise any type of spiritual plan without consulting the divine counsel of God, which would be available to him through the Torah. In a similar vein, it is truly sad to see a case where a person with a strong heart for God is bewitched from following Jesus Christ from a true foundation by becoming enchanted by the devil’s images and idols. This Levite could have reproved Micah and shown him the way to, and principles of, the true God, Jehovah. However, being a young man, he was apt to be more distracted and impressionable, and not as learned himself in the Scriptures. Even so, he would have had a basic understanding by this time in his life, and his sin could arguably be the worst in this whole idolatrous fiasco. Yet, this incident also shows that the grand assumption on the part of Micah hid an opposition in his heart to actually knowing God; he more wanted worldly gain and a comfortable life.

“In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of 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.” (18:1)

Again, we have a reminder that there was no king to discipline or give counsel to the people, and the nation was in a general state of lawlessness. In this story in Judges, an illuminating picture is drawn of the personal character of the tribe of Dan. It appears that the Danites had not obtained the whole portion of their allotted inheritance, only part of it at this point in time. Consequently, the tribe sent out five men of valor to spy and search for a place to conquer.(18:2) The problem with this decision is that they chose to seek out a land far north of their territory. They should have been more faithful and patient for God to give them the victory over the remaining unconquered settlement boundary outlined by Him. No where is it dictated in the passage that they sought advice from God.

They arrived at Mt. Ephraim, and visited Micah’s house(18:2) Like the unfaithful Levite, these Danites traveling outside the parameters of God’s counsel were caught in Satan’s snare, most indefensibly when they arrived at the mountain, and fell under the spell of the cursed house of gods.

“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?” (18:3)

The fact that these men recognized the Levite’s voice could imply that this particular Levite was assigned duties nearby the Danites’ territory. Having a so undisciplined and unfaithful Levite in a position of spiritual leadership among the Danites certainly contributed to their ignorance, or perhaps willful disobedience, in their relationship to God.

As spies, these soldiers acted as representatives for the tribe. Their interaction with the Levite shows a genial disposition in their nature, yet the sum of their actions displays a trait of opportunism, as is further confirmed by their request of the Levite, moonlighting as an oracle, to ask for God’s counsel for prosperity: “Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.” (18:5) Sadly, this action shows how little the tribe thought about God at that time; for only when a supposed representative of Him was placed in their path did they care to inquire of Him. As the commentator Matthew Henry noted: “They seemed to have a greater opinion of Micah’s teraphim than of God’s urim, for they had passed by Shiloh, and for aught that appears, had not inquired there of God’s high priest”.

“And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.” (18:6) These Danites care not how he gained this knowledge from God, but only that they are asking advice from a publicly-acknowledged spiritual leader. They took another step into demonic bondage.

The Danites then proceeded to spy out the land of Laish. (18:7) The people of this city are said to have been “careless”, and “there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in anything.” Although the Danites are beginning to step outside His will, God is more upset with the wicked and self-indulgent citizens of Laish. So often when people indulge their carnal lusts and impulses, without regard for moral regulation, that they become more undisciplined and self-absorbed, as is observed with Laish, who “had no business with any man”.

“And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.” (18:9)

In this passage is seen an impatient, yet disciplined and brave character in the Danites. The tribe is decisive and practical in their assessment of possible success, showing themselves to be a natural military force. In light of this fact, it is surprising that they are the last tribe to receive all of their inheritance. However, an important factor in any military conquest of Israel was that the battles were not won through sheer physical might or tactical wisdom, but by faithful and constant reliance on God’s providence, and only through that, which the children of Dan seem to be lacking at this point in history.

The tribe sent “600 men appointed with weapons of war”. (18:11) This squadron was a small division of their available army, which further demonstrated their military confidence and courage.

“And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold it is behind Kirjath-jearim.” (18:12) This action could be interpreted as presumptuous and somewhat inconsiderate, given that this is in the land that belonged to another tribe of Israel.

“And they passed thence unto 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, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.” (18:14)

Here, they truly make a law unto themselves. What is suggested in their words is that they already had some sort of reliance on local pagan deities, and they are unscrupulous enough to steal the possessions of someone they had befriended. Interestingly, they didn’t forget their characteristic friendliness, and “saluted” the Levite. (18:15) Notwithstanding, they proceeded to engage in gang intimidation and tactics, as the five spies robbed the house of the idols, and set the 600 men to guard the entrance from any interference with the crime.

“And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 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: 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, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.” (18:18-20)

The priest asked them why they were robbing Micah, and the spies became overbearingly threatening. Yet, they also showed a certain charisma and intelligence in offering the priest the same job with them, bringing greater honor and adulation. These Danites proved their expert, adaptive skill in diplomacy and negotiation, albeit from a corrupt standing. They knew the priest well enough to realize that he had a thirst for power, and lacked integrity. The Levite was so far backslidden in faith and debauched that he only considered the additional worldly gain.

With a cold efficiency, they accomplished their goal and immediately departed. (18:21)

Micah and the men of the town discovered what had happened, and confronted the Danite soldiers. “And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?” (18:23) The soldiers have a brash sense of humor, and an immense pride and confidence in their strength. After further protestation from Micah, they continue: “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.” (18:25) Apparently, they had a propensity to be easily angered, but also showed themselves to be candid and matter-of-fact. They left without any second thought of compassion on Micah’s town for their loss. By this event, a vivid example is given of how apostasy often brings violence, strife, and greed with it. Unfortunately, this confrontation also shows that the lasting impression that Samson made on his tribe was that of his strength mixed with his vices, and the Danites were not able to view God’s chastening in His magnificent triumphs using the man.

“And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at 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 of Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.” (18:28)

True to their nature of efficiency, the Danites wasted no time and proceeded to conquer Laish swiftly and definitely. The victory did not necessarily mean that God was with them in the manner that the Levite spoke of. A common strategy of Satan and his demons is to give an accurate prediction(God sometimes lets them know His plans), or reveal a truth, to seduce and gain the trust of a proselyte. Afterward, the person is on a slippery slope into complete spiritual and moral devastation through sin.

“And they called the name of their city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born in Israel” (18:29) A great sense of heartfelt veneration caused them to name this city and the city they camped in after their forefather, and they continued this tradition.

“And the children of Dan 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. And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.” (18:30-31)

The tribe of Dan seemed to desire God’s assistance in battle, and had the confidence that God was with them, yet they gave the credit for victory to the idols, and the tribe did not offer sacrifices and praise to the true God. Craftily, Satan performed a slide of hand and took their natural zeal and ignorance of Scripture, and completely distorted their perception of God into a depiction of himself through their now perpetual dependence on images.

The captivity spoken of happened in the days of Samuel. However, the city continued to be known long after in Israel as a capitol for idolatry, as when Jeroboam set up the golden calves: “Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.” (1 Kings 12:28-30) The Danites, as a consequence of bringing Micah’s ephod, brought the curse upon their new city.

Notwithstanding, God gave them an opportunity to lift the malediction if they burned the idols and repented of their evil. As He expressed: “And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn to thy fathers”(Deut. 13:17). The Danites stubbornly clung to their idols, and subsequently lost their inheritance in Israel. Referring to an earlier battle, the following passage from God could just as easily be applied to them: “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.” (Joshua 7:12)

Regrettably, the tribe of Dan never ceased their idolatrous practices. Unfortunately, as a witness myself, I can tell you that they are at the helm of the Illuminati, a vast global conspiracy of high-level satanism. They continue to worship all of the gods, with Lucifer at the head. This impudence will inevitably bring God’s wrath upon them. Here is the warning God gave long before the days of Micah:

“Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.” (Deut. 29:18-29)[italics mine]

The tribe of Dan was separated unto evil, and was rooted out into another land, but they still have not received the other plagues in this passage, or most of the curses in Deut. 28. However, in a strange yet interesting connection, the remaining afflictions bear a striking resemblance to the judgments from God in the End Times, as illustrated in the book of Revelation.

The most critically important lesson to be learned from this story of Micah is that we should do all we can to learn about the matters of God; our ignorance will not excuse a false faith or worship. If we are Christians, and fail to reprove our brothers and sisters in sinful errors, but rather encourage them in it or join them, we can only expect to receive the same damnation as them, unless we repent and correct matters. For this Levite’s interaction with the Danites should signal a grave warning to those who would make light of or mock God’s laws, and who would teach others to do so. When we all stand before Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment, He will inform us about what repercussions our actions had, whether the cause and effects were good or bad.