Judges 17-18: Marks of a cult

If you’ll recall the previous lesson, Samson had the Lord’s blessing, but he squandered it. His life is a picture of all of Israel during this time - They’ve been given the Promise land and they have this special relationship with the Creator, yet they would rather cower in fear of their enemies and serve false gods. They keep crying out to other gods, and never grow up in their faith. In essence, they remain big spiritual babies for a large chunk of their history during this time. They continually reject God’s standard and law for their own by “doing as they see fit.” As a result of living how they want, they reap the consequences, and it gets pretty ugly. If there’s one lesson we need to take from Judges, it’s that sin and its consequences are terrifying. We need to be honest with our vulnerabilities to sin, repent often, and fight against it by the power of Jesus Christ. Each of us need to “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” (John Owen)

New Section of Judges:

This last bit of the book of Judges (17-21) is done talking about the history of the judges themselves. It instead transitions to this epilogue, which is a synopsis of the absolute moral and spiritual decay of Israel at this time. Here’s what you need to know about this section: TIMES. ARE. BAD. To highlight how bad things were, the author gives a flashback to a different point of history, which is way before the time of Samson. In fact, its within the timeframe of Moses’ grandson.

These stories will seem eerily familiar to you if you know the history written in Genesis. They’ll seem similar, because the author is intentionally showing the reader that the Israelites were no better than the evil people of ancient times, like those in Sodom and Gomorrah. The author also repeatedly links these atrocities to Israel not having a king, perhaps setting the stage for the era of kings that would come after the era of judges. The reality, however, is that Israel had a King the whole time: God. They simply didn’t obey him. They lacked faith, and would rather serve gods that they could create and can touch. As the apostle Paul would later describe of pagans, “Their god is their belly” (Philippians 3:19), and that description accurately fit the morality of the Israelites during this time.

False Religion:

This is the issue that we are going to address today in chapter 17: false religion. Cults, high-control groups, and other types of dysfunctional churches all have the markings of false religion. When the apostle James describes what “pure” religion is to a New Testament Christian, he says it “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27). What God intends our spiritual life to look like is others-centered and set apart from the corruption of the world. False religion is exactly the opposite, it is self-centered and tainted by worldly influenced.

If we are not careful, the things that we may think we are doing for the Lord, may actually be for ourselves. Sin is sneaky, and can make us deceive ourselves quickly. We don’t have to be paranoid, but we should be self-aware and reflect often. As James also says right before the religion comments, that if we want to know who we are, who God is, and what his ways are, we must “looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom.” (James 1:25) In other words, we check ourselves out with the Bible. That’s when we can live how God intends for us to.

In addition to the Word of God, we as Christians have the special gift of not walking through this life alone. God has given us the Holy Spirit, and has also given the Holy Spirit to other believers in our lives. These people help to keep us from the powerful, deceiving power of sin. When we don’t have a regular check-in of like-spirited people in our lives, we are prone to start wandering. Isolation isn’t suitable for true believers. In fact, isolation can cause extreme problems in the world. In this post, we’ll talk about a man named Micah, who needed some good people around him to remind him of God’s Word – because he really needed it.

Judges 17

1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”

4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

The marks of false religion/cults: 

Below, I’ll highlight certain points that are often misunderstood as ways that people should follow God. Meaning well doesn’t mean that you’re living well, and ignorance does not make you innocent. Pay attention to these common lies and marks of a cult so that you don’t fall for them.

Penance rather than repentance. (v1-3) 

-Micah admits that he stole his mom’s life savings, but only because he heard he was “cursed”. False religion is covering your bases without experiencing a heart change.

-Micah only wanted to be on his mom’s good side, not God’s.

-He was concerned about doing good, rather than being good (being good with God only comes through faith)

-This act of trying to get right with God by only his behavior (not faith) is what leads to a snowball of sin and deception.

Using God’s Name, but contradicting His Word (v2,3,12)

-His mom, trying to help, actually adds to the problem. (consequences of self-deception)

-In an attempt to set apart her money for God, she actively disobeys him. 

The people of Israel were told only a couple generations before, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.” (Exodus 20:4-5) They should have known better, and either they did and disobeyed, or they had forgotten. Either way, ignorance does not make them innocent!

Imagery rather than intimacy 

-In this whole short story, you see the emphasis on something they can tangibly see – idols, shrine, a priest – rather than the God they can’t see, who desires intimacy with us.

-False religions/cults heavily emphasize what you see, and what you get for following God, rather than the fullness of life through being known by Him.

-Imagery can be good to remind us of God, but it can easily become a trap for us all.

Counterfeit worship (v5)

-”holy” place, fancy clothes, relics, and a priest. All mimicked God’s law for religious ceremonies, but they actually disobeyed it. 

-Worship was only to happen at the tabernacle at Shiloh, not this guy’s living room.

-Priests were only supposed to come from the tribe of Levi, but he appointed his son.

-In his attempt to align more with God’s design for a Levite priest, he hires a pastor that doesn’t know the Word. (How often is that happening nowadays?)

Counterfeit Ministers (v7-13)

-”Hired hands” as Jesus called them in John 10:12, are fake pastors with selfish motives. Some do it for opportunistic, money/power-grabbing reasons (this Levite did for sure).

-Some of these “pastors” might have the right credentials, background, or family lineage (Levite), but don’t know God intimately. As a result, they cause destruction. They are tools of the enemy, rather than instruments of God.

-Claim to speak for God but actually don’t (18:6)

An attitude of “God will bless me if… “ (v13)

-Again, instead of a mutual self-sacrificial, loving relationship with the Creator, false religions/cults emphasize the give-and-take game with God. 

-Just like at the beginning of the story, he thinks he can earn God’s approval by his good behavior. That is the opposite of the good news of Jesus!

• Take time to reflect on these six marks of false religion/cults. Have you fallen into any of these descriptions in the past? How about now?

This story, and the traits of false religion aren’t just a difference of opinion, or just a handful of crazy people doing their own thing – There are serious consequences for generations. The next chapter of Judges details the destruction.

Recap of Judges 18

-Tribe of Dan sent spies to scout new land because of their prior disobedience (reminiscent of spies going into Jericho, Rahab story).

-They run into Micah’s house, steal his idol(s) and make his priest-boy their own priest.

-Micah tries to push back, but he backs down and ends up losing all of his possessions anyways.

-Danites conquer new territory and continue Micah’s cult. The cycle of disobedience develops, there is a snowballing effect taking place with Micah’s idolatry.

Because of Micah’s little fake-religion experiment, the whole tribe of Dan was led astray, even more than they were already. Micah’s idol was worshiped and this false-priesthood continued for about 200 years! This story reminds us of the drastic effects of sin, and what we can look out for in spotting false religions and attitudes regarding a relationship with God. Let us all reflect on what the marks of true religion is in the sight of God, and do what we can to walk by faith in the Spirit, and not by the works of the flesh.