Book of Judges Chapter 17 Summary

Micah Makes Some Silver Gods And Hires Some Priests

  • Note: The next four chapters are not in chronological order. They probably occurred at the same time as Judges chapter 1, and they show that when Israel didn't have judges or kings, their land became a sort of Wild West where the biggest and baddest could push everyone else around with impunity.
  • There's this guy named Micah. He steals a bunch of silver from his mom, but later gives it back to her.
  • She's very happy about that, and she uses the silver to make a graven image for her son so he can worship God in his own house.
  • Micah throws a few other valuable idols into his house, too.
  • Micah decides that with all these images in his house, he might as well make his son a priest and turn his house into a temple. This is a no-no, but he can't resist the chance to worship in his PJs.
  • In these days, there's no king (or judge) to tell Israel what to do. It's anarchy!
  • A Levite's passing through town, and Micah convinces him to be a priest in his house.
  • Micah's feeling pretty good right about now. "Now I know that the Lord will do me good," he says, "seeing I have a Levite […] priest" (KJV 17:13).