Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Judges 17:13 stands in chapters 17 to 21, which are placed out of chronological order and record events from the early part of the judges period, earlier in time than chapters 11 to 16, since the main story of the book ends with chapter 16. Those closing chapters are two concluding episodes or stories that give a pitiful and sad record of backsliding, transgression, and constant lapsing into idolatry. Such sin brings disgrace and punishment, for which there is never excuse, and it is set alongside God's great mercy, goodness, and effort to restore His people from it.
The wider record of Judges 3 to 17 shows a repeated cycle of backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. The verse displays the perversity and unbelief of the people set against the long-suffering and goodness of God. It reflects the awful moral surroundings of Israel and the demoralizing influences of the tribes they permitted to remain in the land of promise.
Judges 17 records Dan's first apostasy and early departure from God into idolatry, including the sanctuary established at Dan. That first apostasy in this chapter is suggested as a reason the tribe was nearly lost and was omitted from the tribes numbered in the sealing of the 144,000. Micah believed that having a Levite as his priest would ensure that the LORD would do him good, prosper him, and favor him. That confidence was placed in an idolatrous setting, for Micah's shrine was a rival sanctuary with molten images during the period of the judges. His confidence was wrong, for he thought merely having a priest in his house was enough to make him religious and assure him of good, and the verse exemplifies the evasive heart's attempt to make idolatry acceptable by attaching religious forms to it.
Judges 17:13 stands in chapters 17 to 21, which are placed out of chronological order and record events from the early part of the judges period, earlier in time than chapters 11 to 16, since the main story of the book ends with chapter 16. Those closing chapters are two concluding episodes or stories that give a pitiful and sad record of backsliding, transgression, and constant lapsing into idolatry. Such sin brings disgrace and punishment, for which there is never excuse, and it is set alongside God's great mercy, goodness, and effort to restore His people from it.
The wider record of Judges 3 to 17 shows a repeated cycle of backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. The verse displays the perversity and unbelief of the people set against the long-suffering and goodness of God. It reflects the awful moral surroundings of Israel and the demoralizing influences of the tribes they permitted to remain in the land of promise.
Judges 17 records Dan's first apostasy and early departure from God into idolatry, including the sanctuary established at Dan. That first apostasy in this chapter is suggested as a reason the tribe was nearly lost and was omitted from the tribes numbered in the sealing of the 144,000. Micah believed that having a Levite as his priest would ensure that the LORD would do him good, prosper him, and favor him. That confidence was placed in an idolatrous setting, for Micah's shrine was a rival sanctuary with molten images during the period of the judges. His confidence was wrong, for he thought merely having a priest in his house was enough to make him religious and assure him of good, and the verse exemplifies the evasive heart's attempt to make idolatry acceptable by attaching religious forms to it.