Judges 18:7
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 any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
The closing chapters of Judges, chapters 17 to 21, record events from the early part of the judges' history though they are placed at the end of the book after the main story ends with chapter 16, and thus belong earlier in time than chapters 11 to 16. The verse belongs to the account of the Danites' search for a home because their tribal inheritance had not been assigned, when five men traveled north to inspect a place suitable for settlement. The five men reached Laish and found its people dwelling careless, quiet and secure after the manner of the Zidonians, living securely and unprepared for danger in a place with abundant resources. After the scouts reported to their people, six hundred armed men came to take possession of Laish, capturing and destroying the city and renaming it Dan.
The establishment there of the Danite city and its priesthood began a lasting form of independent, idolatrous worship that continued until the ten tribes were taken captive. The verse stands in a time of gross immorality, when people did what seemed right to themselves rather than following God's standard of righteousness. It belongs to the sad record of Israel's transgressions, constant lapsing into idolatry, backsliding and first apostasy of Dan, bringing disgrace and punishment and showing that backsliding cannot be done with impunity. Those whom God used in this backsliding history are not examples to follow, since He took the very best material at His hand for deliverance even when it was crude and rough.
Dan's apostasy shown in Judges 18 is suggested as a reason the tribe may have been left out of the tribes listed among the 144,000 in Revelation 7. The experience of Laish illustrates how a people accustomed to peace may be taken unawares when war approaches.