I’m reading through the Bible and today fell upon Judges 17. The caption above the passage reads, “Micah’s Idols.” Immediately I thought to myself, “Hmm, I don’t remember reading about a dude named Micah with idols in the book of Judges.” So my interest was peaked. The passage introduces us to a miscellaneous guy named Micah. He’d stolen 1100 pieces of silver from his mom but apparently when he learned his mother had placed a curse on the person who stole it he confessed. What’s interesting (at least later on) is that his mom responds, “The LORD bless you for admitting it…” Now what’s important here is that his mom says, “the LORD”. Everytime you see LORD capitalized in the Scripture it’s a reference point to tell us that the person saying it understands God enough to use His covenant name of Yahweh. This was the personal covenantal name for God used only by the children of Israel. In other words, this woman has heard the stories of God graciously redeeming her people. She must have some knowledge and understanding of the law. She knows who God is.
But as we know when we come to the book of Judges, we know this was a topsy turvy time when folks did what was right in their own eyes. Not sure of a time when folks didn’t do this…but more so in Judges. So just when I think this story is about to end well, the mom (for the life of me I cannot remember ever reading this story and I’ve read Judges a few times) says, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” Did y’all hear that? She says, “I’ll do something for God” but “In honor of my son I’ll create an idol.” Unbelievable. So the story goes that she takes some of the silver, has an image made (direct disobedience to the Law), and puts the image in her son’s house. Micah follows by setting up a shrine for the idol, making a sacred ephod and some more household idols, then goes as far to ‘ordain’ one of his sons as his personal priest in this brand new religion.
It gets worse. Long story short, Micah’s idols end up becoming the center of attention and affection for a Levite priest and eventually the entire tribe of Dan who sets up this carved image to be worshiped for hundreds of years even until the Exile. WOW. One seed of idolatry soiled the hearts of thousands of descendants.
I didn’t write this blog to preach. Heck, I’m afraid I don’t even have solid answers. Other than this: Idolatry is real and all of us have some household idols. Idols like our kids…we love them…but their good things can make us a little ‘too’ happy and their mistakes can make us a little ‘too’ sad. We have idols of religion and narcissism. If you don’t think so, at the end of the day ask yourself how many times you “judged a person in your heart” for “not being ‘this’ or that’” or how many times you said to yourself, “Why doesn’t he/she just do….then fill in the blanks. That’s called thinking yourself more highly than you ought. That’s a religious spirit and we all struggle with it. There are more idols out there right under our roofs…money, materialism, being popular and liked. No wonder the church fathers said our hearts are idol factories.
The Bible doesn’t call Micah stupid or a loser. In fact it doesn’t even cast ‘an opinion’ so to speak on him. Doesn’t say, “he was foolish” or give us the lesson. So what is the lesson? It’s the grace of being made aware of how we can be and how we are. It’s the gift of exposure. Exposure to the trouble that sifts through every man’s heart. It is the exposure of understanding how desperate we are for Jesus Christ; who saves and redeems and sanctifies. God gave me a catch phrase years ago. Here it is: The beginning of the end of Satan’s attacks in your life is exposure.
Truth is y’all some lessons take us years to learn. Truth is sometimes stuff has to wear off instead of being kicked out. You know how Micah helps us? He helps us say, “Dang. This guy apparently had a knowledge of God but went at it a totally off way. Now where am I doing that?”
Monday I learned officially that the Lord has now made me a cancer survivor. And the question I get a lot is, “Man what’s it like and what have you learned?” Heck y’all I don’t claim to be wise enough to know how to answer this question. But this much I can gather thus far: When you get a little closer to death (I was close…but it wasn’t that bad…could’ve been so much worse) you pray some prayers you didn’t know to pray before because you’ve never been in that kind of spot. Seeing how helpless I could be, how weak I was after surgery, how immobile I became, and dependent upon others I was…I was reminder how ‘just in need’ of salvation I am. I realized that I’m truly dust and the only hope I have is the Lord. In essence, God exposed just how much more I need him than what I had thought before. We’re weak y’all. We’re needy. But here’s the win: The Lord is here. And He’s close. Before my surgery, a couple of nights, I woke up in the middle of the night plagued with fear and anxiety. There I was weeping in bed, crying out to Jesus, begging Him to help me…I had to cry a lot. I wrestled with the thought of not being here to love my future wife and big brother my siblings and be with my family and my church. I wrestled with the thought of being in treatment and suffering for years to come and the thought of a much ‘different’ life. But the good news? Jesus was there! Every step of the way, I never felt alone. I knew he was there. I knew He was in control. And I felt the truth that He knew what He was doing…and still does. Glory to His name. He is the way maker where there is no way. Yes. He is the truth and the life.
So if you’ve got some household idols you struggle with…and…trust me…you do. Know this. It’s hard. It’s crazy how you can so easily get yourself trapped all over again…Micah did it easily and so do we. But in the midst of this stuff rehearse the truth. God has been gracious enough to let you see the problem. That’s called a reason to praise and shout. He didn’t have to let us know how much we need Him. Secondly, know this. Jesus is here. He knows what you’re dealing with. He knows the cycles you struggle through. And He simply says, “I get it. And I’m here. Bring them to me.”
My surgery went great. In fact it went better than expected. For all intents and purposes I’ve been surgically healed (trust me I know who did the healing). I remember in the hospital feeling a little bit of “whew…glad this one’s done.” And the next night the nurse explained that some of my bodily functions weren’t working and if I didn’t improve they’d have to do something drastic. Well all of a sudden I was reminded, “Ah…you see you’re never ‘done’.” You always need me Ricky. That’s what I learned y’all. We’re never done. God graciously continues to exposes areas of our heart uncommitted to him. I pulled out that bible that night, and prayed, and repented and asked for His help. And wouldn’t you know He came through again.
We get what Micah didn’t As I look at the story it doesn’t seem like he ‘took’ the exposure given Him. But we have a risen Savior who is always calling us. Winning in this case is not beating the idols ourselves….winning is calling upon the only God who can help, heal, and deliver. So call him…I’m a witness he’ll answer. Love y’all. And GLORY to His Holy name. Amen.
