Right in His Own Eyes

The last chapters of Judges step away from the judges themselves to show Israel's inner condition. Micah of Ephraim confessed stealing eleven hundred pieces of silver from his mother after hearing her curse. She responded, May Yahweh bless my son, and dedicated the silver to Yahweh, then took two hundred pieces to a silversmith for a carved image and a molten image.

The mixing of true and false worship continued. Micah already had a house of gods, an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons as priest. The narrator gives the key to the whole section: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. Without faithful leadership, each person invented his own religion.

A young Levite from Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, left home to live wherever he could find a place. Micah offered him ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothing, and food to be his father and priest. The Levite was content. Micah declared, Now I know that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest. He thought having the right kind of priest would guarantee blessing, while ignoring what God had actually commanded.