Micah’s Idol and Priest

Afraid that her son, who had stolen money, would be cursed, Micah’s mother covers over his sin and instead has an image made and dedicates it to Yahweh. A Levite with nowhere to go becomes Micah’s private priest for ten pieces of silver and a set of clothes, and Micah now expects that God will bless him.

A heart that can accept anything except a curse on one’s own son is in fact serving that son as an idol. When the desire for blessing comes before setting sin right, even the chance to repent disappears. Just as the priest, for the sake of a living, sinks to the place of merely praying for one household’s blessing, the thought that offerings and prayers have been given and so life should go well is also the talk of someone who has never met God.

Parents’ greed that wants nothing but worldly success covers their children’s sin and blocks the way to repentance. God does not exist for the sake of personal prosperity; he looks on honest faith and blesses in his time. Those who do not stand firm on the word wander like Micah and his mother, the Levite, and the tribe of Dan, and in the end lose everything.