Israel continued in a downward spiral of spiritual dereliction and were in desperate need of King to lead them back to the Lord. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6)

1) The Distorted Perspective of God (17:1-13) Micah and his mother thought they were worshipping God- Yahweh. However, they worshipped God who was right in their own eyes. They appeared to believe in God but their actions did not reflect it. They broke the second commandment. You see they thought that they were worshipping the right God but certainly did it in the wrong way. Both Micah and his mother were so far away from worshipping the LORD, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that we could not tell the difference between right and wrong. Their morality was distorted. Did you see what Micah was willing to do? He stole money from my own mother. He broke the 5th and 8th commandment.

2) The consequences of Unfaithfulness (18:1-31) Idolatry and unfaithfulness spread throughout the land. Led to mayhem, murder and destruction of the peaceful town of Laish. Micah attempted to use God for his own selfish purposes- instead of submitting and serving God, he tried to use God to serve his needs. The tribe of Dan also believed that God had given the town of Laish into their hands even though they intended to rob Micah of all his household gods, images and ephod. They also took his priest and thought they would be blessed as well. They had drifted so far away from God that their morality was distorted. They had no king and did what was right in their own eyes.

Thank God for being faithful to us and for sending us Jesus to forgive us for our sins. No one is righteous. As a result we have a hope. The hope of salvation. Of being reconciled and justified to Him.