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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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How idolatry crept into the family of Micah we read in the preceding
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chapter, how it was translated thence into the tribe of Dan we have an
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account in this chapter, and how it gained a settlement in a city of
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note; for how great a matter does a little fire kindle! The tribe of
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Dan had their lot assigned them last of all the tribes, and, it
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happening to be too strait for them, a considerable city in the utmost
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corner of Canaan northward was added to it. "Let them get it, and take
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it;" it was called Laish or Leshem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+19:47">Josh. xix. 47</A>.
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Now here we are told,
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I. How they sent spies to bring them an account of the place, who, by
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the way, got acquainted with Micah's priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. What an encouraging report these spies brought back,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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III. What forces were sent to conquer Laish,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>.
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IV. How they, by the way, plundered Micah of his gods,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:14-26">ver. 14-26</A>.
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V. How easily they conquered Laish
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:27-29">ver. 27-29</A>),
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and, when they had it, set up the graven image in it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:30,31">ver. 30, 31</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud18_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Expedition of the Danites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1406.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In those days <I>there was</I> no king in Israel: and in those
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days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell
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in; for unto that day <I>all their</I> inheritance had not fallen unto
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them among the tribes of Israel.
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2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from
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their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy
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out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go,
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search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the
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house of Micah, they lodged there.
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3 When they <I>were</I> by the house of Micah, they knew the voice
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of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said
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unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this
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<I>place?</I> and what hast thou here?
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4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me,
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and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
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5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,
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that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
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6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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<I>is</I> your way wherein ye go.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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1. The eye which these Danites had upon Laish, not the whole tribe of
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Dan, but one family of them, to whose lot, in the subdivision of
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Canaan, that city fell. Hitherto this family had sojourned with their
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brethren, who had taken possession of their lot, which lay between
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Judah and the Philistines, and had declined going to their own city,
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because there was <I>no king in Israel</I> to rule over them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It lay a great way off, separate from the rest of their tribe; it was
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entirely in the enemy's hand, and therefore they would sponge upon
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their brethren rather than go far to provide for themselves. But at
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length necessity forced them to arouse themselves, and they began to
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think of an inheritance to dwell in. It is better to have a little of
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one's own than always to hang upon others.
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2. The enquiry which this family of the Danites made concerning Laish:
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They sent <I>five men to search the land</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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that they might know the character of the country, whether it was an
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inheritance worth going so far for, and the posture of the people,
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whether the making of themselves masters of it was a thing practicable,
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what force was necessary in order thereunto, and which was the best way
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of making an attack upon it. The men they sent were men of valour, who,
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if they fell into their enemies' hands, knew how to look danger in the
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face. It is prudent to look before we leap. Dan had the subtlety of
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<I>a serpent by the way</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:17">Gen. xlix. 17</A>),
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as well as the courage of a <I>lion's whelp, leaping from Bashan,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:22">Deut. xxxiii. 22</A>.
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3. The acquaintance which their spies got with Micah's priest, and the
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use they made of that acquaintance. It seems, they had know this Levite
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formerly, he having in his rambles been sometimes in their country;
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and, though his countenance might be altered, they knew him again by
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his voice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They were surprised to find him so far off, enquired what brought him
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thither, and he told them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
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what business he had there, and what encouragement. They, understanding
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that he had an oracle in his custody, desired he would tell them
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whether they should prosper in their present undertaking,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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See their carelessness and regardlessness of God and his providence;
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they would not have enquired of the Lord at all if this Levite's
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mentioning the teraphim he had with him had not put it into their
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heads. Many never think of religion but just when it falls in their way
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and they cannot avoid it, like chance customers. See their ignorance of
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the divine law, that they thought God, who had forbidden the religious
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use of graven images, would yet own them in consulting an image, and
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give them an answer of peace. <I>Should he be enquired of by them?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:3">Ezek. xiv. 3</A>.
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They seem to have had a greater opinion of Micah's teraphim than of
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God's urim; for they had passed by Shiloh, and, for aught that appears,
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had not enquired there of God's high priest, but Micah's shabby Levite
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shall be an oracle to them. He betakes himself to his usual method of
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consulting his teraphim; and, whether he himself believed it or no, he
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humoured the thing so well that he made them believe he had an answer
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from God encouraging them to go on, and assuring them of good success
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Go in peace,</I> you shall be safe, and may be easy, for <I>before
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the Lord is your way,</I>" that is, "he approves it" (as the Lord is
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said to <I>know the way of the righteous</I> with acceptation), "and
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therefore he will make it prosperous, his eye will be upon you for
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good, he will direct your way, and preserve your <I>going out and
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coming in."</I> Note, Our great care should be that our way be such as
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God approves, and, if it be so, we may <I>go in peace.</I> If God care
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for us, on him let us cast our care, and be satisfied that we cannot
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miss our way if he <I>go before us.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jud18_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud18_13"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the
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people that <I>were</I> therein, how they dwelt careless, after the
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manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and <I>there was</I> no
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magistrate in the land, that might put <I>them</I> to shame in <I>any</I>
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thing; and they <I>were</I> far from the Zidonians, and had no
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business with <I>any</I> man.
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8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and
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their brethren said unto them, What <I>say</I> ye?
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9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we
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have seen the land, and, behold, it <I>is</I> very good: and <I>are</I> ye
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still? be not slothful to go, <I>and</I> to enter to possess the land.
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10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a
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large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where
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<I>there is</I> no want of any thing that <I>is</I> in the earth.
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11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out
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of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with
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weapons of war.
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12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah:
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wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day:
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behold, <I>it is</I> behind Kirjath-jearim.
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13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the
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house of Micah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The observation which the spies made upon the city of Laish, and the
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posture of its inhabitants,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Never was place so ill governed and so ill guarded, which would make it
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a very easy prey to the invader.</P>
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<P>
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1. It was ill governed, for every man might be as bad as he would, and
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there was no magistrate, no <I>heir of restraint</I> (as the word is),
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that might so much as <I>put them to shame in any thing,</I> much less
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<I>put them to death,</I> so that by the most impudent immoralities
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they provoked God's wrath, and by all manner of mutual mischiefs
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weakened and consumed one another. See here,
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(1.) What the office of magistrates is. They are to be <I>heirs of
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restraint,</I> that is, to preserve a constant entail of power, as
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heirs to an inheritance, in the places where they are, for the
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restraining of that which is evil. They are <I>possessors of
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restraint,</I> entrusted with their authority for this end, that they
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may check and suppress every thing that is vicious and be <I>a terror
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to evil doers.</I> It is only God's grace that can renew men's depraved
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minds and turn their hearts; but the magistrate's power may restrain
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their bad practices and tie their hands, so that the wickedness of the
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wicked may not be either so injurious or so infectious as otherwise it
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would be. Though the sword of justice cannot cut up the root of
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bitterness, it may cut off its branches and hinder its growth and
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spreading, that vice may not go without a check, for then it becomes
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daring and dangerous, and the community shares in the guilt.
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(2.) See what method must be used for the restraint of wickedness.
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Sinners must be put to shame, that those who will not be restrained by
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the shamefulness of the sin before God and their own consciences may be
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restrained by the shamefulness of the punishment before men. All ways
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must be tried to dash sin out of countenance and cover it with
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contempt, to make people ashamed of their idleness, drunkenness,
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cheating, lying, and other sins, by making reputation always appear on
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virtue's side.
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(3.) See how miserable, and how near to ruin, those places are that
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either have no magistrates or none that bear the sword to any purpose;
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the wicked then <I>walk on every side,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:8">Ps. xii. 8</A>.
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And how happy we are in good laws and a good government.</P>
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<P>
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2. It was ill guarded. The people of Laish were careless, quiet, and
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secure, their gates left open, their walls out of repair, because under
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no apprehension of danger in any way, though their wickedness was so
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great that they had reason to fear divine vengeance every day. It was a
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sign that the Israelites, through their sloth and cowardice, were not
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now such a terror to the Canaanites as they were when they first came
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among them, else the city of Laish, which probably knew itself to be
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assigned to them, would not have been so very secure. Though they were
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an open and inland town, they <I>lived secure, like the Zidonians</I>
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(who were surrounded with the sea and were well fortified both by art
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and nature), but were <I>far from the Zidonians,</I> who therefore
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could not come in to their assistance, nor help to defend them from the
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danger which, by debauching their manners, they had helped to bring
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them into. And, <I>lastly,</I> they had <I>no business with any
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man,</I> which bespeaks either the idleness they affected (they
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followed no trade, and so grew lazy and luxurious, and utterly unable
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to defend themselves) or the independency they affected: they scorned
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to be either in subjection to or alliance with any of their neighbours,
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and so they had none to protect them nor bring in any aid to them. They
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cared for nobody and therefore nobody cared for them. Such as these
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were the men of Laish.</P>
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<P>
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II. The encouragement which they consequently gave to their countrymen
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that sent them to prosecute their design upon this city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>.
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Probably the Danites had formed notions of the insuperable difficulties
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of the enterprise, thought it impossible ever to make themselves
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masters of Laish, and therefore had kept themselves so long out of the
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possession of it, perhaps suggesting likewise to one another, in their
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unbelief, that it was not a country worth going so far and running such
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a risk for, which jealousies the spies (and they were not, in this,
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evil spies) had an eye to in their report.
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1. They represent the place as desirable: "If you will trust our
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judgments, <I>we have seen the land,</I> and we are agreed in our
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verdict upon the view, that, behold, <I>it is very good</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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better than this mountainous country into which we are here crowded by
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the Philistines. You need not doubt of living comfortably in it, for it
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is a place <I>where there is no want of any thing,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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See what a good land Canaan was, that this city which lay furthest of
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all northward, in the utmost corner of the country, stood on such a
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fruitful spot.
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2. They represent it as attainable. They do not at all question but,
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with God's blessing, they may soon get possession of it; for <I>the
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people are secure,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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And the more secure always the less safe. "God <I>has given it into
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your hands,</I> and you may have it for the taking." They stir them up
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to the undertaking: "<I>Arise, that we may go up against them,</I> let
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us go about it speedily and resolutely." They expostulate with them for
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their delays, and chide them out of their sluggishness: <I>Are you
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still? Be not slothful to go.</I> Men need to be thus stirred up to
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mind even their interest. Heaven is <I>a very good land, where there is
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no want of any thing;</I> our God has, by the promise, <I>given it into
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our hands;</I> let us not then be slothful in making it sure, and
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<I>laying hold on eternal life,</I> but <I>strive to enter.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. The Danites' expedition against Laish. This particular family of
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them, to whose lot that city fell, now at length make towards it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:11-13"><I>v.</I> 11-13</A>.
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The military men were but 600 in all, not a hundredth part of that
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tribe, for when they entered Canaan the Danites were above 64,000,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:43">Num. xxvi. 43</A>.
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It was strange that none of their brethren of their own tribe, much
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less of any other, came in to their assistance; but it was long after
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Israel came to Canaan before there appeared among them any thing of a
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public spirit, or concern for a common interest, which was the reason
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why they seldom united in a common head, and this kept them low and
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inconsiderable. It appears (by
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
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that these 600 were the whole number that went to settle there, for
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|
they had their families and effects with them, their <I>little ones and
|
|
cattle,</I> so confident were they of success. The other tribes gave
|
|
them a free passage through their country. Their first day's march
|
|
brought them to Kirjath-jearim
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and such rare things had military encampments now become in Israel that
|
|
the place where they rested that night was thence called
|
|
<I>Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan,</I> and probably the place whence they
|
|
began their march between Zorah and Eshtaol was called by the same
|
|
name, and is meant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:25"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The second day's march brought them to Mount Ephraim, near Micah's
|
|
house
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and there we must pause awhile.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Micah's Gods Stolen; Micah's Attempt to Recover His Idols.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1406.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country
|
|
of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is
|
|
in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a
|
|
molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
|
|
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the
|
|
young man the Levite, <I>even</I> unto the house of Micah, and saluted
|
|
him.
|
|
16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war,
|
|
which <I>were</I> of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the
|
|
gate.
|
|
17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up,
|
|
<I>and</I> came in thither, <I>and</I> took the graven image, and the
|
|
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest
|
|
stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men <I>that
|
|
were</I> appointed with weapons of war.
|
|
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved
|
|
image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then
|
|
said the priest unto them, What do ye?
|
|
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon
|
|
thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest:
|
|
<I>is it</I> better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man,
|
|
or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
|
|
20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and
|
|
the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the
|
|
people.
|
|
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the
|
|
cattle and the carriage before them.
|
|
22 <I>And</I> when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the
|
|
men that <I>were</I> in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered
|
|
together, and overtook the children of Dan.
|
|
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned
|
|
their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou
|
|
comest with such a company?
|
|
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and
|
|
the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what
|
|
<I>is</I> this <I>that</I> ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
|
|
25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be
|
|
heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose
|
|
thy life, with the lives of thy household.
|
|
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw
|
|
that they <I>were</I> too strong for him, he turned and went back unto
|
|
his house.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them,
|
|
and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the
|
|
place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that
|
|
they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a
|
|
further discovery--they can tell them where there are gods: "Here, <I>in
|
|
these houses,</I> there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many
|
|
fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country;
|
|
<I>now therefore consider what you have to do,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
We consulted them, and had a good answer from them; they are worth
|
|
having, nay, they are worth stealing (that is, having upon the worst
|
|
terms), and, if we can but make ourselves masters of these gods, we may
|
|
the better hope to prosper, and make ourselves masters of Laish." So
|
|
far they were in the right, that it was desirable to have God's
|
|
presence with them, but wretchedly mistaken when they took these images
|
|
(which were fitter to be used in a puppet-play than in acts of
|
|
devotion) for tokens of God's presence. They thought an oracle would be
|
|
pretty company for them in their enterprise, and instead of a council
|
|
of war to consult upon every emergency; and, the place they were going
|
|
to settle in being so far from Shiloh, they thought they had more need
|
|
of a <I>house of gods</I> among themselves than Micah had that lived so
|
|
near to it. They might have made as good an ephod and teraphim
|
|
themselves as these were, and such as would have served their purpose
|
|
every whit as well; but the reputation which they found them in
|
|
possession of (though they had had that reputation but a while) amused
|
|
them into a strange veneration for this <I>house of gods,</I> which
|
|
they would soon have dropped if they had had so much sense as to
|
|
enquire into its origin, and examine whether there were any thing
|
|
divine in its institution. Being determined to take these gods along
|
|
with them, we are here told how they stole the images, cajoled the
|
|
priest, and frightened Micah from attempting to rescue them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The five men that knew the house and the avenues to it, and
|
|
particularly the chapel, went in and fetched out the images, with the
|
|
ephod, and teraphim, and all the appurtenances, while the 600 kept the
|
|
priest in talk at the gate,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:16-18"><I>v.</I> 16-18</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what little care this sorry priest took of his gods; while he was
|
|
sauntering at the gate, and gazing at the strangers, his treasure (such
|
|
as it was) was gone. See how impotent these sorry gods were, that could
|
|
not keep themselves from being stolen. It is mentioned as the reproach
|
|
of idols that they <I>themselves had gone into captivity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:2">Isa. xlvi. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
O the sottishness of these Danites! How could they imagine those gods
|
|
should protect them that could not keep themselves from being stolen?
|
|
Yet because they went by the name of gods, as if it were not enough
|
|
that they had with them the presence of the invisible God, nor that
|
|
they stood in relation to the tabernacle, where there were even visible
|
|
tokens of his presence, nothing will serve them but they must have
|
|
<I>gods to go before them,</I> not of their own making indeed, but,
|
|
which was as bad, of their own stealing. Their idolatry began in theft,
|
|
a proper prologue for such an opera. In order to the breaking of the
|
|
second commandment, they begin with the eighth, and take their
|
|
neighbour's goods to make them their gods. The holy God <I>hates
|
|
robbery for burnt-offerings,</I> but the devil loves it. Had these
|
|
Danites seized the images to deface and abolish them, and the priest to
|
|
punish him, they would have done like Israelites indeed, and would have
|
|
appeared jealous for their God as their fathers had done
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+22:16">Josh. xxii. 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
but to take them for their own use was such a complicated crime as
|
|
showed that they neither feared God nor regarded man, but were
|
|
perfectly lost both to godliness and honesty.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They set upon the priest, and flattered him into a good humour, not
|
|
only to let the gods go, but to go himself along with them; for without
|
|
him they knew not well how to make use of the gods. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How they tempted him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
They assured him of better preferment with them than what he now had.
|
|
It would be more honour and profit to be chaplain to a regiment (for
|
|
they were no more, though they called themselves a <I>tribe</I>) than
|
|
to be only a domestic chaplain to a private gentleman. Let him go with
|
|
them, and he shall have more dependants on him, more sacrifices brought
|
|
to his altar, and more fees for consulting his teraphim, than he had
|
|
here.
|
|
|
|
2. How they won him. A little persuasion served: <I>His heart was
|
|
glad,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
The proposal took well enough with his rambling fancy, which would
|
|
never let him stay long at a place, and gratified his covetousness and
|
|
ambition. He had no reason to say but that he was well off where he
|
|
was; Micah had not <I>deceived him, nor changed his wages.</I> He was
|
|
not moved with any remorse of conscience for attending on a graven
|
|
image: had he gone away to Shiloh to minister to the Lord's priests,
|
|
according to the duty of a Levite, he might have been welcome there
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+18:6">Deut. xviii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and his removal would have been commendable; but, instead of this, he
|
|
takes the images with him, and carries the infection of the idolatry
|
|
into a whole city. It would have been very unjust and ungrateful to
|
|
Micah if he had only gone away himself, but it was much more so to take
|
|
the images along with him, which he knew the heart of Micah was set
|
|
upon. Yet better could not be expected from a treacherous Levite. What
|
|
house can be sure of him who has forsaken the house of the Lord? Or
|
|
what friend will he be true to that has been false to his God? He
|
|
could not pretend that he was under compulsive force, for he was
|
|
<I>glad in his heart</I> to go. If ten shekels won him (as bishop Hall
|
|
expresses it), eleven would lose him; for what can hold those that have
|
|
made shipwreck of a good conscience? <I>The hireling flees because he
|
|
is a hireling.</I> The priest and his gods went in <I>the midst of the
|
|
people.</I> There they placed him, that they might secure him either
|
|
from going back himself, if his mind should change, or from being
|
|
fetched back by Micah; or perhaps this post was assigned to him in
|
|
imitation of the order of Israel's march through the wilderness, in
|
|
which the ark and the priests went in the midst of their camp.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They frightened Micah back when he pursued them to recover his
|
|
gods. As soon as ever he perceived that his chapel was plundered, and
|
|
his chaplain had run away from him, he mustered all the forces he could
|
|
and pursued the robbers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
His neighbours, and perhaps tenants, that used to join with him in his
|
|
devotions, were forward to help him on this occasion; they got
|
|
together, and pursued the robbers, who, having their children and
|
|
cattle before them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
could make no great haste, so that they soon overtook them, hoping by
|
|
strength of reason to recover what was stolen, for the disproportion of
|
|
their numbers was such that they could not hope to do it by strength of
|
|
arm. The pursuers called after them, desiring to speak a word with
|
|
them; those in the rear (where it is probable they posted the fiercest
|
|
and strongest of their company, expecting there to be attacked) turned
|
|
about and asked Micah what ailed him that he was so much concerned, and
|
|
what he would have,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He argues with them, and pleads his right, which he thought should
|
|
prevail; but they, in answer, plead their might, which, it proved, did
|
|
prevail; for it is common that might overcomes right.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He insists upon the wrong they had certainly done him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>You have taken away my gods,</I> my images of God, which I have an
|
|
incontestable title to, for I made them myself, and which I have such
|
|
an affection for that I am undone if I lose them; for what have I more
|
|
that will do me any good if these be lost?" Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) This discovers to us the folly of idolaters, and the power that
|
|
Satan has over them. What a folly was it for him to call those his
|
|
<I>gods</I> which he had made, when he only that made us is to be
|
|
worshipped by us as a God! Folly indeed to set his heart upon such
|
|
silly idle things, and to look upon himself as undone when he had lost
|
|
them!
|
|
|
|
(2.) This may discover to us our spiritual idolatry. That creature
|
|
which we place our happiness in, which we set our affections
|
|
inordinately upon, and which we can by no means find in our hearts to
|
|
part with, of which we say, "What have we more?" <I>that</I> we make an
|
|
idol of. That is put in God's place, and is a usurper, which we are
|
|
concerned about as if our life and comfort, our hope and happiness, and
|
|
our all, were bound up in it. But,
|
|
|
|
(3.) If all people will thus walk in the name of their god, shall we
|
|
not be in like manner affected towards our God, the true God? Let us
|
|
reckon the having of an interest in God and communion with him
|
|
incomparably the richest portion, and the loss of God the sorest loss.
|
|
Woe unto us if he depart, for what have we more? Deserted souls that
|
|
are lamenting after the Lord may well wonder, as Micah did, that you
|
|
should ask what ails them; for the tokens of God's favour are
|
|
suspended, his comforts are withdrawn, and what have they more?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They insist upon the mischief they would certainly do him if he
|
|
prosecuted his demand. They would not hear reason, nor do justice, nor
|
|
so much as offer to pay him the prime cost he had been at upon those
|
|
images, nor promise to make restitution of what they had taken when
|
|
they had served their present purpose with them in this expedition and
|
|
had time to copy them and make others like them for themselves: much
|
|
less had they any compassion for a loss he so bitterly lamented. They
|
|
would not so much as give him good words, but resolved to justify their
|
|
robbery with murder if he did not immediately let fall his claims,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Take heed <I>lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy
|
|
life,</I> and that is worse than losing thy gods." Wicked and
|
|
unreasonable men reckon it a great provocation to be asked to do
|
|
justice, and support themselves by their power against right and
|
|
reason. Micah's crime is asking his own, yet, for this, he is in danger
|
|
of losing his life and the lives of his household. Micah has not
|
|
courage enough to venture his life for the rescue of his gods, so
|
|
little opinion has he of their being able to protect him and bear him
|
|
out, and therefore tamely gives them up
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He turned and went back to his house;</I> and if the loss of his
|
|
idols did but convince him (as, one would think, it should) of their
|
|
vanity and impotency, and his own folly in setting his heart upon them,
|
|
and send him back to the true God from whom he had revolted, he that
|
|
lost them had a much better bargain than those that by force of arms
|
|
carried them off. If the loss of our idols cure us of the love of them,
|
|
and make us say, <I>What have we to do any more with idols?</I> the
|
|
loss will be unspeakable gain. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:20,30:22">Isa. ii. 20; xxx. 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud18_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Conquest of Laish.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1406.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>27 And they took <I>the things</I> which Micah had made, and the
|
|
priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people <I>that
|
|
were</I> at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of
|
|
the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
|
|
28 And <I>there was</I> no deliverer, because it <I>was</I> far from
|
|
Zidon, and they had no business with <I>any</I> man; and it was in the
|
|
valley that <I>lieth</I> by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and
|
|
dwelt therein.
|
|
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of
|
|
Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of
|
|
the city <I>was</I> Laish at the first.
|
|
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and
|
|
Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his
|
|
sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the
|
|
captivity of the land.
|
|
31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made,
|
|
all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. Laish conquered by the Danites. They proceeded on their march, and,
|
|
because they met with no disaster, perhaps concluded they had not done
|
|
amiss in robbing Micah. Many justify themselves in their impiety by
|
|
their prosperity. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What posture they found the people of Laish in, both those of the
|
|
city and those of the country about. They were quiet and secure, not
|
|
jealous of the five spies that had been among them to search out the
|
|
land, nor had they any intelligence of the approach of this enemy,
|
|
which made them a very easy prey to this little handful of men that
|
|
came upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Many are brought to destruction by their security. Satan gets
|
|
advantage against us when we are careless and off our watch. Happy
|
|
therefore is the man that feareth always.
|
|
|
|
2. What a complete victory they obtained over them: They <I>put all the
|
|
people to the sword,</I> and burnt down so much of the city as they
|
|
thought fit to rebuild
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:27,28"><I>v.</I> 27, 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, for aught that appears, herein they met with no resistance; for
|
|
the measure of the iniquity of the Canaanites was full, that of the
|
|
Danites was but beginning to fill.
|
|
|
|
3. How the conquerors settled themselves in their room,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:28,29"><I>v.</I> 28, 29</A>.
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They built the city, or much of it, anew (the old buildings having gone
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to decay), and <I>called the name of it Dan,</I> to be a witness for
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them that, though separated so far off from their brethren, they were
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nevertheless Danites by birth, which might hereafter, by reason of
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their distance, be called in question. We should feel concerned not to
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lose the privilege of our relation to God's Israel, and therefore
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should take all occasions to own it and preserve the remembrance of it
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to ours after us.</P>
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<P>
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II. Idolatry immediately set up there. God had graciously performed his
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promise, in putting them in possession of that which fell to their lot,
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obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them.
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They <I>inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his
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statues,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:44,45">Ps. cv. 44, 45</A>.
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But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his
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statues. As soon as they began to settle themselves they <I>set up the
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graven image</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
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perversely attributing their success to that idol which, if God had not
|
|
been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous
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|
idolater goes on to offend, <I>imputing this his power unto his
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god,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:11">Hab. i. 11</A>.
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Their Levite, who officiated as priest, is at length <I>named</I>
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|
here--<I>Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh.</I> The
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word <I>Manasseh,</I> in the original, has the letter <I>n,</I> set
|
|
over the head, which, some of the Jewish rabbin say, is an intimation
|
|
that it should be left out, and then <I>Manasseh</I> will be
|
|
<I>Moses,</I> and this Levite, they say, was grandson to the famous
|
|
Moses, who indeed had a son named Gershom; but, say they, the
|
|
historian, in honour of Moses, by a half interposition of that letter,
|
|
turned the name into Manasseh. The vulgar Latin reads it <I>Moses.</I>
|
|
And if indeed Moses had a grandson that was rakish, and was picked up
|
|
as a fit tool to be made use of in the setting up of idolatry, it is
|
|
not the only instance (would to God it were!) of the unhappy
|
|
degenerating of the posterity of great and good men. Children's
|
|
children are not always the crown of old men. But the learned bishop
|
|
Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the rabbin, and supposes
|
|
this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. How long these
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|
corruptions continued we are told in the close.
|
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1. That the posterity of this Jonathan continued to act as priests to
|
|
this family of Dan that was seated at Laish, and in the country about,
|
|
till the captivity,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
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|
|
|
After Micah's image was removed this family retained the character of
|
|
priests, and had respect paid them as such by that city, and it is very
|
|
probable that Jeroboam had an eye to them when he set up one of his
|
|
calves there (which they could welcome at Can, and put some reputation
|
|
upon, when the priests of the Lord would have nothing to do with them),
|
|
and that this family officiated as some of his priests.
|
|
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2. That these images continued till Samuel's time, for so long <I>the
|
|
ark of God was at Shiloh;</I> and it is probable that in him time
|
|
effectual care was taken to suppress and abolish this idolatry. See how
|
|
dangerous it is to admit an infection, for spiritual distempers are not
|
|
so soon cured as caught.</P>
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