In Judges, chapter seventeen, verse one, Micah is the book’s final section, beginning at this verse until the end. The portion illustrates how soon, during the period of Judges, Israel fell into low moral standards, perverted religious practices, and chaotic social order. These illustrations demonstrate that if God’s Word and sound ethical principles are not in place, individuals and society, as a whole, will disintegrate into moral chaos, as in Proverbs fourteen, verse thirty-four, and twenty-one seven, respectively. In those days, “every man did that which is right in his own eyes,” as in Judges seventeen six, twenty-one twenty-five, and Proverbs fourteen twelve, respectively. God’s way receives rejection resulting in despair and death.
Micah, a man from mount Ephraim, the first destroyer and reformer of religion, belongs to a period when the Hebrew nation was greatly disordered and corrupt. It relates to his foundation of a small sanctuary of his own: a miniature representation of the Shiloh tabernacle. There he stocked with images modeled probably in imitation of the ark and cherubim. Micah and his mother were sincere in their intention to honor God. But their faith blends with a dismal amount of ignorance and delusion.
The divisive course they pursued and they will worship practice subjected the perpetrators to the penalty of death. Micah steals the money from his mother. Then confesses and restores it. She dedicates it to the Lord by making images. He sets them up in the house of his gods and consecrates one of his sons for his priest.
Today, many people intend to do nice things for God from their background experience but end up doing more damage than good. Not having the Lord to lead in the case of Micah and his mother, people will do self-motivated things, which could be very dangerous. No leader in the house, such as God, will result in another source leading.