Text: Judges 17:1-10
Proposition: How can I make my own Religion?
Introduction
The story in Judges 17 and 18 is one of the strangest stories in the Bible to me. It is placed before the most disgusting story in the bible in Judges 19-21. The story about the man whose concubine ran away to her father and he went to get her back. Then on his journey home she was raped by by the men of Gibeah of the tribe of Benjamin until she died. The men of Gibeah had come to rape the man who was traveling home, but he gave them his concubine instead. The man put her on his donkey and took her home. When he got home he cut her into twelve pieces and sent the pieces to all Israel. Then all of Israel was shocked and they came to the man and asked why he had done such a thing. The man told them what had happened. Then all of Israel went to war against the tribe of Benjamin and punished them for their sin. Even though this story is at the end of the book of Judges it happened before the time of the judges. Judges 20:28 tells us that Phinehas was the priest. Phinehas is the son of Aaron who ran the Israelite man and the Midianite woman through with a spear and stopped the plague on Israel caused by the Israelites’ sin with committing adultery and idolatry with the women of Midian. (Numbers 25:7-9) Chronologically this story is just after the death of Joshua.
The story we are going look at today is most likely at about the same time. The name of the Levite that came to Micah was Jonathan, Judges 18:30. Jonathan was the son of Gershom the Son of Manesseh. Some manuscripts read Moses. The Latin Vulgate reads Moses. We know Moses had a son named Gershom, Exodus 2:22. I don’t read Hebrew but here is what Gill says, and it is remarkable that the "nun", or "N" in Manasseh, is suspended over the other letters in our printed copies of the Hebrew Bible, and so without it may be read, Moses; and the Jews (c) have a notion, that this was done for the honour of Moses, and to observe that he was more like a son of Manasseh than of Moses; Judges 18:30. If this is correct, this story story fits after the death of Joshua and before the time of the judges. Both stories happened when there was no king in Israel and every man was doing what was right in his own eyes, Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25.
This story is about a man who made his own religion. Many people today say, “I have my own religion.” They don’t realize what they are saying most of the time. It is dangerous to have your own religion. This man led himself into sin and the part of the tribe of Dan into idolatry.
Let’s read the story in Judges 17 and 18. Show hill county of Ephraim, Shiloh and the land the Danites conquered on map.
I. Serve God and money
II. Do what is right in my own eyes
III. Fool myself into thinking the Lord will bless me for doing what is right in my own eyes (13)
I. Serve God and money (Who served God and money?)
A. Micah
1. He stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his own mother. We see in the rest of the chapter Micah is a religious man, but he stole from his mother. His religion was worthless.
2. Many children steal from their parents. Sometimes they start when they are young taking change. I know one young man who stole from his parents. He would take change off of their dresser. He is still a theif today. He comes up with some creative ways to steal. One time his roommate bought a pair of pants. This young man saw the pants with the receipt. He took the pants back to the store with the receipt and got the money for the pants.
3. Stealing is evil, but stealing from your parents is even more evil if there is such a thing as more evil. Micah’s mother fed him, clothed him, and put a roof over his head for several years, and he steals from her. He was a grown man stealing from his aged mother.
4. There is no mention of Micah’s father. Possibly his father was dead. His mother needed money to live on, and he took it.
B. Micah’s mother loved money.
1. Judges 17:3 and 4
2. She dedicated all of the money to the Lord to make a graven image for her son, but when it came time for her to have the image made she only used 200 pieces of silver. She wanted to keep the money for herself. She decided not to dedicate it to the Lord. She had a problem in her heart, not only was she mixed up on how to worship the Lord, but she loved money.
3. She was like Ananias and Saphira
4. Acts 5:1-10, they wanted everybody to think they had devoted the whole price of the land to God. They were lovers of money.
C. Micah and his mother wanted to serve God and money.
1. It is impossible to serve God and money
2. Matthew 6:24
3. We have to make up our mind to love God. Loving money will give you a life of many problems.
4. I Timothy 6:9-10
II. Do what is right in my own eyes (What is doing what is right in my own eyes?)
A. Make my own gods
1. Micah made his own gods.
2. His mother made a graven image. He added to it. He had a house of gods, an ephod (a garment for a priest), and a teraphim (images used for determining the will of the gods)
3. Many people make their own gods.
4. Ephesians 5:5, a covetous man has made his own gods. He worships whatever it is he is coveting. Some covet money. Some covet what money can buy.
5. I might worship a man instead of God and fool myself into thinking I am worshipping god. Some people worship and follow men. They may even call themselves after his name.
6. I Corinthians 4:6 and 7, The church at Corinth made men their gods. They regarded them as superior. They listened to what the men said instead of the scriptures. They exceeded what is written. The men they were following were not inspired, but Paul’s letter and the rest of the bible are inspired. When I begin to follow man and his ideas I am doing what is right in my own eyes. I am making my own god.
7. I might make myself my god. This is what most people do, but they don’t realize it. Those who make idols control the idols. They worship idols, but in reality they worship themselves.
8. The evolutionist makes himself God. He doesn’t believe in God. As far as he is concerned he, himself, is the supreme being. He decides what is right and wrong for himself. He is moral as long as he percieves it is to his advantage. He does what is right in his own eyes.
B. Make my own place of worship (Judges 17:5)
1. Micah lived in the hill county of Ephraim, Judges 17:1. He wasn’t very far from Shiloh which was the proper place of worship, Judges 18:31.
2. Shiloh was in Ephraim. Shiloh was where God expected the people to worship
3. Deuteronomy 12:5-8, worshipping any other place was doing what was right in their own eyes.
4. Today we can worship anywhere in the world. No longer is the place important.
5. John 4:19-24, we are to worship all the time and in every place.
6. We can’t assemble anywhere.
7. Hebrews 10:25, praying and reading your bible at home by yourself is not an assembly. We should have daily devotions, but we need to assemble with one another. We need to assemble to hear the word of God and also to encourage one another. I can’t encourage anyone to love and good deeds or be encouraged to love and good deeds if I am at home, at a ball game, at the lake, or in a duck blind. Also be in church not just Sunday morning. Be here Sunday night and Wednesday night to encourage one another.
8. Don’t be like Micah and make your own place of assembly. Be with God’s people.
C. Hire my own priest
1. Judges 17:7-13
2. Micah wanted to pick and choose from what God said to do. He started off with his first-born as his priest. Now he has a Levite for a priest. A priest had to be a Levite, but also a descendant of Aaron. This man wasn’t a son of Aaron. He was most likely the grandson of Moses. Moses’ sons were not to be priests.
3. Micah hired a wanderer. The only thing this man cared about was having a roof over his head, food, and clothes. If he had to break the commands of God to get them he would.
4. II Timothy 4:1-4, Micah wanted someone to speak what he wanted to hear.
5. Isaiah 30:10-11
6. This is what Micah wanted.
7. He got what he deserved. His priest did what was right in his own eyes.
8. When the 5 spies from the tribe of Dan came through they asked the Levite to inquire of God for them. He told them they would be successful in there mission. When the men returned to conquer the land they had 600 men with them. They stole Micah’s gods and convinced his priest it would be better for him to come with them. It would be better for him to be a priest for whole tribe in Israel than to be priest for one man.
a. This priest did what was right in his own eyes. He liked the idea of being a priest for more people. Maybe there would be more money too.
b. Sometimes preachers are this way. If there is more money and more people they are sure it is the will of God that they go there.
D. Might is right
1. When people do what is right in their own eyes whoever is the strongest decides what is right and wrong.
2. Micah persued the men who had taken his gods and his priest.
3. Judges 18:24-26
4. These men did what was right in their own eyes. They were stronger than Micah so they decided who was right and who was wrong.
5. Men decide who is right in different ways. Sometimes they fight with arms. Sometimes they fight with words and influence. They get men on their side and whoever has the most influence decides what is right.
6. Proverbs 14:12
III. Fool myself into thinking God will bless me for doing what is right in my own eyes. (How can I fool myself into thinking God will bless me when I do what is right in my own eyes?)
A. Micah thought if he did something partly right God would bless him
1. Judges 17:13, he had a Levite for his priest.
2. Micah broke the 8th commandment, Thou shalt not steal.
3. He broke the the 1st and 2nd commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me and Thou shalt not make for yourself any graven image.
4. He led his family in this sin.
5. He helped the Levite participate in his sin.
6. His sin eventually caused the whole tribe of Dan to go into sin and he thinks the Lord is going to bless him for having a Levite for a priest.
7. People do things like this all the time. They give money to a drunken bum because they know they are to help the poor, but the woman they live with is not their wife. God says fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God, Galatians 5:21. They think God is going to bless them because they gave a hamburger to a drunken bum.
8. Or maybe I gamble, but I tithe off of my winnings so that God will bless me and help me win my next round of poker.
9. Or maybe I drink a little alcohol, but I go to church Sunday morning God will overlook my drinking. Drinking wine is for fools
10. Proverbs 23:29-35
B. I ask God to help me make the right decision, but I already know what I want his answer to be before I ask him.
1. Jeremiah 42:1-6, this is a hard time for the people in Judah. Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. He has taken most of the people back to Babylon as captives. These people are the ones he left behind. Nebuchadzezzar left a man named Gedaliah in charge of the people. Baalis king of Ammon wanted Gedaliah killed so he sent a man named Ishmael with 10 men. They killed Gedaliah, the men with him, and the Chaldeans with them. They killed 80 more men the next day, and took captive the people with Gedaliah. A man named Johanan and the men with him rescued the captives. Ishmael escaped.
2. Jeremiah 41:17, Ishmael was of the royal family of Judah. The people were afraid Nebuchadnezzar would come with his armies again and destroy them if they stayed in the land of Judah.
3. What they say sounds good, but what they wanted was for God to bless them in the decision that they had already made.
4. They wanted to go to Egypt where they thought they would be safe.
5. Jeremiah gave them an answer 10 days later.
6. Jeremiah 42:7-16
7. Jeremiah 43:1-2, they didn’t believe Jeremiah and they went to Egypt. They did what was right in there own eyes and thought the Lord would bless them for it. God didn’t bless them for it he cursed them.
8. If we do what is right in our own eyes God will not bless us for it. We can fool ourselves into thinking he will, but we are in for an unpleasant surprise. We will be cursed just like Micah and the people of Judah.
9. When we pray. Pray not my will but thine be done. Don’t pray like the people with Johanan. They prayed Lord this is my decision. Now please bless my decision.
Conclusion
Don’t make your own religion. Making your own gods will send you to hell. If you make your own god someone may steal your gods. No one can steal the true God from you. They can’t pick him up and carry him away. Men can take your money, but they can’t take the Lord Jehovah from you.
Don’t make your own place of assembly. Don’t be like Micah. He wasn’t willing to travel a few miles to be with God’s people. He thought he could make his religion more convenient for himself. Be with the people of God even if it isn’t convenient. Get out of bed on Sunday morning. Be in the assembly Sunday morning and night.
Don’t listen to those who tickle your ears. Be willing to listen to what is right and be prepared to do it.
Don’t let might decide what is right. Let the Lord decide what is right. Don’t exceed what is written in the scriptures.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking God will bless you for doing what is right in your own eyes. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” Proverbs 14:12.
Having your own religion leads to death. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly,” John 10:10 I want life. If I want life I need to repent of having my own religion, and have my sins washed away at baptism. | 
