WHO DO YOU BELONG TO?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In those days, Israel had no king. And in those days, the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”

The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

He told them what Micah had done for him and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.

When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “How did you find things?”

They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.

Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. On their way, they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. From there, they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do.” So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate. The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate.

When these men went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. Putting their little children =, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

He replied, “You took the gods I made and my priest and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ “

The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us or some hot tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” So the Danites went their way and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

Then they took what Micah had made and his priest and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel – though the city used to be called Laish. There the Danites set up for themselves the idols and Jonathan, son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the last chapter, we were introduced to Micah. You’ll recall that he had stolen silver shekels from his mother, confessing to her and returning the stolen money after his mother called out a curse on whoever took it. You’ll recall that Micah’s mother then gave a portion of the silver back to Micah who used it to make an idol and a carved image…items that he would place in a shrine in his home for worship.

Micah also met a young Levite who he enlisted to work for him and be his priest. The Levite agreed to the offer and stayed with Micah and his family.

So all seemed well in Micah’s household…at least to Micah. He never stopped for a moment to think that what he was doing was against God’s word and commands. Ditto for his young hired priest who never for a moment alerted Micah that his worship was false and abhorred by God.

Enter the Danites who would disrupt Micah’s peaceful solitude and break up his arrangements.

The Danites were in search of a place to live. They had been allotted land when Canaan was divided among the tribes but were unable to live in their portion because of the Amorites and Philistines. So they sent out “five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it”.

After setting out, we read where the men “entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night”. While at Micah’s house, they “recognized the voice of the young Levite” and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

So the Levite, Micah’s self appointed priest, “told them what Micah had done for him”. And after learning that the young Levite was a priest, the five warriors asked him to “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” The Levite, who we will learn in this chapter is Jonathan…”son of Gershom, the son of Moses”…tells the men, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.” With this, the “five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety” and prosperity because the “land lacked nothing”. They also noticed that the people were “unsuspecting and secure”, living “a long way from the Sidonians and having no relationship with anyone else” The men returned and made report to their tribe.

After returning to Zorah and Eshtaol, they were asked by their brothers “How did you find things?” to which they answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.” To a people who were wandering and needing a place to cal home, this had to be welcome news. Unfortunately, the news was not so good for the unsuspecting people of Laish.

So the Danites set out to conquer Laish for themselves. Scripture tells us that there were six hundred men who were armed and ready for battle. As they proceeded toward Laish, they came to Micah’s home and, while the six hundred men waited, the five warriors who had visited prior, went into Micah’s home and stole the ephod, cast idol, carved image and other household gods.

We read where Jonathan, Micah’s priest, objects to the men stealing the objects from Micah only to be silenced and threatened. They tell him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” And Jonathan, presented with the option of leaving Micah and joining the tribe of Dan, gladly decides to go with the tribe and leave Micah behind. So much for loyalty.

So the tribe of Dan set back out for Laish, taking Jonathan and “the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image” with them.

Well, Micah didn’t take kindly to being robbed and he called the men who lived near him together and they “overtook the Danites”. Scripture tells us that as they “shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, ‘What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?’ to which Micah explains that they stole his gods and his priest thus why they were pursuing them. And then Micah adds, “What else do I have?”

Sadly, we see an all too common problem among the people of God, past and present. For people so often hold onto the wrong things in life. We have a tendency to latch onto things and want to possess them…sometimes to the point where we are left lost when the thing we cherish leaves us or is lost. If we’re not careful, our possessions will possess us.

Micah was so attached to his false idols, household gods and self-appointed priest that he was left feeling like he would have nothing left if they were taken away from him. In him, we see what happens when we choose to live a life apart from God...the only One who will never leave us nor forsake us.

So who do you belong to? Are you holding onto the Lord more than anything else in your life? And I mean anything, including any human being you might be close to. No earthly father, mother, husband, wife, child, brother, sister…no one…should be closer to your heart, mind and soul than the Lord Almighty. And definitely, nothing material should be cherished and worshipped above the One through which all things have come to be.

I’ll close this with a personal testimony…one that underscores this devotional and shows us all who we should belong to.

In 2002, I was serving onboard the USS BATAAN in Norfolk VA and we were scheduled to go to sea for a 24 hour period. My wife, Grace, had not felt well through the weekend and spent the entire day Sunday in bed, something very uncharacteristic for such an active lady. As I left to go to the ship Monday, I told her to please go to the doctor of she wasn’t feeling any better and she agreed to do so. And with that, I left, went to the ship and we pulled away from the pier and went to sea.

Later that afternoon, I tried to call Grace to see how she was doing and there was no answer at home. Feeling like something might be wrong, I called the closest hospital emergency room and Grace was there. Not wanting to give away too much information over the phone, the hospital would only tell me there was something wrong and that she had a “blood disorder”. They added that they were going to admit her to the hospital and told me I could reach her by calling the third floor later in the evening. Grace never made it to the third floor.

When I called back, she was in intensive care and then transported to the critical care unit at another hospital in downtown Norfolk. My ship’s doctor was able to call the doctors attending to Grace and get information for me about what was wrong. Grace’s platelet count was over 4 million. Normal is 100,000 to 400,000. Her body was turning into a big blood clot.

I remember praying harder than I had ever prayed before as I awaited the ship to come back into port so I could get to the hospital. Hours seemed like days but finally I was in and off to see her.

As I arrived, I went into the room and she was hooked to more monitors than I care to remember. She was extremely weak and sedated. They suspected she had a blood clot in her aorta and I was told things were very iffy as to whether she was going to make it. I went outside her room, sat on the waiting bench and prayed again. This time, God spoke to my heart when I needed Him most and gave me what He gives best…truth.

For the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Mark…Grace belongs to me…not to you. I have blessed you with the opportunity to have a relationship with her but she is mine. If this is the time I have chosen for her to return to me, you have no place in saying no. You are only to rejoice and give thanks that I blessed you to have even one day with Grace.” And He finished it by adding, “And the same goes for your children”.

I can’t tell you how liberating and comforting those words were to me. The Lord was right. I had no right possessing Grace like she belonged to me. Ditto for my kids or my parents or anyone else who was dear to me. They all belonged to Him and Him alone. My relationships were all placed in a new holy perspective…and they still are to this very day.

Well, Grace would pull through. It wasn’t her time…yet. And although we would find out she had an incurable bone marrow disease, the Lord blessed us with an awesome hematologist and medication that would keep her platelet producing mechanism in check with no side effects. God was, is and always will be so good.

So once again…I ask you…who do you belong to? Do you know? And if so, do you know that everyone else belongs to Him as well. Thanks be to God for His goodness, grace, mercy and, most of all, love. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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