I like browsing for vintage items. I’m a pushover for antique shops and their lovely old books, preloved knick-knacks and worn out thingymajiggies.
Cluttered displays, musty odours, hints of mildew, the distinct smell of aged wood, dust mites being fruitful and multiplying in the dark recesses of soft furnishings can’t stop me from poking around.
In the coastal town of Pambula, as I rummaged through one of its antique stores, I discovered a statue of a laughing Buddha. And he was looking right at me.
It was clear Buddha enjoyed his endomorphic proportions. He was grinning shamelessly with his large potbelly and flabby pectorals.
I should’ve known Buddha wasn’t for sale by the smoking incense sticks that surrounded him. And by his feet, mandarins (food offerings) at various stages decomposition were a dead give-a-away too. Nevertheless, I leaned in to check for a sale sticker or a price tag.
If you just pay attention, you’ll find that idols are everywhere.
I noticed a brass idol of Vishnu—the main Hindu god—at my local Northern Indian restaurant. And my old optometrist had a white Fortune cat perched right near the register.
Made from plastic, the cat would wave back at you if you touched its paw. It was cute—kitschy, and supposed to attract good luck and fortune. They’re very popular in Asian culture. See if you can spot one the next time you’re in a Chinese restaurant.
Now let’s journey back to the time of the Judges. Just like today, idols were set in temples, groves, shopfronts and houses.
Take a careful look at Judges 17. This chapter provides us with valuable insight into the moral degeneration and the spiritual confusion of God’s people during that period.
Here we find a light-fingered man by the name of Micah who robbed his own mum.
He didn’t just pinch some loose pocket change. Oh no. Micah went all in and stole 1100 shekels of silver. (That’s a lot of dough when you consider that 10 shekels was the standard annual wage for a labourer.)
Outraged, Micah’s mother pronounced a curse on the thief without realizing that it was her own flesh and blood.
Micah quivered in his sandals. Panicked, he took all the silver pieces and returned them to his mother.
How many of God’s laws had they retained in their minds and hearts?
To possess, to create and to worship an idol, even one meant to represent the LORD, was an abomination to God.
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2,3
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Exodus 20:4a
Yet, Micah’s mother employed a silversmith to melt down 200 of the 1100 silver coins. The silversmith made a graven image of carved wood and a molten image out of the silver.
She had violated the first two commandments handed down from Moses.
Now, Micah was a very religious man. He had built a shrine in his own home that housed a hodge podge of idols.
The new silver idol and graven image merely expanded his collection of graven images. They stood alongside his terephim—common household idols meant to provide guidance and prosperity.
A man like Micah hedged his bets; he commissioned a beautiful ephod be made as well. Only a Hebrew priest could wear this special garment, so he appointed one of his sons to this role.
The truth was that Micah and his mother weren’t worshiping the Lord at all. They were mixing Hebrew practices with pagan rituals. They were picking and choosing, mixing and matching.
They were customising their faith to suit their purposes. They were deep in man-centred religion.
They were doing what was right in their own eyes.
For the pièce de résistance, Micah renovated his home into a tabernacle. A bold move since the true tabernacle was located at Shiloh.
Everything was complete when he invited a young Levite to be his own personal priest. With an annual sum of 10 pieces of silver, Micah convinced the Levite to live with him.
He ousted his son and installed the Levite to legitimize his sanctuary and religious practices.
Micah worshipped God in his own arrogant and presumptuous way. Such was the dreadful state of God’s chosen people during the time of the Judges.
So when you darken the doors of the church to worship the LORD, ask yourself, does it align with scripture? Is this truly the way God wants his people to worship?
Sitting in a church pew, listening to a sermon, a choir special, or a solo rendition, it’s easy to forget who the real audience is.
In true worship, the real audience is an audience of one. The audience is God.
Let’s cast off worshipping God in the way that suits us. Instead, let’s look to his word to guide and protect us from false worship.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23
Bibliography
Guzik, D. 2018., ‘Judges 17 – Micah’s Idolatry’, Enduring Word. Retrieved 20 May 2021 from
Judges Chapter 17
Henry, M. 1961, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Zondervan, Michigan.
Lucado, A. Year unspecified, ‘Micah’s Priest’, She Reads Truth. Retrieved 20 May 2021 from
Pfeiffer C,F. 1990, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Moody Publishers, Illinois.
The Quest Study Bible, 1994, Zondervan Publishing House, Michigan.
Walton, J. 2000, The IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament, IVP Academic, Illinois.
