The Book of Judges

The Book of Judges and and the book of Joshua are pictures of our walk with God. The Book of Judges speaks a lot about failure, recovery, and backsliding. The cycle that we see repeating several times in this book is as follows:

1. 
   When Israel is blessed by God with a godly and devoted judge, the people are devoted to God. Usually during that judge's lifetime the people follow the Lord quite well. As soon as the judge passes from the scene, the people slip back into disobedience. The people become lazy and begin to backslide from their devotion to the Lord. After a while they deliberately start to disobey and start following other gods.
2. The Lord will then raise up some kind of enemy to remind them about the covenant the Israelites have agreed to keep. The people don't respond to it, so God gives them out to bondage. That's what happens when we give in to sin in our lives, bondage is the result (John 8:34).
3. Eventually the Israelites find themselves in such a heavy burden that they begin to cry out to the Lord for help. The Bible texts don't say that they call out for repentance, for a new heart. They want relief. After a time, which may be years, the Lord raises up a new deliverer/judge, and the cycle starts again.

Disobedience starts with small things from a weakness in our faith, from a small area of compromise, through a small incremental movement towards disobedience, and it grows. (Proverbs 14:14). It's like picking and choosing what to obey and what not to obey. We can have a willful attitude of disregarding God's word when it's not comfortable or politically correct.

When we compromise obedience to the Lord, it always leads to defeat and ultimately to bondage. That's what this book teaches repeatedly. Repeating a lesson is a good
way to learn things. It stands as a warning to us not to compromise obedience to the Lord. We need to deal with sin in our lives. 

The key of breaking this cycle was for the Old Covenant the principles at the end of Joshua, and for the New Covenant see the principles at the end of Sanctification.

God raised up judges, see Biblical judges, from the death of Joshua until the birth of Samuel, who was the last judge to serve in Israel, covering a period of about 325 years. 

It was a period when Israel tried to be ruled as a Theocracy, but didn't do very well. When Samuel was old, the people wanted to be ruled by a king and became a Monarchy. Because the people threw out the Theocracy and didn't want to obey God, and still didn't have a king, they ended up as an Anarchy between the judges. Everyone then did what was right in his own eyes (Jdg 17:6, 21:25).

• Theocracy: Ruled by God.
• Monarchy: Ruled by a king/autocrat.
• Anarchy:
  Absence of government or authority.
• Democracy: Governed by the people.

Most monarchies in our time have kings with limited power, but we have nations ruled by autocrats. Many times these autocrats are/become corrupt and start wars
to gain popularity and honor, or to gain a historical legacy, see The Book of Esther.

The Angel of the Lord said he brought them out of Egypt and brought them into the land he swore to give to their ancestors. He said that he would never break his covenant with them, and they wouldn't make a covenant with the people of that land, but they would break down their altars. Yet they had disobeyed him. He asked them why they had done it. He also said that he won't drive out the people of the land before them; they would become traps and their gods snares to them. The people wept loudly and offered sacrifices to the Lord. (Jdg 2:1–5).

Most bible scholars believe that the Angel of the Lord in this case is the
pre-incarnated Jesus Christ. The people had broken the covenant with the Lord.
The people wept when they heard this. There is something called worldly sorrow which isn't the same as godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is basically being sad about being caught. They may cry but that's not true repentance. They will break the covenant again if given the opportunity to do so. Godly sorrow means true repentance that leads to a change of mind that results in a change of direction, meaning that the person won't do it again. In this case there was no change in their lives, it's an example of worldly sorrow. We may be deceived by this, but God knows exactly what kind of sorrow it is.

After Joshua and his generation died, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the wrath of the Lord because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies around, whom they could no longer resist. Whenever Israel went out to battle, the Lord's hand was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who rescued them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they didn't listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and delivered them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to even more corrupt ways than their ancestors, and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the Lord became very angry with Israel and said that he wouldn't drive away any of the people that Joshua left behind when he died. The Lord would use them to test Israel and see if they would keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did. (Jdg 2:10–23, Psalm 106:34–43).

The people opened up for Man-Made Religion. They came up with their own religious rules. This shows what happen to a people who lose sight of the word of God, when they stop to fear God, see To Fear the Lord in Fear of Man. It affects us religiously.

It also leads to moral decay, a rejection of the moral values of God's word, see Israel's Version of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Knowing the Lord isn't just knowing intellectually about the Lord and his attributes, see God's Attributes. It's also about having a relationship with the Lord that can be given by spending time in the word and in prayer. We choose to follow the Lord. The first generation compromised but served the Lord. The next generation chose to follow the world, the people around them. This resulted in them no longer being able to withstand the enemies around them. 

Bad things that happen to us don't necessarily mean that God wants us to pay attention to some sin in our lives. We live in a fallen world. But God uses these things when there is a choice not to follow the Lord, to disobey the Lord, or to live a life of sin. The natural consequences of sin will then affect us. When we compromise obedience to the Lord, it leads to defeat and bondage. God allows it in our lives to help us understand what is happening. God had explained to the Israelites the consequences of not following the Old Covenant with him. Because they were in great distress because of this, they were open to the Lord to accept the judges he sent to them. But when the judge died, they returned to their sin and became even more corrupt.

These were the nations the Lord left to test all the Israelites who hadn't experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this to also teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had no previous battle experience): 

• The five rulers of the Philistines.
• All the Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains, from mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 

They were left to test the Israelites to see if they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. (Jdg 3:1–6, Psalm 106:34–36).

We can see here how God works among his people. This is a picture of our walk with Jesus. In many ways it's about warfare. We face difficulties in our lives. God doesn't always take them away from us. God tests us. We also need to learn how to deal with them, through his word and through his Spirit. Difficulties are key elements in remaining strong in the Lord and in revealing what is truly in our hearts 
(Eph 6:10–12). There is then a risk for us to compromise and integrate ourselves with the people of the world (1 Cor 15:33, 2 Cor 6:14–16a), and become lukewarm Christians, see Laodicea in The Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation. 

Judges

The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders who judged Israel:

1. Othniel, 
2. Ehud, 
3. Shamgar, 
4. Deborah, 
5. Gideon, 
6. Tola, 
7. Jair, 
8. Jephthah, 
9. Ibzan, 
10. Elon, 
11. Abdon,
12. Samson:

1. Othniel:

The Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of
Aram-Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for 8 years. But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up Othniel for them as a deliverer.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became the judge of Israel and went out to war. The Lord gave the king into his hands. The land then had peace for 40 years until Othniel died. (Jdg 3:7–11).

When we have victories in our lives, we may think we are doing everything right. We make the mistaken assumption that good things from God means I am right in what I am doing. We forget that God is merciful and good and blesses us in spite of ourselves. They never asked themselves if they needed to change anything in their lives. They thought that it was OK for them to go back and serve Baal. It's important that we give God the glory and honor for the victories we have in our lives.

2. Ehud:

The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil, the Lord gave Eglon, king of Moab, power over Israel. To get the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms (which usually refers to Jericho). The Israelites were subject to
Eglon for 18 years. Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them
Ehud as deliverer. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon. Afterwards he returned back to Eglon and said he had a secret message for him. The king then told his attendants to leave them, and they all left. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone and said he had a message from God for him, but then killed him with his sword. Ehud escaped and ordered the Israelites to follow him, for the Lord had given Moab into their hands. They followed him down and took the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they didn't allow anyone to cross. At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites. Moab became subject to Israel, and the land had peace for 80 years. (Jdg 3:12–30).

God was merciful to Israel and gave them time to reflect on this undeserved victory and to change their lives to obedience to God's word.

3. Shamgar: 

After Ehud came Shamgar, who struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
He also saved Israel. (Jdg 3:31).

Shamgar probably acted during the time of peace at the time of Ehud.

4. Deborah:

The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord when Ehud was dead. The Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, with Sisera in command of his army. He had 900 chariots equipped with iron and cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. The people cried out to the Lord for help. 
(Jdg 4:1–3).

Deborah, a prophetess, led Israel at that time. She sent for Barak and
told him that the Lord commanded him to take 10,000 men and lead them up to
Mount Tabor. God would lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and deliver him into their hands.
Barak told her that if she went with him he would go, but if she didn’t he won’t go. She replied that she would go, but because of the path he took, the honor wouldn't be his, for the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.
Deborah accompanied Barak to Kedesh. There Barak summoned 10,000 men.
Deborah also went up with him. (Jdg 4:4–10).

Sisera called all his men and his 900 chariots equipped with iron. Then Deborah
told Barak that this was the day the Lord had given Sisera into his hands and that the Lord had gone before him. Barak went down Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword. Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot.
Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; no man was left. Sisera meanwhile fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin and that family. Jael went out to meet Sisera and told him to go in. He entered her tent and she covered him with a blanket. Jael picked up a tent peg and a hammer and quietly walked over to him as he lay sleeping. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died. Just then Barak came by chasing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. She told Barak to come in and see the man he was looking for. He went in with her, and there laid Sisera dead with the tent peg through his temple. On that day God subdued Jabin before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin until they destroyed him. Then the land had peace for 40 years. (Jdg 4:11–5:31).

Barak saying he would only go if Deborah went with him is called conditional obedience. Certain conditions must then be met in order to comply. Deborah agreed to his demand but said that then he wouldn't get the glory of the victory, it would go to the woman Jabin. The Israelites were relieved by the victory that God miraculously gave them, but it didn't result in repentance in their lives. See also 
Can a woman be a leader in a congregation? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.

5. Gideon:

See Gideon in Gideon and Abimelech.

6. Tola:

Tola arose to save Israel after Abimelech (see Abimelech in 
Gideon and Abimelech). He led Israel for 23 years. (Jdg 10:1–2).

7. Jair:

Jair led Israel after Tola. He had 30 sons and controlled 30 towns in Gilead.
He led Israel for 22 years. (Jdg 10:3–5).

8. Jephthah: 

See Jephthah the Judge.

9. Ibzan:

Ibzan led Israel after Jephthah. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He gave his daughters in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he took in 30 young women as wives from outside his clan. He led Israel for 7 years. (Jdg 12:8–10).

10. Elon:

Elon led Israel after Ibzan. He led Israel for 10 years. (Jdg 12:11–12).

11. Abdon:

Abdon led Israel after Elon. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons.
He led Israel for 8 years. (Jdg 12:13–15).

12. Samson:

See Samson.

See also The Old Testament of the Bible.

Israel's Version of Sodom and Gomorrah

The following story from The Book of Judges is an example of how far into the darkness a people can go when they reject God's word. It can be seen as Israel's version of Sodom and Gomorrah described in The Life of Abraham.

At that time Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But she cheated on him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem.
(Jdg 19:1–2).

A concubine was considered a servant girl. She was considered a wife in the legal sense of the term, but only a second-class citizen in the family. Their children would be second class in terms of the children's right to receive an inheritance from their father. God never approved of having concubines, see the comment to the
7th commandment in the The Ten Commandments. Living a life of Polygamy
lifestyle is an example of a man-made rule and isn't from God.

After she had been there for four months, her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him to her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. His
father-in-law (the woman’s father) made him stay; so he stayed with him for several days and ate, drank and slept there. Eventually the man left and went towards Jebus (that's, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. When they were near Jebus and the day was nearly gone, the servant told his master that he would stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night there. His master said they wouldn't go to any city whose people weren't Israelites. They should move on to
Gibeah. They should try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in either of these places. So they went on, and the sun was setting as they approached Gibeah in Benjamin. There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat down in the city square, but no one took them in for the night. (Jdg 19:3–15).

It was very important to show hospitality in this part of the world. Even so, no one
in this city was willing to do that. The reason was that they didn't want to take 
responsible for their safety because they knew what would happen.

That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim who lived in Gibeah
(the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites) came in from his work in the fields. Looking and seeing the traveler in the town square, the old man asked who they were. The Levite answered who they were. He also said no one had taken him in for the night. They had both straw and fodder for their donkeys, and bread and wine for themselves; him, the woman, and the young man who was with them. They needed nothing, just shelter for the night. (Jdg 19:16–19).

The old man said that they were welcome to his house and he wanted to provide 
them with what they needed. He warned them for spending the night in the square. (Jdg 19:20). 

The old man knew that the city had given itself over to sexual perversion and therefore warned them to stay out in the square.

The old man took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they were given something to eat and drink. While they were enjoying themselves, some of the evil men of the city surrounded the house. They pounded on the door and shouted to the old man who owned the house to bring out the man who had come to their house so they could have sex with him. The owner of the house came out and told them not to do this outrageous thing. He offered to them his virgin daughter and the concubine. He would bring them out to them and they could use them and do with them what they wanted. But as for the man, they shouldn't do anything so outrageous. But the men in the city wouldn't listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her out to them, and they raped her and abused her all night, and at dawn they released her. (Jdg 19:21–25).

Of course, offering his daughter and concubine was very wrong.

At dawn the woman went back to the house where her husband lived, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and went out to continue on his way, his concubine lay there, slumped in the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. He told her to get up; that they had to go. But there was no answer. (Jdg 19:26–28a).

When she didn't answer, he realized she was dead.

Then the man put her on his donkey and went home. When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine limb by limb in twelve pieces and sent them to all the territories of Israel. All who saw it said to one another that such a thing had never been seen or done since the day the Israelites came out of Egypt. They had to do something about it. (Jdg 19:28b–30).

It was a culture in Israel to send pieces of a sacrificed animal to tribal areas of Israel when calling for war. Doing that to a human was horrible. 

Then all Israel gathered together as one and assembled before the Lord. The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, 400,000 men armed with swords. The Benjamites heard about it. The Levite
explained that he and his concubine came to Gibeah to spend the night. During the night the men from Gibeah came after him and surrounded the house with the intention of killing him. They raped his concubine and she died. The Levite then took his concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent a piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance because they had committed this outrageous act. (Jdg 20:1–6).

It's unwise to only listen to one side of a story without listening to the other side and not checking all the facts (Proverbs 18:17). The Levite said nothing that, to save his own skin, he forced his concubine out into the crowd where she was raped all night. It's a very common thing for people to magnify the sins of others while minimizing or ignoring their own. 

The Levite then asked the men what they should do about it. They decided to go up to Gibeah in the order decided by drawing lots. A tenth from all the tribes of Israel would receive provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrived at Gibeah, the army was able to give them what they deserved. (Jdg 20:7–10).

They say they are going to war. The result would be a civil war in Israel. They had hitherto acted in anger without asking the Lord what to do.

So all the Israelites gathered and united as one against the city. The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin asking them to hand over these wicked men in Gibeah to them so they could kill them and purge the evil from Israel. (Jdg 20:11–13a).

The Israelites didn't want to start a civil war. They asked the Benjamites to bring the guilty men over to them for punishment. But the Benjamites wouldn't listen to them. They gathered at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. (Jdg 20:13b–14).

The Benjamites should instead have started an investigation to find out what had really happened. If it resulted in these men being guilty, they should have handed 
them over to the Israelites for punishment or punished them themselves. Instead, they decided to fight for their right to live their lives the way they wanted.

The Benjamites immediately mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to 700 able young men from those who lived in Gibeah. Israel, besides
Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men of the sword, all ready for battle. The Israelites inquired God which of them would go up first to fight against the Benjamites. The Lord answered that Judah should go first. The next morning the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day. But the Israelites encouraged each other and again took their positions where they had placed themselves on the first day. The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired the Lord whether they should go up again to fight against the Benjamites. The Lord answered that they would go up against them. Then the Israelites approached Benjamin on the second day. This time, when the Benjamites came out of Gibeah to stand against them, they cut down another
18,000 Israelites, all armed with swords. (Jdg 20:15–25).

Note that the Lord hadn't promised them victory. Even the Israelites had gone away from God and didn't follow him as they should. Their response to this sin was 
somewhat hypocritical and inconsistent. They hadn't acted before when they should have acted, see for example Man-Made Religion, but decided to act this time.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, sat down and wept before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings to the Lord. And the Israelites inquired the Lord. At that time the ark of the covenant of God was there, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it. They asked whether they should go up again to fight the Benjamites or not.
The Lord replied that they would go and this time he would give the
Benjamites into their hands. (Jdg 20:26–28).

This time the Israelites were more sincere in their hearts, they fasted and offered sacrifices. They understood that they must come before the Lord and examine their own hearts. Now came the promise of victory.

Then Israel laid an ambush around Gibeah. They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and stood against Gibeah as they had done before. The Benjamites 
came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties to the Israelites as before, so that about 30 men fell in the open field and on the roads. Then 10,000 of Israel’s talented young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. Those who had been in ambush suddenly rushed into Gibeah, spread out, and put the whole city to the sword. The Israelites had arranged the ambush to send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, and then the Israelites would counterattack. But when the pillar of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city go up in smoke. Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified because they realized that disaster had come on them. So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they couldn't escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the cities cut them down. On that day 25,000 
Benjamite swordsmen fell, all valiant fighters. But 600 of them turned and fled into the wilderness to a rock, where they remained for four months. The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the cities to the sword, also the animals and everything else they found. All the cities they came across they set on fire. (Jdg 20:29–48).

No women and no children were spared. Only 600 men remained of the Benjamites.

The men of Israel had taken an oath that not one of them would give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite. They now understood that this meant that the tribe of Benjamin would be wiped out, since these remaining Benjamites then only could marry women from other nations, meaning that they would be assimilated into those nations. They wanted to provide wives from Israel to these Benjamites
and therefore tried to find a way out from this oath. They had taken another oath
that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord for the battle was to be put to death. They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. So they sent 12,000 fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there including the women and children, except for the women who were virgins. They found 400 young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh. Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the 600 remaining Benjamites. They returned and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there weren't enough for all of them. There was an annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh. They instructed the Benjamites to go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the young women of Shiloh came out to join in the dancing, they should rush from the vineyards, and each of them seize one of them to be their wives. Then they should return to the land of Benjamin. The Israelites would then not be guilty of breaking the first oath since they didn't give their daughters to them, they were taken by the Benjamites. This was also what the Benjamites did. (Jdg 21:1–24).

It wasn't wise at all to take those two oaths (Proverbs 20:25, Num 30:2
(3 in some translations)). When they realized that, they came up with their own rules to circumvent the first oath. We shouldn't take an oath at all
(Mat 5:33–37, James 5:12).

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Jdg 21:25)

What an Israelite proclaimed was right for him irrespective of what other Israelites thought was right, or even irrespective of what is right in the word of God. This is also the case for many people in our time. We make our own rules.

See also The Book of Judges.

Man-Made Religion

The following story from The Book of Judges is an example of man-made religion. Getting away from God's word but remaining religious results in spiritual chaos. The people did what they thought was right in their own eyes.

Micah from the hill country of Ephraim told his mother that he had taken 1100 shekels  (11 kg) of silver from her, on which she had pronounced a curse. When he returned the money to her, she blessed him in the name of the Lord.
She said that she consecrated her silver to the Lord for her son to make an image overlaid with silver. She would give it back to him. After he returned the silver to his mother, she took 200 shekels (2 kg) of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods, and installed one of his sons as his priest. At that time Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Jdg 17:1–6).

Micah didn't repent of his sin of stealing from his mother. He was willing to steal from his mother, but was afraid because of her curse and therefore returned the money.
His mother wanted to consecrate her silver to the Lord, but instead broke the
2nd commandment by making a graven, see The Ten Commandments. Micah then made his own house gods in his home, to be worshipped. Making one's own son a priest was against the Mosaic Laws. The Israeli priesthood was required to be male individuals descended from Aaron, see The High Priest in the Bible. 

Jesus confronted meaningless religion, see Confronting Meaningless Religion.

We can also see the same inconsistency in our culture today, that people do what is right in their own eyes. It's called Relativism.

A young Levite who had lived in the tribe of Judah was looking for somewhere else to live. He came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. Micah asked him to live with him and be his father and priest, and he would give him ten shekels of silver a year and clothing and food as he needed. The Levite agreed to live with him as a priest, and became like one of his sons to him. Micah said that he now knew that the Lord would be good to him, because this Levite had become his priest. 
(Jdg 17:7–13).

Micah's religion is made more legitimate by using a Levite as priest, even though he wasn't descended from Aaron. He put an element of truth in it. Micah ordained the Levite as priest in his house. He had no right to do that.

In those days Israel had no king. The tribe of the Danites sought a place of their own where they could settle, because they had not yet received their inheritance among the tribes of Israel. They sent five of their leading men to spy out the land and explore it. They represented all the Danites. They entered the hill country of 
Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. (Jdg 18:1–2).

The Danites neither sought the Lord nor spoke to the leadership of Israel before making decisions, see The Parable of the Rich Fool. As Christians, we can make 
similar mistakes (James 4:13–17).

The Levite told the Danites that Micah had hired him as his priest. They asked him to inquire God if their journey would be successful. The priest answered them that their journey had the approval of the Lord. (Jdg 18:3–6).

This is called itching ears. He told them what they wanted to hear (2 Tim 4:3–4).

So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people lived in security, like the Sidonians, in peace and security. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Moreover, they lived far from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. When they returned to their fellow Danites, they told them them that they would attack them. Then 600 men of the Danites went forth, armed for battle. On the way they came to Micah’s house. (Jdg 18:7–13).

Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish told their fellow Danites
that one of these houses had an ephod, some household gods, and an image overlaid with silver. They turned in there and went to the young Levite's house at Micah's. The 600 Levite armed for battle stood at the entrance of the gate. The five men who had spied out the land went in and took the idol, the ephod, and the household gods while the priest and the 600 armed men stood at the entrance of the gate. The priest asked them what they were doing. They answered him to come with them and be their father and priest. It would be better for him to serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household. The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods, and the idol and went with the people. Setting their little children, their livestock, and their possessions before 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 came upon the Danites. Micah told them that they had taken the gods he had made and his priest. The Danites threatened to kill him and his family. Micah saw that they were too strong for him and went back home. (Jdg 18:14–26).

The Danites didn't come to serve the Lord, they came to take. They relied in their own strength but not in God, because they knew what they were doing was wrong.

The Danites moved on to Laish, to a people in peace and security. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived far from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The 
Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their ancestor 
Dan, although the city was formerly called Laish (or Leshem (Joshua 19:47)).
There the Danites set up the idol for themselves, and Jonathan (Gershom's son who was the son of Moses) and his sons were the priests of the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the Tabernacle was in Shiloh. (Jdg 18:27–31).

The Levite's name was Jonathan, grandson of Moses. Jonathan's priestly service on behalf of the Danites was illegal, because even though he was a Levite
he wasn't of Aaron's family, see The High Priest in the Bible.

The land allotted to the tribe of Dan was a small enclave close to the Philistines 
(Joshua 19:40–48). Dan belonged to the land assigned to the tribe of Naphtali.
The Danites were therefore not allowed to take that place but did so anyway.

The tribe of Dan is missing among 
The 144 000 in the Book of Revelation.  
The Danites may have intermarried with the people around them and assimilated into those cultures and societies.

Although the consequences of sin don't strike immediately, they will come if not repenting
(Gal 6:7–8). The tribe of Dan disappeared.

See also The Book of Judges.