CHAPTER 17 Jun. 16 
Micah Makes Idols
There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2He said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which I heard you utter a curse - I took them. His mother said, Yahweh bless you my son. 3He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother and she said, I solemnly dedicate my silver to Yahweh for my son to make an engraved image and a molten image. Then I will give it back to you. 4So he returned the money to his mother and she took two hundred pieces of it and gave them to the silversmith, who made it into an engraved image and a molten image, and they were put into Micah’s house. 5This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods and consecrated one of his sons to be his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
A Levite Comes to Micah
7There was a young Levite who had been living in Bethlehem Judah, 8and he left the city to find a better place, and came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9Micah said to him, Where have you come from? He said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live. 10Micah said to him, Live with me and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing and your food. So the Levite agreed. 11The young Levite was content to dwell with the man and became unto him as one of his sons. 12Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, living in his house. 13Then Micah said, Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest. 

Commentary

17:3 We see here the continued theme of Judges- that the people confused serving the true God with serving idols. The man repents, he has a conscience; and his mother isn’t an atheist, she’s not rejected Yahweh; but their morality has become so confused. We see the same all around us today both doctrinally and practically, and we can easily be sucked into the same nexus of confusion unless we base our conscience, faith and understanding upon God’s revealed word. The fault for the situation is also put upon the fact there was no leadership, and people did what they felt was right rather than what God had declared in His word (:6). There is no ‘light within’, as the Proverbs frequently declare, the way that seems right to man is often not (Prov. 14:12; 16:25; 21:2).
17:10,11 Micah asked the young Levite, who was “unto him as one of his sons”, to “be unto me a father and a priest” (note the paradox- the son is as a father), resulting in others likewise asking him to “be unto us a father and a priest” (18:19). The point is, no matter how unqualified a person may be for the job, they may be pressed into being leaders because that’s what nominally religious people so desperately need. There’s a desire in most people for religious leadership rather than forging a direct relationship with God through personal response to His word and accepting His system of mediation between Him and us, which in our day is through His Son.