Judges 17:1-6 A Religion of Our Own Making

Judges 17:1-6 A Religion of Our Own Making

Introduction

The days of the judges are over. God is no longer raising up deliverers. There is no military rescue, no prophetic call to repentance. What remains is the slow unraveling of a nation that has rejected God’s rule—not just in leadership, but in everyday life. And with this transition, we move from battlefield failures to household ones, from national compromise to personal collapse.

This descent reminds us of the garden. Humanity reached for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—not to know God more, but to replace Him. In taking moral judgment into our own hands, we made ourselves gods. Now we must live in the world we redefined. And in this passage, we see what happens when people do what is right in their own eyes. The result is not freedom. It’s ruin.

Background & Context

Micah is a common man living in the land God promised. But the land doesn’t look like a covenant nation—it looks like Egypt or Canaan. Though Israel had received the law, the covenants, and the glory, they now live as if God had said nothing at all. The law has not disappeared. It has simply been displaced.

The people retained a cultural memory of a God who rescued them from Egypt, but they did not know Him personally. Their actions expose this reality: they were religious, but not righteous. They had customs, but no conviction. And so, even while surrounded by the blessings of God, they acted as if He were dead.

Narrative Walkthrough

1. The Introduction of Micah – No Fear of the Lord

Micah begins by confessing to stealing silver from his mother. But it wasn’t God’s law that convicted him—it was fear of her curse. His conscience was moved by man, not by the voice of God. The law had warned: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19), and promised curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15–19). But Micah was more afraid of his mother than of the Holy One.

This reveals a deeper sickness. Proverbs says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Micah wasn’t repentant. He was scared. His sorrow was worldly, not godly. It is a picture of how false repentance—grief over consequence, not offense—only leads deeper into deception.

2. A Mother’s Misguided Religion – Discipling in Disobedience

Micah’s mother praises him using spiritual language: “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” But what follows is confusion and idolatry. She dedicates the silver “to the LORD” in order to make a carved image. Her intent may have been religious, but her actions were rebellious. God had spoken clearly: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Exodus 20:4–6; Deuteronomy 5:8; 27:15). But she rewrote worship in her own image.

Parents shape theology in the home—intentionally or not. Her words sanctified sin, and her behavior gave it structure. She taught her son that sincerity was enough, even if it violated Scripture. This is what happens when God’s Word is honored in language but ignored in practice. We disciple our children into disobedience.

Worship, when divorced from obedience, becomes idolatry—even if it sounds spiritual.

3. Micah’s Man-Made Religion – Designing Worship Around Desire

Micah builds a shrine, makes an ephod, creates household gods, and ordains his son as priest. These actions violate nearly every major section of the Mosaic law: only Levites could serve as priests (Numbers 3:10), the ephod belonged to the high priest (Exodus 28:6–8), and worship was not to take place wherever man chose (Deuteronomy 12:13–14).

Micah wasn’t running from religion—he was inventing his own. This is consumeristic spirituality: religion that serves self rather than submits to God. Paul warned that people would “not endure sound teaching, but… accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). Micah didn’t want to reject God. He wanted to refashion Him into a god who approved his lifestyle.

Today, we see the same trend—worship designed around experience, preference, and convenience. This isn’t just rebellion. It’s counterfeit faith dressed in religious clothes.

4. Everyone Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes – A Nation Without a King

The final verse gives us the summary: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is not neutral. It is moral insanity—where evil becomes good, and good becomes irrelevant. The people weren’t trying to rebel. They sincerely believed they were doing right. But they were wrong.

Scripture warns that when truth is suppressed, judgment follows (Romans 1:18–23). They claimed to be wise but became fools. They exchanged God’s glory for manageable idols. And they were without excuse.

God had not left them. He was still King. But they had rejected His reign. They traded the voice of God for the voice of culture, and they used His name to justify their rebellion. They created a religious system that appeared alive, but it was dead.

Christ-Centered Reflection

Micah’s story shows us a man who talked about God, honored God with his lips, and arranged his life around spiritual symbols—but did not know or submit to God. Jesus described this kind of worship: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6–7).

Consumeristic Christianity does the same today. It picks and chooses doctrines. It values comfort over conviction. It uses biblical language to support personal preference. But Christ is not a consultant. He is the head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22–23). He defines what is holy. He calls us to submit, not self-design.

Jesus didn’t come to modify false worship. He came to replace it with Spirit and truth (John 4:23–24). He is the King we need—righteous, reigning, and returning.

Contemplation

• Are there areas of your faith where you have prioritized personal comfort over scriptural obedience?
• Has your worship become more about personal style than God’s revealed standard?
• Are you discipling your family in reverent worship or in religious preference?
• Have you embraced a version of Christianity that looks more like culture than Christ?
• Do you fear man’s judgment more than God’s holiness?
• Is Christ truly the Head of your life, your home, and your church—or have you created a substitute?

Conclusion

The absence of God’s Word leads to the loss of godly fear. The loss of godly fear leads to self-made religion. And self-made religion leads to death. But Christ has come to give life.

Even after deep compromise, Christ still invites us to repentance. His death and resurrection provide not only forgiveness but the power to worship in truth. And He is returning—not as a symbol or philosophy, but as King.

Let us not do what is right in our own eyes. Let us submit to the one whose eyes are pure, whose word is holy, and whose kingdom will never fall.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19 – God’s command not to steal
• Deuteronomy 28:15–19 – Curses pronounced for disobedience to God’s law
• Proverbs 29:25 – The fear of man is a snare, but trust in the Lord brings safety
• Exodus 20:4–6; Deuteronomy 5:8; 27:15 – Warnings against idolatry and carved images
• Psalm 115:4–8 – Idols are powerless, and those who worship them become like them
• Isaiah 46:5–7 – Man-made gods cannot save or speak
• Numbers 3:10 – Only Levites were permitted to serve as priests
• Exodus 28:6–8 – The ephod was reserved for the high priest
• Deuteronomy 12:13–14 – Worship was to be done where God appointed, not where man chose
• 2 Timothy 4:1–5 – People will turn from sound teaching and seek out what suits their desires
• Romans 1:18–23 – When truth is suppressed, God gives people over to spiritual blindness
• Mark 7:6–7 – Lip-service religion is rejected by God
• Ephesians 1:22–23 – Christ is the head over all things to the Church
• John 4:23–24 – True worship must be in Spirit and in truth