"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 of the men may get angry and 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." (Judges 18:21-26) We were told earlier in Chapter 18 that there were six hundred armed Danites. When the Danites left Micah's town, they put their families and livestock at the front of the procession so the armed men would be at the back of the group. This indicates they expected Micah and his townspeople to pursue them. The Bible doesn't tell us how many men Micah had with him but we can safely conclude he was outnumbered. When he persists in arguing about his stolen goods, the men from Dan threaten his family. They say something like, "It'd be a shame if something happened to your wife and sons and grandchildren." Realizing this is not an empty threat, he and his men turn back and reluctantly accept the loss of their religious shrine and its furnishings.
"Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. 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." (Judges 18:27-28a) Many scholars have concluded that the residents of Laish were Sidonians since we've been told twice that they lived at a distance from Sidon. The text indicates that, had they lived near Sidon, the fighting men of that region would have been more than happy to come defend them. One explanation for that is that the people of Laish were originally citizens of Sidon or that they shared common ancestors somewhere back in the past. We can't say for certain who these people are but what we can say for certain is that they were peacefully going about their lives and bothering no one. Another thing we know about them is that the armed men from Dan showed them no mercy, killing every man, woman, teen, child, and infant. They left no one alive.
This incident was spoken of in the book of Joshua but there the city of Laish is called by its alternate name of Leshem. The author of the book of Joshua says, "When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword, and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and named it Dan after their ancestor." (Joshua 19:47) What does the author mean when he says the territory of the Danites "was lost to them"? He's referring to the fact that the Danites didn't drive out all the heathen tribes from the territory allotted to them in Joshua 19. Instead of fighting the Amorites in the confidence of the Lord, the Danites allowed the Amorites to confine them to the hill country according to Judges 1:34. Rather than fight the fierce Amorites who were ready and willing to defend the plains they inhabited, the Danites chose to attack the peaceful people of Laish/Leshem who did not see them coming. The Danites attacked these unarmed people as they went about their daily lives. They struck down men working with their crops in the fields. They barged into houses and murdered women as they went about their housework. They swarmed into people's front yards and slaughtered their children as they played. They attacked the infirm in their beds and thrust their swords through the aged as they dozed in the sun. They struck down the pregnant women, the nursing mothers, and the infants in their cribs. I'm not trying to be morbid or graphic but I think it's important for us to take a moment to consider just how unprovoked, unexpected, shocking, and vicious this attack was.
"The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel---though the city used to be called Laish. There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, 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 idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh." (Judges 18:28b-31) The Jonathan mentioned here may be the young priest who accompanied the Danites from the house of Micah. Moses would have been so ashamed to know that any of his descendants officiated at an altar of this type! You'll recall how heartbroken and righteously angry he was when he returned from Mount Sinai to find the people had made a golden calf. He would have felt the same about the idol from Chapter 18. Whether or not the golden calf of Exodus or the silver-plated idol of Judges was intended to represent the Lord, the Lord never wanted or intended to be represented in this manner. He forbade the people to fashion this type of image. He told them they must worship Him at the tabernacle in Shiloh. But the author of Judges tells us that the idolatrous shrine in our current chapter was used as a center of worship by the Danites who dwelt at Laish instead of them going up to the tabernacle as commanded by the Lord.
Why were some of the Danites so violent and idolatrous? The author of Judges doesn't really provide us with an explanation. They aren't the only people of the world who have ever been violent and idolatrous and we don't want to make the mistake of thinking they were worse than our own forefathers may have been. Since I am a Gentile I know that my ancestors were heathen idolaters. Because I have a fair amount of information regarding my ancestors who came to America, I'm aware that some of them participated in the taking of the land of the Native Americans. I'm also aware that some of my ancestors participated in the slave trade, owned slaves, and fought in a war to try to defend their sinful mode of living. We can't look down on the ancient Danites without looking down on many of our forebears as well.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the drifting of the Danites from the Lord's commandments is something that could happen to anyone who separates themselves from the main body of believers. We are cautioned in the New Testament not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together for worship. (Hebrews 10:25) This is because our enemy the devil "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". (1 Peter 5:8) If you've ever watched any wildlife shows, you've probably noticed that lions lie in wait watching for the animal that strays from the herd. It's far easier to pick off a loner than to attack a large group. We don't want to stray from the body of believers. We don't want to be a loner who separates ourselves from the church in order to "have it our way"---to create our own made-to-order religion. The less we are in the house of God where we can receive the instruction and correction of the word of God, the more likely we are to begin drifting from the truth. The more likely we are to begin drifting from a close relationship with the Lord. This sets us up for putting someone else or something else ahead of the Lord, which constitutes idolatry.
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