Judges 18:1

Judges 18:1 says, In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.  This was another period of time when Israel had no king, which Matthew Henry says was part of the reason that some of the people of Dan had not claimed their inheritance of land.  He also points out that this land was now under the control of the Philistines.  Now, for whatever reason, this part of the people of Dan decided it was time for them to check out the possibility of claiming their inheritance.  We as followers of Christ should never be content to just live off what the faith of others may have accomplished for God, but we should seek what He wants us to do, and the sooner the better.  Verse two adds, And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.  The people of Dan sent five spies, who were said to be men of valor, to spy out the land of  their inheritance.  When they got to Mount Ephraim, they came to the house of Micah, and lodged there.  They had yet to enter the land that they were supposed to be spying on.  Of course, we aren't told that God was behind this endeavor either, but if God has called us to do something, we do not need to stop short of what He has called us to do.  As we will see, now that they were nearly to their destination, they would suddenly decide to see if God was with them.  Verse three continues, When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? They heard the young Levite, and recognized him, maybe from his earlier wanderings, and began to question him.  They first asked who brought him there.  If we hear someone professing to be a preacher today, we need to first ask who made them one.  If the answer is anything other than the call of God, we need to beware of them.  Relatives or even a local body of believers thinking that a person should be a preacher is not enough.  They then inquired about the place of worship that He had made there.  Again, as Christians today, we need to make sure that the place that we worship is one that God ordained and one that follows His laws.  Verse four states, And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.  The young Levite told them about his deal with Micah, and his being Micah's hired priest and making the idols.  As Christians, we should never use our relationship with God for our benefit materially.  Verse five adds, And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.  These spies asked to young Levite to ask council of God as to whether or not the way which they went would be prosperous.  Matthew Henry points out that they had already passed by Shiloh and had not sought out the high priest for guidance, but now they sought guidance from this shabby Levite to be their oracle.  In this whole situation, we see no evidence of anyone seeking God's guidance until now,and now they sought that guidance from the wrong source.  Before we even undertake any spiritual quest, we need to first ask God if this is His will.  Verse six continues, And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.  This priest for hire told them what they wanted to hear, and that was to go in peace, because God was with them. Sometimes, we want someone to tell us that what we are doing is going to be successful more than we want to know what God says, and we may seek out someone who will tell us it is more than seeking out a true believer in God to give us guidance, and this is a dangerous thing to do.