What do men do when they are in a land filled with milk and honey, and they have no king? In Israel's case, they should have functioned as a 'nation under God', because that's what they were and they had the law to prove it. They had the law, and they had their history which should have been enough to order their steps, but it was not. The last few chapters of Judges show just how far from God's intent Israel had come. It seems that once the tribes went their separate ways, they forgot all of their lessons and commandments.
Judges 17 tells of Micah from the hill country of Ephraim who stole money from his mother, and when he confessed to the crime, she gave it to him to make an idol. So he set up a shrine, made an ephod and several idols. Reading the story you expect the earth to open up and swallow them, but instead a Levite from Bethlehem is convinced to stay with Micah and be his priest. Then, if that wasn't enough, five warriors from the tribe of Dan see the priest and return later and steal both the idol and the priest. Micah calls his neighbors together, they go after the Danites and the following scene takes place:
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 hot-tempered men will 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.
With the priest and the idols in tow, the Danites raid the peaceful and unsuspecting town of Laish, burn it to the ground, build their own city, and install the idols. What happened to the 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Thou shalt make no graven image, Honor thy father and mother, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, Thou shalt not kill'?
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