In the Shadows of Shiloh
In the Shadows of Shiloh
Judges 18:27-28 & 31
But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. … So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.
There are two lines in the above passage that should fill us with anguish, that rumble with the thunder and lightning of cosmic disturbance, and the first is this: “And they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.” The very description of these meek hill folk sends shivers down my spine. This isn’t Jericho, friend. This isn’t Amalek or Og or Eglon. This isn’t a walled, fortified city, run by godless tyrants who’ve heard the news of Jehovah’s advance and have woefully decided to rage against Heaven with the might of their armies. These aren’t proud, defiant Philistines or Moabites who oppress God’s people from day to day, burn down their crops, and enslave their daughters. No—these are quiet, unsuspecting, nonconfrontational people. They’re just lambs as it were, quietly going about their business in the hills, till the false priests of Dan profanely sacrifice them on the earthen altar.
The second line is just as troubling: “So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.” Don’t miss that, friend. All this compromise and blasphemy and bloodshed is taking place outside the bounds of God’s specified desire. From Micah’s crafting of an ephod to his recruitment of a wandering Levite, to this massacre in Laish and the false religion established afterward, all is taking place in the shadows of Shiloh. Make no mistake: God’s justice hasn’t moved with the wayward feet of these prodigal people; His righteousness hasn’t shifted in the tides of Israel’s debauchery. Oh no—there’s still an immovable pillar standing on a little hill somewhere in this vast domain where lost and wandering souls may seek the LORD and offer pure sacrifices.
Shilohs and Laishes are both bathed in the blood of innocent lambs, but one is a Spirit baptism, and the other the devil’s.