Monday, August 15: “This Is Only a Test: Part I”

Judges 17: 10: “Micah then said to [the Levite], ‘Dwell with me and be like a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.’ So the Levite went in..”

When God gives a test it is not so He can assess our knowledge or character–He already knows it. Rather, it is to show the recipient of the test who he or she really is. When the young Levite left Bethlehem, perhaps he told himself it was so he could exercise his ministry (v. 8). But the moment Micah made it a financial matter, he jumped at it; and when a group offered more upward mobility, he grabbed at it immediately (18: 20). The test revealed not the heart of a servant priest, but that of a hireling. Much grief ensued, and apparently his ministry in Dan didn’t last (18: 30). Test unsuccessful!