Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / March 29 - The Poverty of Self-Made Worship

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March 29 - The Poverty of Self-Made Worship · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, March 29th.
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  The true measure of wealth. It is easy to confuse appearance
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  with value. We live in a world that
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  constantly tells us to look successful, look impressive,
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  look unbothered, look like we have it all together.
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  People can seem rich in confidence, rich in status, rich
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  in influence, and still be deeply empty inside.
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  And other people may look ordinary, unnoticed, or simple
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  while quietly carrying something far more valuable than anything
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  money can buy. Proverbs chapter 13, verses 7 to
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  8 says one man pretends to be rich yet has nothing, another
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  pretends to be poor yet has great wealth.
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  That is such a revealing verse. God sees beyond appearances.
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  He sees what is real. Real wealth is not just what is
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  in your hand, it is what is in your heart.
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  It is faithfulness, integrity, peace, wisdom, and a life
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  aligned with Him. Those things may not always
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  impress people, but they matter deeply to God.
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  Then Judges. Chapters 17 to 18 show what
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  happens when people chase what seems right in their own eyes
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  instead of following the Lord. Idols were made.
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  False worship was accepted. People took what was not theirs.
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  They built their lives around what felt convenient, powerful
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  or useful rather than what was holy.
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  And the result was not peace. It was spiritual confusion and
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  damage. That is what idols always do.
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  They promised security, identity or satisfaction, but they cannot
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  actually give life. Idols today may not always look
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  like carved images. Sometimes they look like
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  popularity, success, attention, relationships, money, approval,
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  control. Anything we trust more than God
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  can become an idol. Anything we chase at the cost of
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  obedience can start to own our hearts.
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  God invites us to measure life differently, not by what gets
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  the most attention, but by what lasts.
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  Not by what makes us look rich, but by what makes us spiritually
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  healthy. Not by what feels impressive for
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  a moment, but by what pleases him.
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  True wealth is knowing God, walking with Him, and becoming
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  the kind of person who reflects His character.
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  That kind of wealth cannot be faked, and it cannot be stolen
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  by trends, disappointment, or changing seasons.
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  It holds steady because it is rooted in something eternal.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  showing me that true wealth is found in You.
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  Guard my heart from chasing things that look impressive but
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  leave me empty. Help me to value faithfulness,
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  wisdom, peace and integrity more than what the world celebrates.
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  Reveal any idols that are competing for my heart and teach
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  me to walk closely with you in truth and obedience in Jesus
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  name, Amen. What if the most important
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  question in your life deserves more than a shallow answer?
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  Does God Exist is a powerful, thought provoking series that
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  explores reality, meaning, and truth through reason, evidence,
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  human experience, and scripture without preaching pressure or
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  assumptions. Book 1, Something from Nothing,
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  confronts the mystery of existence itself and asks why
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  anything exists at all. Book 2, The Cause behind the
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  Cosmos, examines the origin of the universe and whether it
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  points beyond itself. Book 3, Design or Accident,
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  wrestles with order and complexity.
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  Are they products of chance or intelligence?
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  Book 4, The Moral Signature, explores why objective right and
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  wrong may require a source beyond human opinion.
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  Book 5, The God We Cannot Escape, considers conscience,
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  longing, and humanity's persistent awareness of God.
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  Book 6, From Reason to Revelation, asks whether the God
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  who exists would also speak. And Book 7, Denying God,
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  examines the internal tensions of unbelief and the deeper
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  implications of rejecting the divine.
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  Written in clear, accessible language for seekers, skeptics,
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  students, and curious minds, this series invites honest
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  reflection and careful thinking. If you're ready to explore the
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  question seriously, Order Does God Exist?
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  On Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org today.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 13, verses 7 to
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  8 World English Bible There are some who pretend to be rich yet
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  have nothing. There are some who pretend to be
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  poor yet have great wealth. The ransom of a man's life is
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  his riches, but the poor here no threats.
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  Judges chapters 17 to 18 World English Bible There was a man of
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  the Hill Country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
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  He said to his mother, the 1100 pieces of silver that were taken
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  from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke
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  it in my ears. Behold, the silver is with me.
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  I took it. His mother said May Yahweh bless
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  my son. He restored the 1100 pieces of
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  silver to his mother. Then his mother said, I most
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  certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son
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  to make a carved image and a molten image now, therefore I
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  will restore it to you. When he restored the money to
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  his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave them
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  to a silversmith who made a carved image and a molten image
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  out of it. It was in the House of Micah.
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  The man Micah had a House of gods, and he made an ephod and
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  terraphim and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
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  In those days there was no king in Israel.
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  Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
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  There was a young man out of Bethlehem, Judah, of the family
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  of Judah, who was a Levite, and he lived there.
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  The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem, Judah,
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  to live where he could find a place, and he came to the Hill
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  Country of Ephraim, to the House of Micah.
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  As he traveled, Micah said to him, where did you come from?
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  He said to him, I'm a Levite of Bethlehem, Judah, and I am
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  looking for a place to live. Micah said to him, dwell with me
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  and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you 10
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  pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.
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  So the Levite went in. The Levite was content to dwell
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  with the man, and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
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  Micah consecrated the Levite and the young man became his priest
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  and was in the House of Micah. Then Micah said, Now I know that
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  Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.
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  In those days there was no king in Israel.
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  In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to
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  dwell in, for to that day their inheritance had not fallen to
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  them among the tribes of Israel. The children of Dan sent five
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  men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from
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  Zora and from Eshtal, to spy out the land and to search it.
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  They said to them, Go explore the land.
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  They came to the Hill Country of Ephraim to the House of Micah
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  and lodged there. When they were by the House of
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  Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite.
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  So they went over there and said to him, Who brought you here?
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  What do you do in this place? What do you have here?
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  He said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he
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  has hired me, and I have become his priest.
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  They said to him, Please ask counsel of God, that we may know
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  whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
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  The priest said to them, Go in peace.
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  Your way in which you go is before Yahweh.
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  Then the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the
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  people who were there, how they lived in safety in the way of
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  the Sadonians, quiet and secure, for there was no one in the land
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  possessing authority that might put them to shame in anything,
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  and they were far from the Sadonians and had no dealings
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  with anyone else. They came to their brothers at
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  Zora and Eshtal, and their brothers asked them, What do you
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  say? They said arise and let's go up
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  against them, for we have seen the land and behold, it is very
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  good. Do you stand still?
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  Don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.
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  When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the
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  land is large, for God has given it into your hand, a place where
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  there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.
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  The family of the Danites set out from Zora and Eshtal with
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  600 men armed with weapons of war.
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  They went up and encamped in Koriath Jirim in Judah.
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  Therefore they call that place Mahine Dan to this day.
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  Behold, it is behind Koriathjiram.
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  They passed from there to the Hill Country of Ephraim and came
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  to the House of Micah. Then the five men who went to
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  spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their
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  brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses in Ephod and
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  Tarifum, and a carved image and a molten image?
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  Now, therefore, consider what you have to do.
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  They went over there and came to the House of the young Levite
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  man, even to the House of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.
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  The 600 men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the
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  children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
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  The five men who went to spy out the land went up and came in
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  there and took the engraved image, the ephod, the terraphim,
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  and the molten image. And the priest stood by the
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  entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of
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  war. When these went into Micah's
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  house and took the engraved image, the ephod, the Terefim,
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  and the molten image. The priest said to them, What
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  are you doing? They said to him, Hold your
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  peace, put your hand on your mouth and go with us.
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  Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be
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  priest to the House of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a
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  family in Israel? The priest's heart was glad, and
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  he took the ephod, the Terefim, and the engraved image and went
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  with the people. So they turned and departed and
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  put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before
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  them. When they were a good way from
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  the House of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's
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  house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
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  As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces
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  and said to Micah, What ails you that you come with such a
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  company? He said, You have taken away my
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  gods, which I made, and the priest, and have gone away.
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  What more do I have? How can you ask me what ails
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  you? The children of Dan said to him.
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  Don't let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows
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  fall on you and you lose your life with the lives of your
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  household. The children of Dan went their
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  way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he
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  turned and went back to his house.
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  They took that which Micah had made and the priest whom he had,
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  and came to layish to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and
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  struck them with the edge of the sword.
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  Then they burned the city with fire.
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  There was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon and they
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  had no dealings with anyone else, and it was in the valley
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  that lies by Bait Rehab. They built the city and lived in
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  it. They called the name of the city
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  Dan after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel.
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  However, the name of the city used to be Laish.
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  The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image,
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  and Jonathan the son of Jersham, the son of Moses, and his sons
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  were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the
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  captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves
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  Micah's engraved image which he made, and it remained all the
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  time that God's house was in Shiloh.
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  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
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  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
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  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
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  walking daily with Jesus.