In those days, Israel had no king and in that silence of leadership, the tribe of Dan wandered restlessly, seeking a land to call their own, for no inheritance had yet fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
So they sent five brave men—warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol—to spy out the land and explore its promise.
"Go," their elders said. "Seek a place where we may rest."
They journeyed till they got to the hill country of Ephraim, and the house of Micah, where silver gods gleamed in quiet corners.
There, they spent the night.
As dawn broke, they heard a familiar voice—
the voice of a young Levite they had once known. They turned aside and asked, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place?"
The Levite answered simply,
"Micah has hired me. I serve as his priest."
Then they said,
"Inquire of God for us, that we may know whether our journey will prosper."
The priest smiled, as though he held divine favor in his hands.
"Go in peace," he said. "The Lord looks kindly upon your path."
The five spies continued and came to Laish,
where the people lived unguarded—a peaceful folk, prosperous and content,
far removed from Sidon and untouched by war.
When the spies returned home, their eyes burned with eagerness.
"Come!" they urged their brothers. "Let us go up at once! The land is good—spacious, abundant, and unprotected. God has placed it into our hands!"
So six hundred men of Dan, armed for battle, marched out from Zorah and Eshtaol. On their way, they camped west of Kiriath Jearim, and the place was called Mahaneh Dan—the Camp of Dan.
They journeyed on to the house of Micah and the spies whispered to their comrades,
"In this house there is an ephod, idols of silver, and a carved image. You know what to do."
While six hundred armed men stood guard at the gate, the spies entered Micah's house and took the idols, the ephod, and all the sacred objects.
The young priest, startled, cried out,
"What are you doing?"
They silenced him.
"Be quiet. Come with us. Would you rather serve one man—or a whole tribe of Israel?"
Temptation shimmered like gold before him.
The Levite smiled, gathered the idols, and followed the Danites.
When Micah heard what had happened, he rallied his neighbors and pursued the men of Dan. He shouted after them in anger, but they turned and said,
"Why have you come out with your men to fight?"
Micah cried,
"You have taken the gods I made—and my priest! What else do I have left?"
The Danites warned him coldly,
"Do not argue with us, lest some hot-tempered men strike you down."
Micah saw they were too strong. Defeated, he turned back home, his idols gone, his faith hollow.
The Danites, undeterred, marched on to Laish. They fell upon the peaceful people with the sword, burned their city, and rebuilt it in their own name—Dan, after their forefather.
There they set up the stolen idols
and appointed Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons to be priests for their tribe—and so they remained until the captivity of the land.
And all the while, the house of God stood in Shiloh, quiet and forgotten, as Israel chased shadows of silver.