Micah then said to him, "Dwell with me and be 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.I once heard recording of a sermon preached on this verse, called "Ten Shekels and a Shirt," talking about how foolishly this Levite sold himself away to be an idol's priest. I find myself reflecting on that more here, because it seems like the Levite should have known better. However, I do see a couple questions about this.
First, did this Levite not know that he was doing wrong? As a Levite, he should have been raised to worship God and serve at/for the Tabernacle. However, it says that he came from Bethlehem in Judah, so I wonder if he was raised properly/normally. In this time the system seems to have broken down, so it's possible he really didn't know he was breaking God's Law.
The second question I have is about how good a deal is this? I understand paying his maintenance: be my priest, all room and board covered, fair enough. But what about the suit of clothes? Was this to be a special suit for his so-called priestly duties, or just an everyday change of clothes? Also, how much was an extra ten pieces of silver a year actually worth? Was this a good over-expenses pay, or just enough to get by?
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