The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

Judges 18:22-26

22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”
24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”
25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

Today’s title is “Get Out of Jungle! ”

There are a lot of mob activities in a disorderly society. In such a society, nobody cares for decency. Life is indeed a jungle. Have you ever lived in such a jungle of life? I think we all have one way or another. How did you get out of such a jungle? Or are you still trying to get out of it? We see one of such jungle episodes in today’s passage. Micah’s mother gave his son an idol made of silver as a gift. It seems very thoughtless of her to give an idol as a gift to her son. But that happens to many jungles of life. I see some parents unwittingly give idols that can ruin their children’s life as gifts even in our times. Micah not only worshipped the idol himself but he made all of his households worship it. Micah ran into a wandering priest. He forcefully makes the priest of his household religion. When our life turns into a jungle, we run into a lot of priests that are completely lacking in fear of God. That’s another characteristic of the jungle. The Danites who had more military power happen to see Micah’s silvery idol and priest. They decided to take those as their own after they have experienced some sort of power in the idol and priest. The Danites took the idol and priest without asking Micah. That is the background of today’s episode. Finding out that his treasured idol and priest were gone, Micah chased and took over the Danites with some people in his neighborhood. Micah rebuked and requested Danites to give them back. The Danites weren’t budged a bit. Look at the answers of the Danites. “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” We can all easily imagine the beast-like facial expressions of the Danite mobs because we also have been in similar situations. Micah must have measured the situation carefully. He knew that he can’t measure up to them. Despite his reasonable anger and resentment, he couldn’t confront the Danites anymore. The Danites went away victoriously. But were the Danites really the victor in the jungle? Not at all! They will soon have their turn of doom. We will see. In the jungle, no one gets ahead forever. So why would anyone stay and struggle in the jungle? That’s absolute stupidity. But how can we get out of the jungle of life? Do we have any way out of the jungle? Yes, we do! We have a clear and present way to get you out of the jungle. That’s the good news of the bible. Jesus says, “I am the Way”. He is the beacon that guides us through the jungle to the haven of God. We can be restored to the decency of life where love and grace abound. The horror of Jungle that we have seen in today’s passage is shouting at us to find the way and find the light, isn't it?