Micah was a thief, but he was a religious thief. He returned the stolen money because of fear. His fear was prompted by his mother’s curse, and this fear caused him to get religion. His mother was so impressed with his conversion, that she asked God’s blessing on him to counteract the curse. She then asked him to be the religious head of their household.

Micah took his religion seriously. He built an idol covered with silver and put it in his house. He later built a shrine to house the idol. He placed it along with other household gods in the shrine and it became the families place of worship. He made an ephod (breastplate) in the style of the chief priests of Israel. He ordained one of his own sons to act as the family priest.

Like many people, he was religious with a purpose. He wanted to prosper and he wanted to avoid reaping what he had sown. In those days Israel did not have a king, and so the country was not unified in anything and they were definitely not unified in the area that was most important to the nation of Israel. They were not unified in the practice of religion and their worship of God; everyone did as they saw fit.

Micah judged how well he was being religious by the consequences. As long as nothing bad was happening and his family was prospering he thought he must be getting it right. When he saw a chance to upgrade his religion by hiring a Levite priest, he jumped at it. He offered the priest a years salary in silver, plus food, clothing, and a place to live. He was convinced that having a Levite priest legitimized his religious practice and God would have to be good to him.

His religion was not an effort to worship or obey God. His religion was engineered for the sole purpose of manipulating God. Micah proves people can be both religious and unrighteous at the same time.