He restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I most assuredly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it to you.
So it was a mercenary thing, you know. I know I'm gonna prosper now because I got a Levite for a priest. And that's the only reason why he wanted the Levite is so he could prosper. In other words, it was the idea of using God for gain.Paul speaks in the New Testament of the error of those who think that godliness is a way to gain. He calls it a pernicious doctrine. He said, "turn away from such people who say that godliness is a way to get rich, that godliness is a way to prosperity, that godliness is a way to gain." Paul calls it an evil doctrine. Micah has that concept, "Awe, God's gonna prosper me now I've got a Levite for my priest." So he's buying his way, in a sense, into prosperity in hiring the priest. "