There was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
God commanded the Israelites not to multiply sanctuaries in Canaan (Deuteronomy 12:1-14), but Micah built one in or near his house (Judges 17:5). He did not need to do this because he lived close to Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood (cf. Judges 17:1; Judges 18:31). In his convenient shrine Micah kept an ephod that he had made, probably for divination (cf. Gideon’s ephod, Judges 8:27). This was evidently an imitation of the high priest’s ephod (cf. Judges 8:27). He also kept household gods that probably had some connection with ancestor veneration and divination (cf. Genesis 31:19). [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 144.] He also disregarded the Aaronic priesthood by ordaining his son as the family priest.