ISRAEL'S FAILURE, GOD'S MERCY
A. From Gilgal to Bochim
1. (Judges 2:1-3) The Angel of the LORD preaches to Israel
Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers: and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you, and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land: you shall tear down the altars.' But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.'"
The angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal: The Hebrew is "the malach of YHWH". Malach does NOT mean angel; it means messenger. It is only in certain contexts in which it is taken to mean that the messenger is an angel, a spirit being.
In many places in the Bible, we come across this term. Jewish scholars and rabbis insist that this is actually a HUMAN messenger, a prophet that is being referred to. And that is one way around the problem that Christianity also struggles with about he identity of "the angel of the LORD". The problem is what or who is the angel (the malach) or the LORD? Here in Judges 2:1. Many of the greatest Hebrew sages say that this is simply a human prophet who has journeyed from Gilgal to deliver a message from God. They assume this because if it is a spirit being, then one has the spirit being speaking in the first person "I". And if that is the case, then it is hard to deny that the spirit being is identifying himself as God. That is not something Judaism accounts for. However, it is common for a prophet to speak the actual words from God, like reading a prepared speaking using the first person "I". The difference is that the prophet ALWAYS prefaces those words with some form of, "this is a message from God". And this is not the case here.
Christianity, on the other hand, has adopted the concept of the Trinity, whereby God can manifest Himself as God in as many as three forms. Therefore, to have a spirit being speak as "I, the LORD" and yet not necessarily be identified as God the Father still leaves two other choices: the Holy Spirit and the Son (Jesus). With this doctrine of the Trinity the only argument becomes which of the Trinity is the angel of the LORD. The usual answer is the Son.
Even if we have a nice selection of three different square pegs in the Trinity, we are still trying to pound them into a round hole called the angel of the LORD. I believe that while in the era of Jesus, we indeed saw recorded primarily the workings of the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son (all are one, God), I am skeptical that these are the ONLY possible manifestations of the LORD. There is nothing Scripturally that says God is three in one and ONLY three in one. There is the Shekinah that is spoken of that does not fit the description of any of those three. There is the angel of the LORD that presents another variation. We have the physical apparition that appeared to Abraham and spoke and ate with him. There is another physical being which wrestled with Jacob.
Wherever you fall in this debate, there is no doubt that the angel of the LORD is a spirit being and not a man. In the long run, we are better off to accept that the angel of the LORD is a direct manifestation of YHWH (LORD) and be satisfied to leave it there rather than trying to rationalize it with any doctrine, Jewish or Christian. When it comes to the spirit world, we are so limited in our insight, ability to comprehend and to find words of this physical world to describe and illustrate the spiritual.
Bochim: The angel of the LORD then proceeds to speak to the people of Israel at a place identified as Bochim. We do not know where this place is and in reality, Bochim is not a proper name or title. It simply means weepers, as in people crying. In a couple verses we will see weeping is Israel's collective reaction to the words spoken by the angel of the LORD.
I brought you up out of Egypt: The first thing the angel of the LORD does is to remind Israel of God's great love and faithfulness to them. He has rescued them from Egypt and then brought them to the land He promised Abraham. He has fought ahead of Israel and won, and now Israel can rest in their own land. Yet, they are not completely at rest because they did not fully follow God's commands to rid the land of the Canaanites. Still, the LORD says despite this disobedience, He is not going to break the covenant He made with Israel. God implies that Israel deserves the covenant to be revoked; however, because of His own holy nature, He will not do it. Israel can walk away from the covenant, disassociate themselves from the covenant and therefore not be under the covenant; however, the covenant still remains intact.
It is God's general pattern to remind us of His great love and faithfulness to us before calling us to obedience or confronting our sin. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and we can only really obey Him as we walk in His love and abide in His covenant with us.
I will never break My covenant with you: What did God just say? He said, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER will I break My covenant with you, Israel. He did NOT say if you break the covenant then I will break the covenant. He did NOT say that under the right circumstances, He will break the covenant. Compare Matthew 5:17-18:
"Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as the smallest letter or a stroke will pass from the Torah--not until everything that must happen has happened."
God says that He will not break the covenant, and later Jesus says He will not break the covenant. The angel of the LORD brings the good news to Israel that despite the difficulties and chastisement from God that may be coming their way, Israel's covenant with God will NEVER be broken. The covenant spoken of here is the Covenant of Moses.
Make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land: We are reminded here that the Covenant of Moses is conditional. The condition is that Israel must remain faithful and obedient to God if they expect to have fruitfulness and rest in Canaan. That faithfulness and obedience was generally wrapped up in the LORD'S demands that Israel makes no covenants (peace treaties and political agreements) with the Canaanites. Additionally, Israel should destroy all the pagan idol and places of worship which covered the land.
But you have not obeyed Me: Next, the LORD points His finger at Israel and says, "You have not what I have asked of you." In other words, the LORD accuses Israel of blatantly not doing the very things He said were mandatory and would have dire consequences if Israel did not obey.
I will not drive them out before you: After the accusation (and conviction), God issues His judgment upon them. Whereas when Joshua was alive, God lead the battles and ensured the victories. Now, He says He is backing away; Israel will be on their own.
As Christians, we find ourselves wanting God to fight our battles for us. We want Him to do the work of maturing us as Christians. We want to wake up one morning and certain sins would be gone. Sometimes God does grant us such miraculous deliverance, and we praise Him for it. However, it is more common for Him to require our partnership with Him in the process of Christian growth. Our partnership with God is important because it shows that our heart is where His heart it. It shows that we are truly growing close to God.
They will become as thorns in your sides: God's punishment to Israel for their disobedience was not a surprise. The announcement that the Canaanites would remain as problems to the nation was promised beforehand to Israel if they would not faithfully drive out the Canaanites. "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell" (Numbers 33:55).
2. (Judges 2:4-6) The people respond with weeping and sorrow
When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the LORD. When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land.
The people lifted up their voices and wept: Israel's response to this startling revelation and judgment was that they wept bitter tears and began wailing loudly at what they had done. They lamented what this would mean for their present and future. This is why the place was given the name Bochim, the place of weepers.
This emotional response of the people was very hopeful. With all the weeping and wailing, there was reason to believe that God's word had a deep impact upon them; they were on their way to a genuine revival of God's work among them.
Sadly, this was not the case. The subsequent record in the Book of Judges shows that this initial reaction of sorrow and repentance did not mature into a real, lasting repentance. Real repentance shows itself in action, not necessarily in weeping. We can be sorry about the consequences of our sin whiteout being sorry about the sin itself. One can weep outwardly and show repentance without ever inwardly repenting. This is the LORD challenges Israel in Joel 2:13: "So rend your hearts and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness."
There they sacrificed to the LORD: Israel did the right thing here. Any awareness of sin should drive us to God's appointed sacrifice. In their day that meant sin offerings of bulls and rams. In our day, we should remember God's sacrifice for us on the cross--Jesus.
When Joshua had dismissed the people: This shows that Judges chapter 2 begins as retrospect, looking back to the days before the death of Joshua, which was described in Judges 1:1. This hopeful response to the Angel of the LORD started when Joshua was still alive.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Judges Chapter 2 Part One (Introduction)
Introduction
Judges chapter one gave us a short background on the political situation in the land of Canaan that reflects the time approaching Joshua's death and then perhaps the next decade as the elders closest to Joshua took over leadership after he was buried. In a nutshell, the people of Israel failed to conquer Canaan. After the land was divided up, it became each tribe's duty to finish ridding itself of any remaining Canaanite tribes and pagan worship sanctuaries.
It is important to understand that the land was divided up based NOT on what was actually conquered, or on merit. Rather, it was divided up based on how God had assigned the territory through lots at the time of Moses. That allotment put the various tribes in general regions of the Promised Land--the north, south, near the Jordan River, near the Mediterranean Sea, etc. Joshua fine-tuned this arrangement with another ceremony whereby the relative SIZE of each territory was adjusted to account for the population difference among the tribes, i.e., the bigger the tribe, the bigger the territory. Moreover, these land assignments were meant to be a responsibility to each tribe to finish up the job of conquering their own particular land holding.
In the Book of Joshua, we see the LORD defeats His enemies using Yehoshua (Joshua in English) as His earthly, physical agent. We are told of the great battles of northern and southern Canaan. We see these battles fought with vast armies on both sides, employing hundreds of thousands of soldiers. And we saw that as the LORD decisively won these battles, Israel won the battle. This meant that Israel could now attain sufficient rest in the land that they could rightfully declare as their own.
However, after Joshua's victory and death, the battling did not end. Each tribe was obligated to continue the fight for his own immediate territory indefinitely. Israel was told repeatedly that IF they were obedient to the LORD, then He will fight for them and victory would be theirs. If not, then the struggle would be painful and full of many difficulties and defeats.
This is a great illustration that foreshadows the battle that the army of another Yehoshua who came 1300 years later would face--the one known as Jesus of Nazareth, whose name is indeed Yehoshua, grammatically shortened to Yeshua. He would also lead us to a great victory IF we will follow Him.
Perhaps the picture is already forming in your minds. God through Jesus fights an enormous battle and defeats His great enemy, Satan, for our benefit. Jesus is the physical human agent of this Holy War, but God is the one who fights and leads the victory. Jesus dies in the process, and then each of His followers who are part of the victory must continue to fight his or her own turf--our lives--as the battle will continue until a time preordained by God but unknown to man.
It is interesting that BOTH the major but incomplete victories of Joshua and then Jesus will become complete at the same moment: the Battle of Armageddon. All the daily turf wars and individual battles we fight will be finally over because the Holy War will finally be complete. The conquest for earth and for the eradication of evil will finally be at an end.
Judges chapter one went into some length to show that NONE of the tribes properly carried through with their own individual turf wars. Some tribes won additional cities and surrounding area. Some tribes lose some areas. Other tribes were not able to gain an inch. Again, I see an illustration so perfectly paralleled to the daily life of a Believer. We will fight every day; some battles we win, and others we lose. Some of us will be more determined and dedicated. Others of us will sadly put up little resistance. But, in the end, none of us will have perfectly executed God's plan for our lives.
Moreover, we are told that the Israelites tended to make forced laborers out of the residents of areas they did gain control over instead of destroying them as the LORD had instructed them. In other cases, the Israelites simply went through a process of assimilation and blended with their neighbors.
All of this led to Israel sliding so rapidly into idolatry that it is truly breath-taking. We tend to see everything from ancient times as happening in slow motion as compared to modern times. This is not necessarily so. There are wicked actions that we can take, some turns down a road that is not God's will that can be so drastic and explosive in their consequences that the negative changes begin to happen almost overnight. Israel's behavior and decision process at the end of Joshua's time and then during the ear of the Judges was one such action.
I greatly fear that the unease we Believers feel today within the Western World in general as we watch millions of our fellow citizens enthusiastically revel in moving rapidly toward a secular society will lead us to exactly a similar point as we will read in the era of the Judges. The eerie parallel between the time of the Judges and today is amplified when we consider that it was a huge population of people of a false religion that Israel decided to appease rather than extinguish. They decided to engage them in diplomacy and compromise. They decided to give up some land to them, and in other instances let them live in Israel. The Hebrews found ways to rationalize away God's instructions, the immediate principles that govern this universe. They forgot mankind's own history which proved at every turn that in compromise only evil wins when at first it may seem like the peaceful and logical thing to do.
Chapter 2 begins with God's only possible response to Israel's collective decision to follow their own way and abandon Him. God's nature is such that He can do nothing else but employ righteous justice upon His own set-apart people when they rebel and sin against Him.
I marvel in disbelief when Christian leaders proudly tell their flock that the days of God's justice upon His own people are over. If that is true then we have no choice but to drop our assertion that God never changes. We are told that we indeed have purchased our Heavenly fire insurance policy at salvation. We are then exempt from expecting discipline and punishment when we freely rebel and trespass against our LORD. This is NOT true! Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is that said. Such a license to sin so long as we are redeemed is so against God that it boggles the mind. It is terribly dangerous to the spiritual health of each Believer and to the body of Messiah in general.
The people of Israel during the time of the Judges generally adopted this exact same attitude. They believed since they were the LORD'S redeemed people that the Father would NEVER do anything but BLESS His own people. However, this doctrine was quite erroneous. They were able to find out that if God does not administer His justice then He is not truly holy. As we have learned, the LORD is so perfectly holy that He will destroy the entire universe and everything in it to protect that holiness. This is the same divine purity and righteousness that He places upon all who freely choose to call upon His name.
Judges chapter one gave us a short background on the political situation in the land of Canaan that reflects the time approaching Joshua's death and then perhaps the next decade as the elders closest to Joshua took over leadership after he was buried. In a nutshell, the people of Israel failed to conquer Canaan. After the land was divided up, it became each tribe's duty to finish ridding itself of any remaining Canaanite tribes and pagan worship sanctuaries.
It is important to understand that the land was divided up based NOT on what was actually conquered, or on merit. Rather, it was divided up based on how God had assigned the territory through lots at the time of Moses. That allotment put the various tribes in general regions of the Promised Land--the north, south, near the Jordan River, near the Mediterranean Sea, etc. Joshua fine-tuned this arrangement with another ceremony whereby the relative SIZE of each territory was adjusted to account for the population difference among the tribes, i.e., the bigger the tribe, the bigger the territory. Moreover, these land assignments were meant to be a responsibility to each tribe to finish up the job of conquering their own particular land holding.
In the Book of Joshua, we see the LORD defeats His enemies using Yehoshua (Joshua in English) as His earthly, physical agent. We are told of the great battles of northern and southern Canaan. We see these battles fought with vast armies on both sides, employing hundreds of thousands of soldiers. And we saw that as the LORD decisively won these battles, Israel won the battle. This meant that Israel could now attain sufficient rest in the land that they could rightfully declare as their own.
However, after Joshua's victory and death, the battling did not end. Each tribe was obligated to continue the fight for his own immediate territory indefinitely. Israel was told repeatedly that IF they were obedient to the LORD, then He will fight for them and victory would be theirs. If not, then the struggle would be painful and full of many difficulties and defeats.
This is a great illustration that foreshadows the battle that the army of another Yehoshua who came 1300 years later would face--the one known as Jesus of Nazareth, whose name is indeed Yehoshua, grammatically shortened to Yeshua. He would also lead us to a great victory IF we will follow Him.
Perhaps the picture is already forming in your minds. God through Jesus fights an enormous battle and defeats His great enemy, Satan, for our benefit. Jesus is the physical human agent of this Holy War, but God is the one who fights and leads the victory. Jesus dies in the process, and then each of His followers who are part of the victory must continue to fight his or her own turf--our lives--as the battle will continue until a time preordained by God but unknown to man.
It is interesting that BOTH the major but incomplete victories of Joshua and then Jesus will become complete at the same moment: the Battle of Armageddon. All the daily turf wars and individual battles we fight will be finally over because the Holy War will finally be complete. The conquest for earth and for the eradication of evil will finally be at an end.
Judges chapter one went into some length to show that NONE of the tribes properly carried through with their own individual turf wars. Some tribes won additional cities and surrounding area. Some tribes lose some areas. Other tribes were not able to gain an inch. Again, I see an illustration so perfectly paralleled to the daily life of a Believer. We will fight every day; some battles we win, and others we lose. Some of us will be more determined and dedicated. Others of us will sadly put up little resistance. But, in the end, none of us will have perfectly executed God's plan for our lives.
Moreover, we are told that the Israelites tended to make forced laborers out of the residents of areas they did gain control over instead of destroying them as the LORD had instructed them. In other cases, the Israelites simply went through a process of assimilation and blended with their neighbors.
All of this led to Israel sliding so rapidly into idolatry that it is truly breath-taking. We tend to see everything from ancient times as happening in slow motion as compared to modern times. This is not necessarily so. There are wicked actions that we can take, some turns down a road that is not God's will that can be so drastic and explosive in their consequences that the negative changes begin to happen almost overnight. Israel's behavior and decision process at the end of Joshua's time and then during the ear of the Judges was one such action.
I greatly fear that the unease we Believers feel today within the Western World in general as we watch millions of our fellow citizens enthusiastically revel in moving rapidly toward a secular society will lead us to exactly a similar point as we will read in the era of the Judges. The eerie parallel between the time of the Judges and today is amplified when we consider that it was a huge population of people of a false religion that Israel decided to appease rather than extinguish. They decided to engage them in diplomacy and compromise. They decided to give up some land to them, and in other instances let them live in Israel. The Hebrews found ways to rationalize away God's instructions, the immediate principles that govern this universe. They forgot mankind's own history which proved at every turn that in compromise only evil wins when at first it may seem like the peaceful and logical thing to do.
Chapter 2 begins with God's only possible response to Israel's collective decision to follow their own way and abandon Him. God's nature is such that He can do nothing else but employ righteous justice upon His own set-apart people when they rebel and sin against Him.
I marvel in disbelief when Christian leaders proudly tell their flock that the days of God's justice upon His own people are over. If that is true then we have no choice but to drop our assertion that God never changes. We are told that we indeed have purchased our Heavenly fire insurance policy at salvation. We are then exempt from expecting discipline and punishment when we freely rebel and trespass against our LORD. This is NOT true! Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is that said. Such a license to sin so long as we are redeemed is so against God that it boggles the mind. It is terribly dangerous to the spiritual health of each Believer and to the body of Messiah in general.
The people of Israel during the time of the Judges generally adopted this exact same attitude. They believed since they were the LORD'S redeemed people that the Father would NEVER do anything but BLESS His own people. However, this doctrine was quite erroneous. They were able to find out that if God does not administer His justice then He is not truly holy. As we have learned, the LORD is so perfectly holy that He will destroy the entire universe and everything in it to protect that holiness. This is the same divine purity and righteousness that He places upon all who freely choose to call upon His name.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Judges Chapter 1 Part Three (Verses 21-36)
B. Incomplete victory and defeat
1. (Judges 1:21) The tribe of Benjamin does not take possession of Jerusalem
But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
The sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites: This was a case where the battle had already been won (Judges 1:8). The tribe of Benjamin simply had to enter into what was already theirs. It would take some effort, but the critical battle was over. Jerusalem belonged to them.
The Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day: Up until the time the Book of Judges was written, the tribe of Benjamin had failed to cast out the Jebusites. Therefore, they lived in constant military and spiritual danger.
2. (Judges 1:22-26) The house of Joseph conquers the city of Bethel
Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. The house of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz). The spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance to the city and we will treat you kindly." So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz which is its name to this day.
The house of Joseph: The house of Joseph attacks the city of Bethel. The city of Ai was very nearby. In fact, Ai and Bethel (if not sister cities) may well have been the same city just slightly relocated after a destruction.
The house of Joseph spied out Bethel: When the house of Joseph approached the city, a man of Bethel decides to cooperate with the Israelite spies and shows them a good way to break into the city. In return, the spies promise to let the man and all his family go before the coming onslaught.
This has tones of the attack on Jericho where the prostitute Rehab and her family are spared from destruction during the early parts of the Book of Joshua. But this is where all the similarity ends between the two stories. This man of Bethel expresses no interest in Israel's God. His only motive was self-preservation to the point that he was willing to commit treason to save his own life. There was no honor in what happened here as there was when Rehab had converted before she met the spies--her allegiance to God was at the heart of her decision.
The man went into the land of the Hittites: We get an interesting and instructional footnote here that says the man of Bethel went into the country of the Hittites, which is modern day Turkey. There, he built a city and called it Luz. In other words, he turned his own home city over for destruction by the Israelites. He then constructed a new city and gave it the same name as his former hometown. Guilt? Probably.
3. (Judges 1:27-29) Manasseh and Ephraim fail to drive out all the Canaanites
But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them completely out. Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
Beth-shean and its villages: From here to the end of the chapter, we get mostly a list of failed attempts by various Israelite tribes to drive out various Canaanites from their territories. Basically, this is setting the stage for what we will see happen in the rest of the Book of Judges.
Manasseh, half of the house of Joseph, could not drive out the Canaanites from Beth-shean and its surrounding areas.
Megiddo and its villages: The Israelites could not drive out the Canaanites from Megiddo, which was a very important fortress on a major trade route. It was at a crossroads as well as a place which overlooks an extensive portion of the Jezreel Valley.
They put the Canaanites to forced labor: We are told that Israel was able to sufficiently subdue the Canaanites to use them as forced labor. But here again, we see how the new Israeli mindset had taken hold. Israel no longer was following God's commands, but they were giving in to apathy and living with the nations instead of separating themselves from them.
4. (Judges 1:30) The tribe of Zebulun compromises and accommodates the Canaanites, putting them under tribute.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants: Each tribe had its own responsibility, and its own battle to fight. In Zebulun's battle, they failed to take all that God had portioned for them.
The Canaanites lived among them: The tribe of Zebulun thought they could make their incomplete disobedience work to their advantage, especially economically. They failed to appreciate that the Canaanites who dwelt among them would eventually bring them into both social and spiritual ruin.
The destruction of Zebulun was not immediately known. Therefore, it was easy to think that it was not real. Yet, it was certain to come. Only a trusting obedience to God could spare them the later cycle of crisis that marks the Book of Judges.
5. (Judges 1:31-32) The tribe of Asher fails in taking full possession of their land.
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob. So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants: The tribe of Asher also failed to take what God had apportioned for them. Each tribe who failed made it easier for the other tribes to also fail.
So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites: Of the tribe of Zebulun, we read that the Canaanites lived among them (verse 30). However, in Asher it was worse! It was the Asherites who lived among the Canaanites. They suffered a worse degree of social and spiritual crisis.
6. (Judges 1:33) The tribe of Naphtali compromise and accommodates the Canaanites, putting them under tribute.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor to them.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants: The tribe of Naphtali found it difficult to counter the trend of the other tribes. The defeat of one affects the condition of the others.
God never intended for Israel to conquer the land of Canaan easily. He never intended it to happen quickly. In Exodus 23:29-30 and Deuteronomy 7:22-24, God says that He intended to give Israel the land little by little. Though God planned for Israel to take the land through constant trust in Him, they failed to do this. Therefore, they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land. It was almost as if Israel was saying, "If we cannot have it easy, then we do not want it at all."
Lived among the Canaanites...became forced labor to them: The tribe of Naphtali combined both facets of capitulation to the enemy. In some regions of their territory, they lived under the shadow of the dominating Canaanites. In other regions, they put them under tribute. Both facets fell well short of God's command and intent for the people of Israel.
7. (Judges 1:34-36) The tribe of Dan fails in taking full possession of their land.
The Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor. The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabim, from Sela and upward.
The Amorites forced the sons of Dan: Here, we see the people of God being pushed around by their enemies. This should never happen when God's people are walking in the strength of their God.
When the power of the house of Joseph grew strong: Again, instead of doing what God said should have been done (driving out their enemies), they decided to use them as they thought best--they put their enemies under tribute.
The border of the Amorites: The end result was that the Amorites had an appointed boundary within the inheritance of God's people. This was an unnecessary and dangerous accommodation to the social and spiritual enemies of God.
There is a very similar and seductive form of pacifism in the Christian life, which ignores the reality of the spiritual battle so clearly described in Ephesians 6:10-20 and referred to in the Book of Judges. This pacifist attitude will happily make peace with the devil that basically says, "I will not harm your interests if you leave me mostly alone." This attitude of spiritual surrender is very dangerous for the Christian.
The infamous Communist leader, Leon Trotsky, once said, "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." To take an attitude of spiritual surrender is to willingly lose that war.
These last couple verses set the stage for the migration of Dan away from their territory that was contiguous with Judah, which was located to the east. Dan not only could not defeat the people in their territory, the Amorites who lived there ran the Danites into the hills. A little later in history, Dan eventually moves north to the border of Lebanon. Judah soon annexes Dan's former territory, and they are able to defeat the Amorites. Again, Judah elects to use the Amorites as forced labor rather then to follow God's instructions to rid the land entirely of them.
In the end, we can say this about the 12 tribes of Israel:
1. Israel simply could not drive out the Canaanites. So, the Canaanites dug in, and Israel's mindset switched from conqueror to diplomat. They change from wanting to be a sole possessor of the land to co-habitating with those God found unacceptable.
2. Israel found their freedom of movement highly impeded because their holds on the territories were spotty.
3. Even more problematic in the long run was that the wickedness of the Canaanites' worship of false gods remained intact. This presented an acute danger to Israel's purity and holiness. They constantly had a daily temptation to dilute their devotions to God.
4. Israel decided it was better to create and maintain good relationships than it was to eject the Canaanites from the land. In fact, they saw that in many ways the Canaanites were useful force labor. So, it made no sense for the Israelites to drive them out of the land.
In summary, the peace that men construct is not the peace that God instructs. For men, peace is inevitably the result of one of two things: war or compromise. In war, one side wins; the other side loses. One side is subjugated to the other and is forced to comply to the demands of the victor. Now more than ever, it is a compromise type of peace that men seek. This is NOT the type of peace that God is speaking of in His word. His peace is absolute. It does not involve compromise. It comes from men's free will choice to serve the LORD as He demands to be served and nothing else.
Israel saw nothing wrong in their approach to settling Canaan. Israel saw nothing wrong in their approach to battle. Their new goal was to become a peacemaker with their neighbors. So, they participated in their neighbors' festivals and customs. They gave respect to their former enemies' beliefs and even to their false gods. As a result, they enjoyed a measure of rest and fruitfulness that was mostly man-made. Thus, it bore little resemblance to what Godly rest and fruitfulness actually looks like.
Intermarriage between Canaanites and the Israelites became an every day affair. There was little resistance, and most on both sides saw it as a good thing. Israel was blind to their condition, and they would not accept that they had broken faith with their God because they felt so good about themselves and their ability to contrive their own morality WITHOUT the direction of the LORD.
1. (Judges 1:21) The tribe of Benjamin does not take possession of Jerusalem
But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
The sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites: This was a case where the battle had already been won (Judges 1:8). The tribe of Benjamin simply had to enter into what was already theirs. It would take some effort, but the critical battle was over. Jerusalem belonged to them.
The Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day: Up until the time the Book of Judges was written, the tribe of Benjamin had failed to cast out the Jebusites. Therefore, they lived in constant military and spiritual danger.
2. (Judges 1:22-26) The house of Joseph conquers the city of Bethel
Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. The house of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz). The spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance to the city and we will treat you kindly." So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz which is its name to this day.
The house of Joseph: The house of Joseph attacks the city of Bethel. The city of Ai was very nearby. In fact, Ai and Bethel (if not sister cities) may well have been the same city just slightly relocated after a destruction.
The house of Joseph spied out Bethel: When the house of Joseph approached the city, a man of Bethel decides to cooperate with the Israelite spies and shows them a good way to break into the city. In return, the spies promise to let the man and all his family go before the coming onslaught.
This has tones of the attack on Jericho where the prostitute Rehab and her family are spared from destruction during the early parts of the Book of Joshua. But this is where all the similarity ends between the two stories. This man of Bethel expresses no interest in Israel's God. His only motive was self-preservation to the point that he was willing to commit treason to save his own life. There was no honor in what happened here as there was when Rehab had converted before she met the spies--her allegiance to God was at the heart of her decision.
The man went into the land of the Hittites: We get an interesting and instructional footnote here that says the man of Bethel went into the country of the Hittites, which is modern day Turkey. There, he built a city and called it Luz. In other words, he turned his own home city over for destruction by the Israelites. He then constructed a new city and gave it the same name as his former hometown. Guilt? Probably.
3. (Judges 1:27-29) Manasseh and Ephraim fail to drive out all the Canaanites
But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them completely out. Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
Beth-shean and its villages: From here to the end of the chapter, we get mostly a list of failed attempts by various Israelite tribes to drive out various Canaanites from their territories. Basically, this is setting the stage for what we will see happen in the rest of the Book of Judges.
Manasseh, half of the house of Joseph, could not drive out the Canaanites from Beth-shean and its surrounding areas.
Megiddo and its villages: The Israelites could not drive out the Canaanites from Megiddo, which was a very important fortress on a major trade route. It was at a crossroads as well as a place which overlooks an extensive portion of the Jezreel Valley.
They put the Canaanites to forced labor: We are told that Israel was able to sufficiently subdue the Canaanites to use them as forced labor. But here again, we see how the new Israeli mindset had taken hold. Israel no longer was following God's commands, but they were giving in to apathy and living with the nations instead of separating themselves from them.
4. (Judges 1:30) The tribe of Zebulun compromises and accommodates the Canaanites, putting them under tribute.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants: Each tribe had its own responsibility, and its own battle to fight. In Zebulun's battle, they failed to take all that God had portioned for them.
The Canaanites lived among them: The tribe of Zebulun thought they could make their incomplete disobedience work to their advantage, especially economically. They failed to appreciate that the Canaanites who dwelt among them would eventually bring them into both social and spiritual ruin.
The destruction of Zebulun was not immediately known. Therefore, it was easy to think that it was not real. Yet, it was certain to come. Only a trusting obedience to God could spare them the later cycle of crisis that marks the Book of Judges.
5. (Judges 1:31-32) The tribe of Asher fails in taking full possession of their land.
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob. So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants: The tribe of Asher also failed to take what God had apportioned for them. Each tribe who failed made it easier for the other tribes to also fail.
So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites: Of the tribe of Zebulun, we read that the Canaanites lived among them (verse 30). However, in Asher it was worse! It was the Asherites who lived among the Canaanites. They suffered a worse degree of social and spiritual crisis.
6. (Judges 1:33) The tribe of Naphtali compromise and accommodates the Canaanites, putting them under tribute.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor to them.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants: The tribe of Naphtali found it difficult to counter the trend of the other tribes. The defeat of one affects the condition of the others.
God never intended for Israel to conquer the land of Canaan easily. He never intended it to happen quickly. In Exodus 23:29-30 and Deuteronomy 7:22-24, God says that He intended to give Israel the land little by little. Though God planned for Israel to take the land through constant trust in Him, they failed to do this. Therefore, they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land. It was almost as if Israel was saying, "If we cannot have it easy, then we do not want it at all."
Lived among the Canaanites...became forced labor to them: The tribe of Naphtali combined both facets of capitulation to the enemy. In some regions of their territory, they lived under the shadow of the dominating Canaanites. In other regions, they put them under tribute. Both facets fell well short of God's command and intent for the people of Israel.
7. (Judges 1:34-36) The tribe of Dan fails in taking full possession of their land.
The Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor. The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabim, from Sela and upward.
The Amorites forced the sons of Dan: Here, we see the people of God being pushed around by their enemies. This should never happen when God's people are walking in the strength of their God.
When the power of the house of Joseph grew strong: Again, instead of doing what God said should have been done (driving out their enemies), they decided to use them as they thought best--they put their enemies under tribute.
The border of the Amorites: The end result was that the Amorites had an appointed boundary within the inheritance of God's people. This was an unnecessary and dangerous accommodation to the social and spiritual enemies of God.
There is a very similar and seductive form of pacifism in the Christian life, which ignores the reality of the spiritual battle so clearly described in Ephesians 6:10-20 and referred to in the Book of Judges. This pacifist attitude will happily make peace with the devil that basically says, "I will not harm your interests if you leave me mostly alone." This attitude of spiritual surrender is very dangerous for the Christian.
The infamous Communist leader, Leon Trotsky, once said, "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." To take an attitude of spiritual surrender is to willingly lose that war.
These last couple verses set the stage for the migration of Dan away from their territory that was contiguous with Judah, which was located to the east. Dan not only could not defeat the people in their territory, the Amorites who lived there ran the Danites into the hills. A little later in history, Dan eventually moves north to the border of Lebanon. Judah soon annexes Dan's former territory, and they are able to defeat the Amorites. Again, Judah elects to use the Amorites as forced labor rather then to follow God's instructions to rid the land entirely of them.
In the end, we can say this about the 12 tribes of Israel:
1. Israel simply could not drive out the Canaanites. So, the Canaanites dug in, and Israel's mindset switched from conqueror to diplomat. They change from wanting to be a sole possessor of the land to co-habitating with those God found unacceptable.
2. Israel found their freedom of movement highly impeded because their holds on the territories were spotty.
3. Even more problematic in the long run was that the wickedness of the Canaanites' worship of false gods remained intact. This presented an acute danger to Israel's purity and holiness. They constantly had a daily temptation to dilute their devotions to God.
4. Israel decided it was better to create and maintain good relationships than it was to eject the Canaanites from the land. In fact, they saw that in many ways the Canaanites were useful force labor. So, it made no sense for the Israelites to drive them out of the land.
In summary, the peace that men construct is not the peace that God instructs. For men, peace is inevitably the result of one of two things: war or compromise. In war, one side wins; the other side loses. One side is subjugated to the other and is forced to comply to the demands of the victor. Now more than ever, it is a compromise type of peace that men seek. This is NOT the type of peace that God is speaking of in His word. His peace is absolute. It does not involve compromise. It comes from men's free will choice to serve the LORD as He demands to be served and nothing else.
Israel saw nothing wrong in their approach to settling Canaan. Israel saw nothing wrong in their approach to battle. Their new goal was to become a peacemaker with their neighbors. So, they participated in their neighbors' festivals and customs. They gave respect to their former enemies' beliefs and even to their false gods. As a result, they enjoyed a measure of rest and fruitfulness that was mostly man-made. Thus, it bore little resemblance to what Godly rest and fruitfulness actually looks like.
Intermarriage between Canaanites and the Israelites became an every day affair. There was little resistance, and most on both sides saw it as a good thing. Israel was blind to their condition, and they would not accept that they had broken faith with their God because they felt so good about themselves and their ability to contrive their own morality WITHOUT the direction of the LORD.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Judges Chapter 1 Part Two (Verses 8-20)
4. (Judges 1:8-20) Judah's victories in the southern part of the land given to Israel
Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the Negev and in the lowland. So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
Then from there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). And Caleb said, "The one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah for a wife." Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for a wife. Then it came about when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. Then she alighted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and the lower springs.
The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' Father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. And Judah took Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with it territory and Ekron with its territory. Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised; and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
Interestingly, Jerusalem was not in either Judah's or Simeon's territory. Rather, it was in Benjamin's area. We find later in verse 21 that after Jerusalem is captured, it is quickly turned over to Benjamin. Either Benjamin had little interest in holding it, or he was just incapable of keeping it and lost it back to the Jebusites. Under the leadership of King David, Israel conquered the city again some 400 years later (2 Samuel 5:6-10).
What tended to happen at this point in history was that an Israeli tribe would capture a Canaanite city, but it would often allow the inhabitants to stay as subjects and serfs. The captives would pay tribute (taxes) to the victorious Israelites. It did not always work out well. Jerusalem is one of those instances. Judah and Simeon fought for it and took the city. They gave it to Benjamin. Benjamin allowed the Jebusites to remain in the land. The few Benjamites who settled Jerusalem soon found themselves in the minority to the more dominant Jebusite king. This story would repeat itself over and over again in the land of Canaan.
For future reference, we need to firmly plant in our minds this expanding contrast between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Here we find Judah in victory after victory. We are told the reason for their success was that the LORD was with them. On the other hand, Benjamin's lot is failure. Judah wins Jerusalem; Benjamin loses it. King Saul, Israel's first king, was of the tribe of Benjamin. King Saul had many character flaws and numerous failures as king. The second king was David from the tribe of Judah. David was close to God's own heart and had stunning victories.
Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron: Next, Judah and Simeon attack Hebron, which is also known as Kiriath-arba. Double, even triple names were typical in that day as they reflected the changing of hands of cities to various nations who spoke various languages. Kiriath-arba means city of four. This refers to the confederation of four city-states who allied for mutual protection and economic gain. Hebron means confederacy or association. It essentially has the same meaning as Kiriath-arba.
Hebron was the ancient city of Abraham. It was also the city the ten unfaithful spies gave the bad report about (when Israel was supposed to go in and take the promise land) in Moses' day because the Anakim lived there (Numbers 13:22-23).
Side note: There are three major geographical areas described in this part of Scripture.
1. The mountains: this area is often called the hill country. It describes the mountainous regions between Jerusalem and Hebron.
2. The South: This area is also known as the Negev. It is a semi-arid region between Hebron and Kadesh-barnea.
3. The lowland: This area is sometimes called the shelphelah. This is the area of the foot-hills which runs north to south between the coastal plain and the central mountain range.
Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai: These were the three lords over three of the city-states that formed this confederacy. They were sons of Anak. They were Anakim, the race of giants who were related to Goliath.
Debir: After that, Judah and Simeon made war with Debir, which is also known as Kiriath-sepher. Kiriath-sepher means city of the book. There were a number of cities named Kiriath-sepher because it is more of a description than a name. Sepher not only means "book", but it can also mean "records" (as in brith records and marriage records). Once a region or a confederacy became large enough, they would designate a city as the common place where they would keep their records. The place would garner the title Kiriath-sepher, or the City of Records.
Caleb said: The next several verses retell the story told in Joshua chapter 15 about a clan leader of Judah named Caleb (the same person who was one of the 12 spies who scouted out Canaan for Moses and came back with a good report). Caleb assigned the task of taking Debir to Othniel, the son of Kenaz. It is interesting to understand that Caleb (and Othniel, his brother) actually came from Edomite heritage. (Remember, Edomites were descendants of Jacob's brother Esau). Somehow, Caleb's ancestors became part of the tribe of Judah and even became the most powerful tribe within Judah. This is something we should not easily forget. It demonstrates how early the Israelites became a diverse and genealogically mixed people.
In return for taking Debir, Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to Othniel. Othniel was Achsah's uncle. As part of her dowry, she received land and then later rights to water wells, which was an important affair in an area of the Negev--a place with great soil but precious little water available.
Give me a blessing: Achsah's prayer is a great example for us to follow when petitioning our Father in heaven.
1. Achsah thought about what she wanted before she went to her father. Before you pray, know what you need before God. She came to God with a very definite request that had been considered before-hand. Think about what you are going to ask before you begin to pray and then pray like you mean business. This woman did not say to her father, "Father, listen to me," and then uttered some pretty oration about nothing. Instead, she knew what she wanted and asked directly for ir.
2. Achsah asked for help with her request. Achsah asked her husband to help petition father. Although we often feel the need to keep our requests to ourselves, it is often best to enlist the help of family and/or friends to aid us in prayer.
3. Achsah knew whom she was asking. Achsah knew whom she needed to ask to receive her request. She could have sent out a Christmas wish list to her family and friends and hope they would in turn acquiesce her request; however, the person she really needed to ask was her father. Such is our lives. When we need something, we should go to our Father first. Perhaps He will use others to fulfill our request, but God is the One we need to ask.
4. Achsah went humbly and yet eagerly to her father.
5. Achsah is a good example to follow because her father asked her what she wanted. God will ask us the same thing. We should know what we want.
6. Achsah shows us that we should ask for what we really want before God. We should not ask for a lesser item in hopes God will give us what we truly desire. Instead, we should ask for what we want straightway.
7. Achsah prayed simply. She did not use many words for her prayer. She said, "Give me a blessing."
8. Achsah mingled prayer with gratitude. She acknowledge past blessings ("You have given me the land of the Negev").
9. Achsah used a past blessing as a reason to ask for more.
10. Achsah realized that what she had been given before was of no use without springs of water. Although she had received one blessing, the blessing was of little worth without the addition of a second blessing.
11. Achsah's father gave her what she wanted.
12. Achsah's father gave to her in large measure.
13. Achsah's father was not critical of her request in the slightest way.
The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law: The summary of history continues in verse 16 with a reference to Moses' father-in-law's clan the Kenites. This should not be confused with the Kennezites. The Kenites were a clan of the tribe of Midian. They lived where the mountain of the Burning Bush rose up out of the desert floor. Moses' wife's side of the family migrated under the protection of Judah and Simeon to an area called the City of Date Palms. There is no agreement on exactly where this is. It is usually thought to be Jericho. However, there are many scholars who insist it is a little farther south than Jericho.
Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron: Judah and Simeon continue their victories by warring against Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron. These three cities are commonly said to be cities of the Philistines, but as of the time of the opening verses of the Book of Judges, the Philistines had not yet established themselves in those places. Therefore, these three cities were comprised at this time by various Canaanite people.
They could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley: Judah was successful in taking more of the hill country away from the Canaanites. However, they were unable to drive out the Canaanites in the valleys. The Canaanites had iron chariots. Chariots need relatively flat ground to operate. They are nearly useless on steep hills or rocky places. Therefore, the Canaanites could not use their most feared weapons--the chariot--in the hills. Thus, they lost their advantage to Judah. The area of the plains and valleys was another matter. The fearsome chariots enabled the Canaanites to successfully maintain the fertile valleys.
As impressive as Judah's victory was, it was incomplete because they feared the Canaanites and their chariots. This speaks more of a lack of trust than it did to Canaanite superiority. Chariots were no problem for God's people when they trusted God. (See Exodus 14:7-29, Joshua 11:1-8 and 1 Kings 20:21.) The Israelites should have the attitude reflected in Psalm 20:7; "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the Negev and in the lowland. So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
Then from there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). And Caleb said, "The one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah for a wife." Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for a wife. Then it came about when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. Then she alighted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and the lower springs.
The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' Father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. And Judah took Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with it territory and Ekron with its territory. Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised; and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
Sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem: Judah and Simeon fight against Jerusalem and capture it from the Jebusites. We are told the city is burned, which is a common practice. This was actually done to keep the Law of Herem (the law of the ban). Since this was a holy battle, the spoils belonged to God. The only way to give God a city was to send it up to Him in smoke by burning it. Unfortunately Judah would only capture Jerusalem for a short time.
Interestingly, Jerusalem was not in either Judah's or Simeon's territory. Rather, it was in Benjamin's area. We find later in verse 21 that after Jerusalem is captured, it is quickly turned over to Benjamin. Either Benjamin had little interest in holding it, or he was just incapable of keeping it and lost it back to the Jebusites. Under the leadership of King David, Israel conquered the city again some 400 years later (2 Samuel 5:6-10).
What tended to happen at this point in history was that an Israeli tribe would capture a Canaanite city, but it would often allow the inhabitants to stay as subjects and serfs. The captives would pay tribute (taxes) to the victorious Israelites. It did not always work out well. Jerusalem is one of those instances. Judah and Simeon fought for it and took the city. They gave it to Benjamin. Benjamin allowed the Jebusites to remain in the land. The few Benjamites who settled Jerusalem soon found themselves in the minority to the more dominant Jebusite king. This story would repeat itself over and over again in the land of Canaan.
Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron: Next, Judah and Simeon attack Hebron, which is also known as Kiriath-arba. Double, even triple names were typical in that day as they reflected the changing of hands of cities to various nations who spoke various languages. Kiriath-arba means city of four. This refers to the confederation of four city-states who allied for mutual protection and economic gain. Hebron means confederacy or association. It essentially has the same meaning as Kiriath-arba.
Hebron was the ancient city of Abraham. It was also the city the ten unfaithful spies gave the bad report about (when Israel was supposed to go in and take the promise land) in Moses' day because the Anakim lived there (Numbers 13:22-23).
Side note: There are three major geographical areas described in this part of Scripture.
1. The mountains: this area is often called the hill country. It describes the mountainous regions between Jerusalem and Hebron.
2. The South: This area is also known as the Negev. It is a semi-arid region between Hebron and Kadesh-barnea.
3. The lowland: This area is sometimes called the shelphelah. This is the area of the foot-hills which runs north to south between the coastal plain and the central mountain range.
Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai: These were the three lords over three of the city-states that formed this confederacy. They were sons of Anak. They were Anakim, the race of giants who were related to Goliath.
Debir: After that, Judah and Simeon made war with Debir, which is also known as Kiriath-sepher. Kiriath-sepher means city of the book. There were a number of cities named Kiriath-sepher because it is more of a description than a name. Sepher not only means "book", but it can also mean "records" (as in brith records and marriage records). Once a region or a confederacy became large enough, they would designate a city as the common place where they would keep their records. The place would garner the title Kiriath-sepher, or the City of Records.
Caleb said: The next several verses retell the story told in Joshua chapter 15 about a clan leader of Judah named Caleb (the same person who was one of the 12 spies who scouted out Canaan for Moses and came back with a good report). Caleb assigned the task of taking Debir to Othniel, the son of Kenaz. It is interesting to understand that Caleb (and Othniel, his brother) actually came from Edomite heritage. (Remember, Edomites were descendants of Jacob's brother Esau). Somehow, Caleb's ancestors became part of the tribe of Judah and even became the most powerful tribe within Judah. This is something we should not easily forget. It demonstrates how early the Israelites became a diverse and genealogically mixed people.
In return for taking Debir, Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to Othniel. Othniel was Achsah's uncle. As part of her dowry, she received land and then later rights to water wells, which was an important affair in an area of the Negev--a place with great soil but precious little water available.
Give me a blessing: Achsah's prayer is a great example for us to follow when petitioning our Father in heaven.
1. Achsah thought about what she wanted before she went to her father. Before you pray, know what you need before God. She came to God with a very definite request that had been considered before-hand. Think about what you are going to ask before you begin to pray and then pray like you mean business. This woman did not say to her father, "Father, listen to me," and then uttered some pretty oration about nothing. Instead, she knew what she wanted and asked directly for ir.
2. Achsah asked for help with her request. Achsah asked her husband to help petition father. Although we often feel the need to keep our requests to ourselves, it is often best to enlist the help of family and/or friends to aid us in prayer.
3. Achsah knew whom she was asking. Achsah knew whom she needed to ask to receive her request. She could have sent out a Christmas wish list to her family and friends and hope they would in turn acquiesce her request; however, the person she really needed to ask was her father. Such is our lives. When we need something, we should go to our Father first. Perhaps He will use others to fulfill our request, but God is the One we need to ask.
4. Achsah went humbly and yet eagerly to her father.
5. Achsah is a good example to follow because her father asked her what she wanted. God will ask us the same thing. We should know what we want.
6. Achsah shows us that we should ask for what we really want before God. We should not ask for a lesser item in hopes God will give us what we truly desire. Instead, we should ask for what we want straightway.
7. Achsah prayed simply. She did not use many words for her prayer. She said, "Give me a blessing."
8. Achsah mingled prayer with gratitude. She acknowledge past blessings ("You have given me the land of the Negev").
9. Achsah used a past blessing as a reason to ask for more.
10. Achsah realized that what she had been given before was of no use without springs of water. Although she had received one blessing, the blessing was of little worth without the addition of a second blessing.
11. Achsah's father gave her what she wanted.
12. Achsah's father gave to her in large measure.
13. Achsah's father was not critical of her request in the slightest way.
The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law: The summary of history continues in verse 16 with a reference to Moses' father-in-law's clan the Kenites. This should not be confused with the Kennezites. The Kenites were a clan of the tribe of Midian. They lived where the mountain of the Burning Bush rose up out of the desert floor. Moses' wife's side of the family migrated under the protection of Judah and Simeon to an area called the City of Date Palms. There is no agreement on exactly where this is. It is usually thought to be Jericho. However, there are many scholars who insist it is a little farther south than Jericho.
Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron: Judah and Simeon continue their victories by warring against Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron. These three cities are commonly said to be cities of the Philistines, but as of the time of the opening verses of the Book of Judges, the Philistines had not yet established themselves in those places. Therefore, these three cities were comprised at this time by various Canaanite people.
They could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley: Judah was successful in taking more of the hill country away from the Canaanites. However, they were unable to drive out the Canaanites in the valleys. The Canaanites had iron chariots. Chariots need relatively flat ground to operate. They are nearly useless on steep hills or rocky places. Therefore, the Canaanites could not use their most feared weapons--the chariot--in the hills. Thus, they lost their advantage to Judah. The area of the plains and valleys was another matter. The fearsome chariots enabled the Canaanites to successfully maintain the fertile valleys.
As impressive as Judah's victory was, it was incomplete because they feared the Canaanites and their chariots. This speaks more of a lack of trust than it did to Canaanite superiority. Chariots were no problem for God's people when they trusted God. (See Exodus 14:7-29, Joshua 11:1-8 and 1 Kings 20:21.) The Israelites should have the attitude reflected in Psalm 20:7; "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
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