In Judges chapter 18 the tribe of Dan were unable to defeat the Canaanites that dwelt in their territory. So, with a mass migration they decided to go to the furthest part of Israel and find an easier place to live. Most of us have felt like Danites from time to time. We get tired of our circumstances and our situations just seem too hard to overcome so we think, “Man, I’ve got to get out of here, and head up to where life is easier.” But because we can read the rest of the story, we know that they are about to make a huge mistake that they will never recover from as they will become a tribe fully invested in idolatry.
We must not think that God had somehow failed the Danites in appropriating land for their tribe to dwell in. Joshua 19 makes it clear that they had been given the land between Ephraim and Judah that stretched all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Judges 1:34 tells us that it was their disobedience that had caused them to be forced into the hills by the Amorites to dwell in two cities.
The Danites wanted their inheritance from God but weren’t willing to do spiritual battle for it. They wanted all the benefits without any of the costs. The Danites chose the easy way that didn’t require sacrifice or obedience. God had called His people to fight and the Danites refused but it wasn’t because they were committed to peace, it was because they were committed to EASE! Why fight the Philistines when you can wipe out the Phoenicians? Why stand when you can run?
They should have stuck it out and fought the fight of faith and allowed God to change them instead of seeking change in their surroundings. Perhaps God in His wisdom has placed you in a tough place where you have to fight for every square inch because He wants to build your character.
The Lord will never give us something that He won’t enable us to conquer, enjoy and be a blessing in!
The Danites love of ease made the worship of idols even more appealing. They sent out five spies, but they didn’t seek God’s will in the Tabernacle at Shiloh instead they went to Micah’s shrine and hired the Levite. They didn’t want to hear what God thought, they wanted a god who would tell them what they wanted to hear!
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