Judges | Chapter 1

Judges

“Deliverers in dark times”

  1. Chp. 1-3:4 Living with the enemy
    • 1 Every man for himself
      1. Chp 2-3:4 Have it your way
  2. Chp. 3:5-16:31 God’s faithfulness man’s failure (13 judges)
    1. Chp. 3 Three strong servants for the South
    1. Chp. 4-5 Women on a mission in the North
    1. Chp. 6-10:5 Reluctant men, great God for the central campaign
    1. Chp. 10:6-12:7 Whom God sets free for the East
    1. Chp. 12:8-15 Three more for the North
    1. Chp. 13-16 Weakness in our strength in the West 
  7. Chp. 17-21 Death by depravity   
    1. Chp. 17-18 Idolatry
    1. Chp. 19 Immorality
    1. Chp. 20-21 Incompatibility 

Chp 1 Every man for himself


  1. Intro
  2.  Overview of the book of Judges
  3. 1:1-2 Who shall be the first to go up?  

Intro

The headlines read:

  • Family feud leaves 69 dead
  • Powerful government leader caught in “love nest”
  • Gang rape leads to victim’s death and dismemberment
  • Girls at party kidnapped and forced to marry strangers
  • Woman judge says travelers not safe of highways

These headlines were not ripped out of the pages of the metropolitan news paper but rather from the pages of the book of Judges. Have you ever noticed that history has a way of casting its show down before us into the future? Philosopher George Santayana said: “Those that cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Someone has well said, “Strait ahead lies yesterday!” The book of Judges describes Israel’s condition, but it eerily seems to be the same place our nation finds its self in.   

  • No leadership in the nation
  • All the people are doing what is right in their own eyes
  • People are in bondage to the freedoms they enjoy
  • God’s people can’t seem to work together
  • God is rising up His people to trust Him alone, confront the enemy in the mirror and take as many as willing with them!

What happened to the nation that according to Joshua 24:31 “served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” Well we need only read Judges 2:10 where we are informed that “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.” The next generation went from apathy to apostasy to anarchy!


Overview of the book of Judges

These 21 chapters record 12 men and 1 woman who were instruments to deliver God’s people away from the mess they had made when they walked away from God. The message from Joshua to Samuel is that no matter what the situation is sin does not pay. In the words of Bob Dylan “You’re gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. Joshua saw the grace of God and His power to keep His promises and what it would take to inherit those promises. In Joshua 13:1 as Joshua came to the end of his life we are told that “the Lord said to him: You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.” And according to Judges 3:4 “they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”   

Folks we are always going to be a people “on the move” the only question that remains is in which direction will we be heading? Joshua’s book spanned only 15 years but the book of Judges covers the events of Israel from around 1380 B.C. to around the beginning of Saul’s reign in 1043 B.C. or around 335 years and covers 25% of Israel’s history in the Old Testament with stories of Samson and Gideon yet it remains one of the least read O.T. books. Based upon the content of these 21 chapters these were definitely the “dark ages” of the nation. Written primarily thematically instead of chronologically; with chapters 16-21 preceding chapters 3-15. The author (or authors) shows the utter failure of the nation because they chose to live out a course of action during those 335 years which the final sentence of the book (21:25) says was that, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The book of Judges like the rest of the Bible is a mirror in which we are able to see ourselves in and we will either see the reflection of Jesus or one that looks far too much like the folks in this book. The name comes from the Hebrew title which carries the idea of more than justice and settling disputes to “rulers, deliverers and saviors”. Before the judges could rule and administer justice they were folks who liberated and delivered the people from bondage. As one reads through the 21 chapters of this book and the 13 judges God used to bring the people back to Him we can pick up on the five cycles that the people found themselves in:

  • Sin – rebellion
  • Servitude – retribution
  • Supplication – repentance
  • Salvation – restoration
  • Silence – rest

Because of the nature of this book and the five cycles of the nation during those 335 years some have thought that it ought to be called the “Book of Failure”. But remember as well that though they continued to fail God continued to deliver. The author of the book is anonymous and do to the length of the years covered in this book it couldn’t be one person. It is believed that it was compiled by the last judge Samuel as four times the author interjects the phrase “In those days there was no king in Israel” which means that the person who complied these accounts was around during the time when there was. It is most likely that Samuel put all of this together from written and oral sources in an orderly account prior to Saul’s reign.  Some of the Judges recorded here ruled at the same time but in different locations but the apostasy of the nation had no boundaries.   

The book deals with the 2nd movement of the conquest of the promise land that of possessing is. Friends there is a big difference between conquering and possessing as the battle is far from over if the nation was to enjoy what God had blessed them with. God had called them to drive out the enemy from the land of promise, they were not to mingle with them and they were not to marry them least they become influenced by them.  Instead of the canonization of the word of God Israel went through the Canaanization of the world! Unless we grab hold of the spiritual principals learned both positively and negatively in this book we the church are in danger of at best becoming “spiritual dropouts and mere spectators” and at worst “spiritual casualties”.


Judges 1:1-2

Who shall be the first to go up?

Vs. 1 The question the nation puts forth is a military one as the conquest is over but the possession was not complete. The conquest of Canaan was quick as we are told in Joshua 11:16-23 that “all the land was taken and all the kings defeated”. Yet “all the land was not occupied”! Israel owned all the land but they did not possess all the land therefore they could not enjoy all the land.    

Dear ones have you found that this is true in your life as well? When you received Jesus as your Lord and savior “all the land with her kings were defeated”, yet as the years go by there remains “a lot of land yet to be occupied and enjoyed”? Just such a struggle was epitomized in the Jars of Clay song “If I had Two Hands” as they sing of the exact problem we Christians face as they write: “I am a house that is divided in my heart and in my mind. I use one hand to pull closer the other to push you away.” They then go on to say how such a divided heart manifests its self as they sing; “I have a broken disposition I’m a liar who thirsts for the truth. And while I ache for faith to hold me I need to feel the scars and see the proof.” Have you ever noticed how new beginnings usually start when people are at earthly ends?

  • Exodus begins with Josephs’ death
  • Joshua begins with Moses’ death
  • Judges begins with Joshua’s death
  • 1 Kings begins with David’s death

When our kingdom is collapsing all it means is that God is about to birth a new beginning a glorious and necessary one. So then the end is but the beginning which will bring forth more fruitfulness.   

After Joshua dies the people asked, “Who will be the first to go up for us?” And the very next thing we read is “And the Lord said”! Dear ones Joshua died but God hadn’t. The man God had used (Joshua) is gone but they do not need another man to guide them they looked to the Lord as “Commander and Chief”. Psalm 121:1-2 asks “I will lift up my eyes to the hills–From whence comes my help?” Then answers “My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” Our help is not in a dead hero but in a risen Lord and even when Jesus ascended into heaven His departure did not spell the believers end but rather the Churches beginning as the Holy Spirit came to be in us and empower us to be His witnesses. Joshua talks about entering the promise land by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit but the book of Judges speaks of enjoying the land of promise by the Holy Spirit and faithfulness. Saint’s if you aren’t enjoying your Christian life it could very well be because you aren’t being faithful to the things God has shown you. The decline of the nation after Joshua was completely unnecessary as the greatness of the nation did not depend upon the greatness of their leaders but rather upon the greatness of their God. Far too many Christian lives mirror this sad fact that we fail to enjoy the possession that Jesus (our Joshua) won for us at the cross. In Joshua 24:15 Joshua challenged the nation saying, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” and they replied “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods”. But soon after his death as noted “everyone did as he saw fit.” In fact in 3:7 we are told that they who had just claimed that they would not forsake the Lord “forgot the Lord their God” and served the Baals and Asherahs. How did a people who verbally committed not to forsake the Lord turn right around and compromise? The death of Joshua marked a condition of the heart that put commitment upon a man, a movement instead of upon their Maker.

            Initially they did what they had witnessed Joshua do:

  1. They accepted the Lords authority: They didn’t do what seemed best they “Asked the Lord” for what was best.
  2. They received His mission for them: Which was to go take possession of the land still in the hands of the Canaanites.
  3. They waited for God to direct them in what He told them to do: Judah was to go first. Judah was the tribe of the Son of God, and so it is when we put Him first in our lives do we know which we to take possession of his promises.     

Vs. 2 What is the first step to securing enjoyment in the land of promise? Well God says, “Start with Judah”. Judah means “Praise” and it is always the place to start when you are in a battle with the flesh.  

Friends, our basic nature is designed to worship the only question is who is going to be the object of our worship us or the Lord.  On the day of Pentecost as God was kicking off His Church before Peter stood and gave His message that resulted in 3000 coming to Jesus. God started with having a handful of folks break forth in worship and adoration declaring the wonderful works of God. Praise is not what we do before and after the service it is the service. If you want victory over the flesh in your life start by lifting up the Lord. The flesh will be like a weed sprayed with Round-Up it will wither and die. That’s what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:24 when he wrote “All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall”.  Have you lost your way, don’t know what to do with the Canaanites of your flesh? Bow your heart before your Maker and lift up your voice in praise and you will see the flesh wilt before His presence! 


Judges 1:3-20

“Delivering the land into your hand”

  1. Intro
  2. Vs. 3-8 Laws of sowing
  3. Vs. 9-20 Springs of water and chariots of iron

Intro

The description of the conquest begins in the southern region of the country and is the focus of verses 3-19. As a military report this chapter just states the facts and adds no commentary, it is left to the reader to draw appropriate conclusions. Instead what is recorded is hard to pronounce names and battles in places we have never heard of.  As such this section does not appear to be very practical for spiritual growth in grace.  

Dear ones the best gems are most often kept hidden in boring landscapes! For a gem to be unearthed one thing is certain you are going to have to dig and in so losing the soil we are bound to unearth some things that would prefer us to leave them alone. Owning the land and possessing the land is two different things and if you don’t posses what you own then you will never be able to enjoy it. Sometimes, as in the case of the rich young ruler, the problem lies not in what we posses but rather that what we posses us! The nation’s boundaries had been established early on under Joshua’s leadership but although the victory had been secured the battles were not over as the 12 tribes had yet to claim the inheritance won. The enemy was entrenched in the land and as we have just read in the case of Adoni–Bezek he had a toe hold on the land, and his thumb on the folks.


Vs. 3-8 Laws of sowing

Vs. 2-3 God said for Judah to go up and that He would deliver the land into his hand yet the first thing that Judah says to his brother Simeon is “Come up with me”. The Lord did not say Judah and Simeon, He said Judah. Oh how hard it is far us to believe that God can do a work with us. Interesting as Judah’s name means “praise” and Simeon’s name means “hearing and obeying”. I think God gives us insight in the name of these two boys as it relates to possessing our inheritance in Christ:

  1. First, if you are going to be successful in rooting out the enemy in the land of promise then you are going to have to be a worshipper of God. We must not forget that the way in which we do battle is in worshipping the Lord. In 2 Cor. 10:4 we are told that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds”. At the end of David’s life he wrote his own epithet, what he saw as his greatest strength was not being king of Israel, nor being a mighty warrior who had slain giants. No, he calls himself in 2 Samuel 23:1 the “sweet psalmist of Israel”.
  2. Second, those that are worshippers are going to need to “hear and obey”. Worship is not a passive thing, its offence folks! Though Judah took Simeon with him Simeon would have his inheritance in the land of Judah. Do you get it saints? Worship is how we root out those pesky things in our lives which requires us to “hear and obey” but that won’t be based upon self effort but rather upon grace.       

Vs. 4-6 The first to go was the Canaanite tribe in the area of Bezek (lighting) which was in the mountains about 6 miles from Jerusalem. They also captured the “lord of lighting” and incapacitated him by cutting off his thumbs and big toes as he boasted that he had done towards 70 others. This fellow took it even further when he made those 70 eat the crumbs that fell from his table. He didn’t only defeat them militarily; he humiliated them with regards to their sustenance. The capture of the king and the cutting off of his toes and thumbs was no doubt affective and something he himself observed as retribution for the 70 men he had so treated but it was nonetheless a pagan practice. The men of Judah were under command to not mutilate the flesh but rather to put it to death!  Why the thumbs and big toes? Without those appendages a person wouldn’t be able to run very fast or grab swords very easily.

Saints when we give into the enemy it will affect the way you run the race of faith, you won’t be able to grab the sword of the word well, you will be humbled under the table of the enemy eating the scraps that fall from his table. Friends, a mutilated flesh is less than what it once was but is still breathing. Paul did not say of his old nature that he rendered it less affective but that he reckoned it dead in Christ.

Vs. 7 Notice this king realizes something that many don’t as he says, “As I have done, so God has repaid me.” That’s what we are told in Gal. 6:7 as well, “Whatever man sows that shall he also reap.” In Hosea 8:7 the Lord warns that if you “sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind.” You may be thinking “Man am I ever in trouble, I’ve have done a lot, sowed into the wind and I’m afraid of the tornado’s that are coming my way!” Dear ones far too often we Christians don’t want to accept this truth and instead make excuses for our behavior but that’s the surest way to reap the whirlwind my friend. The apostle John says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Are the winds picking up speed in your life don’t deny responsibility agree with Jesus as He is the One who can calm those winds. The hands and feet of Jesus were pierced to calm the winds. He was cut off for us and invites you to His table to partake not under it to eat the crumbs. Far too many Christians walk around without tows and thumbs eating crumbs under the table of grace because they have sowed to the wind and aren’t willing to come and agree with Jesus about what they have done. There are three laws to sowing and reaping:

  1. You reap after like kind: You don’t sow apple seeds and get oranges, and so to in our lives. You can’t live in compromise and reap the benefits of a close walk with Jesus.
  2. You reap later than you have sown: You sow your seed in the spring, but you don’t harvest until the fall. The 2nd law of sowing is that the results of what you have sown always come later. Folks, often think that they get away with certain behaviors, that there are no consequences to their choices which causes them to behave even more foolishly and recklessly. God delays the outcome of our sowing hoping that His mercy will leap us to repentance.
  3. You reap more than you have sown: Finally, you sow one seed, but you reap much more than you have sown. They sow to the wind, but they reap the whirlwind. All the more reasons to make sure you are sowing the right seed in your life!   

Vs. 8 Jerusalem falls to Judah; it was occupied for a time as Adoni-Bezek was taken there and died there, but it later fell back to the Jebusites, David re-conquered the city some 400 years later (2 Sam. 5:7). Though they conquered the city in verse 8 we are told in verse 21 that as they gave the city to the tribe of Benjamin they didn’t root out the Jebusites and instead just dwelt with them. Friends, we’ve got another lesson here for us “to occupy and enjoy the blessings of God in your live you can’t dwell with the flesh”. You see “Benjamin” means “son of my right hand” and the Jebusites got their name from their ancestor “Jebus” which means “treading underfoot”. If you live by faith you will be the “son of His right hand” living courageously. Ah but if you allow the Jebusites to dwell with you they will you “step on you” and keep you from all that God has for you!     

             

Vs. 9-20 Springs of water and chariots of iron

Vs. 9-10 This story is told us in Joshua 15 and is repeated so when we get to chapter 3:7-11 we will see the connection of Othniel being the first judge for the nation. The names listed here are the three sons of Anak mentioned in verse 20 that Caleb at over 85 killed. Judah also conquers Hebron, and it is given to faithful Caleb and his family it was the ancient city of Abraham, and the city which discouraged the ten unfaithful spies from taking the promised land in Moses’ day, because of the Anakim (giants) which lived there. 

Vs. 11-13 Some wonder about this as a criteria for finding a husband but think about it you want to a man who isn’t afraid of the giants that are lurking about in their lives, someone who is living for the King and willing to take a risk so that they can enjoy all that God has for them. 

 Debir mean “Sanctuary” and its former name “Kirjath-sepher” means “city of books” so this city was a university or educational center. Yet it was this city with all its education and learning that needed to be destroyed to occupy. When our nation was founded all the major universities were Bible colleges and were filled with the Word, now many are just filled with books that teach our young people that there is no God and that this nation was not founded upon biblical principles. Caleb’s passion was to reclaim this city of learning and make it a sanctuary of truth!  

In receiving Caleb’ only daughter Acsha (awx-saw) to be his wife Othniel displays initiative and because of this is rewarded with Caleb’s daughter. Dear ones this little section speaks to me much about going for it. I came away from the pastor’s conference with three words that we need to put into our heart to practice to experience the presence and power of God in our lives:

  • Brokenness
  • Obedience
  • Expectant

Her name means “adorned or bursting the veil” so she must have been quite the beauty! Not only was this gal beautiful she was also a woman of faith as she encourages her husband to ask her father for the adjoining land which had natural springs on it but he apparently was shy about doing so and she goes on her own and receives both springs. I like this, never be afraid to take ventures of faith and it’s amazing to me as we do so that oft times they will lead to further blessings.

Vs. 14-15 She thought about what she wanted before she went to her father. She came to her father with a very definite request, that had been considered beforehand.  She knew it was her father she asked humbly, yet expectantly. Did you know it is a pleasure for God to hear you ask? She realized that what she had been given before was of no use without continual springs of water.  

Throughout the Bible water is a typology of two things the Word of God and the Spirit of God. So Caleb’s daughter Achsah’s request for springs of water to be given her in addition to the land is a “second blessing”. Springs that will make fruitful the land that she received as an inheritance. Saint’s have you asked the Father for a second blessing to add fruitfulness to the inheritance He has already granted you in His son? “Oh I could never do so, I don’t deserve it and I don’t want to be weird!” So you would rather be dry and unfruitful then ask? In Luke 11:13 Jesus said “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Notice that Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs, water in abundance, the power to be fruitful in abundance and all we need to do is ask.  

Vs. 16 The Kenites were descendants of Moses brother-in-law and the name in Hebrew means “metalworker”, so they were allies of Israel. The city of palms is Jericho and according to Joshua 6:26 was a deserted and condemned city so the Kenites moved to another part of the land under the protection of Judah.

Vs. 17-19 Ashkelon and Ekron were philistine cities and all of this area even today is under the control of the Palestinians and Hamas. Judah couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands because they had their eyes on “iron chariots” instead of the One who breaks apart Iron and causes iron ax heads to float upon the water. Though it seems logical from a military standpoint seeing that they had better technology then did the Israelites we read Joshua 17:18 where the Lord says, “drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.” God is not limited by human technology, He didn’t say, “All the land is yours to occupy and enjoy accept the land were the Canaanites have iron chariots because I just can’t whip those guys.” In Judges chapter 4 Deborah leads and army against 900 of these iron chariots as she said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” The problem of Judah was not the iron chariots but that they didn’t trust the God who had told them to occupy the land was able to do what He had promised them He would. Read this again and the word “THEY” jumps out as the reason for the inability to drive out those iron chariots. A lack of power is always as a result to a lack of faith! Judah was successful like most of us they did well on the mountain tops but slumped in the valleys. Friends we need to put the past behind us and fight from the view of the mountains in the lowlands.

Vs. 20 Caleb is at least 85 years old by this time and he has been given the mountains around Hebron where Abraham had dwelt so many years and he still isn’t putting up with any giants living near him as he destroys the three sons of Anak. Got to love Caleb who no matter what his age or circumstances was always willing to take on the giants in his life. How about it dear ones are you willing to ask your Father for a second blessing so that you can be more fruitful, are you willing to observe the Lord and not the obstacle so you can root out the giants in your life, cause that’s what it’s going to take if you are going to enjoy your inheritance!


Judges 1:21-36                                       

“Not Canning the Canaanites”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 21-26 A bit nutty
  3. Vs. 27-36 Not driven

Intro

    The story of Judges is that of an incomplete victory, God had told them “When you come into the land, you’re to utterly drive out the inhabitant’s your’e not to make any covenant of peace with them. You’re not to dwell together and try to coexist with them in peaceful terms.” Seven times in verses 27-36 we are told of the repeated failure of the nation was to drive out the Canaanites and in the final example it is the Canaanites that succeed in drive out the tribe of Dan.

    It seemed to be better to putt the Canaanites under taxation so they could be controlled and put to service to further benefit the nation. But the folly of this kind of treatment was nearsightedness as many of these failures occurred in strategic geographical locations. Like Beth-shan in verse 27 an important location that guarded the Jordan River and fertile Jezreel Valley which was one of the major passage ways of the ancient world. We have to also consider Megiddo in verse 27 which became a crucial fortress alongside the “Dead Sea”. They no doubt thought, “Well, if we allow these people to stay here—actually they want to be on friendly terms. They’ll be strengthened by us. We can be strengthened by them being here, and we ought to be able to live peaceably with them, coexist together and they can be our servants. They can cut our wood for us and gather, you know, our crops. And they can build our buildings, we’ll just use them.” Folks, the problem is not the landscape of our lives nor the enemies we face rather it is a lack of obedience on our part. Many times in our own minds, what God has commands of us doesn’t seem to be in our best interest so we figure out a better plan than what God did and implement that instead but we fail to see down the road that the very areas we have compromised are at strategic crossroads and will lead to our future bondage.  


    Vs. 21-26 A bit nutty

      Vs. 21 From the somewhat successful southern campaign we move to the failure of the northern campaign. According to 1:8 the battle for the city had already been won and all the Benjamites had to do was enter into what was theirs. Sure it would take effort but the fight was over, Jerusalem belonged to them. Saints, here again we have a lesson if we are going to enjoy our inheritance; “Sometimes the bigger battle is not to root out the flesh it’s in keeping the faith daily once we move in so it won’t return!”  

      Vs. 22-26 The military journal starts off with the two tribes of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) and their seeming success in taking the city of Bethel as the “Lord was with them” as they effectively used of military espionage. Saints I’m afraid that sometimes we take credit for what the Lord has done because He was “with us” in the way in which He was with us using the gifts and talents that He gave us. 

      But at first what seems to be a success ends with a man and his family building the same city with the same name elsewhere. The city of Bethel (formerly known as Luz) was 10 miles north of Jerusalem with high walls and no known entrance into the city. And the descendants of Joseph didn’t know how to gain entrance into the city so they set up a surveillance team using some military espionage and spot a fellow who had obviously just came from the city. Now I like the way this is recorded, “Please show us the entrance of the city … and we won’t kill you!” I mean at least they said please!! And they were true to their word after they destroyed the rest of the city they allowed his fellow and his family to live.

                  Dear ones, sometimes the areas of our lives are hidden to us, oh we can see the walls of defense up but aren’t sure how to gain entrance into that area of our lives for victory. It’s good to go to a person who has struggled with coming and going from the same gate to get direction on how to conquer the enemy. Ah but the story is not over yet as we read the next verse!

      “Bethel” means “house of God” and “Luz” which became the name of the city after the patriarchs left for Egypt means “nut tree”. Saint’s that’s always the case when the people of God move out of influence in our communities they move from “the house of God” to a “nut house”! This story reminds us a lot of Rahab’s in Jericho with the notable exception that this fellow didn’t choose to become a part of God’s people instead he went north to Syria and built a city just like the one destroyed naming it the same thing. This guy escapes with his life because the city he had been living in was so wicked it need to be destroyed. But he turns around and built a city just like the way he left and names it the same thing. I think the name of the city fit the person, as you had to be a bit “nutty” to want to live back in the filth that almost cost you your life.

      Listen up saints, this often is the case when we allow our flesh to escape even after we have experience forgiveness and restoration from the Lord it just moves to a different area and sets up camp going back to its former ways. If God has touched your life in some area don’t go north and rebuild a city just like you left. It appears that sparing his life didn’t make much of a difference to him as he was “saved from destruction” but built a life that looked just like the one he left. I pray that the Holy Spirit’s power brings conviction to our hearts as we ask ourselves if the city we have made in Christ has a new name but it looks far too much like the old city that was doomed to be destroyed.


      Vs. 27-36 Not driven

        Vs. 27-28 In verse 19 Judah couldn’t go down to the valley because they got their eyes on the “Iron Chariots” of the Canaanites instead of trusting the word of God spoken through Joshua. But here with the tribe of Manasseh the problem was not that they COULDN’T drive out the Canaanites it’s That they WOULDN’T” drive out the Canaanites. Here we are told that there were pockets of Canaanites that Ephraim and Manasseh were unable to push out of the land initially. But when the tribes grew strong enough instead of rooting out the enemy they chose to compromise with those Canaanites putting them under tribute. Oft time when someone first begins their Christian life, they are not strong enough in the Lord to deal with all the things in their lives that they see that need changing. As they grow in the Lord, they begin to think that they are strong enough to keep those things in their lives and still be affective in their witness.  It’s never a good idea to think that we can corral, harness, or tame our flesh to utilize it for our benefit.

        Vs. 29-30 Five times we read in these verses that Israel failed to “drive out” the inhabitants of the land. All six of the tribes mentioned in this section fail to do so even after they become strong enough to do so choose to rather to tax them instead. In 1 Kings 9 we are told that these taxed Canaanites were used to construct the first temple but what they gained in free labor they lost in spiritual fidelity as the Canaanites influenced the Israelites far more then the Israelites influenced the Canaanites. The Canaanites lived among the Israelites even though they are the minority they gradually become the dominate force of influence over the tribe of Dan.  

        Saints this directly relates to us occupying and enjoying our inheritance in Christ. You see the number one reason we don’t enter into all that God has for us is that we have failed to drive out the “Canaanites” of our former life. In most cases it’s not that we “can not” it’s rather that we “will not”! There are several reasons for this choice:

        1. Like Judah in verse 19 we can get our eyes on the chariots of iron and get down on our self’s and see the habit’s of our former life bigger than the power of God in our present life.
        2. Like Manasseh we fall into the trap of thinking we can control our “Canaanites” and even harness them to be beneficial to our new life in Christ.

        W. Wiersbe writes in his commentary, “Too many believers today are trying to live on religious fast-food dispensed today for easy consumption (no chewing necessary) by entertaining teachers who give people what they want, not what they need.”    

        Wasn’t it cruel and unjust for God to command Israel to exterminate the nations in Canaan? The Canaanites were not so much a military threat as they were a spiritual cancer that would keep the nation from occupying and enjoying their inheritance. To allow the Canaanites to live is like a surgeon who allows cancer to grow with the attitude that it has a right to do so and be fulfilled. God had been patient with these nations for 100’s of years withholding judgment from them any longer could have been interpreted that God was not fare towards those whom these nations were treating wickedly including their own children. The main god of the Canaanites was Baal “the god of rainfall and fertility” and Ashtoreth his spouse. If you wanted to have a fruitful crop, and increase you herds you had to worship Baal by visiting a temple prostitute. Thus success was dependent upon idolatry, immorality and human sacrifice! These nations had been warned repeatedly and some like Rahab had responded to the message while the fellow in this chapter chose not to. God didn’t want the filth of the Canaanite nations to influence the society of God’s people. As G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “God is perpetually at war with sin!” “That is the whole explanation of the extermination of the Canaanites”  

        Vs. 31-33 Notice the differences in these verses as prior to this it was the Canaanites that dwelt among the Israelites but here in these verses we see that the tribe of Asher (called Asherites) dwelt among the Canaanites. Then in verse 33 we are told that the tribe of Naphtali didn’t drive out the Canaanites and instead “they” dwelt among them. This becomes contagious, as compromise by one tribe leads to another and another.

        Vs. 34-36 Then in verse 34 it is the Amorites who are chasing around the people of God, dictating their will upon the people of God, telling them what they will allow and won’t allow. These areas were strongholds for the Amorites, places that they refused to budge from.  Saints, I’m sure you have some Canaanites in your life held up in areas that refuse to be dislodged.  Israel permitted the conditions which brought on disaster and failed to realize it because it wasn’t instant. It is possible for the believer to display the marks of successful Christian life yet fail to please God because they are only partial in their obedience.

        In verse 36 we note that the military report gives the boundary of the Amorites instead of the Israelites. Saints, when our concern is how far we can go to find the boundary lines of the world instead of wondering how far we can go into the land of promise you will know that it is you who dwell amongst the Canaanites and not them living amongst you!  Even with the truth that we have at our disposal and the power of the Holy Spirit our flesh bullies us around instead walking in the strength of God. I’m afraid that this is far too common an occurrence in the Christian life where we allow the fleshly nature with its former habits to bully us into only living for God on Sundays, keeping us from living for God in the valley’s the rest of the time. When we gain some conviction and put the flesh in check making it surrender to our redeemed hearts, we far too often allow it to have boundaries within our lives. The Israelites didn’t say “Let’s forsake God“; they simply decided that they would be satisfied with less. Once we satisfy ourselves with less than God’s best for us, we will never be what God wants us to be. God is faithful to keep His promises, but God’s people won’t keep their promise which is to simply believe that God always keeps His.     



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