In our study of the book of Judges, we look at the deep decline of Israel from being led by God to self rule. The book tells the history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the age of the prophets.
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After the death of Y'hoshua, the people of Isra'el asked ADONAI, "Who will go up for us first to fight against the Kena'ani?"
After the death of Joshua, the people looked to God for their guidance. This is a good thing as that is what God had planned for them. Life in the promised land was to be led by God being with the people. He has led them to victory over the Canaanites and they were established in the land. The challenge facing them at this time was to occupy (dwell) in the land. God had given them the land but they had to grab ahold of it and get rid of those that were already there. As Christians, we have God with us through the Holy Spirit as we dwell in this world. This is our promised land and we are being prepared for the new heaven and new earth.
ADONAI said: "Y'hudah will go up; here, I have handed the land over to him." Y'hudah said to his brother Shim'on, "Come up with me into my assigned territory, so that we can fight against the Kena'ani; and I likewise will go with you into your territory." So Shim'on went with him.
When they inquired of the Lord, the answer was that Judah was to go forth and that God had already given them the victory. Instead of believing that and trusting in the Lord, they went to their fellow Israelites for help. Although this may sound like a good thing, it was not because they did not trust in God. As Christians, we often do the same type of thing as we seek the counsel of men instead of acting on the word that God has already given to us. If we are in Christ, then, He has already given us the victory and the ability to dwell in this world with Him as our guide. Our fellowship with other Christians is a good thing to build us up and to encourage us but it is through the strength of God that we can glorify Him in our walk.
Y'hudah went up; and ADONAI gave the Kena'ani and the P'rizi into their hands; of those in Bezek they killed ten thousand men. They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him. They killed the Kena'ani and the P'rizi, but Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-Bezek said: "Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table; God has paid me back in accordance with what I did." They brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there.
With the help of the tribe of Simeon, Judah attacked and was victorious. They captured Adoni-Bezek who was one of the major kings of the area. He had defeated seventy kings and mutilated them by cutting off their thumbs and big toes. It is interesting to note that this pagan king acknowledged the fact that it was the one true God who had done this to him.
Then the people of Y'hudah fought against Yerushalayim, captured it, overpowered it with the sword, and set the city on fire. Afterwards, the people of Y'hudah went down to fight against the Kena'ani who lived in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the Sh'felah. Y'hudah also attacked the Kena'ani living in Hevron (formerly called Kiryat-Arba), and they overpowered Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai.
It is interesting to note that Judah conquered Jerusalem but they did not occupy the city. It would not be occupied by Israel until it was captured by King David. Judah continued to have success in all of the battles in the south and the west.
From there they attacked the inhabitants of D'vir (D'vir was formerly called Kiryat-Sefer). Kalev said: "To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter 'Akhsah as his wife." 'Otni'el the son of K'naz, Kalev's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him 'Akhsah his daughter as his wife.
This passage recounts the fact that even Joshua was just a man and he made mistakes just like the rest of us. We do not know why he made this deal but victory in battle was an accepted way of paying the bride price at the time.
After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, "What do you want?" She said to him: "Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water." So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs. Next, the descendants of the Keini, Moshe's father-in-law, went up out of the City of Date-Palms with the people of Y'hudah into the Y'hudah Desert south of 'Arad; and they came and settled with the people.
This passage shows us the failure of the leaders of Israel as Caleb gave his daughter land and water in the desert. This is not a bad thing in itself; the bad thing is that we do not see any mention of taking the matter to God to see what His will was in the matter.
Y'hudah went with Shim'on his brother; they overpowered the Kena'ani who inhabited Tz'fat, and completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. Y'hudah also took 'Azah with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory and 'Ekron with its territory.
The men of Judah kept their word and went with the Simeonites to battle the Philistines. They were able to take the cities to the west and on the coast. These were important commercial cities as they were on the main route from Egypt to Mesopotamia.
ADONAI was with Y'hudah, and they took possession of the hill-country, because they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, since they had iron chariots. They gave Hevron to Kalev, as Moshe had said to do; and he drove out from there the three sons of 'Anak.
Here, we see the failure of Judah to completely drive out the people from the lands that they conquered. This is one of the main limitations of men as leaders in that we are willing to compromise. The land had been given to them and, instead of taking full possession of what God gave them, they compromised and took what they could with their own strength. This compromise had consequences for the people of Israel and the same is true for us, as Christians, in our walk in this world.
The people of Binyamin did not drive out the Y'vusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; rather, the Y'vusi continued living with the people of Binyamin in Yerushalayim, as they do to this day.
Here, we see the failure of the men of Benjamin as they did not completely control the city of Jerusalem. They had victory over the city but it would not be totally occupied until the time of King David.
The house of Yosef likewise attacked Beit-El; and ADONAI was with them. The house of Yosef sent spies to Beit-El (the city was formerly called Luz). The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: "Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly." So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. He went into the land of the Hittim, built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
The tribes of Joseph were Ephraim and the western part of Manasseh. We see that they attacked Bethel after sending a spy to check it out. They trusted in the eyes of men instead of the wisdom of God but God allowed them to take the city. They spared a man and his family in exchange for telling them how to get into the city and we see that the man went on to establish another city. This man named it Luz which was the old name for Bethel.
M'nasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Sh'an and its villages, Ta'anakh and its villages, Dor and its villages, Yivle'am and its villages or Megiddo and its villages; so that the Kena'ani managed to keep on living in that land. In time, when Isra'el had grown strong, they did put the Kena'ani to forced labor but failed to drive them out completely.
In their own strength and wisdom, the tribe of Manasseh failed to fully take the land. They would compromise and justify it in their own minds by making the Canaanites slaves but it would cause problems on down the line.
Efrayim did not drive out the Kena'ani living in Gezer; so the Kena'ani continued living in Gezer along with them.
The parade of failures of men continues with Ephraim. We are reminded that Ephraim would be the first tribe to turn to idolatry and it started here with their failure.
Z'vulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol; so the Kena'ani continued to live among them but became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of 'Akko, Tzidon, Achlav, Akhziv, Helbah, Afik or Rechov; so the Asheri lived among the Kena'ani who were living in the land, because they didn't drive them out. Naftali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh or Beit-'Anat but lived among the Kena'ani living in the land; however, the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and Beit-'Anat became forced labor for them.
The list of failures continues tribe by tribe. They probably thought that they were being victorious but they were not gaining total victory. Living among the Canaanites would come back to haunt them as they descended into idolatry just like the Canaanites.
The Emori forced the people of Dan into the hills; for they would not let them come down to the valley. The Emori had resolved to live in the Heres Hills, in Ayalon and in Sha'alvim; but when the power of the house of Yosef grew greater, they became subject to forced labor. So the territory of the Emori was from the Scorpion Ascent and the Rock upward.
The description of the failures of Israel ends with the fact that the Amorites had boundaries inside the promised land. These failures have lasting consequences as the land of Israel is disputed even to this day.
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