Verses 1-7, “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, 'Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?' And the Lord said, 'Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.' So Judah said to Simeon his brother, 'Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.' And Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And Adoni-Bezek said, 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.' Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.”
After Joshua's death, there was no appointed leader of the nation, with everyone responsible to seek God's direction on their own. When they did, He would answer. However when they didn't, they made a mess. Judah was chosen by God to go up against the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and He delivered them into their hands. Judah was the largest of the tribes, with military strength given to them by the Lord. Although it may have seemed like the best course of action, you cannot rely on human wisdom. What we think is best may not be what God wills, so it is best to rely on Him. 1 Corinthians 1:25, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Verses 8-15, “Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.) Then Caleb said, 'Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.' And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, 'What do you wish?' So she said to him, 'Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.' And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.”
By this time, Caleb was an old man, but still had fight left in him. He was given Hebron, but had to first remove the the sons of Anak. These were the same inhabitants that were mentioned when the original spies (except Joshua and Caleb) brought back a bad report. Numbers 13:31-33, “But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.' And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants ( the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.' ”
Verses 16-20, “Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.”
Even though Caleb was faithful, the same could not be said of the rest. Caleb was successful against much stronger men, even in his old age, but many of Israel's battles resulted in incomplete conquests due to lack of faith. It certainly was not God's lack of ability. So we read in this chapter, a list of failure after failure to drive out the inhabitants completely, falling short again and again. Israel would compromise and settle for less than what God had prepared for them, suffering consequences along the way for doing so.
Verses 21-36, “But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.) And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, 'Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.' 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. And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants 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; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute. Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them. And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute. Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.”
Do you want to leave this earth with the testimony of Caleb or have a list of failed attempts at obeying God? Partial obedience to God's word will not give you spiritual success or help you enter the Promised Land. Caleb wholly followed the Lord, which was why he succeeded for so many years and why God blessed him. Deuteronomy 1:35-36, “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.” Knowing who God is, it is best not to try Him on this. If He asks for our full surrender, we say, "Yes, Lord!"
In this chapter, Joshua had died , which left Israel without a leader. There was no one appointed at the time to take his place. With this loss of leadership, Israel has to seek God even more. God then Called Judah to go up and fight the canaanites, and found victory because they trusted in the Lord. The tribe of Judah worked with the tribe of Simeon to help defeat these enemies in each others land. They were working together just like the body of Christ should work together.
ReplyDeleteThe other tribes, did not drive out the canaanites as the Lord commanded, but instead made them tributes. If they would have trusted in God, these enemies could have been driven out, which is what God wanted for them. Instead, they did what they thought was best for them,and made them tributes. They were pleased with this, and thought this would benefit them.
When we stray from God's plan, and start thinking about what we think is best for us, we start to get in trouble. No one knows what's best for us more than God, and our flesh shouldn't have any part in that. What may be best for us might not be the most fun or appealing thing to our flesh. The Israelites left these Canaanites there, and made a deal with them even though they could have driven them completely out of the land.
These Canaanites ended up causing trouble, and causing the Israelites to turn their backs on God. They didn't think that would happen, but if you hang out around immoral people long enough, their actions don't seem quite as bad anymore. We have to be careful that we don't surround ourselves with immoral people, cause they will affect our walk in a negative way. When you start reasoning with yourself as to why what your doing is ok, that is how the devil gets us to fall into temptation. We need to be careful, and seek God in everything we do.