Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
The Lord answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."
Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.
When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.
From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"
She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.
Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron—each city with its territory.
The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.
Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.
The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel, the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Judges 1, 2:1-15
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
After Joshua’s death, we see where there is some unfinished business for Israel as there were still some Canaanites living in the land. The Tribes of Judah is selected to go into battle and the tribe of Simeon is asked to join in. We read where the Lord gives “the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands” as the Israelite forces “struck down ten thousand men at Bezek”. During the fighting, the enemy king, Adoni-Bezek, “fled, but (the forces) chased him…caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes”. Why? Adoni-Bezek offered the answer when he said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." Adoni-Bezek’s crippling fate was the same as he had inflicted on many other kings. Scripture tells is that he was taken to Jerusalem where he died before the “men of Judah attacked Jerusalem…and took it”, putting “the city to the sword” and setting it on fire.
After Bezek and Jerusalem, “the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills”, advancing “against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba)” and defeating “Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai” before going against “the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher)”. After this series of victories, “the men of Judah” joined up with the “descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite” who “went up from the City of Palms…to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad”.
We see where it was back to war for the men of Judah and Simeon as they “attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath”, totally destroying the city before also conquering “Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron — each…with its territory”. All along the way, “the Lord was with the men of Judah” who “took possession of the hill country, but…were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots’.
So not all Canaanites were removed from the Promised Land as God had commanded. In addition to Judah, our passage tells us that the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali also failed to completely get rid of them. This failure to comply with the Lord’s commands brought very serious consequences for the people of Israel as an “angel of the Lord” went up from Gilgal to Bokim to deliver the following message:
“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
The words from the angel brought great fear and distress to the Israelites who “wept aloud” and “offered sacrifices to the Lord”.
Indeed, the remaining Canaanites would be a thorn in the side of Israel, consistently leading them into sinful living and disfavor with God. But something else happened that was as bad if not worse that the judgment passed.
For scripture tells us that “after that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel”. In other words, the Israelites not only ignored God’s command to have no other gods before Him but they also failed to teach their children about the rich heritage and history of their ancestors, ancestors who had been blessed so dearly by God. As a result, a whole generation lived that didn’t know the Lord. What a sad and dark time in the history of Israel that this must have been!
So how much better off are we today? How many children are being raised with NO knowledge of the Lord in their life and thus growing up with NO knowledge about what He has done? I think the numbers would be staggering and just as disturbing as they were back in the days of Israel. And the unfortunate consequences match up as well.
For we see where not knowing the Lord led the Israelites to do “evil in the eyes of the Lord”, serving the false gods Baal (fertility god of the Canaanites) and Ashtoreth. The people of Israel forsake “the Lord, the God of their fathers”, deciding to follow and worship “various gods of the peoples around them”. Not surprisingly, their actions “provoked the Lord to anger” which led Him to hand them “over to raiders who plundered them” and sell them to “their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist”. The Lord’s hand went against Israel “whenever (they) went out to fight”, leaving them “in great distress”
Back to present times. Do we not have a preponderance of evil in our world today? You need only read a newspaper or watch the news to know there is. So why is this happening? For the same reason it happened over 2,000 years ago…because people who don’t know the Lord are destined to do evil in His eyes. We can only have one master and we have two choices: the Lord or Satan. Each competes for our souls. We make the choice as to which wins out. And when that choice is Satan…stand by because consequence will not be too far behind and we, like Israel, will find ourselves left in great distress.
There is little doubt that we need to wake up and start to learn from the past. It’s time to turn the tide on the evil in the world and it starts by educating everyone from the youngest to the oldest on the ways of the Lord. EVERYONE should know Him…EVERYONE should know what He has done, what He is doing and what He is yet to do…and if both of these things happen, EVERYONE will begin to turn from evil and toward the righteous, holy living that comes when we are living for the Lord and Him alone. The time is now. We can’t afford to lose even one more generation.
In Christ,
Mark
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