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In Christ, Mark
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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 our 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 scriptures tell us that the tribe of Judah was selected by God to go into battle and the tribe of Simeon joined them in victory as the Lord gave “the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands”. The combined Israelite forces “struck down ten thousand men at Bezek” and during the fight, the enemy king, Adoni-Bezek, “fled” but was captured, his thumbs and big toes” cut off.
Why?
Adoni-Bezek offered the answer himself 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."
Here we learn that Adoni-Bezek’s crippling fate was the same as he had inflicted on many other kings and after he was maimed, the scriptures tell us 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 conquering Bezek and Jerusalem, we read where “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)”. Following 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”.
Then, 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 finding conquest over “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”.
Given this, we know that not all Canaanites were removed from the Promised Land as God had commanded and in addition to Judah, we learn that the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali also failed to completely get rid of them. In sum, this failure to comply with the Lord’s commands brought very serious consequences for the Israelite people 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."
These words from the angel brought great fear and distress to the Israelites who “wept aloud” and “offered sacrifices to the Lord”.
Well moving forward, the remaining Canaanites would indeed 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 the scriptures tell 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. So 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 must have been!
With this, we should ask ourselves if we are any better off today. For how many children are being raised with no knowledge of the Lord in their life and thus growing up with no understanding of who He is, what He has done, and what He is yet to do?
So what might the numbers look like today?
Consider that there are eight billion people in the world today and only two billion are Christians. You can do the math and see that three-fourths of the world’s children are not being raised to know the Lord in their lives. This is actually more disturbing than what we’re reading about in today’s passage and unfortunately, the consequences we see happening in ancient Israel are the same happening now.
For going back to our passage, we see where the Lord led the Israelites to do “evil in the eyes of the Lord”, serving the false gods Baal (the fertility god of the Canaanites) and Ashtoreth. The people of Israel has forsaken “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 sold them to “their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist”. God’s hand was against Israel “whenever (they) went out to fight” and this obviously left them “in great distress”
Now…let’s come back to present times where I think we can see a preponderance of evil in our world. One need only either watch or read the news to know this.
Why is this happening?
Well, it definitely could be attributed to what happened back in the days of ancient Israel because people who don’t know the Lord are destined to do evil and as we covered before, three-quarters of the world are not in Christ Jesus.
In the end translation, past or present, a person can only have one of two masters: either God or Satan. Each competes for our souls and we decide who gets to win out. If that’s the devil, then a person can expect to receive the Lord’s consequences which, like the Israelites, will bring great distress. Conversely, to choose the Lord will bring an abundant bounty of blessing.
Friends, there is little doubt that we need to wake up and start to learn from the mistakes of the biblical past. A great starting point would be to turn the tide on the evil in the world by educating everyone from the youngest to the oldest on the ways of the Lord. EVERYONE should know Him and what He has done, is doing, and is yet to do. If we can make both of these things happen, then we will see people turn away from evil toward living in the righteous and holy ways that God expects as they live to please Him and Him alone.
The time for this is now because we can’t afford to lose even one more generation.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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