Judg
1:1, 19-21, 27-36 (NIV) 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?"
. . .
19 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. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from
it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the
Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there
with the Benjamites.
. . .
27 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. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the
Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did
Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued
to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites
living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them
to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or
Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people
of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 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. 34 The
Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come
down into the plain. 35 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. 36 The boundary of the
Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.
NOTE: The Book of
Judges is a tale of missed opportunities. Judah was fairly successful, at least
in the hill country, but nearly all of the other tribes failed to drive out the
Caananites from the land. Judges does not give a reason, although the book starts
with a mention of Joshua's death along with a question from God. The question
is not answered by the people but by God as the Lord chooses Judah to go first.
There is no longer any one leader among the tribes. The nation has been led by
Moses and then Joshua for many years. Judges is a story of men raised up to
lead Israel, but every time the leader dies or fades away, the people return to
lives of sin, and consequently failure. Which really raises the question of
spiritual leadership. Are we dependent upon spiritual leadership as a people?
Maybe God designed us to be under authority? Is it really possible to walk with
God without being part of some spiritual authority structure? Ultimately, a
phrase will be repeated over and over again in Judges, "during those days,
Israel had no king, and everyone did as they pleased." Of course, God was
supposed to be their King. God will tell Samuel, one of the judges, that it was
not him who they had rejected but God whom the people had rejected. That would
suggest that they had a king, but as individuals chose to reject his ruler-ship
in their lives, which is really a rejection of his word. So, what kind of
spiritual authority are we under, and do we seriously accept his ruler-ship
over our lives -- not a title, Jesus is my Lord, but his actual command of how
we live our lives?
No comments:
Post a Comment