Today we want to explore the subject of Dan and the Canaanites. What became of Dan in the removal of the Canaanites from Israel?
We’ve been looking into how the tribes of Israel were told to defeat the Canaanites. This was for their survival in the blessed promised land which God had given them.
God commanded that every Canaanite be driven out of the land. So far, each and every tribe we have looked into failed miserably at this task. Judah fared better than most; but even they failed at times.
ANOTHER FAILURE
Today we will examine how the tribe of Dan coped with this important task. We first get a clue in Judges Chapter 1 verses 34-26. Here we see how Dan also caved to the Amorites.
(Judges 1:34-36) 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 tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.
LIVING IN THE HILL COUNTRY
It seems that the tribe of Dan just wasn’t strong enough to trust God to protect themselves from these Canaanites.
Dan failed to drive the Amorites out of the valleys. The Amorites then drove the tribe of Dan up into the hill country. The people of Dan became too comfortable to fight for the rest of their land. They spent their days surviving in the hill country for a long, long time.
The Amorites kept Dan from occupying the fertile lands in the plains. This lasted for quite a while. Even some of the mountainous areas (Mount Hermes, Ai Jalon and Shaalbim) continued to be occupied by Amorites.
DID EPHRIAM HELP?
Eventually this sect of Canaanites called Amorites were suppressed. They were held back by the bordering Israeli tribe of Ephraim. However, this was suppressed forced labor they were required to perform while still living in and on the land.
God did not ask the people to take captives or slaves. He told the Israelites to drive the Amorites completely out of the land of Israel. This was never accomplished by Dan, nor by any of the other tribes.
The Amorite influences over Dan eventually became a severe blow to the nation of Israel.
A STRATEGIC CITY IS USELESS TO ISRAEL
The city of Ai Jalon was an important and strategic city because it was along a major trade route.
Therefore, Dan allowed the Amorites to control trade. The Amorites became wealthy because Israel was not in charge of trade matters in their own lands.
When the men of Judah stepped in, they simply became landlords. They were the ones who profited from the pagan people still living in the area and conducting trades. The Amorites paid tribute to them.
God was not pleased to receive any of this tribute in offerings from His people.
ISRAEL IS WARNED
The warning given in Numbers 33:55 came to pass:
(Numbers 33:55) But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
GOD TURNS EVIL FOR GOOD
Dan, as well as all of the other tribes of Israel, seemed to have a huge thorn in their flesh. However, God never lets anything be wasted. YHWH found a way to use the bad things of this world to increase the good things of this world.
That was exactly how God used the Amorites against the Israelites.
First, God warned them of what was to come. If they were disobedient and didn’t drive out the Canaanites there would be consequences. Next, God allowed Israel to be tested by these enemies of the ways of God.
THE DUAL PURPOSE OF CANAAN’S CONQUEST
We can see how the conquest of Canaan served a dual purpose. 1) It punished the Amorites for their sins against God. 2) This conquest gave the Israelites a land in which to establish a godly nation.
The Amorites were a severely pagan culture. They had no moral compass. The Amorites honored false and fake gods continuously. The rituals of their culture were totally opposite to how God wanted His people to operate.
These descendants of Ham (cursed son of Noah) were huge and strong in stature. These were often referred to as “giants.” Their size kept the first generation of Israelites from entering into the promises.
In his days, Joshua led the Israelites into defeating the two strong pagan kings of the Amorites. These were Sihon and Og.
In summary, the tribe of Dan was not faithful to God’s plan for Israel to defeat the Amorites.
JUDAH USES THEIR WAY OVER GOD’S WAY
The Jebusites were a sect of Amorites who occupied Jerusalem in the days of the first Israeli settlements. They were probably the reason the tribe of Judah often intervened in defeating these enemies over Dan.
Judah did not want an Amorite influence over their newly gained control of Jerusalem.
God allowed the Amorites to exist and remain in the land simply for testing Israel. He knew that those who were truly following His commandments would not blend cultures. They would not join in with these pagan practices the Amorites loved to employ. Those who did so would be weeded out.
GOD WARNED ISRAEL AND THE AMORITES MANY TIMES
All of this concern over the Amorites was the fulfillment of some scriptures from way back. We read of the first warning God gave about the Amorites when Abram was not even called Abraham.
God gave Abram a dream. The dream showed his plan concerning the fate of the Amorites. The Amorites were allowed four generations in which to change their ways. Also, God gave the Amorites 400 years before He pronounced judgement over them. Now that is a lot of wasted grace. The Amorites could have turned at any point. They did not.
NOTE THIS IMPORTANT VERSE
(Genesis 15:16) Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.
This is a very significant verse. We should never forget it. This verse is a confirmation of God’s covenant with Abraham. Besides that fact, the verse tells us of God’s judgement of the wicked being swift and sure. Yet; it also speaks of God’s mercy. We see His great desire to forgive whenever people turn and change.
History reveals how God allowed 400 years for this change of heart to happen. There was plenty of time for changes before the wickedness become so severe that YHWH could no longer continue to allow them mercy. Any further mercy from God would only hurt the other inhabitants of the earth.
400 YEARS OF PATIENCE AND MERCY
So, we have seen how the pagan Amorites were spreading their wicked ways. This happened all the way back from the days of Abraham.
As God was making the promise of The Land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants, this dream proclaimed that Abraham’s descendants would become disobedient. They would become slaves in a foreign land.
This whole process of transforming the hearts of Israel would take 400 years to transpire. In the meantime, the sons of Jacob would live as slaves in Israel. Then, God would pronounce his judgement against the Amorites (and all other Canaanites.) YHWH would bring Abraham’s people back to destroy the Amorites from the promised land.
TRANSFORMATIONS
Israel had to go through transformation. Their hearts had to change toward God. This happened during the days they were slaves. They learned of God’s ways while they were lost in the wilderness. The people were changed in a good way. This led them to abundant life with a promising future.
There could have been two changes over this period of 400 years. If you think about it, the Amorites were also given 400 years in which to change. They could have chosen God’s ways too. However, they did not choose to do so.
GOD SIFTS AND SHAKES PEOPLE TO BRING CHANGES
Even back in ancient times there was a sifting and a shaking going on. It happened in order to establish those who belonged to God. The sifting and shaking sorted them from those who wanted the benefits of The Kingdom of Heaven for free.
True godly people always have one thing in common. They all take a stand for what is true and righteous in the eyes of God. True and righteous people are obedient to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
The tribe of Dan only wanted the benefits from belonging to Israel. They desired their inheritance. However, they were not strong enough. They did not care enough about following God to honor his commandments.
The people of the tribe of Dan were not truly following God’s way. They were not worshiping from their heart.
ARE WE LIKE DAN?
Israel was held back from destroying the Amorites for 400 years. It happened while God gave them time to complete the limit of their iniquity and fall into judgement.
Could it be possible that God might be allowing such mercy on his people of today?
As of this writing, the land we call America is 246 years old. How long will God allow for our iniquity?
Will we turn? It will happen sometime in the next generations of our history. If not, we will go the way of the Amorites. It means we receive the judgement that such an existence deserves.
How many years/generations will we allow paganism to exist among us? Will it continue as if it is true here in the land that God has given to us? When will we live up to how we were established by our forefathers as “one nation under God?”
I pray that we will turn. My constant prayer is that the generation of my grandchildren will return this country back to the ways of God.
THE FEW AND THE FAITHFUL
I have to wonder if the faithful people of Israel were also scattered across the land of Promise. Were they daily praying the same prayers that I pray today? And were they seeking God’s face for their own people? Did they seek forgiveness for those who were being disobedient by not removing the pagan ways from the promised land?
They had to do the same as Jesus called for us to do. It was a time of testing and overcoming. Clearly, they had to live in the world yet not be of the world. Times were tough for followers of God then. Nothing has become easier today. So many of our people today are living in the same manner as this weak and sad tribe called Dan. They wanted to be called godly. They liked belonging to Israel. Many desired the respect and honor which came from belonging to God. Yet, they were not willing to walk the talk.
When it comes down to the day-to-day lifestyle which means keeping God’s commandments, they caved in to the culture. Often this “caving” is done in the name of peace and good-will. This is how syncretism begins. Mixing religions isn’t a true assessment of the situation though.
The only way for godly people to live in true peace, freedom and good will is to keep God’s ways. Obedience is the central focus of a godly life. You cannot live in obedience to God and remain a part of the world around you. Eventually, something will clash and cause chaos and confusion.
THE RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE
Once the ways of other cultures are allowed, chaos, decay and destruction become the result. We can see this in the way God used the Amorites to test Israel. More times than we can count, these Amorites became the “thorn in the flesh” to Israel. We will cover some of these times as we continue to study the book of Judges. There are also records in many other places of our bibles. We find many periods of history in which consorting with the Amorites brought pain and grief to Israel.
JUDGEMENT DAY IS COMING
God is able to do what the Israelites could not do without His help. One day all of this wickedness will be wiped off of the earth. Judgement day is coming. It comes for all of us, not just the Amorites. How long before the iniquity of our own times come before God’s eyes as being “filed up?”
Jesus showed us how to avoid this terrible day. If we repent, turn and follow Him, all will be well with us on judgement day. It will not matter the date or time of its arrival.
Matthew 25:31-46 describes that day. God will say to those on one hand “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” To those on the other hand He will say: “Depart from me; I never knew you.”
THERE IS STILL TIME
Be assured of God’s patience, long-suffering, and mercy. He will wait until we are completely hopeless. After a change of people’s hearts seems impossible to God; judgement day will come. Remember the days of Noah?
Revelation 21:8 tells us: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Turn now while there is still time.
Repent.
Turn around and follow Jesus.
He loves you.
Men will always let you down and disappoint you. However, YHWH is always the same. He loves you. Forever. His death on the cross should be proof positive that He means it.
Do not make the same mistake as the tribe of Dan. Please do not think that God is not going to notice the details of your daily life. It is all written in the book.
Follow The Messiah and be saved. Heed His last warning to us to become overcomers.