What became of Dan in the removal of the Canaanites from Israel?
Over the last several weeks we’ve been looking into how the tribes of Israel were told to defeat the Canaanites in the blessed promised land which God had brought them into.
God had 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 critically important task. We first get a clue as to how Dan also caved to the Amorites in Judges Chapter 1, verses 34-36.
(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.
Not only did they fail to drive the Amorites out of the valleys; the Amorites actually 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 were able to hold Dan back from occupying the fertile lands in the plains for quite a while. Even some of the mountainous areas (Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim) continued to be occupied by Amorites.
DID EPHRIAM HELP?
Eventually this sect of Canaanites called Amorites were suppressed by the bordering Israeli tribe of Ephraim; but only suppressed into forced labor while still living on the land.
God did not ask them to take captives or slaves. He told the Israelites to drive the Amorites out of the land of Israel completely. 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 Aijalon was an important and strategic city because it was along a major trade route.
Therefore, Dan allowed the Amorites to control trade in their area. The Amorites became wealthy because Israel was not in charge of trade in their own lands.
When the men of Judah stepped in; they simply became landlords who profited from the pagan people still living in the area and conducting trades. The Amorites paid them tribute.
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. He finds a way to use the bad things of this world in order 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 them out. Next; God allowed Israel to be tested by these enemies of the ways of God.
THE DUAL PURPOSE OF CANAAN’S CONQUEST
We see here 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. False and fake gods were honored continuously by them. 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. They were often referred to as “giants.” Their size had kept the first generation of Israelites from entering into the promises.
In his days Joshua had led the Israelites into defeating the two strong pagan kings of the Amorites; Sihon and Og.
In this later time though, the tribe of Dan was not as 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 these Amorites to exist and remain in the land simply to test Israel. He knew that those who were truly following His commandments to His people would not blend and join in with these pagan practices the Amorites loved to employ. Those who did 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 in the days mentioned in Genesis. We read of the first warning of God about the Amorites when Abram was not even called Abraham.
God gave Abram a dream which showed his plan concerning the fate of the Amorites. They had four generations in which to change their ways. God gave the Amorites 400 years before He pronounced judgement over them. They could have turned at any point; but 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 that we should never forget. To begin with it is a confirmation of God’s covenant with Abraham. Besides that fact, it clearly tells us of God’s judgement of the wicked being swift and sure. Yet; it also speaks of God’s mercy and desire to forgive when people turn and change.
History proves that God allowed 400 years for this change of heart to happen before the wickedness become so severe that He could continue to allow them mercy no longer. Any further mercy from God would only hurt the other inhabitants of the earth.
400 YEARS OF PATIENCE AND MERCY
So we have seen for ourselves how the pagan Amorites were spreading their wicked ways, even 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 first Abraham’s descendants would become disobedient and become slaves in a foreign land.
This whole process of transforming the hearts of Israel would take 400 years to transpire as the sons of Jacob lived as slaves in Israel. Then God would pronounce his judgement against the Amorites (and all other Canaanites) and bring Abraham’s people back to destroy them from the promised land.
TRANSFORMATIONS
Israel had to have a transformation. Their hearts had to change toward God. This happened during the days they were slaves and while they were lost in the wilderness. They were changed in a good way that led them to abundant life in the future.
There could have been two changes over this period of 400 years.
The Amorites were also given 400 years in which to change.
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 in order to establish those who belonged to God and sort them from those who only wanted the benefits of The Kingdom of Heaven for free.
True godly people then, and true godly people now 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 that came from belonging to Israel. They desired their inheritance, but they were not strong enough and 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 from their heart.
ARE WE LIKE DAN?
Israel was held back from destroying the Amorites for 400 years 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 to be filled up?
Will we turn sometime in the next generations of our history, or will we go the way of the Amorites and receive the judgement that such an existence deserves?
How many years/generations will we allow paganism to exist among us in the land that God has given to us which was first established 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 scattered across the land of Promise praying the same prayers that I pray today.
Were they seeking God’s face for their own people who were being disobedient in not removing these pagan ways from the blessed promised land that God had provided for them?
They had to do what we are called to do. It was a time of overcoming. Clearly, they had to live in the world but not be of the world. Times were tough for followers of God then; and they haven’t become easier today.
So many people of today are living in the same manner as this sad tribe called Dan. They wanted to be called godly. Many desired the respect and honor that came from belonging to God; but they were not willing to walk the talk.
When it comes down to the day-to-day life of keeping God’s commandments, they caved in to the cultures around them. Often this “caving” is done in the name of peace and good-will. That 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 main 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 to take over the land of God’s people, 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 where consorting with the Amorites brought pain and grief to Israel.
JUDGEMENT DAY IS COMING
God will be 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 comes before God’s eyes as being “filed up?”
Jesus showed us how to avoid this terrible day. If we repent and turn and follow Him; all will be well with us on judgement day; no 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 though of God’s patience, long-suffering, and mercy. After change of people’s hearts seems impossible to God; judgement day will come.
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; but Jesus 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 Dan and think that God is not going to notice.
Follow The Messiah and be saved.