As we continue our study in Judges we see that there were many more battles ahead for Judah to be able to defeat the Canaanites that inhabited their regions in The Land of Promise.
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Thank you for joining in with our every Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD. This is our third lesson in our study of the book of Judges. We are still in Chapter One.
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RETURNING THE FAVOR TO THE SIMEONITES
Some descendants of Moses father-in-law (remember he was a
Kenite) went up to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the
Negev near Arad. People of Judah were among them.
So the men of Judah returned the favor of the men of the Simeonites and
attacked the Canaanites who were living in Zephath. That city was totally
destroyed. The name of the place was changed to Hormah.
Judah also took Gaza Ashkelon and Ekron and the territories that surrounded them.
Clearly the LORD was with the men of Judah, giving them victory after
victory in the land.
CHARIOTS FITTED WITH IRON
The Hill Country was taken; but the land in the plains still contained pagan people. These people had chariots fitted with iron. Fear of the progress of another culture seemed to hinder Israel from time-to-time. Could it also hinder the godly nations of today? Fear is a Christian’s worst enemy. Our God is always greater than fear and we should always remember that. God had proven this to Israel over and over again; but it seems they forgot to remember.
Hebron had been given to Caleb and he had driven out the sons of Anak.
The Benjamites were commanded to drive out the Jebusites living in
Jerusalem, but they did not. To this day; there are still Jebusites
living in Jerusalem.
TAKING BETHEL
The tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel. God was with them and gave them
victory. They sent spies into Bethel, formerly known as Luz, and the
spies saw a man coming out of the city. They asked him; “Show us how to
get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.”
He showed them the way. They put the city of Bethel to the sword, but the man who helped them was spared along with his whole family. I couldn’t help but think of Rahab when I read this passage.
If you are surrounded by the enemies of God and someone approaches you to take the land back for God; it is always wise to cooperate with them. Your life and your family may be spared. This is a repeated pattern so I think it is to be remembered for a reason.
The man that they spared went to the land of the Hittites and
built a city and called it Luz. It is still there today by the same name.
THERE ARE STILL PAGANS LIVING IN THE LAND
The tribe of Ephraim should have driven out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but they did not. The Canaanites continued to live in Ephraim.
As you can see from all of the above; even Judah who seemed to have the most trust-worthy leaders, did not drive ALL of the Canaanites out of the land where they were living.
This went totally against God’s commandments. He said to spare no one.
I have to wonder how our world would have been different had this happened?