You would think after all that Israel had been through, with the leadership of Joshua and Caleb that they would have learned how to be living as a godly nation.
Apparently not.
They consciously chose to leave many of the pagans in the land, which gave the demonic gods of the pagans sway over the People of The One True God. This was Israel’s worst mistake. For a time, this lack of discretion destroyed everything that God had hoped to do with this thriving new nation of people.
WELCOME
Welcome to our every-Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD. We are in the process of studying the Book of Judges. Thank you for joining in with us.
I must ask you to be patient and not judgmental. Some have a very hard time understanding why God commanded the Israelites to destroy the pagan cultures around them. As we study more of this in Judges I think your eyes will be opened. You might grasp a deeper understanding of the spiritual battles that were going on here as well as the physical ones.
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A TIME OF TESTING FOR ISRAEL
As we mentioned last week; God used these nations against Israel to test them. These “tests” were used to teach the generation of Israelites who had never experienced any of the wars in Canaan. In this period of Israel’s history they learned how and why to do warfare.
It would have been so easy and much quicker for God to send sudden destruction and wipe out everyone who was not from Israel. However; God did not chose that route. What would Israel have learned about dealing with paganism if He had?
Also, there was always the remote possibility that the pagans in the land would have a change of heart. If that had happened; God would have forgiven them.
The Philistines were definitely not interested in seeking God’s forgiveness.
NOT JUST PHILISTINES
The wars this new generation of Israelites were to accomplish were against the rulers of the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
God was using these people as tests and waiting to see if this new generation of Israelites would continue to obey His commands.
What good would it be for Israel to be known as the first Godly Nation and an example to all other nations if they could not even begin to follow and keep the ways of God? The people of Israel, (like any people of God’s ways today), had to learn not to blend in with pagan cultures living amongst them.
This was not a good time for Israel.
MIXING PAGANISM WITH GODLINESS
The Israelites of this time period lived and intermingled with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They had all grown up living in the land together. This generation had never known a time like their fathers when Israel was only full of Israelites.
The men of Israel took the foreigner’s daughters in marriage. They gave their own daughters to the foreign sons in marriage. The mixing of these cultures (pagan and godly) eventually led the men of Israel into serving other pagan gods.
ANCIENT OR MODERN INSTRUCTIONS?
What on earth could today’s Christians gain from this historical description of the new Israel and the ancient passages found in Judges Chapter Two?
Perhaps we can realize the mistakes of this period of Israeli culture and begin to apply the same knowledge to the growth of our own cultures of today. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. I definitely do NOT mean that we should go to war with all the pagan cultures that surround us; at least not physically. Our problems today are more of a spiritual nature.
It does seem that we are in some cultural wars that must be handled spiritually and on our knees with God’s help and guidance. Perhaps we can learn not to neglect listening to God and following His instructions as He speaks to our spiritual leaders of today. Had ancient Israel done this; we might not even be encountering the problems that we are facing today. Cultural battles of the past seem to contain the roots of the spiritual battles that lie ahead for our modern nations of today.
WHEN YOU MIX PAGANISM WITH CHRISTIANITY
For starters, and as an example; we can look at what happened to an Israelite who married a Canaanite.
After time the Canaanite practices within the walls of the Israeli men’s homes would not have seemed so uncommon. By the blending of religious cultures in marriages, the people became used to pagan ways and were not so bothered by them.
Because of the bonding of their love to another person practicing such things; these marriages would become weakened from the faith and unable to take a firm stand for the things of The One True God.
When we study modern culture and look at couples who have intermarried (meaning a Christian person marries a person who has no concept of God and prefers the ways of the world to the ways of God) we see the same slow progression of the growth of paganism over godliness among the people of the nations of today.
Paganism and Christianity are like oil and water. You cannot mix them. The end results produce chaos and uselessness.
LOOKING AT THIS VIEW FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
Take America for example. When the founders first established America as a free country; most all of the people in the new land were Christians living under Christian values. These Christian values were the REASON for founding the nation in the first place.
As years progressed and other cultures moved into the land we started to see more pagan practices taking over many regions of the country. Other religions than the one that caused the country to be formed in the first place came into play. Pagan gods became more common in the land. Many Christian practices absorbed different types of paganism without the people even realizing what was happening. What was familiar became accepted; whether it was godly or not.
One prime example is how the seventh-day sabbath was changed to another day. Also during this time, holy days became associated with pagan holidays. Religions began to mix and melt together, making Christianity weaker and weaker as time progressed. Instead of the pure ways that God had established through scriptures and the ten commandments; we now have the mix of many culture’s values.
Satan loves to think of how this happened. Unthinking people played right into his plan. I’m sure God was not amused. Did he decide to test America just as he tested Israel?
Is this type of testing set up for our own good?
Will we ever reach the point of simply accepting what God has said simply because God is God and that is why we believe things?
Where has the whole concept of faith wondered off to?
GETTING TO THE POINT
The main point of both modern and ancient times seems to be “if you hang around with pagans, their ways will rub off on you.”
Does that sound shallow and ridiculous to you?
Let’s take a deeper look into these pagan cultures living around Israel in the Land of Canaan. Maybe we will come back and reevaluate our thoughts again later.
THE PHILISTINES
If we look at the culture of the Philistines during the days of the judges of Israel; we can begin to understand their form of paganism.
Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lived a culture of people called the Philistines. They were known as warmongers.
Taking a path straight through the Philistines would have been easier for the Israelites in the time that they left the slavery of Egypt under Moses and crossed the Red Sea. However; God chose not to show them that path because of the reputation for war among the Philistines.
God mentioned His reasons in Exodus 13:17 by saying: “should the Israelites encounter war right away, they might become discouraged and lose hope.” He did not want that to happen, so God led them into the land of Canaan through a much longer route.
We could also add that they had to go a different route because they had the bones of Joseph with them. That is another story for another day though. Both of these reasons were good solid and valid reasons for avoiding the Philistines.
I guess a modern interpretation of this passage for Christians might be: If, you can avoid a spiritual Philistine; take a detour.
I have to wonder if God was also suspicious of the fact that these cultures might choose to mingle right from the very beginning of Israel coming into the land. Things could have become worse for the Israelites sooner, but God was protecting them from themselves. This happened at least long enough for them to get themselves settled and established within the promised land.
HISTORY OF THE PHILISTINES
In the thirteenth century (which is the time period which we are now studying in The Book of Judges) the Philistines moved more inland than before. At one time they had been a coastal culture. They were known for their expertise in sailing the seas. For one reason or another as history progressed they gradually moved from the coastal lands into the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron.
Each Philistine family/people group had their own king reigning over their own city. When they needed to do so, these kings banned together to fight the combined enemies of their territories.
As we begin to study the lives of Sampson, Samuel and David, we will hear more about how these certain cities and kings interacted with the people of Israel.
HOW ISRAEL BECAME DEPENDENT ON PAGAN CULTURES
Because the Philistines had advanced from the use of bronze to the use of iron, Israel became dependent upon the skills of the Philistines for their use of iron.
This dependence kept Israel from growing and developing those skills on their own.
The Philistines used their superior military knowledge against the Israelites, suppressing them off and on for over 200 years. No one wanted to stand up against the Philistines. Israel did not want to fight them. The weapons of the Philistines were made of iron! The advanced knowledge they possessed for defeating their enemies was famous among the inhabitants of Canaan.
Could we be guilty of the same thinking today? Do we fear ungodly nations who might possess more or stronger weapons of war? Why not trust God for all the answers instead of feeling threatened and fearful? Did He not protect ancient Israel? Would God not do the same for faithful people of today?
THE GREATEST DEFEAT WAS FEAR
When it came to moving the Philistines out of their inherited territories, fear was Israel’s greatest fault. They were afraid to fight them.
The Philistines worshiped three pagan gods; Ashtaroth, Dagon and Beelzebub. Shrines to these pagan gods were built in all of the Palestinian cities. Their men carried images of these gods with them each time they went into battle.
Didn’t Israel realize that their Great God was more powerful than a million pagan false gods? How many times would history have to prove this to them?
No true and Godly nation should have been afraid of these false images and false gods, but the Israelites were afraid. So much power and fear was accomplished by these Philistines who knew how to use counterfeit counter-cultural means to advance their ways. These ancient actions of the Philistines of this time remind me of the “cancel cultures” of today’s world.
The ruthless pagan warriors called Philistines liked to hold week-long beer and wine binges. Ironically they were called “feast” and “festivals.” This would have been another type of counter-cultural move against God’s ways and the holy days proclaimed by God which had occurred back in the ancient times.
LIVING AMONG THE UNCIRCUMCISED
It became customary for Israel to refer to these people groups as “uncircumcised Philistines.”
The meaning behind such a title being that these pagans were not about the ways of Israel’s God. It was noted that they should be avoided because of all the pagan practices they continuously carried out.
As we progress in this study of Judges we will eventually see how the Philistines came to be no more. It was a long process that only God could accomplish.
Today the original people groups called Philistines do not exist anywhere as a known people. However; the area where they lived kept the name of Palestine in order for us not to forget the problems they presented to anyone who served The One True God of Israel.
That name belongs only to a region of land; not a known people. Yet; history has twisted this into a case where many are believing that some of the Philistines still exist. It is false information.
The people living in the area of Palestine today are called Philistines, but they are not the same people (or the same culture) that once existed within the land of Canaan.