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JUDGES

CHAPTER 1

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

The combined efforts of Judah and Simeon were enough to conquer the coastal area, and grant them access to the Mediterranean. And they were successful in capturing all the mountainous areas as was in their plan.
BUT - they met great opposition in the "valley" or in the desert area toward Egypt. The people there had "chariots of iron." (Verse 19)
I must admit that sometimes it seems that the opposition to Christianity has "chariots of iron." And at times, I too am tempted to back off because of the wear and tear of the battle.
But God has promised us HIS power and HIS strenth! We are to put on the armour of God DAILY and go forward into battle (Ephesians 6:11).
Paul wrote to the church at Galatia about that same attitude (Galations 5:7). And then he cautioned them about not being "...weary in well doing..." (Galatians 6:9).
As a result of backing away from the opposition, the tribes of Judah and Simeon will suffer later on. The Philistines will take back some of the cities they had lost before, and they will become "thorns in their sides."

22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

Here is a bried synopsis of the battle of Ephraim's descendents at the city of Bethel. The Bible is plain to say that "..the Lord was with them." (verse 22).
These were wise to "SPY" and find the place least guarded and enter there. Sometimes we rush blindly into battle with Satan and don't take time to find the place of least resistance.
Note the Ephraimites allowed the man who gave them information to live, just as Joshua had allowed Rahab to live. But this man did not JOIN them who saved him. Instead he went far from them. Some will hear the gospel and give assent to it, but will have no part in it!

27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

Here is a bried account of how the Israelites from this time on did no longer fully follow the Word of the Lord to "utterly drive them out" according to Deuteronomy 7:1-3.
And because they did not do as God had said, His prophecy became true that these people would "...turn away thy son from following me." (Deuteronomy 7:4).
Having ownership of salvation and having complete possession of it are two different things. God has the ownership of salvation, and He gives the ownership of it to all who will surrender to Him (Romans 10:13, 2Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:13, 2Corinthians 5:21).
However possession of salvation requires earnest contending continually (1Timothy 6:12, Jude 3).
The generations which follow us must see the earnest contending continually or they will be lax in serving God.

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 36 And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

Dan could not (or would not) drive out all the Amorites, and the tribe was content to dwell in the mountains only of their inheritance.
Do you ever feel like you'd just like to retire to a secluded place and not face all the difficulties and trials of being a "stand up" Christian in the world of sin and evil?
YES! Sometimes we do become weary, and some are more frail than others.
Well, at least Joseph caused the Amorites to be subdued and pay tribute. This no doubt helped the whole tribe to continue living quietly. The strong have to stand forward and give help to the weak.

Just yesterday I read a "letter to the editor" in our local newspaper. The writer claims to have no affiliation with any religion and is convinced that intellectualism is the only answer to life.
His letter was in response to a letter that had been written by someone else. That other person had spoken well of our present president and the fact that he was a Christian. No doubt that writer intended to purport that Christians were moral people and held to the highest of standards.
Now the writer of the response said that throughout history (particularly in the USA) moral integrity was not necessarily linked to those of the Christian faith. According to his "experience," many of those who professed to be Christians, had been detrimental to society; particularly those who have been constantly in the public view.
Was he not correct? What can we say to this accusation?

The only thing we can say is: "I WILL STAND STRONG IN THE LORD AND FOR HIS CAUSE! MAY GOD GIVE ME GRACE!"

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