CHAPTER 1

(1425 B.C.)

JUDAH AND SIMEON

¹Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the Children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? (Joshua died, but God didnt die! They asked the LORD as to what they should do, which is what they should have done. In fact, we as Believers should ask the Lord about everything.)

²And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. (Christ came from the Tribe of Judah; so, in essence, the Lord is saying that if we follow our Heavenly Judah, victory will be ours.)

³And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot. So Simeon went with him. (Simeon had been cursed because of the slaughter of the Shechemites, which, of course, had taken place many years before. The curse meant that they would have no inheritance in Israel, when, in fact, Israel possessed the land; however, the Tribe of Judah, which had the largest inheritance of all, gave Simeon an inheritance within their inheritance [Josh. 19:1; Gen. 49:5-7]. Likewise, the whole of humanity was cursed, because of the Fall; consequently, we had no inheritance. But our Heavenly Judah made a way for us, by giving us a part in His inheritance. If we go with Judah, i.e., our Heavenly Judah, we are guaranteed the victory.)

⁴And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they killed of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

⁵And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they killed the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

⁶But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

⁷And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. (Evidently, he had committed the same atrocity on some 70 lesser kings, which rendered them helpless to hold a sword, or to properly run. Apparently, the leaders of the Tribe of Judah had heard about his atrocities, and treated him accordingly.)

VICTORIES

⁸Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire (but evidently they didnt hold it).

⁹And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, who dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

¹⁰And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba:) and they killed Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai (this was evidently done by Caleb [Josh. 15:14]; these were most likely giants).

¹¹And from thence he went against the inhabitants of the Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher:

¹²And Caleb said, He who smites Kirjath-sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

¹³And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Calebs younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

¹⁴And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What will you?

¹⁵And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for you have given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. (If the field was to be given to her, then she felt she also had the right to ask for the springs of water to make the field fertile, which she did, and which she received. In a sense, the springs are a Type of the Holy Spirit, without which there would be no spiritual fertility in our lives.)

CONQUESTS AND FAILURES

¹⁶And the children of the Kenite, Moses father in law (or rather brother-in-law), went up out of the city of the palm trees (Jericho) with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. (Evidently, Hobab, who declined to go when invited some time earlier, eventually accepted Moses offer [Num. 10:29-30].)

¹⁷And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they killed the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. (In Verse 3, it says, Simeon went with Judah, because the places which follow were all in Judahs portion; but now we read, Judah went with Simeon, because the two places named were in Simeons portion [Josh. 19:4].)

¹⁸Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

¹⁹And the LORD was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (The first phrase, The LORD was with Judah, means that they could definitely have driven out those with the chariots of iron had they only exercised proper Faith. Evidently, they didnt! The truth is, without God, it was all impossible for Israel, but, with the Lord, all things are possible.)

²⁰And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak (Vs. 10).

²¹And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. (The same held true for Benjamin as it did for Judah; they evidently did not exercise proper Faith. The Jebusites, one of the most fierce and warlike tribes, continued to inhabit Jerusalem until the time of David, when he expelled them, some 500 years later. Thats a long time to have an enemy in ones very midst; however, it is typical of Satan endeavoring to build strongholds in our lives. Only proper Faith in Christ and the Cross, which gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work in our lives, can bring about victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Far too many Believers have Jebusites in their lives!)

FAILURE

²²And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD was with them. (By this phrase, we are shown what God can do, regarding the heart which trusts Him. But the ground won by Faith can only be held by Faith; and very soon, therefore, the Canaanite and the Philistine recovered possession of what they had lost.)

²³And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

²⁴And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy.

²⁵And when he showed 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.

²⁶And 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. (The man was determined to build what God had determined to destroy. He had an opportunity to know the God of Israel, but rebelled against that opportunity.

Rahabs action was the reverse. She and her family were the only ones saved out of the doom of Jericho. But Grace changed her heart, and she joined the people of God.)

²⁷Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean 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.

²⁸And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. (As failure after failure is recorded, it doesnt mean that Israel didnt have the power to drive out the heathen, but rather that they just simply disobeyed God, and let them remain, which proved to be exactly what the Lord said would happen. Instead of Israel winning the heathen to Jehovah, the heathen won the people of God to their heathen idols. It is the same with the modern Church.

While the Bible does not teach isolation from the world, it definitely does teach separation. We are in the world, but never to be of the world. The ship is in the water, but trouble comes, and greatly so, when the water gets in the ship [II Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1].)

²⁹Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

³⁰Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

³¹Neither 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:

³²But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

³³Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them.

³⁴And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley (as stated, if the enemy is allowed to remain, he will ultimately make a slave out of the Believer. The situation had become so bad in Israel that the Tribe of Dan could not even live in the valley, or plant crops therein; they were virtual prisoners in their own land; and so it is):

³⁵But 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 (they should have driven them out).

³⁶And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.