Juízes 1

Juízes 1

Henry - Observe here, 1. That the strongest should not despise but desire the assistance even of those that are weaker. Judah was the most considerable of all the tribes, and Simeon the least considerable, and yet Judah begs Simeon's friendship, and prays an aid from him; the head cannot say to the foot, I have no need of thee, for we are members one of another. 2. Those that crave assistance must be ready to give assistance: Come with me into my lot, and then I will go with thee into thine. It becomes Israelites to help one another against Canaanites; and all Christians, even those of different tribes, should strengthen one another's hands against the common interests of Satan's kingdom. Those who thus help one another in love have reason to hope that God will graciously help them both. After Joshua’s death the tribe of Judah demonstrated continuing faith in God. They boldly attacked the Canaanites still within their territory. The victories they won should have encouraged all Israel. One of the most significant things we can do to strengthen our faith is read Christian biographies. (AMEN!) While these are not published frequently today, the life stories of men and women of faith can challenge and encourage us. Relatively recent publications like Through Gates of Splendor and Born Again, as well as older classics about Hudson Taylor (Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret; see John Piper's thoughts also) and George Muller, (See Piper's thoughts) can deepen our awareness of what God is able to do through individuals. If only the rest of the tribes of Israel had learned from Judah’s experience, the next few hundred years of Israel’s history might have been different. - Lawrence Richards - 365 Day Devotional Commentary QUESTION - What can we learn from the tribe of Simeon? ANSWER - Each of the twelve sons of Israel / Jacob received a blessing from his father just before Jacob’s death. The twelve sons were the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the blessing contained prophetic information about the future of each tribe. In the case of the tribe of Simeon, which was paired in the prophecy with the tribe of Levi, Jacob prophesied, “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5–7). Jacob pronounces a curse upon the anger of Simeon and Levi, no doubt remembering when they treacherously and barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, an act Jacob deeply resented for the barbarous way in which it was done and the reproach it brought upon his entire family (Ge 34:24–30). Simeon’s anger was evil, not because indignation against sin is unwarranted, but because his wrath was marked by deeds of fierceness and cruelty. Righteous anger and indignation, the kind Jesus exhibited in cleansing the temple, for example, is never characterized by cruelty. The swords of Simeon, which should have been only weapons of defense, were weapons of violence to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong. Jacob’s pronouncement “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” came true. The tribe of Simeon was the smallest and weakest of all the tribes at the close of their sojourn in the wilderness, as noted in the second census of Moses (Nu 26:14+), and the tribe of Simeon was omitted from the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:8+). Further, because of its size, the tribe of Simeon was forced to share territory with Judah, a larger and more powerful tribe (Joshua 19:1–9+). Jacob did not cut the descendants of Simeon off from any part in the promised inheritance, but he did divide and scatter them. As Christians, we learn from the tribe of Simeon that anger is the cause of a great deal of sin when it is allowed to boil over without restraint, resulting in a scenario in which hurts are multiplied (Proverbs 29:11). Anger leaves devastation in its wake, often with irreparable consequences. Furthermore, while anger against sin is not unwarranted, we ought always to be very careful to distinguish between the sinner and the sin, so as not to love or bless the sin for the sake of the person, nor to hate or curse the person for the sake of the sin. Jacob’s statement “Let me not enter their council; let me not join their assembly” is a lesson for us as well. We are not to take the counsel of the angry man because he is unstable and exhibits an inability to control his passions. When anger is a defining trait in another’s life, it is an indication of the lack of self-control, which is a hallmark of believers (Galatians 5:22-23+). An angry person makes a poor counselor, and, in fact, his company should be avoided, especially when the sin of anger is unconfessed and there is no attempt to deal with it in a godly manner. Finally, Simeon and Levi appeared to be inseparable brothers who are often mentioned together in Scripture (Ge 34:25, 34:30, 35:23, 49:5, Ex 1:2 Dt 27:12, 1 Chr 2:1, Rev 7:7), an indication that, like many brothers and sisters, they may have “brought out the worst in each other.” Christian parents who see this type of relationship developing in siblings whose influence upon one another is unhealthy, would do well to consider separating them from one another in circumstances where their unfortunate tendency to spur one another to wrong may exert itself.GotQuestions.org Related Resource: Who was Simeon in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Simeon, The tribe of Judges 1:4 And Judah went up, and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. Lord: Ex 23:28,29 De 7:2 9:3 Jos 10:8-10 11:6-8 1Sa 14:6,10 1Sa 17:46,47 1Ki 22:6,15 Bezek: Eusebius and Jerome mention two villages of this name, near each other, about seventeen miles from Shechem, towards Scythopolis. 1Sa 11:8 Judges 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Exodus 23:28; 29 “I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. (23:29) “I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God delivers them before you (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY) and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them (MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY), so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly . You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Deuteronomy 9:3 “Know therefore today that it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY), so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly (MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY), just as the LORD has spoken to you. Joshua 10:8-10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY); not one of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. 10 And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. Joshua 11:6-8 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them. 8 The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY), so that they defeated them (MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY), and pursued them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and the valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them. 1 Samuel 14:6; 10 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.” (14:10) “But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up (MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY), for the LORD has given them into our hands (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY); and this shall be the sign to us.” 1 Samuel 17:46-47 (DAVID TO GOLIATH) “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.” GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY The LORD "GAVE" but Judah had to carry out their part and fight. And Judah went up, and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands: God's sovereignty. Note that Judah had a first hand experience of the power and sufficiency of the Almighty in warfare. How their faith must have (or should have) been fanned by these divine encounters. Why was Judah successful? Because they believed God. They had talked with God. God had spoken clear instructions and they believed Him (although see caveat discussed at note on v3). But go to [Jdg 1:19]. Canaanites applies to all the peoples found in the land of Palestine, but at times it is restricted to the inhabitants of the valleys and coastal plains (Nu 13:29). Here the Canaanites are linked with the Perizzites, an ethnic group often included in lists of the people of Canaan. and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek: (Bezek) (1Sa 11:8) Men's responsibility. Bezek was located 12 miles NE of Shechem and 13 mi from Jabesh-Gilead, 6 mi N of Tirzah, though the Judges' site may be a distinctive city. 10,000 men would be no small army. This was clearly evidence of God's promise of victory. THOUGHT - Experiencing spiritual victories clearly from the hand of the Lord should serve to encourage our faith that He can perform future victories. One trap we can fall into is failure to acknowledge God as the Source (failure to express our gratitude) or alternatively and every worse to actually think we were successful because of our power and military prowess! Another danger is simply to forget the previous powerful acts of the Lord. Is this not what transpired in the generation of Israel that followed Joshua and the elders who served with Joshua? Jdg 2:10 records "All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel." Lord give us good memories of Your past acts of power and provision in our lives. Amen J