12397831 judges-1-commentary

Judges 1 Commentary
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
INTRODUCTION
1. The book of Judges is filled with tragedy and humor, and though this
commentary will deal with all of the tragedy, it will focus on the humor that is often
neglected in the study of this book. The first thing about it that is funny is the name
itself. Judges gives us an image of men and women with long black gowns holding a
gavel and keeping order in the court as they make judgments on people who are
brought to trial. The judges in this book do not bang gavels on their desk, but,
instead, they bang farm instruments and animal bones on the heads of the
Canaanites, and by this strange means bring some order to the nation. Shamgar
banged his ox goad on the heads of 600 of the enemy and sentenced them to death,
and Samson banged his jawbone of an ass on a thousand of them and pronounced
the verdict guilty, and sentenced them to capital punishment They were what you
call hanging judges for sure, but they were not really judges as we think of them.
They were more like Robin Hood and war heroes. They were not behind a desk, but
out in the field with hands on executions. They were judge, jury and executioner. If
these Judges ever got together and formed their own company a good name would
be, "Sears, Burns, Hurtz and Hollers." They were devastating when they passed
sentence on any people or town, and there was no appeal, for there was usually no
one left to appeal.
2. James Jordon sees the head bashing as fulfillment of the promise to send one who
will crush the head of the Serpent. "Thus, throughout the Bible marches The Seed.
He is the one born of The Woman who will crush the head of The Serpent. Genesis
3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring [ Or seed ] and hers; he will crush [ Or strike ] your head, and you will
strike his heel." We shall meet him several times in the book of Judges. Indeed, the
crushing of the head of the enemy is one of the most obvious themes in the book:
Ehud kills Eglon, political head. Jael crushes Sisers’s head with a tent peg. Gideon
destroys the four political heads Zebah, Zalmunna, Oreb, and Zeeb. Abimelech’s
head is crushed by a rock, again by a woman. Samson destroys all five heads of the
Philistine cities, by crushing them with rocks." The concept of head hunter was
quite different in that day from ours. We can get some idea of how the Caananites
were despised by a contemporary joke.
3. One day, as the truck driver was driving along he saw a priest hitchhiking. He
thought he would do a good turn and pulled the truck over. He asked the priest,
"Where are you going, Father?" "I'm going to the church 5 miles down the road,"
replied the priest. "No problem, Father! I'll give you a lift. Climb in the truck." The
happy priest climbed into the passenger seat and the truck driver continued down

the road. Suddenly the truck driver saw a lawyer walking down the road and
instinctively he swerved to hit him. But then he remembered there was a priest in
the truck with him, so at the last minute he swerved back away, narrowly missing
the lawyer. However even though he was certain he missed the lawyer, he still heard
a loud "THUD". Not understanding where the noise came from he glanced in his
mirrors and when he didn't see anything, he turned to the priest and said, "I'm
sorry Father. I almost hit that lawyer." "That's okay", replied the priest. "I got him
with the door!" We are only kidding mostly about hate toward lawyers, but it was
all real toward the pagans around Israel.
4. The parallel of it all in the Christian life is that we, like Israel, are delivered by
the grace of God from the bondage to sin, but as we drift away from the joy and
thrill of our spiritual experience we tend to get more worldly and many slip back
into a life that is more about the idols of the world than about the Lord and his will.
We cease to hate the sins that we left, and do not pursue taking to ourselves all that
we are redeemed to experience in the godly life. This can lead to all kinds of negative
experiences in life that call for repentance and renewal. Some people are like this
book and go through the cycle over and over just like Israel did. What is the
problem? It is lack of hate. What a paradox! The key to a life of love with consistent
obedience to God demands the balance of hate for what God hates.
5. When we think of Judges we also think of those three who pass judgment on
young people who perform to become an American Idol. Paula with her "You took
that song and made it your own." Randy with his "That was a little pitchy," and
last but not least Simon with his "That was the worst performance I've ever heard
in my life." These also do not give us any insight into the Judges we are about to
study. Simon is the epitome of kindness compared to the Judges of this book. They
only have one comment, "You are dead men!" They never say anyone is innocent
and deserves a second chance. They never offer hope of a better tomorrow, for their
goal is to make sure there is no tomorrow for those they go after. Judge is their
name and judgment is their game. They are tools in the hands of God to bring
judgment on people who have gone so far off the path of God's plan for people that
they can never be brought back. They have to be eliminated, but because God
promised he would never do that awful job of elimination by a flood again, he had to
use these warrior types to do the job. The result is, these Judges are not very funny
in the sense of making jokes and wisecracks, but they are funny in the sense of being
so incongruous as tools for good, when they are so far from good themselves. They
are paradoxical people who are good at being bad, and very bad at being good. You
will get it when we get to them.
6. When Moses died God appointed Joshua to take over as the leader of the nation
and its forces to take over the Promised Land, but when Joshua died there was no
one appointed to fill that role. Now it was up to each tribe to take control of its
territory, and God raised up these judges from different tribes to help them rid the
land of the enemies of God's people. They were primarily what we would call
warriors. God is called a Judge in 11:27. They were used of God to deliver his
people from the people he used to punish them. Max Frazier, Jr. called them

Rascals used by God. They were not always the best of men. God has to use what he
has to work with, and often all he has is very flawed people. The good news is that
even though we fall far short of the ideal we can be used of God to achieve his will.
7. Constable wrote, "Though the judge enjoyed great prestige, he was in no sense a
king. His authority was neither absolute, nor permanent, nor in any case hereditary;
it rested solely in those personal qualities (the charisma) that gave evidence that he
was the man of Yahweh's spirit. It was a type of authority perfectly expressive of the
faith and constitution of early Israel: the God-King's direct leadership of his people
through his spirit-designated representative. . . .
8. This book was written by Samuel according to the Jews, and somewhere between
1054 and 1004 B. C. Joshua, the book just before Judges, covers about 35 years of
history, but Judges covers about 300 years of Israel's history. Joshua is all about
success in Israel defeating the enemy and taking control of the land, but Judges is
mostly about the failure of Israel to hold the land against the enemy within. It was a
constant struggle for the people to stay loyal to God, and so they had to be judged
and punished by the enemy taking control of them. They would live as slaves of the
wicked people they were supposed to have driven out, and then they would repent of
their sins and God would give them another chance, and the judge would be raised
up to lead them to victory again. But it would not last, and the vicious cycle
continued over and over. It is the well known story of alcoholics and gamblers who
get saved out of their bad habit that ruins their lives, and then after this great
victory they fall back into it and destroy all that they won by their victory. It is the
story of those who become Christians and are so delighted to be a part of the family
of God, but after awhile they fall back into the ways of the world and become
backsliders. When their backsliding does not satisfy they repent, and get back on
track with God, but later they again fall, and on goes the cycle due to lack of
commitment and consistency. This book is a study of human nature when self is the
highest value in life.
9. The period of the Judges lasted for about 340 years…from around 1390 B.C. to
1050 B.C. Another way to say that is that the Judges ruled in the period between
the death of Joshua and the installation of Israel’s first king…King Saul.
10. SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND FREE WILL OF MAN
This book makes both so clear that there is not mistaking the reality of both.
Theologians try to make it an either/or type decision, but it is not, for it is both/and.
God did not will all of the disobedience and need for repentance, for it was all so out
of his will that he punished his people severely over and over. If God willed the
sinful disobedience to his revealed will, then he is the author of evil, and that is
rejected by the Scripture for it is said that God is light and in him is no darkness at
all. So the reality of sinfulness in his own people is perfect proof of the free will of
man to do what God does not will. WE see an omnipotent God not able to give his
people the whole land because his people were to be the agents of his power, and
they quit. they pulled the plug on the power and gave up. They stopped trying, and
settled for partial obedience, which is also partial disobedience. They did not finish
the job assigned, but left it unfinished.

1. After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked
the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and
fight for us against the Canaanites?"
1. There is always an after, for no leader lasts forever, and so there is always the
next chapter in history, and the issue is will the good stay in control, or will there be
a sliding back and a losing of all that has been gained by the good leader? "Exodus
begins with the death of Joseph. Joshua begins with the death of Moses. Judges
begins with the death of Joshua. 1 Kings begins with the death of David. And yet for
all that, God’s kingdom does not collapse, not even when Sheol takes God’s most
useful servants. The kingdom of God continues though the servants of God die."
(Ralph Davis, D. Focus on the Bible: Judges) In this book there is a continual
slipping back to the bad. No victory in time is final. Israel wins and is on top, but
then they fail and the enemy gains control again. They can never stay on top because
they can never be consistent in their obedience and loyalty to God. The good news is
that there is also always an after when they hit bottom, and all is going bad. Their
oppression and bondage to the enemy is also never final, and by the grace and
mercy of God they are able to be lifted from their pit to be on top again. This whole
book is about the failure of man and the success of God. In spite of man's folly that
leads to defeat, God is faithful to bring his people to victory when they repent and
seek his face. It is a constant roller coaster ride of ups and downs, but as the
unknown poet says in the following lines, there is always an afterward to bad events.
2.There is an “afterward’ to all life’s sorrows,
An “afterward’ which may hold the purest gain;
An “afterward:-a glad and golden morrow’
To leave behind all shadowed sense of pain.
There is an “afterward” of far exceeding measure
Than tedious days of suffering’s long-drawn length;
An “afterward” of fuller, greater treasure;
An “afterward” of fuller, greater strength.
3. Thank God for the afterward where by his providence there is much good that
comes out of terrible times. Corrie Ten Boom saw her father and nephew, and then
her sister, die in prison, but after she had 33 years of travel to 64 countries to share
the Gospel, and millions heard her, and many came to Christ, she thanked God for
the afterward. She said, “When the worst happens in the life of a child of God, and
it did, the best remains, and the very best is yet to be.” This is the ultimate hope of
all of God's people. No matter how bad this life can get, the best is yet to come. The

book of Judges does not get us there, but at least we see that they begin after their
loss to look to God.
4. The loss of Joshua was a greater loss to the people of God than the loss of Moses,
for when Moses died Joshua was the prepared leader empowered by God to lead
them to take the land they were promised. He was a mighty warrior, and led them to
victory after victory. His death left them with no leader of his status. It is just one of
the inevitable facts of history that great leaders must die. The reality is that grave
yards are filled with the graves of indispensable leaders, which only demonstrates
that they are not indispensable Life must go on, and wise are those people who turn
to God for guidance. That is what we see here, and so the Israelites begin this book
with a positive step in the right direction. Their great leader is gone, but God is their
greater leader and they turn to him for guidance as to who should go first and lead
them into battle. They recognize that leadership is crucial to success. When a great
leader dies, and there is no appointed successor, many nations are divided, and civil
war breaks out between different factions seeking power. This happened in Israel's
future, but here they stick together and seek God's will for leadership.
Unfortunately, they did not always follow this way of wisdom, and the result is every
time a leader dies in this book the people go to pot, and fall back into chaotic living
without direction. This book demonstrates that people without direction tend to go
astray from the will of God, and they get lost in doing what is right in their own
eyes.
5. Lose a leader go to pot.
Wise alone you are not.
Always you need a hero;
Lose one, you go back to zero.
No leadership anywhere,
One hope left, go to prayer.
6. Every time the Jews hit bottom they knew the only way up was prayer to God to
forgive their folly, and give them another chance with a new leader who would keep
them in shape. God always came through with another leader. The judges were
those leaders, and though they were far from perfect, and sometimes full of flaws,
they kept the people on a higher level than they ever managed to be on their own.
Every time they were on their own they fell back into anarchy. That was the risk
they faced with the death of Joshua, but we see them seeking God's guidance, and so
the book starts off good. They need a leader and so they ask God to make the choice
for them. Before this Joshua was always first for he was a leader empowered by
God, and all the tribes followed him without question. Under Joshua it was all
conquest, but now in Judges it is often defeat as well as conquest. Under Joshua it
was a time of faith and victory, but under the Judges it was often a time of unbelief
and loss. Under Joshua it was unity, but in Judges it is division. There is a great deal
that goes wrong in this book, but at least it begins well with the people consulting
God to know his will for a leader in fighting the enemy. A good start is not enough is
a clear teaching of this book, but a good start is still better than a false start.

2. The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have
given the land into their hands."
1. They were the biggest and most powerful tribe. They were held in high regard by
the rest of the tribes. They were the tribe from which Jesus was to come centuries
later. "Judah's leadership position among the tribes is well documented. For
example, Jacob depicted Judah as a mighty warrior and the leader of his brothers in
(Genesis 49:8-12). The tribe of Judah also assumed a favored position in the
encampment arrangement in the wilderness (see Numbers 2) and was the first tribe
to whom Joshua allotted land west of the Jordan (Joshua 14-15)." God not only
chose the tribe, but he gave them assurance that they would be successful and be
able to take the land. It is always easier to go into warfare in confidence if you have
God's promise that victory is a sure thing. It is a done deal according to God, and so
they can march off without fear. This is a common statement in the book of Judges,
and each time it is used, you know the victory is a sure thing, for God does not
promise and then fail to perform.
2. Texts which give the promise of victory.
Judges 3:28 "And he said to them, "Pursue them, for the LORD has given your
enemies the Moabites into your hands."
Judges 4:14 And Deborah said to Barak, "Arise! For this is the day in which the
LORD has given Sisera into your hands;
Judges 7:15 And it came about when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its
interpretation, that he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and
said, "Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hands."
Judges 7:9 Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, "Arise, go
down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands.
Judges 18:10 "When you enter, you shall come to a secure people with a spacious
land; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything
that is on the earth."
Judges 7:14 And his friend answered and said, "This is nothing less than the sword
of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp
into his hand."
3. One could get a false impression by reading all those verses, for it appears that
God's promise is that the Israelites will soon have all the Promised Land in their

hands and under their control. This is not the case, and the wars to take it go on and
on, and they are never finished in this book. Joshua was a great warrior and took
much of the land, but he died long before it was fully possessed. Joshua was an old
man when God spoke to him and said, “You are old, advanced in years, and there
remains very much land yet to be possessed” (Jos13:1, NKJV). Judah was now the
leading tribe to finish the job, but we soon see that it was far from complete even
after their success, for it was a limited and incomplete success. One of the lessons of
this book is that the battle to possess all that God promises is never over in this life.
We get some, but never all that he wants us to have, because our faith is weak and
incomplete, and we fail to persist in the right direction.
4. The Pulpit Commentary makes a valuable comment on the choice of God to send
Judah first. It was the largest and most powerful tribe and so it seemed a logical
choice. The commentary says, “We see therefore that although human merit
cannot be said to determine divine appointments, the latter will often be found to
run in the same line.” Because God can use the weak to shame the strong does not
mean He does not use the strong. Samson is an illustration. God does not do
everything contrary to the normal strategy of human wisdom. He uses common
sense methods to get His will done. The best qualified should be chosen to lead
unless there is good reason not to do so. Out of Judah came the Christ, who is our
Leader, who goes before to conquer and open up the promised land of eternity." In
other words, it is just plain common sense to make decisions that are reasonable and
based on the best evidence of what is most likely to succeed. Just because God can
use the weak and inadequate, it is folly for us to choose that way when we are
responsible to make choices. God does many marvelous things in this book with
faulty tools and people who are unqualified and unworthy, but this is to
demonstrate that he is the power behind their success. That is not the way we are to
operate, for we do not have the power to bring glory to ourselves through the
mediocre and third rate instruments. It is being presumptuous on our part to choose
what is foolish in hopes God will make it a wise choice. It is just not wise for men to
try and play God, for even he does not always choose the unlikely to achieve his
purpose.
5. Judah tended to be chosen first most of the time because God ordained that
Judah was to provide leadership to his people. In Genesis 49:10 we read, " The
scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until
he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." All of the
kings of Israel came from Judah until the civil war divided the nation, and all of the
good kings were from Judah. This book reveals that the further the people got away
from Judah the worse they became. Judah is portrayed in the best light of any of the
tribes.
6. (The procedure of this inquiry is set out in Numbers 27:18-21. They consulted
with the high priest, who wore the “ephod.” The ephod had a breastplate of jewels,
one for each tribe. Scholars think that God caused a particular jewel to light up, or
maybe heat up, in answer to a question about which tribe was to do this or that.

Numbers 27:21 forbad Israel to go into battle without consulting the ephod first.)
3. Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites
their brothers, "Come up with us into the
territory allotted to us, to fight against the
Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into
yours." So the Simeonites went with them.
1. Many commentators say it was an act of disobedience for Judah to ask their
brothers the Simeonites to join them, but this is reading in something that is not in
the text. God just said they were to go first, and he did not say they were to go alone.
Asking those close to them to join them was a wise thing to do, and God blessed
them with victory. It was just a beneficial thing for them to work together and help
each other. Companionship and cooperation are good things. Who wants to fight a
war all alone? Someone pointed out that even the Lone Ranger had his Tonto. The
tribe of Simeon was the least of the tribes, but Judah asked for their help. We need
to realize that often the strong need the weak to succeed. Billy Graham always
recognized that without the masses of unknown workers his crusades never could
have been successful. All strong leaders need many who are weak and inadequate
people on their own, to be a part of the larger group necessary for success. No great
leader stands alone, or if he does, he does not stand for very long. There is a
principle here that even God follows, for he is always asking for the help of men and
women who are weak and inadequate to help accomplish his will. All the strong and
powerful members of your body need the help of the weak and invisible parts that
nobody pays any attention to in order to achieve their goals. The partnership of the
strong and the weak is a part of all reality, and this is good, for it means that all are
of value and none are worthless. How stupid the head would be if it said to the feet,
"I don't need your help." Without the lowly feet the head would never get ahead.
2. James Jordon wrote, “Simeon goes along with Judah. There is a specific reason
for this. Simeon and Levi had been cursed for their sin to be scattered throughout
the land, and not to have their own special tribal land (Gen. 34; Dt. 22:22-29; Gen.
49:5-7). In the case of Levi, this curse was turned into a blessing, as they became the
priests (guardians) of Israel and dwelt in the Levitical cities (Dt. 33:8-11); but to this
point, no salvation has come for Simeon. By identifying themselves with the royal
tribe, however, Simeon finds salvation. The blessings that come to the tribe of Judah
will come to Simeon as well. (Indeed, this had already been set out in Joshua 19:1-9,
where it is stated that Simeon’s land was taken out of Judah’s territory.) Later in

history, Simeon will be part of the southern kingdom of Judah, and thus will be
spared the Assyrian captivity. It is important to consider, however briefly, the
specific nature of the sin committed by Levi and Simeon in Genesis 34. They took
the sign of circumcision, which was a sign of their calling as priests to the nations,
and turned it into a weapon against the nations. They turned the sword of wrath
against members of the covenant. They put personal family feelings before their
covenantal duties. Notice how Levi and Simeon are called to repent of these sins. In
Exodus 32, Levi is called to put his covenantal duties before his feelings for his
brethren (as this is pointed out in Deuteronomy 33:9). Herein Judges 1, Simeon is
called upon to judge righteous judgment in fully destroying the Canaanite city
of Hormah.”
4 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the
Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and
they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.
5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and
fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites
and Perizzites.
6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and
caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
1. You cannot tell me that this would not make a group of Jr. High kids laugh. The
boys would say "cool" and the girls would say "gross" but they would laugh at the
thumbs and toes of this mighty king being dismembered. It falls into the same
category along with sickos who cut up people and put them in their freezer, or those
who actually eat people they dismember. When these horror stories of history
happen they produced a wave of jokes that swept the nation, and then faded away
until some other horrendous event gave an opportunity for new sick jokes to
develop. Believe it or not, just about every tragic event in our history produces a
wave of sick jokes. I can just imagine how many of the pagan peoples rejoiced and
laughed with many jokes, when they heard of Adoni-Bezek being chopped up like he
chopped up others. He was a curse to all people and his fall would produce
celebration in all, and not just the Jews. The people of the 70 kings he mutilated
would be having parties when they heard that this monster was at last out of the
picture. Seventy sad sovereigns begged at his feet, but now he shares that same sad
defeat. Now he weighs several less ounces, for that's just the way the ball bounces.
Defeated, dethroned, disabled, disgraced, on the list of great villains his name will be
placed. That is the fate of many evil rulers who suffer poetic justice.

2. The Jews, without a doubt, had a field day with this powerful enemy who has now
been reduced to a cripple who cannot handle a sword without his thumb, and
cannot engage in any type of combat because he has no balance without his big toes.
This was the worst possible punishment to a warrior, for it meant his last battle, for
he was forced by these handicaps to retire forever from warfare. He could not fight,
he could not run, his glory days were over and done. It was like shooting the trigger
finger of a gun fighter in the old West. This is pure comedy to those who have seen
just how evil this man has been in his treatment of those he has captured in the past.
Do you think that this people who have produced so many of the great comics of our
culture did not have a Jay Leno to entertain them with humor about King Stumpy.
The soldiers who did this to the defeated king would be joking about it and laughing
for years to come. They would be telling it to their grandchildren with delight that
they actually saw this monster who mutilated so many others suffering the same
humiliation he inflicted on them. We need to see this scene like we would as we come
to the end of a movie where the evil leader has been so hard hearted and merciless
in his killing. We are so delighted when the good guy finally gets a chance to end his
miserable career with a bullet, knife, arrow, fall from a cliff, or whatever means. It
is such a relief that we feel a sense of pleasure that justice has been done. We are so
grateful to the hero that he could bring the villain to justice, and that is just how we
are to see the violent stories in the Bible.
3. He once enjoyed the crippling of other kings
By severing thumbs and toes.
He also enjoyed some other cruel things,
How many no one knows.
This is history and it is no fable
His cruelty could not be beat.
He made kings crawl under his table
And pick up scraps for them to eat.
Such evil is so pathetic
It is hard to explain,
But he got justice so poetic
When he had to endure that same pain.
He knew it very clearly
That this was pay back time,
And he paid for it so dearly-
His cruel life of crime.
He once had his sadistic fun
In making others beg.
But in the end he had not won,
And it cost an arm and leg.

Now none could ever say of him,
"The king is just all thumbs."
But they could note his nails are trim
As he crawled about to pick up crumbs.
Is it right to laugh at evil men
When they reap what they sow?
It was once, way back when
In the days of long ago.
4.The soldiers who did this to him would be heroes cheered by the crowds in the
victory parade. People love it when evil men get their just deserts, and they see them
reaping as they sowed. James 2:13 says, "..judgment without mercy will be shown to
anyone who has not been merciful." We usually hear it as "an eye for an eye," but it
can also be designated "a thumb for a thumb," or "a toe for a toe." Isa. 33:1 says,
"Woe to you, O destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, O traitor,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.
5. The bottom line is that we see a Biblical example of poetic justice here. The
essence of poetic justice is the triumph of good over evil. There are many sins that
are between a person and God, and they can be confessed and forgiven, but there
are sins that involve great hurt and injustice to others, and these call for justice
where the sinner is accountable, and must pay a price for his evil. In other words,
sometimes revenge is a positive thing. This is especially so when there is no
repentance. When the soldiers saw what he had done to so many other men they
knew he had to suffer the same fate, for justice demanded it.
6. After the holocaust Jews scoured the world to find German leaders who sent
millions of their fellow Jews to a horrible death. They were determined that they
would not escape but be brought to justice, and it was a cause for celebration every
time they succeeded. This was and is valid revenge, and not inconsistent with
Christian principles. Jesus told of the rich man in hell who got just what he
deserved. One of the greatest examples in the Bible is the hanging of wicked Haman
on the very gallows he had built to hang innocent Mordecai in the book of Esther.

The same thing came upon Ahab and Jezebel who plotted the death of Naboth to get
his vineyard in I Kings 21. God sent Elijah with this message in verse 19, "This is
what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick
up your blood-yes, yours!" God got revenge by seeing that they met the same end as
what they inflicted on an innocent man. In I Sam. 15:33 we see another example as
Samuel brought the evil king Agag of the Amalekites before him and pronounced
judgment, "As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be
childless among women." Then he put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.
Poetic justice is not always pleasant, but it is satisfying and often even quite funny.
It is funny because it is a wonderful and shocking turn of events that makes the
wicked suffer the evil they want to inflict on others.
7. History has some funny examples of poetic justice. For example, on North
Carolina's Figure Eight island the authorities said they suspected the cause of the
fire that destroyed the vacation home of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company president
Andrew J. Shindler was a lighted cigarette butt. Another is this one that has to
make you laugh at how humorous it can be when justice is done to those who seek to
do evil. The Guardian reports news of the death of a local politician in eastern
Ukraine. "The 40-year-old man was taking his dog for a walk when he fell into a
heated argument with a group of people who objected to the dog, a boxer, being off
his lead and without a muzzle. The politician took a hand grenade out of his pocket
and threw it at the young people. The dog fetched the grenade and obediently
returned it to its master, only for both of them to be blown to pieces."
8. Poetic justice has been a part of literature through all of history for people need
to know that evil behavior never pays off in the long run. We say crime does not
pay, but we know it can pay for a short time. In the long run, however, it only pays
in poetic justice, which is the wages of sin, and it is not good. Dante in his Divine
Comedy portrayed various levels of hell and on each lower level the sinners were
more and more evil. Their punishment was to endure on themselves the very sins
they were most guilty of in life. In other words, they lived an eternity of poetic
justice. In Stephen King's "Survivor Type," the review says, "..a doctor with no
morals or conscience is shipwrecked on a deserted island. Because of his illicit
activities, he has a valise of heroin with him. When he breaks his ankle he uses the
heroin for an anesthetic, then cuts off his own foot and eats it. He continues to cut
off body parts to fend off starvation, finally cutting off his left hand. The diary he
keeps ends there. It is poetic justice that the means and skills he used in a lifetime of
harming others become the instrument of such horrendous suffering inflicted upon
himself." All of our super hero movies are based on poetic justice. The evil forces
can be devestating and overwhelming, but in the end the good always wins out over
the evil. That is the way God made the universe. It is the law, and those who want to
defy that law and make movies where the bad guys win will be the laughingstock of
the movie world. It does not fit life, nor history, and especially the Bible.
9. Another contemporary example is the following: "This wonderful bit of follow up
on the news, courtesy of Durham Herald-Sun columnist Carl Daniels-Kinney: I'm
sure many of you are aware that about two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court ruled

that the state of Missouri cannot discriminate against the Ku Klux Klan when it
comes to groups that want to participate in the adopt-a-highway program. Of
course, while the name of the Klan is aesthetically disgusting, we'd all agree that this
decision is a victory for free speech and equal protection under the law, right? Well,
the DOT in Missouri has gotten their revenge, and boy is it sweet. Sure, they can't
remove the KKK's adopt-the-highway sign, but few would dispute the state's ability
to name the highway itself. The KKK is now cleaning up a stretch of the newly-christened
Rosa Parks Freeway." If that does not make you laugh you need to be
rewired. Poetic justice is funny because it shows the bad guy paying for his injustice
by getting the same in return, and now, because it is coming to one who deserve it, it
is justice and not injustice.
10. The reality of poetic justice is one of the clearest evidences of God's sense of
humor. Unfortunately it is not very funny when it happens to you, and we need to be
aware that believers are not immune to poetic justice. We often think that David
was just forgiven for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and life went on as usual,
but this is not so. He had to endure the awful judgment of poetic justice. He had sex
with another man's wife and God said for that you will endure another man having
sex with your wife. He stated this clearly in II Sam. 12:11-12, "This is what the Lord
says: "Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before
your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you and he
will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this
thing in broad daylight before all Israel." On top of this God goes on to add that in
judgment the child will die. He was forgiven but he did not get by with it like many
imply. David was spared and allowed to live, but he bore a terrible experience of
poetic justice.
7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with
their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up
scraps under my table. Now God has paid me
back for what I did to them." They brought him
to Jerusalem, and he died there.
1. This wicked king rose to great heights by stepping on seventy kings that he
conquered. He was a mighty warrior and very successful, but one of the most cruel
rulers we see anywhere in the Bible, or history books. Every time he took a king
prisoner he tortured them by cutting off their thumbs and big toes. They were then
reduced to crawling around on his dining room floor to pick up scraps that he might
drop. In other words he was treating them like dogs. You remember that when
Jesus said to the mother who begged him to cast out the demon in her daughter,

"...it is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it unto the dogs." She
responded, "Yes Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." It
was as common in that old world as it is today to have a dog under the table begging
for some crumbs. This wicked king reduced the kings he defeated to live just like
dogs. You can just imagine him laughing as he would throw a chunk of his lamb on
the floor, and these pathetic prisoners would fight each other to get to it first. Many
kings of history have been collectors of art or objects of rare value like gems, but
here is the only king on record who collected handicapped kings that he had made
handicapped for his own amusement. Such sadistic behavior made him feared by
all. Nothing could give the Hebrew forces more joy than to see poetic justice take
place and see him reduced to this same pitiful level.
2. They never cut off these members of any other of the kings they defeated. This
was a unique situation where it seemed only right and appropriate. It would have
been evil to make this a practice, but for this one exception it was considered a valid
punishment. As horrid as it is, it is an illustration of the poetic justice of God. He
was not permitted to just be killed, and have done all this to seventy men, and then
die quickly by the sword, and escape the consequences of his satanic and sadistic
treatment of other human beings. The man himself had the honesty to admit that he
deserved what he got. It was God's payback for his atrocious crimes. This is the
man's own testimony and confession, and what is funny about it is that this evil king
gives us the answer to the many questions people ask about all the violent killing
that was involved in God's leading his people to take possession of the promised
land. I call it funny because it is a surprise that this terribly evil king provides us
with the blessing of understanding one of the great mysteries of the Bible. It reveals
again the humor of God in using any instrument, including the worst of men, to
teach lessons of great value. James Jordan wrote, “Adoni-Bezek is forced to confess
to the justice of this: “As I have done, so God has repaid me.” On the last day, every
tongue will confess to the justice measured out by Jesus Christ, the greatest son of
Judah. Sadly, most commentators on Judges present this as an act of unwarranted
cruelty on Judah’s part; but the Bible teaches it in principle, and the text says that it
was an act of Divine justice. Let us beware of criticizing God!”
3. The mystery is, how can God be justified in wiping out so many people in order
for his people to take over this country we call Israel. Eight Fingers and Eight Toes
is my nick name for Adoni-Bezek. You can't like him, but you can thank him for he
makes it clear by his confession that all of the radical killing and violence of taking
over the land is judgment on the people who possess the land. They all, like this
sadistic fanatic, deserve their judgment, and all that bothers us is God's poetic
justice being acted out on the stage of history. What goes around comes around. You
reap as you sow. You get as you give. All of the pagan peoples that occupied the land
had descended from a godly heritage. At one time they had a close relationship with
the true God, and then they fell away and took up the practice of worshiping idols,
and forming all kinds of false religions with horrible practices of sacrificing
children, and making immorality a part of religion. They were an abomination in
the eyes of God, for they made all he had given to bless mankind to be a curse to
mankind. If they were honest like Adoni-Bezek they would admit that they were

getting just what they deserved. God made this clear to the Hebrew people that they
were not getting the land because they were better than the pagans, but because
they were so wicked they deserved to be wiped out. God judged the Hebrews also for
they were at times just as wicked or worse than the pagans around them. But God
made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and he kept that promise even though
they did not deserve it. So we need to see all the horrible accounts of slaughter just
like we see Adoni-Bezek having his thumbs and toes cut off and dying in
humiliation. It is all poetic justice-people getting just what they deserve.
4. Read the following Words of God and you will see that it is so.
Deut. 9:4-6, "4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not
say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land
because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations
that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. 5 It is not because of your
righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land;
but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive
them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness
that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked
people."
5. In Lev. 18 there is a long list of sexual perversions that God forbids that his
people practice, but they were practiced by the people of the land that they were to
drive out. They had become so evil that their continuation would destroy the human
race, and so they had to be eliminated. It was just like the flood that God used in the
day of Noah to wipe out a world of humans who had become so evil that they were
beyond redemption. God promised he would never do that again, but he did not
promise he would never judge evil people anymore. The whole account of taking the
promised land was like a local flood, but instead of water God used his people by
means of warfare to wipe out the wickedness. At the conclusion of this Lev. 18
chapter God makes it clear why he is doing this and also makes it clear that he will
do the same to his own people if they become as wicked as those they are driving
out. In verses 24 to 30 we read-
" 'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that
I am going to drive out before you became defiled. 25 Even the land was defiled; so I
punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you must
keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you
must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the
people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you
defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before
you. 29 " 'Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be
cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the
detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves
with them. I am the LORD your God.' "
6. We read it again in Deut. 18:9-12, " 9 When you enter the land the LORD your

God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] the fire,
who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or
casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone
who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable
practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you."
7. This is all a sad commentary on just how low humans can fall from their status as
being made in the image of God. They can so desecrate that image that God cannot
tolerate their existence any longer. God's justice demands that they suffer the
punishment they deserve. Instead of seeing all the horror of their judgment as
cruelty on the part of God, we need to see it as his grace and mercy to the rest of
mankind, for if such wickedness is not eliminated it will corrupt the whole of the
human race and make it so that all end up condemned. The evil influence of these
people continued to plague the people of God for centuries because they were never
completely eliminated. Their evil ways were so seductive that God's people were
constantly being led to the same low level where God had to judge his own children
and eliminate them. The justice of God is no respecter of persons, and so when the
Hebrews practiced all of the forbidden sins of the pagans they met the same fate and
were killed by the very pagans they were to drive from the land. Poetic justice runs
all through the Old Testament revealing just how serious God is about having a holy
nation and a righteous people on this planet.
8. Now all of this has been a theodicy, which means the justifying of God's ways.
Many are offended by God's judgment on the people of the land, and they think it
cruel the way he had them wiped out. Most critics of God use this history to paint a
picture of God that is so contrary to what a God of love ought to be that many
reject the God of the Bible because of it. The true picture is just the opposite of
what they portray, for God is not being cruel but just and righteous in his
judgments, and all for the sake of mankind. Judgment and justice may not be a
pretty picture, but the end result is God finally developed a remnant of people who
were purified from the surrounding paganism. He had a people who were righteous
and who lived in obedience to his law, and through them he brought his Son into
the world to be the Savior of the world. It was a long and difficult process with
many ups and downs, but the end result is a righteous Redeemer and a Kingdom of
God on earth that is a benefit for all mankind. Through Jesus Christ and His
Kingdom every person in history has the hope of eternal life in the presence of the
God of love, who by his justice made this marvelous salvation possible.
8. The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and
took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on
fire.

1. There is a very funny thing about the victories of Israel in this book. They sound
so total when you read of them, as we do here, and see that the people are killed, and
the city is burned. The obvious conclusion is, that part of the battle is over, and we
can move on to new areas of conflict. But these people of Canaan were like weeds.
You think you have them and they are gone, and then you come back in a few days
and there they are again. Weeds are either dug out or pulled out by the root, or they
are cut off at the ground level. When the last method is used you can count on them
being back, and that is the method Israel is using to get rid of the Jebusites.
Jerusalem is basically wiped out and leveled, and then in verse 21 we read that they
are still there and they are not leaving anytime soon, for they become a permanent
part of that community. One of the things we have to recognize is that battles are
often won and the army of Israel wipes out the army of some pagan nation or city,
but the people are still alive and are having more children to become a new army.
Some nations send out their army of 18 and 19 years olds and they are slaughtered,
but the next year they have another crop of teens who are ready to go to war again.
2. Just defeating a pagan army does not mean you have defeated the people as a
whole. They are persistent and keep coming back just like the weeds in your garden,
or just like the sins that become habitual to us. We feel guilt and confess our sin, and
swear that we will change, and for some time we keep our commitment, and feel like
we have conquered. Then the temptation becomes too strong and we are back in the
same war again fighting the same enemies of our souls. We win battles, but the war
never seems to end, for the enemy will not just die once and for all. Sometime you
have to fight the same war over many times before you have really won in a
meaningful way. We will see when we get to the Philistines that they were defeated
time and time again and wiped out, and yet they kept coming back for centuries.
and often defeating Israel after they have been defeated themselves many times
over. You need to see this persistence of the pagan nations to make any sense out of
all the wars with the same people. This text would lead you to believe that the
Jebusites were destroyed, but not so, for they are very much alive and well, and a
constant threat to Israel. It was 400 years later that David finally put an end to
them, and took full control of Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:6-10).
9. After that, the men of Judah went down to fight
against the Canaanites living in the hill country,
the Negev and the western foothills.
1. They left Jerusalem and went on to fight the Canaanites, and so they did not settle
Jerusalem and bring their families there. It was a defeated city, but it was left alone
for the Jebusites to come back and rebuild. The forces of Israel were not very wise

in their skills of warfare. They could win a battle, and then not take advantage of
their win and secure the land that they could now control. They hurried off to the
next battle and let the enemy keep the land they had just conquered. The result of
this fly by night, and by the seat of your pants type warfare they were winning all
the time did not lead them to reach the goal for which they were fighting. This was a
strange way to take over their promised inheritance, and it led to them not taking it
over.
10. They advanced against the Canaanites living
in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and
defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.
1. Most people reading this would likely not remember that this is a rerun of events
already recorded in Joshua 15. It is what is called a recapitulation, or a going back
over events that have already happened earlier. These three leaders that are
defeated were famous giants of the race of Anak. They were dwelling in Hebron
when the Hebrew spies explored the land in Num. 13:22. The people of Israel were
afraid of these giants, and most refused to go into the Promised Land because of
them. These three giant sons of Arba so intimidated the Israelites that they refused
to obey God in taking their land, and this cowardice led to all needing to die in the
wilderness before God led the people of Isral into that land to defeat them. Now it is
so great a victory that this story is repeated here, for it is a part of history that the
Jews are so proud of that they can hear it repeated over and over. So this whole
context is a repetition of what is already recorded in Joshua 15:13-14. This was the
big giant killing story to be repeated over and over before David killed Goliath, and
then that became the greatest giant killing story of all time.
2. This was also an often repeated story because Hebron was a major metropolis of
that day. It was a fortified city full of giants. It rivaled Jericho in size, and so its fall
was a major victory. But, again, the victory was not complete, for later the giants
that escaped came back to take over Hebron again. Caleb then had to return to
battle them all over again. He finally succeeded in killing all the giants there, and he
retook Hebron. There were, however, plenty of non-giant average size people that
were not driven off, and they kept coming back to make life miserable for Israel.
The Jews just could not be consistent in getting the job fully accomplished, and the
result is they were under the constant negative influence of the pagan people they
were to have driven out completely.

11. From there they advanced against the people
living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).
1. This is also a repetition of Joshua 15:15. The interesting thing about this verse is
the name of the city. Kiriath Sepher means City of the book, or Book-Town. It
would seem that these people did not spend all of their time on the battlefield killing
and destroying property. They had their own library, and at least once in awhile
would read a book. They were probably books dealing with their religious rituals
and customs, and so were likely burned by the Jews when they took over the city.
On the other hand, some of these books may have been kept and they led to the
slipping into idolatry that soon followed the victory of the Israelites. Books have a
great power for both good and evil, and these books were, no doubt, those that
would lead to evil.
2. Debir was the setting of a great romanic story in Israel, for it was here that a
famous hero by the name of Othniel won the right to marry the daughter of an even
more famous hero by the name of Caleb. It is a strange reality of history that war
stories and romance stories often go together like this one. Both are repeated in
Joshua 15:13-19. Caleb and Joshua were the only two men who did not fear taking
on the giants, and so when they survived the 40 year march in the wilderness, they
were anxious to get their hands on these giants that scared everyone else away, and
cost them thirty years of their lives. James Jordon points out something interesting
about Caleb. He wrote, "Now we ought to note that Caleb was not a racial Israelite,
but a convert from the Kenizzites (Gen. 15:19; Josh. 14:6). This is remarkable in
itself, showing the plenteous grace of God. Like Uzziah later on, Caleb the convert
was a better soldier of God than were many who had been born into the kingdom."
12. And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter
Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and
captures Kiriath Sepher."
1. Here is a typical hero story where the king offers his daughter to the man who
will kill the dragon, or recover the stolen jewel, or accomplish some other task
calling for great bravery. Usually the daughter is a beautiful creature that makes all
men long to possess her, and so there is powerful motivation to take the risk. Acsah
does not have a choice as to who she will end up with, for anyone brave enough to
take the city would automatically become her husband. She was just a trophy, and
trophies do not get a vote as to who wins them. Some gross looking soldier without
compassion and sensitivity could have volunteered, and she would be thrust into his
arms and bed without any choice on her part. It was a scary world for women in
that day. Now days the clod has to court her and deceive her about his insensitivity

before she makes her foolish choice to become his bride.
2. Caleb only had one daughter and so the winner would not face the possibility of
being tricked like Jacob was. He earned the right to have Rachel as his wife, but
Laban swithched daughters around and gave him Leah on his wedding night. No
such shock awaited the warrior who took Caleb up on his offer. His one daughter
would be the prize. It sounds like a negative thing to be treating his daughter as a
thing to be given away, but Caleb was a wise man, and he was not doing this as some
sort of stunt. He was really thinking of what was best for his daughter. Any man
who was brave enough and warrior enough to capture a city was just the kind of
man he wanted for her. And it worked out just as he hoped, for the man who won
her by his successful warfare became the first Judge in the book of Judges. He was a
hero and a leader of the people, and his daughter became one of the most fortunate
women in the land. She became the first lady of Israel, and she had, as we read on, a
lovely place to live with all the comforts that could be asked for. Her name means
“bangle, ankle ornament, or "Golden anklet." The implication is that she loved
jewelry, and her dad made sure she would be able to enjoy such luxuries by playing
his version of lets make a deal. Othniel took him up on the deal and went into battle
for the sake of gaining a wife from one of the greatest leaders Israel even had. He
was a man of God himself, and God blessed him with victory, for he not only wanted
him to have a wife, but he wanted him to become a leader of the nation. Caleb was a
happy man as well, for Othniel was his Nephew, and so he kept his daughter and the
land in the family.
3. This fortunate daughter knew her father to be a generous man, for he had done
what was necessary to get her the finest husband. So she asked her new husband to
go to Caleb and ask him for a field. Apparently Caleb had quite a large tract of land
under his authority and Acsah felt like she could help the economy of her new
marriage by getting papa to fork over a chunk of his property. We do not really
know when Othniel got around to asking, for the next sentence has Acsah herself
going to dad with a request for an additional gift. It appears that Othniel was
successful in getting the land, and now Acsah goes to plead for an additional favor.
She asks for springs of water, and this is such an obvious need that it is
unimaginable that Caleb would not grant it. What good is land without water? Her
goal is obviously a farm for raising food and livestock, and this can never be without
water. Caleb did not hesitate, but gave her more than she asked for. She got both
upper and lower springs, and so she was set for being a successful farmer's wife.
Here you have a woman who never had to go through the agony of dating to find
her a man. She never had to experience rejection by a boy friend. She was handed a
godly heroic man on a platter. Then she was handed a great piece of land, and given
all the water she needed to be successful. She had a godly loving father with whom
she had a positive relationship.This girl went from being single and living with her
dad to being happily married and quite wealthy in a matter of a few days. This is
almost a like a fairy tale. Her prince rides back from his victory and sweeps her off
her feet, and makes her the queen of her own domain, and in spite of living in
terrible times, the record would indicate that they lived happily ever after.

4. Caleb was a generous man with his land because he knew all that he possessed
was a gift to him by God. He and Joshua were the only two men who had the
courage to believe God was going to give this land to them. In Numbers 14:7-9 we
read of how Caleb came back after spying out the land and said to the people, "The
Land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased
with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will
give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people
of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the
LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." It was quite a pep talk, but the people
of Israel had no faith. All they could see was the land was full of giants, and they did
not feel God was able to make them superior to these mighty warriors. They said it
is suicide to attack these people. We want to go back to Egypt. They wanted to
retreat from all that God had prepared for them, and in judgment they had to
march through the desert for forty years until all the skeptics and cowards were
dead. Joshua and Caleb alone were left to lead the people to take the land. They had
to endure waiting 40 long miserable years with cowards before they could settle in
their inheritance. Their faith never wavered, and so now they are no longer the
young warriors they once were, but even in their advanced age they were so full of
faith that God blessed them with every promise fulfilled. Caleb was willing to share
what he had, for he knew it was all of grace that he had such abundance.
5. It is amazing what God did through Caleb, for he was an old man now, and he
had lost 40 years of living in the luxury that he now had to share with his daughter.
Listen to his testimony from Joshua 14:1--14. “Now then, just as the LORD
promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to
Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years
old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to
go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD
promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there, and
their cities were large and fortified, but the LORD helping me, I will drive them out
just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron
as his inheritance. So Hebron belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite
ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly." It is
fitting that this man's son-in-law becomes the first Judge of Israel. He lived to see
the faithfulness of God in ways he did dream of, but God added other blessings that
he did not imagine would be his. He spent most of his life in the minority. He chose
to listen to God and trust his word when the majority were doubting and rejecting
God's word. But now we see how God honors those who do not join the majority,
but continue to be faithful when there is no hope of ever changing the majority.
Being right did not get him to the Promised Land any quicker, but it did get him
there finally, when all of the majority were bones in the dust of the desert. They died
in poverty and he lives in luxury because he never gave up on the promise of God.
6. The surprising thing about Caleb, which we have mentioned before, is that he was
not an Israelite. Israelites are composed of the twelve tribes of Israel, which are the

children of the 12 sons of Jacob. Caleb was not descended from Jacob, but from his
brother Esau. Othniel was his brothers son and was likewise from the line of Esau.
Here are two marvelous men of God leading God's people and they are not even
Israelites by birth. In Josh 14:6, 14 Caleb is twice called the "son" of Jephunneh the
Kenizzite. Strange as it may seem, these Kenizzites were already living in this land
the Israelites were to take over. While they were marching through the wilderness
for 40 years these people descended from Esau moved into this land along side of the
other nations that were to be driven out. God promised that their land was to be
taken along with all of the other pagan nations in Gen. 15:19. They became one with
the evil nations, but here were two men who escaped from their family's doom be
becoming converts to the God of Israel. They were not Israelites by birth, but they
were by conversion and conviction, and God used these non-Israelites to be great
leaders of his people. It is funny how God is not exclusive, but open to anyone who is
a believer in obeying him as Lord of their lives.
7. Gen. 15:19 lists the Kenites also as a people whose land was promised to Israel,
and they also have converts in Israel who play a part in their victories. They are
descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. They joined the Israelites and
stayed with them all through the wandering in the wilderness, and into the
Promised Land. They were incorporated into the tribe of Judah, and helped them
fight Arad where they settled. God used and blest non-Israelites in the whole process
of fulfilling his promises to Israel. The more you study the details of the Bible the
more you realize that there is no such thing as pure Israelites, for they have been
intermixed with many different people who have converted to the God of Israel.
This is a fulfillment of God's promise that the seed of Abraham would be a blessing
to all the nations of the earth.
13. Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger
brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah
to him in marriage.
1. Here is the first recorded marriage in the Promised Land, and the funny thing
about it is that it was a marriage of cousins. Othniel was Caleb's nephew, and so he
gave his daughter to her cousin as his bride. Some have suggested this was the origin
of calling people kissing cousins. This was certainly no issue of controversy in that
day. In fact, this is one of those rare stories that is told twice in Scripture. You can
read it again in Joshua 15:15-19 word for word. I am not sure that this repetition
here makes the story of greater importance than other marriage stories that occur
only once. Some feel that if the Bible records something twice it must have double
significance, but it is hard to see how this applies, and how you can make this
account doubly significant. What is significant is that it has stimulated a lot of

controversy about the legitimacy of cousins marrying cousins. This is a major issue
on the internet today, and many articles can be found defending the right of cousins
to marry. This is more common than most of us realize, and these people are
fighting the laws in many states that forbid the marriage of cousins.
2. Before we look at the serious issue generated by this marriage, consider the
interesting facts that make this a parallel to a redneck wedding. Judah was the
southernmost part of Israel, and Othniel and his bride were from the South. Two
young people from the South and they marry as cousins. Do you catch my drift?
Come forward three thousand years and you have all the makings of a redneck
wedding. Now we know they lacked many of the ingredients for an authentic
redneck romance. In our day you know when it is a true redneck romance because
the wife owns a camouflage nightie; their wedding ceremony wins on America's
Funniest Home Videos; some of their wedding gifts come from a flea market; the
groom has to take the tobacco out of his mouth to kiss the bride; the prenuptial
agreement mentions a set of socket wrenches, and the sign in front of the chapel
says: "No shirt...No shoes...No problem!" Of course, we know this was a far more
dignified romance and wedding, but how can you resist poking some fun at two
southerners getting married to their own cousins?
3. Now we need to look at the issue that this marriage raises. Is it right, and is it
Biblical to marry as cousins? Our own nation is divided on this issue, and so about
half of the states permit it, and the other half forbid it. This is a strange reality that
people can get married in one state, but the state next to them says it is illegal to do
so. This makes the whole concept of legality very ambiguous. Is it legal to marry
your cousin? Yes, and no, for it all depends on where you get married. Those who
are married as cousins feel it is outrageous that they are not considered legally
married in many states. They claim that 20 percent of marriages around the world
are between first cousins. Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin married their first
cousins, and it is legal in Canada and throughout Europe. The National Society of
Genetic Counselors says the risk of birth defects in babies born to married cousins is
only a few percent higher, and this minor difference is not enough to justify a ban
on cousin marriages. Pastor Don Milton says if you are really stupid, and your
cousin is also really stupid there is a good chance your kids will be stupid too. But he
argues that the Bible does not forbid cousin marriages. It is true that there is no
references forbiding cousins getting married, but there is the text in Lev. 18:6 which
says, "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the
LORD." That can be interpreted different ways and that is why there is
controversy. Is first cousin marriage incest? That is the question, and because it is
ambiguous in Scripture it will, no doubt, continue to be controversial.
4. I am not prepared to settle the issue, but at least this cousin couple seems to have
had a wonderful marriage. In fact, it inspired Richard S. Barnett to write a book on
their romance from the point of view of Othniel. He has him give this testimony:
"Acsah and I braved want and lean years to make our home in the Southland, so
many years ago. We belonged to each other, and we settled there with many of the

men who had served Joshua and Caleb at my side. We had a few sheep, goats,
donkeys, tools, and weapons. On the other hand, Acsah and I hardly knew each
other before our wedding day, and none of us who settled in the Southland knew
anything about building houses or raising crops because we had dwelt in tents and
herded sheep and goats. The Lord blessed our love and it grew. I quickly learned
that Acsah possessed all the shrewdness and far-sightedness of her father. Whereas
a vague longing to marry Acsah had sustained me, I had not really thought beyond
that goal, and I would have been happy as a shepherd. Acsah gave my life direction
because she understood and shared Caleb's vision of what Israel should become.
Because of Acsah, I became a better leader in peace than in war, and she blessed me
with three fine sons, Ahilud, Khermesh, and Sheal." If the author is anywhere near
correct, this was a beautiful marriage.
14. One day when she came to Othniel, she urged
him to ask her father for a field. When she got off
her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for
you?"
1. An unknown female author wrote, "Although Acsah didn’t choose her mate, she
chose a helpful attitude by working with him to acquire good land and water. Acsah
urged her husband to ask Caleb for a field. Her husband did, and Caleb gave them
a field, but it was very dry. So when Caleb asked what he could do for Acsah she
said, “Please give us water to go with our land.” Then, Caleb gave them the upper
and lower springs. (Judges 1:12-15) Acsah’s “willing to help” attitude enabled her
and her husband to acquire good land and water. As wives, choosing a helpful
attitude toward our husbands goes a long way. Sometimes, all we really need to do
to be able to reclaim a fresh attitude is to know we’re not “in it alone." Let’s get
through our days by helping each other, and by being good to each other. In doing
so, we’ll have a set of memories with our husbands that are special enough to turn
our union into a marriage that works."
2. Steve Zeisler sees some negatives in Othniel here as he wrote, "Othniel the son of
Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah
for a wife. Then it came about when she came to him, that she persuaded him [the
word in Hebrew is really nag; she nagged him] to ask her father for a field. [But the
field was not enough.] Then she alighted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her,
"What do you want?" And she said to him, "Give me a blessing, since you have
given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water...." "You get the
impression that this younger hero who could fight wars had no ability at all to
interact with his wife, and she led him around by the nose and told her father what

they required for themselves. In Canaan Caleb fought giants who defied the living
God in exactly the same way that David would one day fight Goliath, the giant who
defied the armies of the living God. Caleb fought for righteous reasons. Othniel
fought and then was nagged by his wife and begged from his father-in-law. He was
different from the older man. His motives were less pure; the greatness was
diminished."
3. Spurgeon has a lengthy sermon on this woman's prayer as a guide for us in
prayer. I just give here some of the main points. He wrote, "This little story of a
daughter and her father is recorded twice in the Bible. You will find it in the
fifteenth chapter of the Book of Joshua, as well as in this first chapter of the Book of
Judges. It is not inserted twice without good reasons. I am going to use it tonight
simply in this manner — the way in which this woman went to her father, and the
way in which her father treated her, may teach us how to go to our Father who is in
heaven, and what to expect if we go to him in that fashion. I would hold up this good
woman, Achsah, before you to-night as a kind of model or parable. Our parable
shall be Achsah, the daughter of Caleb; she shall be the picture of the true successful
pleader with our Father in heaven.
She was newly-married, and she had an estate to go with her to her husband. She
naturally wished that her husband should find in that estate all that was convenient
and all that might be profitable, and looking it all over, she saw what was wanted.
Before you pray, know what you are needing. That man, who blunders down on his
knees, with nothing in his mind, will blunder up again, and get nothing for his pains.
When this young woman goes to her father to ask for something, she knows what
she is going to ask. She will not open her mouth till first her heart has been filled
with knowledge as to what she requires. She saw that the land her father gave her
would be of very little use to her husband and herself because it wanted water-springs.
So she therefore goes to her father with a very definite request, “Give me
also springs of water.”
This good woman, before she went to her father with her petition, asked her
husband’s help. When she came to her husband, “she moved him to ask of her
father a field.” Now, Othniel was a very bravo man, and very bravo men are
generally very bashful men. It is your cowardly man who is often forward and
impertinent; but Othniel was so bashful that he did not like asking his uncle Caleb
to give him anything more; it looked like grasping. He had received a wife from him,
and he had received land from him, and he seemed to say, “No, my good wife, it is
all very well for you to put me up to this, but I do not feel like asking for anything
more for myself.” Still, learn this lesson, good wives, prompt your husbands to pray
with you. Brothers, ask your brothers to pray with you. Sisters, be not satisfied to
approach the throne of grace alone; but ask your sister to pray with you. It is often a
great help in prayer for two of you to agree touching the thing that concerns
Christ’s kingdom. A cordon of praying souls around the throne of grace will be sure
to prevail. God help us to be anxious in prayer to get the help of others!

Now, dear friends, learn again from this good woman how to pray. She went
humbly, yet eagerly. If others will not pray with you, go alone; and when you go, go
very reverently. It is a shameful thing that there should ever be an irreverent
prayer. Thou art on earth, and God is in heaven; multiply not thy words as though
thou wert talking to thine equal. Do not speak to God as though thou couldst order
him about, and have thy will of him, and he were to be a lackey to thee. Bow low
before the Most High; own thyself unworthy to approach him, speaking in the tone
of one who is pleading for that which must be a gift of great charity. So shalt thou
draw near to God aright; but while thou art humble, have desire in thine eyes, and
expectation in thy countenance. Pray as one who means to have what he asks. Say
not, as one did, “I ask once for what I want; and if I do not get it, I never ask again.”
That is unchristian. Plead on if thou knowest that what thou art asking is right. Be
like the importunate widow; come again, and again, and again. Be like the prophet’s
servant, “Go again seven times.” Thou wilt at last prevail. This good woman had not
to use importunity. The very look of her showed that she wanted something; and
therefore her father said, “What wilt thou?”
There was not only gratitude in this woman’s prayer, but she used former gifts as a
plea for more: “Thou hast given me a south land; give me also.” Oh, yes, that is
grand argument with God: “Thou hast given me; therefore, give me some more.”
You cannot always use this argument with men, for if you remind them that they
have given you so much, they say, “Well, now, I think that somebody else must have
a turn. Could you not go next door?” It is never so with God. There is no argument
with him like this, “Lord, thou hast done this to me; thou art always the same; thine
all-sufficiency is not abated; therefore, do again what thou hast done!” Make every
gift that God gives thee a plea for another gift; and when thou hast that other gift,
make it a plea for another gift: he loves you to do this. Every blessing given contains
the eggs of other blessings within it. Thou must take the blessing, and find the
hidden eggs, and let them be hatched by thine earnestness, and there shall be a
whole brood of blessings springing out of a single blessing."
15. She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you
have given me land in the Negev, give me also
springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper
and lower springs.
1. You have given me much father, but now give me more sounds very much like a
child's request, but here is is not selfish, but very necessary. Caleb knows it is
necessary and does not hesitate to grant her request for water. She might well have
been singing an old song, (But probably not that old,) which goes, "All day I've

faced a barren waste without the taste of water, cool water. Old Dan and I with
throats burt dry and souls that cry for water, cool clear water." Caleb's daughter
was a "getter done" person. She was not going to wait until her husband got around
to asking for the water. She did it herself, and got the job done before they died of
thirst. She is saying, "Thanks for the desert dad, but now we could use some water
to make it a place of survival." Hoping for grandkids, he said he would bless them
with plenty of water. The land of the Negev means the land of dryness. It would
seem that Caleb would have given them the water even before she came to request
it. You have to wonder if Caleb was having a hard time letting go of his only
daughter, and kept back the obvious gift in order to bring her back for this request.
2. Her request illustrates that we all need to ask for what we need from those who
can provide it, and especially our heavenly Father who, like Caleb here, knows that
we need what we are asking for. When our request is obviouly a valid need, we can
be asssured of a response. If we don't get one, it could be that it is not a valid need
after all.
16. The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the
Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the
men of Judah to live among the people of the
Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.
1. Abraham had married Keturah, and one of her sons was Midian. Jethro, also
known as Raquel, was a Midianite, and Moses married his daughter, and he then
became the father-in -law of Moses. He was a priest and a godly man who gave
guidance to Moses. The Kenites were a part of the Midianites, and they dwelt in the
city of Palms, which was Jericho. "On the basis of 3.13 this would be Jericho. The
Targum also calls it the city of palm trees because of the many palm trees that grew
near it. An alternative would be Zoar at the southern end of the Dead Sea which was
called the city of palm trees in the Talmud." Here we have another group of people
descended from Abraham becoming a part of the people of Israel.
2. When it was conquered, these people followed Judah into the Promised Land and
became a part of that tribe. Moses persuaded Hobab, the son of Raguel his father in
law, to be their guide in the wilderness, and that is how they became united with the
Israelites. We read of it in Num. 10:29-32 29 "And Moses said unto Hobab, the son
of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of
which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee
good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel. 30 And he said unto him,
I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. 31 And he said,
Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the

wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. 32 And it shall be, if thou go
with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same
will we do unto thee."
3. H. Rossier wrote, "We should note that Reuel and Jethro (Exodus 2.18; 3.1; 18.1),
are actually never said to be Kenites. They were priests of Midian. It is Hobab,
Moses’ brother-in-law, who is said to be a Kenite here (compare 4.11) but not
previously. His connection with the Kenites may thus have been through his wife.
Moses had in fact pressed Hobab his brother-in-law to leave the Midianites and join
them in their venture to Canaan (Numbers 10.29-32). The impression is that Hobab
did so as an experienced wilderness dweller in order to act as their eyes. Once he
had fulfilled his responsibility and they had arrived in Kenite territory in the land of
the south he may well have married a Kenite wife and linked up with the Kenites
who were tent dwellers like himself. But having been converted to the worship of
Yahweh during his time with Israel, he was ready when the time came to throw in
his lot, along with his family, with Judah."
17. Then the men of Judah went with the
Simeonites their brothers and attacked the
Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally
destroyed the city. Therefore it was called
Hormah.
1. Here were literal brothers fighting side by side in gaining a major victory over the
Canaanites. They utterly destroyed them, and this was the instructions that God
gave Moses, and which he passes on to the tribes. Moses instructed them to
exterminate the native population of the land declaring that...when the LORD your
God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly
destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.
(Dt7:2) It seems cruel, but we need to remember, God gave these people four
centuries to repent of their idolatry and immorality, and it was time for a
showdown. They had made their choice to be rebels in their defying the laws of God,
and now it was time to pay for this rebellion. We cannot grasp just how wicked and
despicable these people were that called for their destrution and obliteration from
the earth. They had plenty of light, and some of these pagan people did respond by
repentance and becoming a part of Israel. Those who would not had to be
eliminated to give a place for God to start anew with a new people with greater
potential to be the people he needed to change the world. It was the flood all over
again, but on a smaller scale, and with people rather than water as his instruments
of judgment. We need to grasp that God's goal was for the salvation of the human

race to have a chance. He had to wipe out a lot of people to have a world where it
was possible for a godly virgin to give birth to his Son to save the world.
2. What a terrible way to get your city named. Hormah means complete destruction.
The Septuigent Bible calls it Anathema, a Greek word meaning delivered over to the
divine wrath or curse. It was not the kind of name that would attract tourists. God
took the evil of idolatry very seriously, and any city of his own people who practiced
it were to be destroyed. In Deut. 13:12 to 18 we read, "If thou shalt hear say in one
of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 13
Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have
withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,
which ye have not known; 14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask
diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is
wrought among you; 15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the
edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof,
with the edge of the sword. 16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst
of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every
whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built
again. 17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the
LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have
compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; 18
When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his
commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes
of the LORD thy God." It was one of God's greatest battles to get a people holy
enough to make it possible for his Son to come into the world.
18. The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon
and Ekron--each city with its territory.
1. They took these cities as places where they settled down to live after driving out
the former occupants. God had given these people their eviction notice, and then
followed it up with force. They did not destroy these cities, for they were going to
dwell there, and so wanted as much preserved as possible. Unfortunately, in order to
keep these cities livable they let many of the pagans continue to live there, and so we
see a compromise with God's plan to eliminate them. One commentator points out
that Ashkelon was still much a pagan city after this. He wrote, "Apparently shortly
after Joshua’s death Ashkelon was captured and was briefly controlled by Judah, as
evidenced by the Stele of Merneptah dated about 1220BC. This conquest, however,
was not permanent. A few years later Samson killed 30 men from this city
(Jud14:19). During most of the OT, Ashkelon remained politically and militarily
independent of Israel (thorn in her side fulfilling Joshua's sad prophecy in Jos23:13,
cp Jud2:3, Pr22:5, Je12:13) but they would be ultimately destroyed (Am1:8,

Zep2:4,v7, Zec9:5) Three of the golden tumors sent back with the ark by the
Philistines was from these 3 unsubdued cities (1Sa6:17). Scripture does not specify
what Israel did with these golden pagan offernings!"
2. Clarke points out, "There is a most remarkable variation here in the Septuagint;
I shall set down the verse: "But Judah DID NOT possess Gaza, NOR the coast
thereof; neither Askelon, nor the coasts thereof, neither Ekron, nor the coasts
thereof; neither Azotus, nor its adjacent places: and the Lord was with Judah." This
is the reading of the Vatican and other copies of the Septuagint: but the
Alexandrian MS., and the text of the Complutensian and Antwerp Polyglots, agree
more nearly with the Hebrew text. St. Augustine and Procopius read the same as,
the Vatican MS.; and Josephus expressly says that the Israelites took only Askelon
and Azotus, but did not take Gaza nor Ekron; and the whole history shows that
these cities were not in the possession of the Israelites, but of the Philistines; and if
the Israelites did take them at this time, as the Hebrew text states, they certainly lost
them in a very short time after."
19. The LORD was with the men of Judah. They
took possession of the hill country, but they were
unable to drive the people from the plains,
because they had iron chariots.
1. What a strange paradox. They were God's people, and sent by God with a
promise of victory, and God was with them, and yet they could not drive the people
from the plains because of better weapons, the iron chariots. You can have God on
your side and still lose a battle, or not be able to overcome a foe. There is something
funny about this picture for it is puzzling as to how it can be. God is omnipotent,
and iron chariots are no different than paper chariots to him, and still the army that
he is behind and with is held back from victory because of these iron chariots.
Another pastor writes, "Now, doesn’t one man and God make a majority? Isn’t that
what the entire Bible yells out? So why do we read here that even though the Lord
was with them, they still couldn’t win?" His theory was because Judah had to ask
the Simeonites to join them, and this showed a lack of faith in God's promise. But
the text says God was with them, and so it it hard to see how this had any effect on
their fighting ability. There is no hint that God disapproved of them asking their
brothers to help, and no hint that they lacked faith in his promise. It just says they
could not do it, and the rest of the chapter makes it clear that the same thing
happened over and over again with the other tribes. For one reason and another
they just could not drive the pagan people out of this land.
2. James Jordon wrote, "At this point, then, the story of Judah’s conquests takes a
subtle turn. Heretofore we have seen nothing but victories, together with a hint of

the restoration of Edenic conditions among the faithful. Now, however, we begin to
detect signs of failure. Iron Chariots. Now the LORD was with Judah, and they
took possession of the hill country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of
the valley because they had iron chariots. Chariots could not function in the hills, so
Judah did not have to fight them there. Where the iron chariots could function,
however, Judah did not succeed. In fact, all the places listed in Judges1 are
mountain places. God, however, did not limit Judah only to mountainous regions; in
1:2, God had given all the land into her hand. Moreover, as Judges 4 and 5 show,
God is fully capable
of dealing with iron chariots. Thus, the problem was not the iron chariots. The
problem was faith, or rather the lack of it. In order to drive this point home, the
narrator says, “Now the LORD was with Judah . . . ; but. . . .“ God was willing, but
man was faithless.
The plains were in the center of the land of promise. The continuing strength of the
Canaanites here effectively divided Judah and Simeon from the rest of the tribes.
Over the centuries, this isolation brought about cultural division, and caused more
and
more trouble until finally the two kingdoms split from one another. Thus do minor
compromises grow into major troubles."
3. It seems to me that we have a clear picture here of the relationship of the
sovereigny of God and the free will of man. God is with them, and they can
accomplish all that he promised them that they could, but he is not going to do it
himself by his power that can do all things. He demands that his people have the
faith to go ahead and do it just as if they had the power to do it. They have to be
fearless and brave, and they have to do all that man can do to win the battle. If man
is fearful and faithless, God is not going to fight their battles for them. They will just
have to accept the level to which they are commited, and if that is weak, then they
will gain only a partial victory. We think that God's sovereignty means that his will
is always done on earth as it is in heaven, but not so, for if it was there would be no
need to pray for it. It is a prayer because we need to pray it, and we need to then be
devoted to doing it, or it will not be done. God made his will perfectly clear. He
wanted them to kill or drive out all of the pagans that were in the land so that they
could have no influence on his people. He wanted them to have a pagan free
environment in which to grow as a people of God. It did not happen, and it was not
because God did not want it, or because he could not make it happen, but because
his people were too chicken to believe he would win over all enemies if they were
fully determined to get the job done. These were the sons of the Israelites who said
they could never win, and so they did not try, and now they are doing the same
thing. The fathers cowardice has passed down to the sons. God forsook the fathers
for their fear, and let them die in the wilderness, and now it remains to be seen what
will happen to the sons who are also too fearful to do his will. But first, let us look at
the theories of why they could not win.
4. The great Spurgeon has something of the same theory I have shared, and he says
the problem here was with fear. He writes, "They were afraid because of the

chariots, which had poles between the horses armed with lances which cut their way
through the crowd. And the axles of the wheels were fitted with great scythes—these
inventions were novel and caused a panic and, therefore, the men of Judah lost their
faith in God—and so became weak and cowardly. They said, “It is of no use; we
cannot meet these terrible machines,” and, therefore they did not pray or make an
attempt to meet the foe." This does make sense, for he points out that Barak and
Deborah faced the same issue with Jabin and his 900 iron chariots, but they
defeated Jabin and sent him fleeing. So the conclusion is, it was a lack of faith that
led to failure to drive them out here. The problem still remains that God was with
them and there is no criticism saying that they lacked faith. It is also surprising that
a strong Calvinist like Spurgeon would put the sovereignty of God in keeping his
promise to drive the enemy out into the hands of men. God is there with the army of
Judah, but he cannot drive the enemy out of the land because of the lack of faith in
the Israelites. God is at the mercy of the army, and he is unable to lead them to
victory because of their fear. This does not sound like valid theology, for it makes
God dependant upon man. If man has strong faith God can get the job done, iron
chariots or not. If man has weak faith, God is limited in what he can do.
5. Deut. 20:1 has God saying to his people, "When you go to war against your
enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be
afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will
be with you." God says do not be afraid, but he does not say if you are afraid I will
not help you win. God is encouraging them not to be afraid, but he knows they will
have a natural fear to some degree in facing a far superior foe. There is no threat
that if they lack faith as they face chariots he will not give them the victory. And so
the mystery still remains for me as to why with God with them they could not win
over the iron chariot army. Maybe Spurgeon was right in his second reason for their
failure, and that was that they just did not try. They looked at the vast array of
weapons in the plains and just called it quits and never went to battle. Even God
cannot help you win a battle in which you never engage. But the text says they were
unable and that implies that they did try.
6. Another theory is that there was sin in the camp of Judah, for God in the past
made it clear that the army of the Israelites would flee from their enemies if sin had
corrupted them. In Joshua 7:12 we read, "That is why the Israelites cannot stand
against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made
liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever
among you is devoted to destruction." This was when Achan had stolen plunder he
hid in his tent. He was from the tribe of Judah also, and his sin kept the Jews from
victory over the enemy. This was a valid reason why the army of Israel would fail,
but there is no sin revealed in this context, and so no condemnation by God.
However, this is the theory proposed by an author quoted by Clarke who says,
"This is the turn given to the verse by Jonathan ben Uzziel, the Chaldee paraphrast:
"And the WORD of Jehovah was in the support of the house of Judah, and they
extirpated the inhabitants of the mountains; but afterwards, WHEN THEY
SINNED, they were not able to extirpate the inhabitants of the plain country,

12397831 judges-1-commentary

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