Daily Study Judges 1:1-36
The Book of Judges starts out strong. Joshua had died, but the tribes were to continue the work of driving out their enemies. The Lord sent the tribe of Judah to battle, and He handed the Canaanites over to them; they achieved almost total victory. But then things began to unravel. The tribe of Benjamin failed to remove the Jebusites from Jerusalem (v. 21). Then Manasseh failed, followed by Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali (vv. 27-33).
Finally, we read of the Amorites driving the Danites into the hills for a time (vv. 34-36). Where were the victorious people of God? Things would not get any better. As the rest of the Book of Judges unfolds, we witness Israel’s slow fade from triumphant living to disobedient laziness. They had started so strong. The Israelites had sought the Lord’s direction and obeyed Him, and because of this, they were triumphant over their enemies and they conquered the land.
But it takes continuing faith and obedience, not one-time faith and obedience to live out God’s plan. Faith and obedience were not necessary just to enter the land and conquer it; they were necessary to live in the land and defend it. But instead, we encounter multiple instances of disobedience in verses 21-36. Rather than believing and obeying, they decided to let their enemies remain in the land in complete disobedience to God. God’s people were resting from their faith in God rather than resting in their faith in God.
It’s tempting to wag our fingers at the Israelites, but we shouldn’t be so fast to do so. Instead, we should ask ourselves some challenging questions: Are we any different? How prone are we to rest in a single act of faith or obedience? How often do we obey halfway? How many times do we see victories in our lives give way to defeat, not because God has failed us but because our faith has faltered?
In what area of your life do you struggle to believe and obey?