Judges 1:24-2:124And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy. 25And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. 27Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. 34And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 36And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. 1And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. (Judges 1:24‑2:1)
The house of Joseph promised to spare the life of this man of Bethel, with his family, if he would show them the entrance into the city. This he did, and then they captured the city, sparing his life as they had promised. This, however, was contrary to the word of God, who had told them to let none escape. Since the Lord was with them, could He not have shown them the entrance to the city? Did He not know where it was without the help of an enemy? And yet how often we are like the children of Joseph! Even in our work for the Lord we sometimes lean upon an “arm of flesh” to our own sorrow and loss. And so here. What was the sad result of this foolish action? The man went away and built another city! He helped them to take Bethel, it is true, but then he built another city in the land of the Hittites which only strengthened the enemies of the Lord. We may be sure that if we spare the enemy, or seek help from them, it will only serve to strengthen their position against us in the end. We need to be reminded that full and complete confidence in the Lord, and obedience to Him, is the only way of fighting the Lord’s battles.
Then some of the children of Israel tried another plan. They made the people of the land whom they were unable to drive out, pay tribute to them. Others of the Israelites were forced to live in the mountains while their enemies possessed the fruitful valleys. It may seem very well for a time to let the enemy pay tribute to us, or dwell among us, but such things cannot continue. The enemy will only wait his opportunity to get the upper hand and rob us of our possessions. What a lesson for those in Christendom who still seek help from the world to carry on the work of the Lord! How different it was with the early disciples of whom we read, “For His name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” 3 John 77Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. (3 John 7).
At the first Gilgal had been the place of the camp of Israel, where they inquired (or should have inquired) of the Lord before going out to fight His battles. There had been no victories or evidence of power seen at Gilgal, but instead a very painful work — that of circumcision — but Gilgal was, nevertheless, the place of power and victory. This the children of Israel began to realize when they neglected it. It typies to us self-judgment — a hidden work which is all too often forgotten or neglected, because of its painfulness. But oh how needful it is! It is to get into God’s presence and learn there that “the flesh profiteth nothing.” John 6:6363It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63). We need this every day of our lives, as His Word tells us, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:1010Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10). There can be no real victory without it. We are ever in a hurry, naturally, to rush forward in self-confidence, and alas, the hidden work of self-judgment is too often forgotten, to our own shame and defeat.
But God is patient with us, as He was with Israel. The angel of the Lord did not leave Gilgal at once; He was there to meet the people if they would but come before Him in brokenness. But Gilgal was forgotten; and yet the people did not consider the cause of their weakness. Have we failed to realize it today?
ML 08/02/1953