Judges 1: God puts Judah in charge

Synopsis:

Now that Joshua is dead Judah is put in charge. He works with Simeon his brother to drive the Canaanites out of the land. There is a lot of bloodshed and smiting. First is Adoni Bezek whose thumbs and great toes are cut off. He dies. Judah takes Gaza by the coast. They take Hebron, where they drive out the three sons of Anak.  Joseph goes to Beth-el and a spy helps them find the entrance to the city if they promise not to kill him. The spy goes to Luz and founds a new city. But the rest of the tribes don’t bother to drive out the Canaanites. They just live side by side and rule over them. All except for the tribe of Dan – which don’t succeed in taking their land. The Amorites continue to control that land.

In other words:

Judah takes over, drives the Canaanites out of a few cities, but mostly, they just take over and let people keep on living.

Favorite bit:

Judges 1:4-8 – The taking of Bezek. I have no idea why cutting of the thumbs and big toes would signal defeat of the ruler, but it’s kind of an interesting detail. When they take Bezek – they set the city on fire.

2nd favorite bit:

Judges 1:20 – the taking of Hebron. First, I know where that is. 2nd, they expel the 3 sons of Anak. Wasn’t Anak a giant?

Moral Lesson Learned:

Don’t fight when you can come to a mutally beneficial agreement (Judges 1)

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