J19-3: How The Tribe Of Dan Fell Into Gross Idolatry And How We Can Learn From Their Mistakes

“The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families.”-Joshua 19:40

Out of the 7 remaining tribes who had yet to receive their land inheritance, the Tribe of Dan was last in line…

…which unfortunately shows their diminished status from God’s perspective.

Take a quick look at verse 47.

“The territory of the descendants of Dan was too small for them, so the descendants of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, defeated it by the sword, took possession of it and lived there, calling Leshem “Dan” after Dan their ancestor.”

Right off the bat we’re told the land they were given was too small for them and this actually makes perfect sense based on the earlier census taken that revealed they were one of the biggest tribes in Israel.

So we’re told Dan had no choice but to conquer an area called LESHEM located in the northern regions of Canaan.

They made quick work of the native inhabitants of this town and then changed the name to Dan.

From the very beginning, Dan was thrust headfirst into a difficult situation when they received their land inheritance because  the territory assigned to them forced the Tribe of Judah to hand over some of their villages and cities in the west and…

…Ephraim was forced to give up some of their southern territories to Dan.

A proposition I’m sure both of these tribes were none to happy about.

But wait, it gets worse.

One of the major areas the Tribe of Dan inherited were the central and southern Mediterranean Sea coasts.

Why was this a problem?

Because that area was currently inhabited by a people group who would go down in history as one of Israel’s most fierce and militarily advanced enemies of all time.

I’m talking about the Philistines.

However, at this time, since they were located near the Mediterranean Sea cost, they were aptly called the “Sea Peoples”.

Nobody wanted to deal with these bad dudes and that included the tribe of Dan.

That’s why all of the tribes, including Dan, decided to move their families and clans to the north.

So I just told you that the tribe of Dan, in desperation for more land, conquered an area called Leshem and you’re probably thinking that’s a good thing, right?

Well, not so fast homies because it turned out to be a mixed blessing.

Moving into Leshem meant Dan would be surrounded by idolatrous pagans.

The result was that over time, Dan’s worship of the God of Israel became polluted by the practices of the heathens they were surrounded by and this included Calf Worship!

You can visit Leshem in Israel today and see for yourself the physical evidence that Dan fell into idolatry.

Unfortunately, Dan’s influence in the Bible fades away to almost nothing and is only mentioned in passing as a curse.

Dan won’t make a reappearance in the Scriptures until near the end times.

Now the obvious takeaway here is…

…DON’T FALL INTO IDOLATRY.

But I think the more important takeaway is just how important it is to monitor your environment and who you hang out with.

Don’t think you’re stronger than you your environment.

You’re not.

Keep yourself in God’s Word and surround yourself with fellow believers, lest you fall.