“Y’hudah went with Shim‘on his brother; they overpowered the Kena‘ani who inhabited Tz’fat, and completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. Y’hudah also took ‘Azah with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory and ‘Ekron with its territory. Adonai was with Y’hudah, and they took possession of the hill-country, because they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, since they had iron chariots.”-Judges 1:17-19
What’s awesome about studying the Bible is its direct relevance to what’s happening in the world today even though we’re reading about things that took place literally centuries ago.
Verse 17 is a perfect case in point.
We’re told that Judah and Simeon continued attacking the Canaanites in Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron.
Gaza?
Hmm…doesn’t that name sound familiar?
That’s right folks.
This is the very same Gaza we hear about in the news almost every day and night.
What happened back in those days is still happening right now.
Now let me point out a common error scholars make concerning the 3 cities Judah attacked.
It’s often said these cities were occupied by the Philistines.
But that can’t be true.
Because at the time of the opening verses of the book of Judges, the Philistines had yet to gain any foothold in any of those areas.
These territories were still being inhabited by the Canaanites.
So we can say goodbye to yet another scholarly myth that has been kept alive for too long now.
This is simply because your average dude hasn’t a clue of the difference between a Canaanite and a Philistine.
Remember, you can’t combat factual or doctrinal falsehoods with Biblical ignorance.
Onward.
Next we’re told Judah was successful in conquering the Canaanites residing in the “hill country” but failed to drive them out of the “valleys”.
Why?
The answer is one simple word: chariots.
Or to be more specific, “iron chariots”.
Obviously, chariots are only operable on flat ground.
Therefore, when the battle was taking place on hilly ground, since the Canaanites couldn’t use one of their most powerful weapons, they got slaughtered.
But when the Canaanites took the battle to the even-leveled plains and valleys, it was a whole different story altogether.
On flat land, the Canaanites could use their powerful chariots and thus the Israelites weren’t able to drive them out.
The takeaway here is simple.
Fight your battles with the enemy in territory where you’ll have an advantage.
This means controlling your environment.
You do this by staying in God’s Word, staying in prayer and surrounding yourself by people of like-minded faith.
And it also means, staying away from the faithless or those who harbor a cynical or condescending attitude towards the things of the Lord…even if they be family members.
Remember, one of the foundational principles of the God we worship is SEPARATION AND DIVISION.
Do not be unequally yoked.
See ya all later.
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