“M’nasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Sh’an and its villages, Ta‘anakh and its villages, Dor and its villages, Yivle‘am and its villages or Megiddo and its villages; so that the Kena‘ani managed to keep on living in that land. In time, when Isra’el had grown strong, they did put the Kena‘ani to forced labor but failed to drive them out completely.“-Judges 1:27-28
From verse 27 to the end of Judges Chapter 1, we’re given a list of Israel’s failed attempts to drive out the different groups of Canaanites from their territories.
Pay attention because all this detail is setting the stage for the disaster and chaos that’s gonna ensue beginning from the very next chapter.
First, let’s take a look at how Manasseh (the other house of Yoseph) fared.
We’re told they failed to drive the Canaanites out of Bet Shean and the territories surrounding it.
We’re also told they failed to break the hold the Canaanites possessed over Megiddo.
Meggido was a key fortress overlooking a large portion of the Jezreel Valley and was situated smack dab at a major trade route intersection.
Perhaps you know Megiddo by its more familiar name “Armageddon”?
That’s right folks.
This is the site where the final battle led by Messiah to conquer the land and then the world is going to take place.
We’re told Joseph was able to conquer the inhabitants to the point where they were able to use them as serf labor but again that’s not what God wanted.
We can see already this generation of Israelites was becoming lax in their zeal.
For them, the desire to have harmony, peace and economic stability won over their desire to fully obey God.
Onward.
We’re told Ephraim failed to conquer Gezer.
The same happened with the tribe of Zebulun who subdued their assigned area but allowed the enemy inhabitants to remain so they could use them as forced labor.
The same thing happened with Asher.
And again, Naphtali committed the same sins.
Instead of driving the Canaanites out of their assigned territory (Beit-Shemesh), they made peace and even lived side-by-side with them in some areas.
Naphtali was able to completely drive out the inhabitants in some other areas though.
Finally, let’s take a look at the opening verse of the last paragraph of this chapter.
“The Emori forced the people of Dan into the hills; for they would not let them come down to the valley.”-Judges 1:34
This is a key detail we shouldn’t overlook because it sets the stage for how Dan was forced out of their assigned territory that bordered the west side of Judah’s area.
Things were particularly unfortunate for Dan.
Not only were they unable to drive the people out of their territory, they were actually run out of their assigned area by the Amorites who lived there.
Dan ended up having to migrate north to an area bordering Lebanon.
Eventually it was Judah who stepped in and conquered the Amorites who inhabited Dan’s former territory.
But again, and this is an irritating pattern we’re going to see over and over again, Judah didn’t drive the Amorites out of the land per God’s instructions.
Instead, they decided to let them stay and use them as forced labor.
And there you have it folks.
If you ever wonder why Israel suffers rocket attacks and terrorist bombings in their own land to this day, you’ve just read the reason why.
See why it’s so important to follow God’s instructions…even when it isn’t politically correct?
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