“Again the people of Israel did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, and Adonai handed them over to the P’lishtim for forty years.”-Judges 13:1
The opening verse of Judges Chapter 13 starts with the typical announcement we’re given before each new judge cycle:
“Again the people of Israel
did what was evil
from Adonai’s perspective…”
However, this time around there is a key theme noticeably lacking which is usually expressed in this fashion:
“Then the people of Israel cried to Adonai,
‘We have sinned against you by
forsaking our God and serving the ba‘alim.'”
Judges 10:10
Or something like this:
“Israel became very discouraged
because of Midyan,
and the people of Israel
cried out to Adonai.”
-Judges 6:6
My point is there is ZERO record of the people being in pain because of their situation and crying out to the Lord for help.
The Tribe of Dan had become indifferent to their situation.
Honestly, I think indifference can sometimes be worse than outright disobedience…because it allows sin and idolatry to sneak up on you unawares.
So why did Dan resign themselves to being oppressed by the Philistines.
I mentioned this earlier but it was because at that time the Philistines were like the United States of America in our day.
They were looked up to and admired as a technologically and culturally advanced society.
In fact, their military power was so awesome that it enabled them to take control of the entire Mediterranean Sea coast.
We weren’t dealing with uncivilized barbarians here folks.
The culture of the Philistines was viewed with admiration and respect.
That’s why the members of the Tribe of Dan resigned themselves to their oppression without putting up much of a fight.
I find this interesting because unlike the other Judge cycles, the oppression of the Philistines bothered God more than it bothered the people.
So God decided He was gonna throw a wrecking ball into the area called Samson to raise some hell and wake the people up from their apathetic condition.
Why was Dan was so indifferent and apathetic to their gentile oppression?
There are a couple of reasons why.
In their history, Dan never 100% controlled any territory they were originally assigned.
After they entered the land of Canaan, soon after some of the clans decided they wanted to move into safer and more secure areas among the other tribes.
The result was many of the Danites decided to uproot and move up north to land near the border of Lebanon…again all in the hopes of securing a “safer and more comfortable” lifestyle for themselves.
Unfortunately, disobedience never pays off.
Instead of trusting God and being satisfied with the areas the Lord had originally set aside for them, in the new territory they settled in, they ended up establishing some weird cult city and adopted worship practices that were far from what the Lord ordained in the Torah.
Ultimately, they never did gain a foothold in the areas they moved into.
They were eventually forced out by the local population and were scattered.
What’s fascinating is that members of the tribe of Dan have been discovered today in the African continent and some have migrated and are living in the Promised Land today.
If you ever take a tour to the Holy Land, you can actually go see some of the remnants of the northern city of Dan (check out the photo above).
The place is actually quite stunning in its beauty.
I know everything I just said makes it sound like every member of the tribe of Dan picked up and left their originally assigned territory.
Obviously, that’s not true.
Or we wouldn’t even have the story of Samson.
It was those who chose to stay who were more resigned and accepted the oppression of the Philistines without much resistance.
This was Samson’s case and all the members of Dan who he grew up and lived with.
So the big takeaway for today is what I said earlier.
Indifference to evil and sin can be much more dangerous than outright rebellion against the Lord because it’s so insidious and sneaks up on us.
I’m reminded of the quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
And that is precisely the situation we were dealing with here in Judges Chapter 13.
Man o’ Manishevitz, Rich, are you ever on the mark with this one.
One of the biggest examples today of this apathetic attitude towards sin is the OSAS (Once Saved, Always Saved) lie that Satan has promulgated throughout many Christian religions.
When we believe we are automatically forgiven of sin, we eventually learn to not even repent of that sin, and where does that leave us?
Accepting the rulership of the Philistines, and out in the cold where people gnash their teeth.
God is desiring to forgive everyone (Ezekiel 18:23), but he will not forgive an unrepentant sinner.
Thank you brother. I discarded the idea of OSAS a long time ago.