Daily Devotion for Thursday 9th April

 
Judges 1:8-36
 
Then the people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it. They put it to the sword and set the city on fire.  Afterwards the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowlands. Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba); and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
 
From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher). Then Caleb said, ‘Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as wife.’  And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.  When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, ‘What do you want?’  She said to him, ‘Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also Gulloth-mayim.’  So Caleb gave her Upper Gulloth and Lower Gulloth.
 
The descendants of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad. Then they went and settled with the Amalekites.  Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and devoted it to destruction. So the city was called Hormah.   Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.  The Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.  Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.  But the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived in Jerusalem among the Benjaminites to this day.
 
The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel; and the Lord was with them.  The house of Joseph sent out spies to Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz).  When the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, ‘Show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.’  So he showed them the way into the city; and they put the city to the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.  So the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and named it Luz; that is its name to this day.
 
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; but the Canaanites continued to live in that land. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labour, but did not in fact drive them out.
 
And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.
 
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labour.
 
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob; but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
 
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labour for them.
 
The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country; they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The Amorites continued to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labour. The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upwards.
 
Reflection
 
This section presents Judah succeeding in acquiring all the territory from Jerusalem southwards, down through the Negeb to the wilderness, and to the west, including the Philistine (Palestinian) cities of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron.  However, this presentation isn’t supported by other biblical books that tell stories of Israel’s occupation of the land, nor was it historical reality as far as can be ascertained.  It presents an idealistic description of the extent of Judah’s territorial ambition during the Golden Age of David’s reign.
 
Simeon has been subsumed into Judah’s territory (v.17), while verses 8 and 21 sit uncomfortably as conflicting ‘bookends’ to Judah’s successful exploits; with the latter verse reflecting the general agreement about Jerusalem’s independent status within Benjamin in this era.
 
Joseph represents the tribes which collectively become the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and acquires Bethel (meaning ‘the house of God’) which eventually becomes their major religious site.  
 
Verses 27-36 present six tribes settling in territories, moving progressively northwards, but alongside the Canaanites and Amorites whom they dominated but never expelled.  (Notably Issachar is omitted, as are Reuben and Gad – traditionally located east of the Jordan – and Levi, by tradition landless priests.) This picture of co-existence in the pre-monarchic era is probably a truer reflection of reality, although again the idea of Israel’s dominance over the whole population reflects the idealism of the ‘United Monarchy’ of David and Solomon.  
 
The location of Dan in the far north indicates that this passage reflects a time after events portrayed in chapters 13-16 (which locate Dan adjacent to the Philistine territory) and the story in chapter 18 of their migration north.
 
This whole section presents a biased theological ideology as though it was truth.  We might call such distortion of reality ‘fake news’; but it should warn us of the dangers of allowing any narrative being promoted by a dominant group – even our own spokespeople – to go unchallenged.
 
Prayer
 
God of truth, 
forgive us when we allow rose-tinted spectacles 
to distort our memories of the past, 
or of the churches that nurtured faith in us.  
 
Forgive us when we tell stories 
of how we wish things were, 
rather than speaking of how things truly are.  
Forgive us when we close our ears 
to other perspectives that unsettle us.
 
Help us remember Jesus’ words: 
‘the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32) 
and to follow in his ways.  Amen.